There was a lot of controversy at the end of 2014 when Cuban-Americans heard how Pope Francis was involved in brokering a new deal between the U.S. and Cuba, which also secured the release of American citizen Alan Gross from Cuban custody.
There are strong feelings over the Communist nation 90 miles off America’s shores, and the announcement opened up old wounds and, in some cases, pitted Cuban-American Catholics against the pope.
These days, though, we seem to filter a lot of our domestic and foreign policy through appearances on late-night comedy shows, so TBS’ Conan O’Brien headed to Havana to shoot some segments.
Although O’Brien tried to stay out of the politics, it didn’t sit well with everyone. From Carmen Pelaez at Remezca.com:
You can’t go to Cuba and be apolitical. Traveling there is a political act alone. The brands he joked about at the grocery store were all companies that were appropriated by the Cuban government. That cigar factory he visited was taken from a Cuban family of cigar makers. Cubans cannot afford to eat at paladares because the average Cuban only makes $20 a month, creating an unofficial tourist apartheid where foreigners enjoy Cuba while Cubans endure the regime. The “ruins” that took Conan’s breath away are dilapidated buildings that thousands of people have to live in because they are not free to move out of them without government permission.
Did I expect Conan to go deep? No. That would be unfair of me.
Click here for the rest.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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