The Italian tourist was probably some middle-class nondescript person. The Communist regime has turned these elsewhere meaningless foreigners into potentates to be awed and revered by their power derived from a fist full of dollars.

Henry I fully understand tourism apartheid in Cuba believe me. But let me tell you another fact. Today if you are a native in a Puerto Rican Beach or a Punta Cana Beach since 9m in the morning with a girlfriend or wife and you need to buy some refreshments and food and try to enter a nearby tourist hotel you WILL most likely GET the same Beto treatment.

Here in Miami there are resorts where the general public (not hotel guests) are not allowed in. But it has to do with being a hotel guest not your nationality. Also those resorts are private property, it's not a government policy that keeps the natives from the tourists separate. Obviously that's the case in Cuba. A dominican that has the money to spend on a room can do so. In Cuba you know as well as I do that that isn't the case.

The reason why free entrance to the hotels in Punta cana is not allowed, is because these hotels are all inclusive, in other words, all you can eat and drink is already included in the prce of the hotel room. If they would allow anyone who is not a hotel guest to come in, they would go bankrupt.
This is very different than the tourist apartheid that exists in Cuba.
In Puerto Rico I never had any problem visiting any tourist hotels, but maybe things have changed lately and now there are some that are also all inclusive.

And how many regime defenders who have "been to Cuba" ventured a millimeter outside of the tourist areas?

I agree with Henry 100% about that comment from Puerto Rico, I was in Nassau Paradise beach an all inclusive, but there were private individuals selling drinks and food in the beach. They took my money. The apartheid system is very deminishing as an individual, I remember been line up en la bodeguita in the 70's and a bunch of russians will coming and go ahead of the line, never seen that in my travels and if they do it, that restaurant will not see my money.

In Puerto Rico, not only hotels, but also private condominiums at Isla Verde, like Marbella del Caribe, have their own private beaches where the public is denied access. That is because it is private property whose owners are intent on avoiding the high crime rate on the island. No one is denied a hotel stay due to their nationality and race. Puerto Rican laws are clear about that. In contrast, Cuba does not have similar laws against tourism apartheid.

This is very different than the tourist apartheid that exists in Cuba.
In Puerto Rico I never had any problem visiting any tourist hotels

los tiempos cambian señores....

En Isla Verde el Hotel San Juan is not all inclusive . Only guests allowed lo dice en la parte de la piscina y hay dos guardias en la puerta que da hacia la playa 24 hours

Jorge aqui si puedes entrar por el lobby y disfrutar de las amenidades. Me referi a la parte de la historia de Beto que señala entrar por la parte de atras de la playa. Sea inclusive o no , aqui en PR en la gran mayoria de ellos YA NO PUEDES ENTRAR SINO ERES GUEST. Aunque tengas 1 millon en el bolsillo, no entras. It is more of a security issue... Si te hospedas no tienes problemas por supuesto.
Reconozco que el problema de cuba is more apartheid que security...That i have it very clear my friends

In Puerto Rico, not only hotels, but also private condominiums at Isla Verde, like Marbella del Caribe, have their own private beaches where the public is denied access

Señor delacova con todo el respeto ..Eso es incorrecto . Conozco Marbella . Esa playa no es privada. Acceso libre para todos. En ese litoral de IslaVerde no existe ninguna playa privada... Ni siquiera el Ritz Carlton la tiene

We're talking about two different things. One is how a hotel decides to operate to protect its guests and its property and the other is institionalized segregation of foreigners and native citizens.

Some countries have different laws regarding beaches. For example, here in Miami the area closest to the water is public property. You may park your car at a public lot and start out on the piece of beach and walk behind every hotel. Each of the hotels has its own policy on the entry to its property. But the water and sand access is for everyone. It's my understanding that the same is true in the DR. The strip of sand closest to water (60 feet or 60 meters, I can't remember which) is open for all.

In Cuba the policy is to keep tourists separate from natives. Not just on the beaches and in the hotels but in general. They disguise this violation of civil liberties as a security precaution.

AbajoFidel,
Cuando viví en Marbella del Caribe hace 20 años, había un portón al costado del edificio que no permitía al público pasar de la calle a la playa. El único acceso a la playa era por la misma playa. Me han informado que la criminalidad en Puerto Rico está peor hoy que hace 20 años, por lo que encuentro raro que hayan abierto el portón del condominio al público para libre acceso.

Bueno lo del porton es solo eso un porton en una calle. Hay varias entradas en todo ese litoral por las calles aledañas..Creo que los mismo residentes pusieron el porton por su seguridad ..de noche drogas , homosexualismo etc...

ahora un grupo de ambientalistas han logrado derribar el muro alegando discrimen..La playa en si siempre ha sido publica y hay acceso suficiente´por las otras calles

I lived in Cuba until I was almost 9. When my grandfather visited with "la comunidad", I distinctly remember being granted access to places until then and afterwards verboten to me and my family, like a tourist-only store where I saw blue jeans (for the first time), cameras and other electronics, and other such goods in the well-stocked store, in itself also something new. We were also allowed to enter the hotel he stayed at. My grandfather became, during his visit, our passport to the tourist side of Cuba.

At another time, I remember having dinner with my parents at Rio Cristal and seeing watermelon across the room. I wanted some, but the waiter told my parents it was only available to tourists, surreal but true.

AbajoFidel, buddy you are wrong I have been in Punta Cana and my wife is Dominican, I never experienced discrimination to go in or to stay anywhere in the Dominican Republic, having said that I lived in Cuba until I was 14 and trust me you are way off base in your comparison

This is one Scotch-Irish boy from Tobacco Road who will NEVER visit Cuba until it is FREE. Shame and dog poop on every European or any other tourist who visits Cuba before then.

How does a Scotch-Irish boy from Tobacco Road get a handle like "Zhangliqun"? Anyway, this Scottish-Irish-English-Cherokee boy from the low country agrees with Zhangliqun.