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Pro Playa,
I've never heard of Jibacoa before, but then I'm not an expert in Cuban travel. Soap can't get you laid any more. Try lipstick or perfume. I saw a lot of people w/ camcorders, so I suppose it's no problem. I don't remember seeing metered taxis in Veradero, so haggle like hell. I was speaking to a gentleman from Finland in Havana, and he recommended only giving $5-10 to non-pros as a gift. Good luck!
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pro playa,
if you are going mainly for the diving and other [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord118][CodeWord118][/url] jibacoa is indeed excellent. however are you aware that it is a club resort? thus may have mongering limitation, much like the resorts in cienfuegos & varadero (and unlike these very same cities…).
i love diving (water & chica flesh!) and i was told that access to “regular” cubans is limited here, so i dropped it form my list. the people you see will be tourist-trained and the prime directive for this sort is parting you from your dollars. i do know that the resort has a deal with the hotel nacional de cuba, and thus the tropicana night club. they do a number of excursions into havana depending on how long you want to stay…
if you are going mainly for regular / pro chicas then i would say head straight for havana, get settled in and then explore both jibacoa, and marina hemmingway for [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord118][CodeWord118][/url]. staying in a casa particular in havana will allow you the freedom of enjoying all aspects of diving!
regards,
havanaman
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Well... so much for Cuba in January...
I guess I'll have to wait 2 or 3 years until Fidel ends his new crackdown. Why couldn't The Prick wait a few months so I could check out Cuba for the first time?. In hindsight we all should have seen the signs pointing to this latest purge.
For those of you who've travelled to other places: Where's the best place for a newbie to the sport go? (without getting robbed blind or drunk and married).
Good luck to your New Years trip Havanaman... hopefully you'll get one last good week of mongering in.
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Can you please copy this to your site as I do not have posting privilages. I know it is not directly about prostitution but it will effect all of us Cuba travellers.
Cuban Apartheid Protest
The Cuban government has recently started increasing restrictions on interaction between Cubans and foreigners to a level that is nothing short of apartheid. I have personally witnessed people being taken off the street at night and placed in prison for 3 days simply for talking to a foreigner. These new policies would be unacceptable in any free country and should be brought to the attention of all businesses and foreign governments who openly do business with Cuba.
I will explain how the new measures are taking place in a moment. But first I would like to clarify a little about myself. I know that whenever someone if critical of the Cuban government that they are immediately labeled as an exile from Miami who is simply telling fictitious stories in order to discredit the Cuban government. Accordingly, I want to make it clear that I am not associated in anyway with the Cuban exile community or anyone who has a political interest in Cuba. I am a Canadian citizen by birth and I only started travelling to Cuba a few years ago. If anyone doubts what I have to say here I will provide whatever evidence is requested to prove my statements. In fact, if any newspaper wants to report these disturbing trends but requires further proof, I am willing to personally escort a reporter to Cuba so they can witness firsthand people being taken out of their house at night and placed in jail for only being in the company of a foreigner. I will pay my own expense for travel as well. All I want is attention and awareness brought to this new practice that would never be tolerated in a democratic country. I can be contacted at joecuba123@hotmail.com
There are two specific actions that are taking place right now that are unacceptable. First, the arrest and detainment of Cuban citizens who are simply found to be in the presence of a foreigner. This can happen by the police coming to a house where a tourists is living, and if a Cuban is found in the house, the Cuban is arrested. Normally, this happens at nighttime when few people are awake to bear witness. Secondly, the Cuban government has decided to close all rental houses that normally provide bed and breakfast services to tourists. The government has not stated their intention to close these houses but there is a clear pattern of harassment towards these enterprises to illustrate that they are no longer desirable. The reason of closing these houses is to further restrict interaction between foreigners and Cubans in order to complete the goal of segregation.
