The official mantra of the Cuban government is that life may be tough Ñ owing principally, they argue, to the US embargo Ñ but most people are content. Crime is low (police are everywhere); there are few beggars (ditto); nobody is starving (a UN report claims 17% of the population was undernourished by the end of the 1990s); and education and health care are good and free. There is little evidence of such contentment on the streets. Fifteen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disappearance of the island's indulgent sponsors in the Kremlin, Cuba's economy is still in crisis. It has improved in recent years owing to trade deals with China, Venezuela and a growing number of European companies. But basic goods are still rationed. A family ration book allows one tube of toothpaste every three months, a bar of soap every two months, 5lb of rice, 2lb of beans, 1/2lb of coffee per person and six eggs Ñ on an average monthly wage of less than £10. As a result, a black market flourishes and nearly everyone is forced to find unorthodox and illegal ways of surviving...................
"The climate of fear this regime plays on has been very effective. We are frozen in time. At the moment, there is no sign of a thaw," said one prominent academic, who also wants to remain anonymous. "There is a great emptiness and disorientation in this society. People are searching for alternatives. But the government does not give alternatives any space to grow."
