My family and I visit Mexico each Christmas and each summer. This past summer, we also took a side trip to the island-nation of Cuba, where we spent a week.

Americans are forbidden by the U.S. government to visit Cuba as tourists but are allowed to visit Cuba for cultural, educational, scientific or religious reasons. It was under the religious exception that we visited.

Our local church in the United States has for years been sending money to a Cuban preacher, yet nobody in our church had ever visited Cuba. I suggested we send somebody, so the church sent me, along with my wife and our two sons .

It was a fascinating visit. Cuba is a beautiful island and the people are friendly. It’s still a Communist country, with all that implies. The Cuban situation also raises some interesting National Question issues that are worth consideration.

For a one-week visit, we were able to experience a broad cross-section of Cuba. We spent time in the capital Havana and in a smaller provincial city. We also passed through a lot of countryside and spent time with regular Cubans.

And, we saw many of those famous classic 1950s American automobiles, which Cubans have kept running the past 55 years. We were even able to ride in a few.

I have a short article about our visit on the Mexidata website, which you can read by clicking here.