Some things I have personally witnessed in the city of Cienfuegos are as follows:
A Cuban woman who is engaged to a man from Italy was arrested at 2:00am in the rental house she shared with him. She was registered with immigration to be in the house but this was irrelevant to the police. In fact, they had been together for over 2 years and she was always registered with immigration to be in a tourist house with him. She was taken by the police to the central station in Cienfuegos and kept for 3 days in jail for processing. During that time she was forced to give a blood sample in order to be tested for drugs and AIDS. She was then advised that she would be sent to prison for up to 4 years if she were ever found in the company of a different tourist.
Cuban females who are seen in cars driven by tourists are now stopped and arrested on the spot. The charge is prostitution although there is no evidence that sex is even taken place since the female is simply a passenger in a car. The same process of 3 days in prison as mentioned above occurs when this happens.
Cubans are now being taken out of discos discretely by the secret police and arrested even though they may not even be in the company of a foreigner. The police seem to think that simply being in a place where a tourist might be is sufficient to be arrested for prostitution. I personally witnessed 2 Cuban woman sitting at a table in a nightclub when they were approached by an undercover police agent and asked to come outside. To the uninformed observer this would look as though they were merely leaving with the male Cuban. However, once they were outside they were placed in a police car and taken to the central station in Cienfuegos. Of course, they were also placed in jail for 3 days and subjected to the above mentioned conditions.
Police stopped a Cuban male who was giving directions to a friend of mine. He was charged with harassing a tourist and given a 30-peso fine. Another Cuban male was sitting in a restaurant with a friend from Canada eating a sandwich. After the Canadian left he to was ticketed for harassing a tourist. It is worth noting the far greater discrimination against females than males. The females go directly to jail and are detained without access to a lawyer while the males only get a ticket. I thought socialism was suppose to treat all people equally?
Again, if anyone has any doubts that these things are occurring I would be happy to take a media representative to Cuba so they can witness everything firsthand. However, if you happen to be in Cienfuegos you can see all this yourself. Simply go to the main central police station at 1:00 in the morning. Sit outside the gate and watch the police bringing people in. You will notice carloads of female Cubans being brought through the gates. On a typical night they are arresting 20 to 30 people for being in the clubs, walking down the street with a tourist or from raiding houses. None have access to a lawyer and will remain in the station for 3 days. As you sit outside the gates you will often see the foreigners arriving to plead with the police to release them. But the police never release them until the 3 days has past. In the past the police would usually let them go if you went to the station to protest but that was before this new policy came into effect.
The rental houses are facing a fate almost as bad. For those that have never been to Cuba, rental houses (called casa particulars) are private owned houses that are allowed to rent to tourists under a special license. They are very similar to bed and breakfasts in other countries. They must pay a tax of around $140 a month which is significant when you consider the average Cuban salary is around $10 a month. Tourist who enjoy travelling around the island and meeting real Cuban people rent these houses as an alternative to the hotel packages. Further, foreigners who have personal relationships with Cubans must stay in a casa particular because Cubans are not allowed in the tourist hotels.
The Cuban government has decided they no longer want the rental houses and are slowly harassing them in the hopes that most will shut their doors voluntarily. Recently, mostly in provinces outside of Havana, the police have been raiding these houses at night harassing guests who are staying in them. They always say they are doing this to offset prostitution but this is clearly untrue when you consider many of the people who end up in jail have permanent long-term relationships with their foreign companion.
In Cienfuegos last month the police closed about a dozen houses for reasons that are not explained. All these owners had invested all their time and money bringing these houses up to standards that tourists would expect only to have their license seized in the end. Other house owners have been arrested under the claim that they were allowing prostitutes in their house.
Finally, in January the final blow will come into effect. Starting in January all tourists in rental houses must be married to their guest if their guest is Cuban. This rule will without doubt destroy the entire rental house industry. Over 90% of the people who stay in rental houses are there visiting their Cuban boyfriend or girlfriend. After all, since Cubans cannot stay in hotels with tourists there is no other alternative but to stay in a rental house. (Further it has always been illegal for foreigners to stay in a private Cuban house that was not licensed by the government.) This will also be bad for tourists who do not have personal relations with a Cuban but enjoy staying in the more affordable private houses. Surely, with 90% of the customers lost the houses will quickly go out of business for everyone since the house owners still must pay the same tax.
