Favana st
heart of Cuba

DR. RONALD Newton, 4 pro-
fessor in history at Simon Fraser
University and avid Latin-America
watcher, recently visited Cuba,
making arrangements for Simon
Fraser’s first field school in that
country, durisig the spring of 1988.

He noted fascinating changes in
Cuba, 25 yeurs after the revolu-
tion.

Visitors to Cuba who see only
Havana will miss the New Cuba.
Makers of the Cuban Revolution
have resisted temptation to make
the capitaf a Socialist showplace
and directed efforts to the interior,
where the island’s productive ca-
pacity lies, and where the peasant-
ry, the revolution’s original politi-
cal base, lives.

Well-policed and clean, Havana
is still beautiful, but seedy. One
consequence of negiect is that it
has not been overwhelmed by
migrants flecing rural poverty and
desperation.

Unlike Mexico City, Lima, San-
tiago, Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires,
Havana is not ringed by seething
shanty towns. While Cuba’s popu-
lation has nearly doubled to 10
million, Havana remains under
two million.

There are no beggars. Like all

Beware of

From page 48

If your taste is for mixed drinks,
better Jearn to drink them warm —
ice cubes are often contaminated.

xhik

This column is becoming
depressing! But, since it’s being
written at the request of a mother
with a son headed for the Far East,
I'd better carry on.

The next problem facing a trav-
eller is the sun. Our temperate
climate simply doesn’t prepare us
for tropical heat and only those
who have experienced it can
understand the speed at which the
tourist can get sunstroke and sun-
burn.

I've had both and wouldn't
recommend either — a combina-
tion of the two is practically
murderous.

Sunstroke brings fever and
chills, nausea and such a headache
you'll consider amputation.

Your body screams for fluids
and pain pills, but you’re so sick

Ca Cons

Cubans, Habaneros (residents of
Havana) enjoy full employment:
rents, basic food and clothing,
transport, entertainment and vaca-
tions are nominal in cost; educa-
tion and medical care are free;
there are no personal taxes.

Cubans pack the nearby Carib-
bean beaches; theatres and bailet,
restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs
and sports events, are thriving.
Children are scrubbed, healthy,
neatly dressed and alarmingly ac-
tive.

Private autos are rare. In
Havana, public transport is more
than adequate, but diese] fumes
are everywhere.

Store clerks, waiters, and minor
functionaries have raised the tech-
nique of avoiding the client’s eye
to a high art. Habaneros line up
for transport, groceries, most con-
sumer commodities, restaurants,
and the universal Cuban treat:
Coppelia ice crean:.

Recently, the yovernment has
begun ‘allocating resources to
Havana, Renovation of the colo-
nial core is well under way, partly
with UNESCO aid.

Founded in 1519, before Spain’s
Law of the Indies imposed grid
patterns on cities in the American
empire, Havana’s streets meander.

the beach

you can’t keep either down.
Meanwhile, every exposed inch of
your skin is on fire.

J think the only thing that saved
my life was that I was staying with
three friends, all of them doctors.
For three days they took turns get-
ting up every three hours to bring
me medications. Some house guest
I was.

weak

The beach can pose even more
problems than the sun,

To name a few: pollugion from
raw sewage, cuts from carelessly
discarded cans and bottles, stings
from creatures such as rockfish
and a grand opportunity for mugg-
ings and robberies.

Before going to any beach area,
inquire about possible pollution.
Wear sandals. Lock your valuables
in the hotel safe but carry some
money with you.

[ hope 1 haven’t spoiled
anyone’s vacation, but please ex-
ercise a lot of caution.

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49 - Sunday, August 21, 1988 — North Shore News

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