Are all the people who would know how to run Cuba driving taxis or cutting hair?

            The building in this picture is the Swiss Embassy in Havana but it also houses the United States Interests Section. The US has no formal diplomatic relations with Cuba so this is as close as it gets to a presence in the country and as such this spot has served as the focus for the propaganda war between the two countries.
In 2006 George Bush's US administration began displaying messages in moving electronic billboard which ran across 25 windows of the building. In five foot high red letters there ran quotes from the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Martin luther King and criticism of the Castro's regime.
One from US comedian George Burns read: "How sad that all the people who would know how to run this country are driving taxis or cutting hair."
Castro responded by building a wall of flags to block out the messages. It is a most spectacular display of defiance. It's quiet eerie standing under the rattle and flutter of 138 black flags - one for each person the Cuban government claims the US state has killed on Cuban soil.
I must admit a lot of the people who served us in restaurants or drove us in taxis did seem to speak three languages had engineering degrees or were clearly over qualified to do the washing up.
In June 2009, the very month I took this picture, the electronic billboard was switched off under the direction of The US State Department which that said the "dueling" was not productive. Let's hope Obama can find a way to help the hairdressers.
   

Taken in: Cuba / Ciudad de la Habana / La Habana / Vedado (show map)

Taken on: June 12, 2009

Tags:

cuba

castro

embassy

propaganda

communism

capitalism

fidel

havana

habana

poles

swiss

diplomacy

george

burns

george burns

obama

United States Interests

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Sets appears in: • Cuba 2009

Groups appears in: • Cuba - todo a lo Cubano

Camera: Canon EOS 5D, f/13.0, 1/100 sec, 24mm, ISO 50 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D
Aperture:	f/13.0
Exposure Time:	0.01 sec (1/100)
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	50
Exposure Bias:	-1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto bracket
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh
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