4 April 2008 - 6:00am
Six weeks after taking office, Raul Castro has lifted the ban on Cubans
staying in local hotels.
"Cuba's so-called 'tourism apartheid' -- which has long prohibited
locals from staying at hotels -- ends midnight Monday, according to news
agencies in Havana.
The move ends a ban that many Cubans had fixated on as a prime example
of the inequities and hardships they faced under Fidel Castro's regime.
The lifting comes five weeks after Fidel Castro's brother, Raúl, took
over the nation's presidency, and just days after he ended the ban on
Cubans owning personal mobile phones, computers and household appliances.
But the measure is largely symbolic: a night's stay at a luxury hotel in
Cuba can cost more than $200 -- which is just about what the average
Cuban earns in a year.
Cubans were prohibited from staying at hotels even if someone else paid
the tab.
Reuters news agency reported Monday that now Cubans can also rent cars
and go to beaches once restricted to tourists."
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