Bus ride to our hotel in Havana, Cuba.

Alice, Barry, Jimbo and Uncle Jack’s panoramic bus ride to our hotel in Havana, Cuba.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under direction from the President, regulates travel to Cuba pursuant to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations as part of the U.S. Embargo Against Cuba. Currently there are 12 categories of authorized travel to Cuba, which included educational activities which supported the culture of the Cuban people.
In 2016, any American could legally travel to Cuba, provided they engage in a full-time schedule of compliant activities, intended to enhance contact with the Cuban people. This is how our Apple Vacations tour was promoted and which we did daily in Cuba, February 21 to 25, 2016. At the time of this blog (January 08, 2020), this type of tour is no longer being offered.
We were told there could be as many as 30 on our tour. At the time of our Apple tour they could only get rooms for 20! Note; all our tour activities had interaction with Cuban people. The four of us thoroughly enjoyed our tour and hopefully you can pick this up from my blogs. The residents we talk with did not hold back on their thoughts on how the Cuban government operated. Some thought it could be improved others were quite content with the Cuban government. I have included my thoughts of my understanding of Cuban life in 2016.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (1926 – 2016). A Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist. Typical of his regime was when the Jeep that was carrying his body to the grave site, broke down. Soldiers had to push the Jeep the rest of the way.
1. Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976.
2. President of the Council of State Council of Ministers from 1976 to 2008.
3. First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011.
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (1931 – ) The Cuban citizens I spoke to thought Raúl would be tougher than his brother Fidel when Fidel resigned as president because Raúl had been in command of the military. They now feel he has been more tolerant than Fidel.
1. Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008.
2. President of the Council of State Council of Ministers from 2008 tom 2018.
3. First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 2011 to present (2020).