C. Peter Ripley

In 1993 the Cuban government began allowing Cubans to establish their own small businesses. It also made it legal for Cubans to possess foreign currencies, including dollars, thus making it easier for them to sell goods and services to tourists who were now coming to Cuba in unprecedented numbers. Within a year, more than fifty thousand Cubans had received business licenses and were engaging in entrepreneurial activity, many in connection with tourism.

C. Peter Ripley was an American journalist who traveled frequently to Cuba. In this excerpt, he describes a visit to Havana in December 1994. Ripley is surprised to discover that many people who were once considered to be black marketeers are now allowed to do business openly. Although he notes with approval that a certain air of prosperity seems to have returned to Havana, he also acknowledges...