If we go too quickly, it can turn into a ghetto. As Cuba approaches its 10th year without financial support from the former Soviet Union, the worst appears to be over. The days of 18-hour blackouts and severe food rations are gone. The gross domestic product has inched upward every year since 1995, as the country has opened itself to tourism and foreign investments. The government's idea was that generating tourism dollars would allow it to boost the welfare of all Cubans.
Officials openly acknowledge the problem at the center of Cuban life today.
And today we don't have a solution for this disparity. Young Gonzalez' father, Juan Miguel, who lives in the town of Cardenas, about 75 miles east of Havana on Cuba's northern shore, works at a nearby restaurant and resort complex. His late mother, Elizabet Brotons, a resort hotel maid, died when the boat carrying her, Elian and others from Cuba, capsized. Cuba's contrasts reach into every level of society. There is one doctor for every 185 residents, the best ratio among developing nations.