The most interesting part I thought was that they double checked everything with the US Government. Also, that they are not allowed to book travel from other countries to Cuba, only the US to Cuba. Is that because AirBnb is a US company and so it can't encourage other citizens to go to Cuba? That seems odd since Canadians have been able to travel to Cuba for decades.

>Turner says she "gut checked everything" with the U.S. government. Could Airbnb hire a Cuban photographer? (yes). Could it publish photos taken by a Cuban photographer on the website? (yes). Could it book travel for people outside of the United States to Cuba? (no).

It's because as much as we want to believe that we don't, largely because we are fed a constant barrage of self-congratulatory propaganda ourselves, we live under a similar type of regime as those we chastise all over the world. The only difference really is that we are far more sophisticated in our propaganda methods and can largely leverage our size and resources to defer challenge and realization that we live under such a regime. Essentially it's a matter of the best way to convince someone of something is to get them to believe it was their idea.

As you have pointed out, Cuba has been a great vacation destination for such inclined for decades and essentially in an unimpeded manner for basically everyone else in the world besides the USA.

What's kind of sad is that I have a really bad feeling about how this will go for Cuba. No, I don't think they should remain stuck in the past and play the role of a quaint, impoverished Caribbean island, but I also hope they can stave off the immense pressure that will come down to bear on Cuba that will attempt to sabotage, undermine, corrupt, and exploit every little opportunity that represents itself to dominate the island and its residents. I would not be surprised if within 20 years the whole island is essentially a replica of something like the USVI or Bahamas, where the vast majority of native residents are essentially nothing more than live-in local service staff in grotesque resorts and harbors of cruise ship tourist shipments.

*we live under a similar type of regime as those we chastise all over the world

We don't, and it's a disservice to all the people stuck under those regimes to pretend that we do.

You're right, our government only has better surveillance capabilities, a much more compliant population, and presents itself as a straightforward, albeit imperfect, republic in order to give it an air of legitimacy. Apples and oranges, really. I'm sure Erich Honecker and the "State Security" could only dream of such a scenario.

Cuba isn't North Korea level bad, but they suppress dissent, hold political prisoners. Perhaps the best could be said is our poor are a little more well off.

I see this step as a great 'highlighter' of future opportunity for other businesses, both entering Cuba or other, difficult(?!) markets. It's not that there isn't a way, it's about looking at all options and adapting or evolving to fit a need. Where there's a will, there's a way!

This sounds kinda similar to what's happening with the legalization of marijuana for recreational use - a lot of huge opportunities are being created for the companies willing to dive into waters that are still a little legally dubious. A huge amount of money may well be coming into Cuba in the next 5-10 years, and it may be easy to get a dominant position in a particular market just by being first.

And then we can hope that the increased economic activity will be more effective at triggering political reform there than the sanctions have been...