In a message dated 3/18/98 11:23:32 PM, you wrote:

<<Something that really interests me is why the Cuban economy is doing so
badly. Is it soley because of the embargo, or are there other internal
reasons for this.  What is the standard of living like in Cuba?

Also, how efficient is the political process?  Is there still pandering to
interest groups in the economy (such as farmers, industrial workers, etc)?
Or does the government rule with an even hand?>>

Fidel Castro and many Cubans feel that the economy is failing mostly due to
the embargo.  It's really hard to say as an outsider (especially one who is
not really knowledgeable about economics) but the general feeling I got was
that the embargo was a large component of cuba's failing economy, but the
collapse of the soviet union was a much bigger component.  Cuba had all the
supplies it needed until the soviet union collapsed, that was when their
"special period" started.  special period is another way of saying severe
economic depression.  They have the basics there, everyone has a few pairs of
pants and a few shirts, and they have a certain amount of rationed food.
There isn't a lot of variety though.  In Havana they have water about 16 hours
a day, and in the countryside it's sometimes as infrequently as once every 2
days for a few hours.  There are frequent blackouts that sometimes last for
2-3 hours.  It certainly isn't perfect, but considering the problems they have
had they are very resourceful.  As for the political pandering, I couldn't
find any evidence of it.  Hierarchy isn't something that is a noticable part
of Cuban society.