SEMO group finds Cuba a land of crumbling buildings

Cuba's crumbling buildings left a lasting impression with a group of Southeast Missouri State University faculty and students who returned Wednesday from a weeklong trip to the communist nation.

"We probably saw only 20 buildings in Havana that looked like they had been painted in the last 10 years," said Dr. Peter Gordon, a Southeast marketing professor who helped organize the trip.

"There are buildings literally falling down," Gordon said Thursday.

Dr. Peter Bergerson, who chairs Southeast's political science department, was among 17 people in the touring group. He said the Cuban economy is based on cigar and rum exports and tourism.

The government provides free medical care and education.

"It appears they provide a minimum level of housing, health and education," Bergerson said. "They seem to do a reasonably good job at it."

In Cuba, American cars travel the streets, a reminder of the island's commerce with the United States before the Cuban Revolution.

Cubans crave American dollars.

"The dollar was just king," Bergerson said.

The group left Cape Girardeau on March 27 and flew into Havana via a flight from Cancun, Mexico. The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Cuba.