6 ms·

> And the government goes a long way to try to separate tourists from the real society, though you can still get to it if you care to. It's not like that anymo

by zxcv1975 6y ago

> And the government goes a long way to try to separate tourists from the real society, though you can still get to it if you care to. It's not like that anymore. There are many Cubans who rent a room in their houses, so foreigners live with them and share with the family. > The police arrest those who spend too much time with foreigners It is possible, but I don't think it is very likely. I think those who can be arrested are doing some illegal activity, like selling tobacco or lobster. Generally these products are from the black market. In the city where I live there are always foreigners all year round and they coexist with Cubans normally.

graeme 6y ago
You could rent rooms in houses when I was there too, that's mostly where I stayed. But 99% of the tourist market is in enclaves. As for arresting Cubans, I may have spoken too loosely. The government doesn't really have a problem with conversations between foreigners and Cubans here and there, or with people having a foreign friend. What the government is looking out for is someone who has a habit of talking to many different foreigners. Usually this is done for some illegal purpose: black market hustling, or sex work. But talking to a lot of different people is one of the things they use to check for that. As an example, if a Cuban visits a foreign friend in one of those tourist rooms, they have to give up their internal passport to the host, who must record their visit in a log which the police review. And like anything else, something which is tolerated can still cause problems. i.e. in much of the west, you can do drugs fairly safely, but you shouldn't wave it in a cop's face. So, if you are a Cuban and do have a foreign friend, you still have to be careful. Cuba has a system of neighbourhood government snitches that keep tabs on everyone. However, these have relaxed a bit I think. I can say I never found Cubans hesitant to make friends with me while I worked there. But, Cubans always have to be careful about where the lines are, and not to cross them. For more, have a look at all the replies to this question about my post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23305332 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23305332

graeme 6y ago

You could rent rooms in houses when I was there too, that's mostly where I stayed. But 99% of the tourist market is in enclaves. As for arresting Cubans, I may have spoken too loosely. The government doesn't really have a problem with conversations between foreigners and Cubans here and there, or with people having a foreign friend. What the government is looking out for is someone who has a habit of talking to many different foreigners. Usually this is done for some illegal purpose: black market hustling, or sex work. But talking to a lot of different people is one of the things they use to check for that. As an example, if a Cuban visits a foreign friend in one of those tourist rooms, they have to give up their internal passport to the host, who must record their visit in a log which the police review. And like anything else, something which is tolerated can still cause problems. i.e. in much of the west, you can do drugs fairly safely, but you shouldn't wave it in a cop's face. So, if you are a Cuban and do have a foreign friend, you still have to be careful. Cuba has a system of neighbourhood government snitches that keep tabs on everyone. However, these have relaxed a bit I think. I can say I never found Cubans hesitant to make friends with me while I worked there. But, Cubans always have to be careful about where the lines are, and not to cross them. For more, have a look at all the replies to this question about my post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23305332 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23305332