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Cubans told to shun foreigners
By Stephen Gibbs, BBC
News, Havana. February 26, 2005.
More than 100,000 workers in Cuba's tourism
industry have been ordered to restrict their
contact with foreigners to an absolute minimum.
New regulations from the communist state's
tourism ministry apply to Cubans on the
island and overseas.
They form part of a series of moves by
the Cuban government to tighten state control
across the country.
Workers are also told to watch their foreign
employers and report actions that might
threaten Cuba's revolution.
The new regulations make stark reading.
Everyone who works in Cuba's expanding tourism
industry - from bar staff to taxi drivers
- is warned to keep a safe distance from
foreigners.
Workers are advised that they can attend
events at the homes of non-Cubans only with
advanced written permission.
Gifts received from foreigners have to
be declared. Electronic goods such as video
players are expected to be handed over to
the ministry for common use.
Discipline
The rules have been approved by Cuba's
new tourism minister, Manuel Marrero.
He is a colonel in the Cuban army and appears
to have been charged with bringing discipline
to the entire sector, but even he might
find imposing these regulations a struggle.
Jobs in tourism are the most sought after
in Cuba, precisely because they bring easy
contact with foreigners and hard currency.
The rules are the latest of a series which
have been passed by the Cuban government
with the broad aim of recentralisation.
In the last few months, the US dollar has
been removed from circulation. Private enterprise
has been curbed and managers of Cuban state
enterprises have been stripped of much of
their autonomy.
President Fidel Castro has said that recentralisation
is enabling the Cuban state to rise again,
like a phoenix.
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