I was in Cuba on a "cultural visa" for a week about 10 years ago and a few things struck me:<p>- There are no rich people and there are no poor people. I didn't see a single homeless person / beggar but I also didn't see a single person that looked "middle class" in US terms.<p>- People seemed really happy to talk to Americans. I remember talking to a woman celebrating her 86th birthday and she told me (through a translator that she'd "see me next year in Miami".).<p>- Based on my understanding of the USSR, I was expecting a cult of personality around Castro, but there was no 'Placa del Castro' or anything like that. The only cult of personality was for Che Guevara, who was everywhere.<p>- There were two economies...one for tourists and one for Cubans. If a Cuban had a job, like in a hotel, where they could get dollars, they would be very well off. Everyone else was left with ration cards.<p>- We met a kid who spoke English but was afraid to talk (or to be heard talking) in English in public. He took us to his house where we talked for several hours and then there was a party (his grandmother's 86th birthday) where we (a friend and I) drank rum and partied until the wee hours. The rum was in a really old plastic jug (from the 80s?) that they would pour they monthly ration or rum into...they saved up for celebrations.<p>Overall I walked left thinking that Cuba would be a great place to live for most people but if you were the "Bill Gates" of Cuba it would suck. I suspect that when the embargo ends and sanctions are over (both ways) Cuba will become the "Caribbean Tiger" like Ireland or South Korea. The population is very healthy and education but the infrastructure sucks. All they need now is capital investment and they will really thrive. I suspect in the long run (as in 100 years) Communism will have served Cuba well relative to it's regional peers that didn't experience Communism...similar to China.