Posts

Showing posts from March, 2016

Obama Visits Cuba

Image
Written by Ian Sergeant Today was absolutely surreal, as the streets were nearly empty in the several hours before Obama's arrival. Sundays in Havana are generally quiet, as Cubans, family-oriented as they are, go en masse to swimming pools or to the beaches in the outskirts of the city. Adding to that the fact that most Cubans didn't bother going out into the city due to rumors that everything would be closed in anticipation of higher than normal security needs for Obama's visit, Havana was like a ghost town. Everyone near a TV kept tuned to one of the state channels, which were broken up periodically with general news reports that included updates about how Obama had not yet arrived. More conservative (Communist) people draped large Cuban flags over their balconies, while others flaunted both Cuban and US flags. Once Air Force One landed, the tone of the coverage changed to something akin to the crush US Americans once had on the British Royal Family. Strangely absent fro