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I can't comment except for my own experience. We visit relatives in Cuba occasionally. When we go, we always had to come up with some excuse to bring medical su
by baakss 11y ago
I can't comment except for my own experience. We visit relatives in Cuba occasionally. When we go, we always had to come up with some excuse to bring medical supplies and leave them there. On one occasion, my mom pretended to be crippled for the trip down so that we could justify bringing a wheelchair. Then she just left it. Same thing would apply across the board for anything you could think of. We'd get a doctor's note, bring along medicines 'for ourselves' then leave them with family there.
The situation is pretty bad there. It's almost like the economy doesn't exist. You can be an architect, for example, but there's really no new buildings going up. You get a coupon book every year good for things like a pair of shoes, but no shoes are being made. People rely heavily on goods and money from Miami. Money can at least buy them non-American imported goods. A friend's family even brought a window down with them once somehow.
Anyway, I don't know everything about it, just anecdotally what we've seen when we made our trips down, plus the stories from cousins who have made it over recently.
- caente 11y agoI can confirm your experience, with mine, every time we go there we need to ask in advance what medicines our family and friends need. We have never had to fake a disease though, over the counter medicines are rare enough...
- wuschel 11y agoThanks for your feedback. That does remind me my time in the eastern block. Just a bit harsher. This might very well be a distribution problem e.g. some sectors being prioritized, and the people being left to their own fate.
- ChrisArgyle 11y agoMy mother expatriated Cuba when she was in her 20s and this is exactly her experience. Basically, if you're not important to The Party you're on your own.
- Synaesthesia 11y agoLets just remember the reason for all of this. The unilateral blockade maintained by the USA