To make the situation even more disturbing the Cuban government charges over $700.00 USD for a foreigner to marry a Cuban. In comparison it is less than the equivalent of $1.00 for a Cuban to marry another Cuba. This is nothing short of extortion. It seems very contradictory that the Cuban government on one hand is saying it must stop prostitution at all costs and then charging an exuberant amount of money for a foreigner to marry a Cuban.
When all that I have written is taken into consideration it is clear that the Cuban government has a goal to create total apartheid between the Cuban people and tourists. Arresting people for no clear reason, not allowing them access to a lawyer and imprisoning them is surely a violation of human rights by any standard. Cuba’s claim to be opening up to free enterprise is now seen to be false as the most popular businesses are being squeezed out.
Overall I find these practices to be outrages. I believe that we should all express our outrage to the Cuban government and say that they must change these practices immediately. Or course, they seldom listen. But if we all make it clear we WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO CUBA IF THIS DOES NOT CHANGE they may have no choice but to listen.
Here is what needs to happen immediately:
THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT MUST STOP ARRESTING CUBAN CITIZENS FOR SIMPLY BEING IN THE COMPANY OF A TOURIST. IT IS UNACCEPTABLE AND A HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION.
THE CUBAN GOVERNEMNT MUST CONTINUE TO ALLOW PRIVATE HOUSES TO RENT WITHOUT HARASSMENT. IT IS UNACCEPTABLE TO CREATE APARTHEID BETWEEN THE CUBAN PEOPLE AND TOURISTS. IT IS UNACCEPTABLE TO REQUIRE A CUBAN TO MARRY A TOURIST SIMPLY TO BE IN A RENTAL HOUSE WITH THAT PERSON.
If you agree with this position, please help me by spreading the word. There are many things you can do to help get this message to the Cuban government. Here are some suggestions:
Please copy this protest to every message board and mailing list on the Internet that deals with people traveling to Cuba. Copy it to all your friends who travel to Cuba. Fax it to your travel agent and tell them you are not interested in going to Cuba anymore and they should be aware of these new rules. Copy or fax it to the Canadian government or your MP and ask them why they are doing business with a country that violates their own citizens rights? Or if you are from another country copy it to your own government if they deal with Cuba. Copy or fax it to any company you know that does business with Cuba and ask them if they think this is acceptable treatment of people? Copy it to any web site you can, I do not copyright this document.
Copy this petition everywhere so that the Cuban government find out that we do not want to return to their country if they are treating their own people like this. We want to meet the Cuban people and we want to stay in the rental houses without harassment.
Finally, copy it to them. Here are some addresses to send this to:
Fax for Cuban embassy in Canada: (613) 563-0068
Cuba@ embacuba.ca Webmaster@one.gov.cu root@epol.cipcc.inf.cu comercial@granmai.cip.cu redac2@granmai.cip.cu editor_impreso@granmai.cip.cu root@aduana.islagrande.cu webmaster@infomed.sld.cu
Make sure you tell everyone that you to are unhappy with the current policies in Cuba and will not be returning until this changes.
Thanks to all who help! Please spread this to everyone!
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Thanks for the tips AlLostInSpace13 and Havanaman! I'll post a detailed report when I get back towards the end of December.
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I have been in Cuba in 98-99 and I tell you that crack down that started never ended since. Before 1999 it was free for all. Tonns of non pros especially on summer vacation. But now there are better places to go.
As for prices it was 20.00 gift to non pros. And they DON"T ask for it:) I love them:) Pros in Habana can ask for $60-100
Usually sex is not that great. They hot but rarely give good BJ. Since it is prolly not a usual thing in their sexlifes.
On couple of ocasions I had to talk them into BBBJ and was not impressed. Chicks are beautifull though and warm. But so all Latin American chickas :P
To sum it up avoid Cuba for now to much hassle from Police and very little non pro action.Now that they are all afraid of frequent
police raids.
