What part of my writings led you to say that I’m “peddling propaganda”?

I wrote:

This is a monument to an assault that the revolutionary fighters led against a train full of the dictator Batista’s men and weapons. They used a bulldozer - which can be seen at the monument - to destroy the train tracks early in the morning, then laid in wait until the train derailed and they would ambush the troops (most of which were already dead). It was a major victory for the rebels as they captured a huge number of arms and supplies.

It was an assault that was led against Batista’s men, the rebels did derail the train, they did recover a large cache of weapons, and it was a very decisive turning point in the rebellion. I didn’t cheer for one side or the other, but just stated the facts.

I’ve been detained and asked for my papers on several occasions in the US. If you would’ve followed the link where I said “I’ve had worse things happen to me in the United States”, you would’ve come across one such (quite humourous) example.

I never said the US was a “Nazi” state - you’re just sensationalizing what you seem to assume to be my point of view on the United States. This being a blog about the Republic of Cuba, I would prefer to continue writing about Cuba, and not the US - if that’s alright with you, of course?

Cheers,

Steve

PS - I almost removed your comment thinking it was spam, since your handle links to a commercial site selling tshirts.

I’m glad you see people being given good amounts of food because what I have discuss with Cuban people from Cuban is very different. I have seen Cuba through the eyes of someone that spent his life working for the cause only to see himself with nothing. He had to go back but he was able to explain so much to me. I couldn’t understand how the people accept it all and after speaking with him I had a better picture.

As for learning about Cuba and helping that way. I try to learn everything I can about Cuba and have instilled into my children the need to know not only how to speak but to understand the Country itself. I’ve tried to let them learn without the issues of the past and I hope that they will visit Cuba like you have done.

Keep writing and remember those of us reading are traveling with you and thank you for doing this.

I don’t write about what you said because throughout visiting the entire island of Cuba - cities, towns and villages - people didn’t really seem to be going hungry. Is there poverty? Yes, of course. Is it more abject or striking than anywhere else in the world? No, it isn’t.

I wasn’t born in Cuba, but I feel more at home in Cuba today than almost anywhere else in the world. We could sit here and pontificate all day about the meaning of “freedom”, but it’s something difficult to define and even more difficult to find - as much in the United States as in Cuba.

How do people live? Well, that’s what I’m trying to convey, in the most non-political tone possible. I do apologize if I fail at that sometimes, but all I can do is write what I saw - the good, the bad, and everything in between.

To answer your question, no, it’s not as “bad” as you seem to hear. This was my 4th time in Cuba (and my longest stay), and I’m returning again early this year.

You say you can’t “help everyone your family left behind” - but you can. The best thing you can do is to learn about Cuba from people who are living on the island right now. One thing that is certain is that you’ll never be able to get the truth about Cuba from sources in the USA, that’s a guaranteed, proven fact.

Is it all peachy? No, of course not - Cuba has many issues (some of them new and endemic) that it needs to deal with, not the least of which is national identity.

I wasn’t blocked from writing anything, and the “scraps” you mention are generally organically-grown, pesticide-free fruits and vegetables grown in urban community-owned farms. I stayed outside of casas and with many friend - new and old - and food was not a problem.

As for hospitals, I can’t comment on that since I didn’t go to one. Again, though, the people I dealt with generally spoke highly of the health services offered.

Con amistad,

Steve

I was born in Cuba but it’s not my home. I’m an American that has tried to give my children what my parents gave me “a free country”.

I want to understand how people live and is it as bad as we hear. I’ve never been back and don’t plan on it because I can’t help everyone my family left behind so if I don’t match the faces with the names it won’t seem so wrong to me that I have food and my kids are with us and not in some work camp.

Did you not write this stuff because you didn’t see it and it’s all peachy there? Were you blocked from writing how people make lines after lines for scraps? Were you blocked from writing how if you get sick and have to go to a hospital you have to take everything from a light bulb to towels? Did you just not see any of it??????

As for feeling familiar with what I’m saying, I think the fact that I’m a foreigner actually gives me an advantage in being able to describe it, since Cuba is so different than what I’m used to, I’m able to remember every detail vividly. On second thought, though, even within Cuba things change very much from city the city.

I will definitely keep writing, and I’m grateful for your kind words.

And this new story is no exception of why I am interested in reading. Is kind of funny for me to read about the trip of some foreigner through my country, mostly because I feel very familiar with everything you say, and I almost always know what you mean. I’ve might even been at that burger place in downtown Santa Clara, which is perhaps the Cuban city I know the most besides Havana, my birth place.

And sorry for the incident, those things happen. As you said later, I’ve also heard about worse experiences in several other “free-world” countries.

Anyway, keep writing about your trip. It is interesting and entertaining, really.