Cuban citizens are denied access to many buildings, such as hotels, which tourists, non-Cuban citizens, may frequent at their leisure. The difference between the tourist arena
and the average Cuban citizen's is marked.
In 1997, the average bilingual office clerk made only $9.50 per month. Poverty is wide spread. Only recently have Cuban people been allowed to privatize certain types of businesses. Many people use the opportunity to supplement their income by catering to tourists, whose dollars have much more clout in the local economy than its own currency, pesos.
Many people who disagree with Communism would point to the troubled economy of Cuba and fault its Communist government for the state of affairs. In truth, the poverty many Cuban citizens suffer has more to do with its (lack of) trading partners, particularly since the collapse of the Soviet Union. As an illustration, the lack of automobile fuel (and the ability to purchase it) has forced people to rely on animal and human driven vehicles.
