This is one of the first questions people from the U.S. will ask when they think about traveling to Cuba. When Cuba comes to mind many have an image of a sinister communist state where you can be detained for just looking at someone the wrong way. Well, that is not the case. The country and its people beckon tourists form the U.S. and will do to everything to make them feel at home. When the embargo is dropped visitors have more access to the country and be even more welcome.

Many Americans have a general fear of Latin America due to the way the region has been depicted in movies and by the media. They think Latin America is a place of constant turmoil, full of bandidos and revolution after revolution. Granted there are certain pockets of Mexico, Northern Central America (El Salvador and Honduras), Venezuela and Colombia which are dangerous, but Cuba is probably the safest country in Latin America for tourists. For example, if a tourist is robbed or assaulted in Cuba the person committing the crime is subject to a double jail sentence. So if robbery carries a five year term, a person caught perpetrating a a crime against a tourist will get ten years behind bars. Other countries in the region should follow this example to protect tourists.