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Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Couple of questions for anyone who has been to Cuba...

What do you do for Internet there? Is it wise to bring a laptop, and does one need to go through a proxy to get past gov censors?

Also...if you've been there through a third country, was it easy for entrance/exit visas, if you didn't go straight home from Cuba?

Much appreciated

RyanS · Joined: 11 Oct 2005 Posts: 356

Theres no censors to my knowledge in Cuba so no dont worry about needing a proxy. I was on the internet for about 30 minutes in Cuba at the hotel lobby, we stayed at, it was really slow. I dunno where you'll find an internet hook up for your laptop but if you find one cool.

I left Cuba and went to Venezuela, and Left venezuela and went to Cuba. No problem at all. They really make sure you fill out that little form though entering the country, don't make an error or they'll make you fill it out again.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Thanks for the tip Ryan. Looks like everything with the visa will be fine after all. However, Reporters Without borders reports that the Internet is censored by the Cuban government. Perhaps it isn't in the resort areas for foreign visitors.

thelmadatter · Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 8:21 pm Post subject: Cuba

I got a friend of mine who really wants to go to Cuba... I dont know if it is for the culture or the fact that Cuba is off-limits to U.S. citizens (by the US gov. not the Cuban gov). I suspect it may be more the latter than the former as he always likes pushing the envelope.

I would love to go but Im chicken... Im still hoping that Fidel will die before I do, and that will be enough to lift the silly embargo and still "save face" PLEASE, Im not looking for a political discussion but if any of you other Americans have gone, Id like to know what your experience was (pm me if you like)

I had hoped that I could get around the embargo by the fact that I earn pesos and not dollars (if I understand correctly the embargo is against spending dollars/money earned in the States) but after reading the State Dept website... I dont get that impression.

Cdaniels · Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:16 pm Post subject: Someday

I was also under the impression that the US could only (legally) prevent US citizens from spending money in Cuba (or I guess for travel to Cuba) They cannot prevent someone from going on else's dime (or so I thought. go figure.) I'm hoping I only have to wait till G Bush is out of office. Rolling Eyes

Is there something about telephone lines in Cuba that make them unusuable for 'net connection?

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

American companies are not allowed to do business in Cuba unless they get a waiver from the State Dept...something that was becoming more common in the agribusiness sector. American citizens are not allowed to travel to Cuba, again unless they have permission from the State Dept.

Many an American does go but you need to make sure you don't get a stamp on your passport. I'm told the Cubans are accustomed to this and will offer not to stamp. Simply having that stamp can earn you a fine or jail time in the US.

The funny thing about currency...dollars are prefered there, by official and unofficial sources.

I want to go before Fidel kicks it...so to experience the place before the eventual Disneyfication of the island.

grahamb · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945

Thelmadatter, there's nothing to worry about, I promise you. Fidel won't be waiting for you at the airport with a firing squad.
US Dollars are taxed when you exchange them for Pesos Convertibles. The rate was initially ten per cent, but I think it has since been increased.

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

My understanding, from US friends traveling to Cuba from Mexico, is that the passport receives an insert onto which the official entrance is stamped and which is removed upon exiting the country. Transparent. I also would like to visit Cuba while Fidel is still about. I have a Cuban friend here in Mexico whose wealthy family was sent packing when she was a little girl. They have put together a book of family memories, photos, etc and it is mind-boggling to see what they were forced to leave behind. Once an important influential family with everything in the world they could want, banished from their own country. She is wanting to return for a visit but is afraid to do so, even on a Mexican passport until the government changes.

RyanS · Joined: 11 Oct 2005 Posts: 356

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Try and google that and see what the first hit is. I imagine Cuba would have no reason to block that site at all.

thelmadatter · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 11:11 pm Post subject: worries

grahamb... funny thing is ... its not the Cuban government Im worried about but rather my own! Uncle Sam can make one's life very miserable (with or without jail), if he gets it into his head to do so.

Ive heard that the Cubans dont stamp US passports or something like that to accomodate Americans willing to defy the embargo. Rather stupid that I cant go to Cuba but can go to China and could go to the USSR when it existed.

But then who said politics had to make sense???

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

I don't think anyone has ever been prosecuted for going to Cuba. Please correct me if I am wrong. If I am right then this legislation has shown to be as silly as it really is and that it has no backbone behind it.

RyanS · Joined: 11 Oct 2005 Posts: 356

Its a big fine and yes many people have, if they catch you they will be dicks about it.

joost · Joined: 16 May 2005 Posts: 7 Location: Belgium

i thought the internet was censored by asking prices that only tourists could pay in internat caf�'s. i never paid as much as i did in cuba anyways, and of course you pay in dollars. joe with the cigar earns about 8 in a month, so internet is out of the question for him.
anyhow, if you plan to take your laptop, know this is a risk. it is illegal to import dvd-players into the country, so if they want to, they can just take your computer away (if it is anything close to recent). this means the airport building houses entire walls of laptops. given that any laptop is worth at least a couple of YEARS of regular work, it's not surprisig that a lot of them dissapear. don't let these kind of things scare you away though. (which scares -me- away is the fact that you'll spend quite some time to find any bed in havanna for below 10 dollars a night - or 15 if it's only for one or two nights)

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Yeah...I used to give similar advice for Mexico concerning laptops, but I think it's not risky at all here, unless you're sitting in a Tepito park trying to fnd a wifi hotspot. Wink

A travel agent told me internet can run up to 30 us dollars an hour! Effective censorship indeed. I think I'll look into carrier pigeons to get my mail home instead.