This disscusion is a continuation of the "NY times article" thread but I thought this topic should have a thread of it's own since sex is such a controversial topic in this country.

Firstly, calling Cuba a sex mecca would generate laughter from those familiar with places like Brazil, Thailand, Japan, ect. The only ones who bring up Cuba as a sex tourism location is groups who are looking to bring down the Cuban government. Yes, there's sex happening in Cuba, it would be happening with or without tourism. The vibe in Cuba is a very sexual one and to Americans and some Europeons this can be very exciting or disturbing.

Pornography is illegal in Cuba as is prostitution. Sex with a minor in Cuba if you are a foreigner will get you 25 years in prison. There are a few Canadians in jail down there who were told a girl was older then she was and got busted. Sex meccas, I would think are a place where one can do almost whatever and the government doesn't get in the way. In Cuba a foreign man or women with a Cuban of the opposite sex will get the attention of the police and there will be many questions.

For those who don't know, this whole "sex mecca" thing got started when the soviets pulled out in the early Ninties and the Cuban economy collasped. This caused the beginning of the jineteras/jineteros, also called prostitutes, to begin hustling for money with the tourists. There were thousands of young girls from the provinces flooding into Havana to have sex with tourists just to survive. This went on thoughout the ninties and the Cuban government let it go on as they were in no position to stop it, some say that they let it go on to bring in revenue. But anyway, Cuba in the Ninties could be considerd a sex mecca as there were girls everywhere all over the streets. This went on until the Cuban government, "which reacts when they have all the information they need and a plan that's well thought out" decided to make their move.

The efficiency in which the government rounded up all the hookers is amazing. For a long time they gave em rope and waited till they knew who were providing the rooms for the girls, who the pimps were, the look-outs were, who brought the girls from the provinces to the cities and every other detail. And this was done in every town in Cuba simultaneously in one night. The next day it was a different country. They sent all the girls back to the countryside, arrested the ones in Havana along with the pimps and madams. They rounded everyone up and stopped it. This happened in 1999 and what you see now in Cuba as far as prostitution is a far cry from what was going on in the Ninties "kinda like the music scene too." Now you just see girls hanging out on the Malecon or in front of some nightclubs hoping someone will pay their way in and buy them drinks, is this a sex mecca?

I see a lot more foreign women with Cuban men lately, are they prostitutes? It's always been a place where people cut loose and party. Abayumi, you seem to be reading from something from ECPAT? Maybe that study is about 15 years old when things in Cuba were worse. Have you been to Cuba recently?

Now, in Havana, being a jinetera is like a fashon statement, the girls like to brag about how they went out with a tourist and how stupid he was when he gave her money to pay for her cell-phone bill. The rule is now, if you are a foreigner you have to pay for sex, one way or another, even if the girl likes you a lot.

Outside of Havana the government has really cracked down on protitution to where a tourist cannot enter any hotel or private casa particular with a Cuban girl. I've heard many foreign men "who came to Cuba looking for sex or love" they will never come back because the government is so tough now.

The sad thing is, I think the majority of single men and women who travel to Cuba are really looking for love and marriage. And what happens 99% of the time is they get played by someone just looking to leave the island and who has no conscience whatsoever. Men who are looking for just sex, they go to Bangkok and get a disease. Those looking for love, go to Cuba and get their heartbroken.

Those are my observations. Please, don't read me articles written 10-15 years ago.