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Merry christmas, happy new year and happy hunting to everybody here on this board.
Unfortunately I can't spend new years eve in Cuba, but I'll sure be back as soon as I can.
Let there be plenty of fresh peaches in 2003
scorpio
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Hello Guys.
I am mining on the internet but unfortunately have not found any good photoshoots of Cuban beautys. Is there anything online?
I found only this page - http://www.havanacubaconnection.com/age171.htm
Can you please suggest me some sites to see the real(i mean real photos from ohter xxx-tourists) cuba sexy chicas
thank you in advance
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Sign the Partition
[url]http://www.cubacentral.com/petition/[/url]
Sign it so we can all go!!!
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can't say anything about cienfuego. i have visited quantanomo, santiago de cuba, las tunas and camaguey. don’t see or have any problems as email mentioned. i was even stopped by a police for speeding. check out my rental car papers and give me a warning. there was 4 girls with me in the car.
dutchman
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Guys,
Cuba has GREAT women...and is a great Island.
BUT.....it is a MERE Policestate.
Lets all hope Fidel gets it real soon and there will be a (democratic) upraising to end this MADNESS.
Like Email said in his very long and informative post: Cuba right now isn't worth the hassle.
It's a pitty,but it's the truth.
There are other (similar) countries to enjoy oneself:
DR,Brasil to name some.
Johan.
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An E mail I received
Dear friends,
Finally, some good news for a change: two Senators have introduced a bill to
end the embargo on Cuba! And more good news: You can make four
quick-and-easy POSITIVE phone calls today that will help move the U.S.
toward normalized relations with Cuba:
· Call to THANK Senators Max Baucus and Chuck Hagel for taking the lead on
Cuba policy by sponsoring “win-win” legislation that is good for American
farmers, businesses, and travelers, and good for Cuban citizens.
Senator Hagel (R-Nebraska): 202-224-4224 or 308-236-7602
Senator Baucus (D-Montana): 202-224-2651 or 406-657-6790
· Call your OWN Senators and ask them to co-sponsor the “United States-Cuba
Trade Act of 2003.” You can reach your Senators through the Capitol
Switchboard: 202-224-3121. Ask them to contact Timothy Punke (224-4677) with
Senator Baucus or Dayna Cade (224-5804) with Senator Hagel.
· Take a look at the attached “Dear Colleague” letter from Senators Hagel
and Baucus. You can also read the actual bill at [url]www.cubacentral.com.[/url]
Thank you!
cubacentral.com
SUPPORT AMERICAN EXPORTS TO CUBA - AND HELP AMERICAN FARMERS, WORKERS, AND
COMPANIES
Dear Colleague:
Senators Baucus and Hagel will soon introduce the "United States-Cuba Trade
Act of 2003." This legislation creates a "win-win" for American farmers and
business and for Cuban citizens by:
· lifting the trade embargo on Cuba;
· removing Cuba from Jackson-Vanik treatment and providing Cuba with normal
trade relations status on a permanent basis; and
· repealing travel restrictions to Cuba.
Trading with and traveling to Cuba does not represent an endorsement of the
Castro regime. To the contrary, it helps ensure that children in Cuba will
be afforded more opportunity than their parents to have lives that are more
full, free and just by opening Cuban society to democratic ideals.
The unilateral sanctions that we have had in place since 1962 have been
ineffective in bringing about change in Cuba. Since other countries,
including Canada, Mexico, Japan, the EU, and all countries in South and
Central America currently trade with Cuba, U.S. policy puts our farmers,
workers and companies at a competitive disadvantage. By some estimates, we
are missing out on an export market of nearly $1 billion per year.
