Imperialism In Cuba

1997 Words4 Pages

During the Cold War, the United States and Cuba had a rocky relationship. Turning to Communist rule after the overthrowing of Fulgencio Batista, many desperate Cubans lined up at the United States Embassy to get visas to leave their home country in hopes for a better life. According to Time Magazine’s article Why Did the U.S. and Cuba Sever Diplomatic Ties in the First Place?, “Castro later demanded that the two countries have the exact same number of staffers in their respective embassies (11), the U.S. brought its entire staff home instead” (Rothman). The United States Embassy closed its doors in Cuba early January 1961 with “…more than 50,000 visa applications on file…” (Rothman). This was also the end of all travel to the island. It has
The Miami Herald article called Caribbean tourism feels winds of change from Cuba addresses how if the United States opens up tourism to Cuba again, the Caribbean can be affected and not in a good way. The article states that a paper released by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, CHTA, says that “the biggest and most disruptive pebble to be dropped into the Caribbean pool in 50 years will arrive with the opening of travel to Cuba for United States citizens” (Whitefield). What this means is that they feel that if the United States allows travel to Cuba, that it will disrupt and take away tourism from the other islands in the Caribbean. The article also claims that “About 70 percent of Caribbean visitors come from the United States…” (Whitefield). This is true especially when you look at cruise lines. If you look at a typical Carnival Cruise Line Caribbean itinerary that leaves from Miami, Florida, the cruise will take tourists to places like Cozumel, Grand Turk, Nassau, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios, Montego Bay and San Juan (Carnival Cruise Lines). Add Cuba to the mix, and most cruises will focus their attention on traveling to the island and instead of to other islands after a stop in Cuba. These cruises would most likely travel to different Cuban ports instead since the island is larger than the ones that it has been visiting. Seeing that Cuba could possibly take away American tourists from other countries in the Caribbean, if the United States opens up tourism to Cuba again, it does allow the Caribbean “…an opportunity for the Caribbean to begin working together on improving marketing, offering dual destination visits, easing barriers such as cost and ease of travel, sharing best practices, and using tourism more effectively as an economic development tool” (Whitefield).

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