Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/10/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Duane, thanks for your reply about Cuba. I confess to having tried peeling-paint photos once or twice but I never found the results particularly memorable. And with respect to the opportunities for bargains in Cuba, I also don't cheat on my wife but occasionally I like a good cigar, and a good "ron del barrilito" is an amazing thing that will stand up to a fine cognac or a single-barrel bourbon. From what one can tell from the outside, Castro really succeeded in duplicating the Soviet "miracle." He took an impoverished uneducated people with a repressive government and replaced them with an impoverished educated people with an even more repressive government. Let's hope that Cuba can eventually climb out of its hole in the same way that many of the ex-Soviet bloc countries are climbing out of theirs. Still it's supposed to be a fascinating country, and it is the last place in the world where one can see a Soviet-model state in action. I grew up hearing about the Soviet menace, but was too late to see it in Europe. I'd like to see what's left of it in Cuba now, because one thing's for sure -- it's not going to last another ten years. - -Patrick