For 40 years, we have denied U.S. citizens and businesses the ability to
make inroads into Cuba - inroads that are vital if we are ever to work with
the Cuban people to bring about real and lasting reform. We should seek to
influence change from within this repressive society by developing a
relationship with the Cuban people - one that we expect over time will
encourage the peaceful transition to democracy and a market-oriented economy
in the post-Castro era. Using trade, engagement and economic incentives to
affect change are tried and true pillars of U.S. foreign policy, as we are
doing with China and Vietnam. Now is the time to do the same with our
neighbors to the south.
Please contact Timothy Punke (4.4677) with Senator Baucus or Dayna Cade
(4.5804) with Senator Hagel if you are interested in co-sponsoring this
legislation.
Max Baucus Chuck Hagel
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I'm going to Cuba for the first time in February. 2 weeks is a lot of time to spend in one place, and I think I'll probably stay in Havana for 5 days, then hit up another town before returning to Havana for 2-3 more days at the end of my trip.
Cuba veterans, where would you go if you were in my position? Top 2 or 3 cities/towns for a newcomer to Cuba?? Thanks!
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ciscokid:
The only place to go is Isla de la Juventud. Read the recent trip reports. Spend maybe a week there. I have heard things are good in Cienfuegos, but that was not my experience. best of luck.
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interesting article from the london guardian. looks like bush & co are taking a stronger line.
us fines veteran cyclist £5,000 for taking holiday in cuba
duncan campbell in los angeles
wednesday february 26, 2003
the guardian
joan slote, who went on a cycling holiday to cuba, was fined nearly $8,000 (£5,000) for breaking the us embargo of the island. her case is one of a growing number in which the us treasury department is actively pursuing americans who have visited the island or who are suspected of encouraging others to do so.
the numbers of american visitors sought for breaking the embargo has quadrupled since the bush administration took office. the treasury department now warns that those who visit without permission may face fines of up to $55,000. the moves come despite a growing campaign in the us among farmers, entrepreneurs and politicians, many of them republicans, to end the embargo. currently, americans are banned from visiting cuba unless they have a licence to do so on religious, humanitarian, educational or journalistic grounds.
mrs slote, 74, from san diego, is a gold medal-winning cyclist at the senior olympics. she booked a cycling holiday three years ago through a toronto-based company which told her she did not require a licence if she entered cuba via canada. her holiday was a success but on her return to the us from toronto, she was asked by us customs if she had visited any countries apart from canada. she told them about cuba and said she had bought token souvenirs, each worth about $1, as presents.
months later, she received a letter from the treasury saying she had been fined $7,500 and an additional $130 for the souvenirs. as her monthly income is $1,200, she is unable to pay. the treasury demands are now increasing, adding 6% interest to every claim.
"the whole thing has been a nightmare," said mrs slote. the treasury has now indicated they may subtract the money from her social security.
it is not only people who travel to cuba who are being investigated. tom warner of the seattle/cuba friendship committee was told by the treasury that he now faced thousands of dollars in fines because his website listed details of holidays in cuba. they said he was seeking "to organise and promote" in breach of the embargo.
"they told me i had 20 days to respond or face a $20,000 fine," said mr warner yesterday. he believed he had "the dubious honour" of being the first to face a penalty just for posting such information on a website.
mr warner said he believed the treasury's action was unconstitutional. "i am concerned that this assault on the freedom of speech and expression - especially through the internet - be staunched before it chills people's free expression and their ability to respond to objectionable behaviour by the government," he said.
global exchange, a san francisco-based organisation which organises educational trips to cuba and other countries, said the harassment of american travellers to the island had increased significantly over the past year. malia everette of global exchange said that although the us allowed visits to china and vietnam, "powerful lobby groups" opposed loosening restrictions to cuba.
around 19,000 travel licences were granted in 2001 but there is no record of how many americans entered without notifying the government. the treasury is investigating 697 people for breaking the embargo in 2001, compared with 188 the previous year.
the main pressure for maintaining the embargo comes from the conservative wing of the cuban american community in florida which played a key part in the election of president bush and his brother, jeb, as the state's governor.
more than 160 countries have called, through the un, for an end to the embargo, which was launched in 1962 and intensified by president reagan in 1982.