Recently I went to Cuba with people from Beacon Hill, the Back Bay, Cambridge, Newton and one couple from Maine. Beacon Hill Village sponsored the trip.

We were not alone. According to Reuters, almost 100,000 Americans made the trip in 2012, mostly through “people to people” programs, a ruse created by our government so as not to offend those who think we should have nothing to do with this “communist” island. Most of the people making the trip are Democrats. A professor leading a group from Sacramento, California said he rarely squired Republicans, so now we have another way to measure America’s great divide.

“Communist” is in quotes because the place seems nothing like Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union in their heyday. It is more like any tropical country run by two-bit dictators. I remember the early 1960s when many Americans welcomed Castro taking power. He was to be an improvement over the thug-in-charge, Batista, and his Mafia cronies, and maybe he was. Cubans are now healthy, living longer than Americans, because health care is free and effective. They enjoy free schooling through the university level. Continue reading →