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Monica, kudos to your parents! The tragedy is that the experience that your parents had on their trip is precisely the same experience that I have had. We've lost the public relations war. Most people really believe that Castro is good, the USA is evil and Che was a self-sacrificing martyr.

Monica, I for one travel to Argentina, Chile and for that matter the rest of the world. So I have my share of experience like your parents, but you need to keep in mind that is our job if if we as free cubans want to denounce the lies of Castro, we are our own ambassadors, our our propaganda mouthpiece, each one of us with our scarce resources need to let people know our side of the story and most believe are completetely unaware of the reality in Cuba.

Every time I travel, I find myself involved in political discussions, whether I want to or not, but that is our reality and our duty as political exiles, to enlighten other cultures about the failures of communism, it is hard sometimes impossible but remember every time you engage in a intelligent conversation or discuss the reality of Cuba with someone else outside our circle, you are passing along the message and hopes of the people that cannot do it for themselves, our brothers and sisters that are left behind

Argentina and Spain. Both filled with guevara lovers.

Interesting story happened to me in 1985 when I was traveling through Italy as a college student. It was 6/10/85, myself and my friends were watching a soccer match between Juventus (Italian team) and Liverpool for the European Championship. The match took place in Brussels left 38 dead and 437 injured. The next day, Italy was ablaze. They were throwing out the British tourists from their hotels and from bars and restaurants.

I was traveling in a small town near Orvieto Italy. I went to a bar to get some grub and some local tough guys came to us as if to pick a fight and said, "sei inglese?" I responded in Italian, non, sono Cubano. (I figured it would catch them off guard and better than saying American). They clearly wanted to beat someone up. But when I said I was Cuban, the one dude bursted out "Che Guevara" and bought me a beer.

I did not have the heart to tell him that che was not Cuban and for my safety I was not going to discuss his misdeeds either. At that time, the communist party was strong in Italy. I bit my lip, drank the free beer, and was lucky to make it out ok.

Good for your parents sticking up for themselves! I knew a Cuban woman in Tucuman in northern Argentina, married to an Argentine. At least her circle of friends knew the truth about Cuba! Since she also taught English, she may have influenced a fair number of Argentines.

Monica,

I think that as tourists (more so if we don't fit the "American stereotype") the moment we mention Cuba, is the point of no return ... then we have to listen to the "I admire your leader" or I have visited Cuba so many times . . .

I had an interesting experience this summer with a French couple who swapped a couple of weeks with one of my neighbors. Since I speak French, I helped them out ... then a couple of days later, we were talking about my Lebanese heritage, but I mentioned that I was Cuban ... they started talking about how much they loved Cuba and everything Cuban ... that they had been in Cuba at least three times as tourists and could not wait to go back ... she then asked me how often I visited the island ... all it took was for me to explain that my family left in 1962 and I refused to "cooperate" with the regime and the tourism apartheid ... that God willing I would return one day when Cuba became democratic ... suddenly they did not seem to need my help again :) ... "c'est la vie"!!!

I wish you well :) Melek

“Man is not free to watch impassively the enslavement and dishonor of men, nor their struggles for liberty and honor.”~ Marti

Melek,

It's funny you say mention how a couple extra details about yourself changed the situation completely.

After about a week or so, when asked where they were from, my parents started saying:

"We're Cuban-Americans. We've lived in the United States for 40 years."

That introduction established their political position and helped them avoid hearing so many of the "I love vacationing in Cuba!" responses.

I have encountered the same things all over the world, except in China. I always say that I am Cuban, but that I live in the United States and consider myself Cuban-American. This tends to curtail some of the pro-castro and che comments. In China our guide asked us and I gave him my usual response, to which he said "fidel evil communist like Mao". I was surprised at his candor. He later talked to us, of course in private, and told us of some of the terrible things the chinese people have endured and we bonded, as we could relate to it.

Ugh! Where to start?

Living in Italy for three years had me frequently having to explain reality to people. I met people from all over the world since Florence really is an international city. In Florence the communist party is alive and well and thriving.

A dear friend of mine asked me to help him out at his restaurant one night and I did. One of his cooks asked me what my heritage was and when I told him he yells out, "Viva la revolucion!" I visibly gagged. I gagged more when he followed it up with, "Viva che!" I informed him that I am a FREE Cuban and hated castro et al. He was stunned. STUNNED. He tried to convince me of how great the revolution was and the wonderful situations the lucky Cubans were in.

I offered him a one way ticket there if he wanted to live there. He said the US government wouldn't let him. Riiiight.

My friend then jumped in to defend che. His attempt to end the argument on a good note? Well, it was that we should all like che because he was passionate about his cause. I told him that Hitler was passionate about his too. He just kind of stared at me for a second and retorted that Frank Sinatra was in the mafia. (He knows of my worship of Frank.)

That was just one example. There were many. I also once started screaming at an American kid I knew for wearing a che shirt. The kid had no clue that it could possibly be offensive to anyone. After I schooled him I never saw him wear it again.

I was also annoyed by all the people who told me how much they loved vacationing in Cuba. I like to ask these people how they enjoyed the vacations in South Africa during apartheid.

It can drive you to drink.

Monica: I congratulate your parents for their patriotism. The Castro regime had hoped that when exiles like your parents left the island, they would forget all about Cuba. Half a century later, the Communists have been unable to subdue that spirit, which is what differentiates a political exile from an economic immigrant. Argentina and Chile have Socialist governments. There is rampant anti-Americanism throughout the world, which is expressed against any of America's allies, especially successful Cuban exiles that can travel abroad. I visited Madrid in 1998, on the centennial of the Spanish-Cuban-American War, and the Spaniards were still arguing in the media about how they would have been able to defeat the U.S. if only. . . .

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