Cuba Guide
Introduction to Cuba
The last decade has seen evocative, beguiling Cuba slough off its outdated image of a country isolated from the Western world to become the jewel of the Caribbean. Communist credentials notwithstanding, Cuba well understands the commercial power of rebranding and has reinvented itself as the home of sun, salsa and rum with chutzpah and an apparent insouciance which are intrinsic to the country. Shaped by one of the twentieth century's longest-surviving revolutions, until recently Cuba's image had been inextricably bound up with its politics, rather than its long satiny beaches, offshore cays and jungle-covered peaks. Now, the country is changing and Cuba today is characterized as much as anything by a frenetic sense of transition as it shifts from socialist stronghold to one of the Caribbean's major tourist destinations, running on capitalist dollars.