Show Originally Aired: 5/7/2003 CALL 1 800-423-TALK
Culture and Politics in Cuba
Woman sells postcards and souvenirs, Old Havana, Cuba (AP) Email to friend
How about some time taking in the sights and sounds, the architecture and art of old Havana. If you're an American, you can forget it. For those with a USA passport, the only way to get to Cuba legally, recently, has been to sign up for an officially approved "people to people" tour sponsored by a University, or museum.
But now the Bush Administration is putting an end to these trips -- claiming they are little more than salsa dancing and mojito drinking extravaganzas, masquerading as "cultural exchanges." and that the money spent helps prop up Fidel Castro. Others argue that such trips actually undermine Castro's power by introducing Cubans to the outside world, and educating Americans about Cuban arts and culture. Closing the curtain again.
Gustavo Perez-Firmat, professor of Humanities at Columbia University, poet, fiction writer, and author of many books, including Life on the Hyphen (1994), which won the Eugene M. Kayden University Press National Book Award
Delia Poey, professor of Spanish and Latin American literature at Florida State University, and author of "Iguana Dreams," an anthology of contemporary Latin fiction
Terry Karl, professor of Political Science at Stanford University.
Gustavo Perez-Firmat expresses mixed feelings about the embargo. listen
Gustavo Perez-Firmat knows people inside Cuba, but would not go back until the regime changes. listen
