Russia’s ties with Cuba

by Brenda Yun on

Russia’s President, Dmitry Medvedev, completed a four-nation tour of Latin America late last week with a final stop in Cuba. The relations between the two countries appear to be strained and, at present, intense; however, Russia, like China, has an interest in drilling for oil off Cuba’s shores and is seeking further military cooperation from the advantageously positioned Castro-ruled nation.

Medvedev’s visit comes just over two weeks after Russia and Cuba signed important trade and economic agreements that signaled a strengthening of ties between the two nations. Russia was also the first nation to send aid for Cuba’s hurricane relief efforts.I find the recent talks between Venezuela, China, and Russia somewhat — if not outright — suspicious, and wouldn’t be surprised if the three socialist nations expressed a serious interest in bringing Cuba into the mix. Ever since Fidel Castro’s brother, Raúl, officially took the reigns in February, and Hurricanes Gustav and Paloma hit Cuba’s shores in August and November, the spotlight has slowly settled upon this world-famous cigar country. Cuba’s precarious relations with the United States and its recent strengthening of ties with China, Venezuela, and Russia signal a real and tenable threat to its democratic neighbors. Despite this, Raúl Castro remarked in an interview with actor/interviewer Sean Penn this fall that he would be open to reconsidering his nation’s relationship with the U.S. with President-elect Barack Obama come the new Year. What this means for American-Cuban relations following Obama’s inauguration is speculative at best.

To be certain, all eyes are on Cuba — yet most uncertain is what Cuba will do and how it will handle the outpouring of interest, diplomatic or otherwise, that it has received these recent months.

Drunk Man Tries to Hijack Turkish Airlines Flight

by Josh Lew on

A man on a Turkish Airlines flight from the resort town of Antalya, Turkey to the Russian city of St. Petersburg threatened to blow up the plane unless it was diverted. The man, who appeared to be drunk, approached a flight attendant and handed her a note to give to the pilot: “I have a bomb. If you don’t take me in (the cockpit) I will blow it up,” As he stumbled toward the front of the plane, he was overpowered by passengers. No explosives were found despite his insistence that there was a bomb strapped on his body. He appeared so inebriated that passengers did not take him seriously.

Turkish journalists have reported that the man was an Uzbek national, but his identity and true nationality have not yet been confirmed. After he was subdued, the plane continued on to its destination, though Turkish Airlines officials briefly considered setting it down immediately as a precaution. There were 167 passengers on board the aircraft, an Airbus A-320.

Source

What other trouble is up in the skies?


Enter to win free tickets to Amsterdam from Gadling!

Moscow’s main airport gets train service. Finally.

by Grant Martin on

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting Russia and flown into Moscow, you probably flew into Sheremetyevo* airport. For those of you that haven’t, I can try to sum it up for you in a couple of words here: It’s terrible.

The domestic and international terminals are separated in different buildings on different sides of the airport, so you have to take a shuttle way out and around to get there. The staff are pretty unfriendly and largely hostile to English speakers. And it’s wicked wicked far from the city. It’s a long, hard bus ride into the city to connect to the subway, that with traffic can take hours.

Luckily, at least that part is coming to an end. Just this week, Russia finally finished a rail link into Sheremetyevo airport, easing the horrible burden on traffic and congestion into the busy airport.

Rail service started Wednesday at the modest ticket price of $10.50/ticket. They could have made the ticket twice that and I would have paid it.

Now, onto the rest of the airport which direly needs the update. Russia started the upgrades to the international terminal last year and the domestic terminal remodeling is slated to start next year. And not a moment too soon.

* Firefox 3.0’s suggestions for the misspelling of “Sheremetyevo”: Usherette and Magnetosphere. Maybe that’s why it’s still in beta.

Bolshoi in Russia: Getting a visa is not for the faint of heart

by Iva Skoch on

It’s not that getting a visa to Russia is the hardest thing you will ever do as a traveler. It’s just one of those things you wish you didn’t have to do. But since the US makes it difficult for Russians to get a US visa, the Russians do the same. Hence, you end of with a painful process called Obtaining a Visa to Russia.

First, you have to get an invitation letter. Yeah, it is kind of a problem, if you don’t know anyone who could possibly invite you. Even if you do, it is such a pain for the person living in Russia to go through the formal process of inviting you, you are better off hiring an agency to invite you instead. I know, it doesn’t really make sense, but that’s what happens.

Agencies, such as Visa to Russia, can write up and invitation for you for a mere $30-$45, depending on how fast you want it. In the invitation, they can even even include hotel names where you are “allegedly” going to stay, in case you don’t know yet.

After you have received your invitation, you can take it to the nearest Russian Consulate. Make sure to bring your passport (at least 6 months before expiration date), two photographs, proof of health coverage while in Russia, complete visa application, and money order for $131. That is how much a visa costs if you are willing to wait as long as 10 days. If you need it the same day, it will cost you up to $450, in New York, at least. Visa fees are cheaper for EU citizens. Be prepared to leave your passport there for visa processing.

If you are planning to be in Russia for more than 3 business days, note that you have to register with the police in Russia. Ask your hotel; they should be able to do it for you. Russian police have been known to stop random foreigners in Moscow and ask them for their registration papers, demanding a fee or a bribe, depending on whom you ask.

From Russia, with love.

Bolshoi in Russia: Stumbling between Devoloped and Developing

by Iva Skoch on

Here is a laundry list of my observations based on traveling in Russia and talking to people here. I am stating in advance that this post might offend people (believe me, I’ve already taken a ton of heat for my prior posts, even if some were meant to be tongue-in-cheek). Since the terms “first” and “third” world no longer carry the same meaning they once did (after the “second” world vanished with the disappearance of the Soviet Union,) I will use politically correct terms “developing” and “developed” instead.

I’ll also remind you, dear readers, that this is based on a relatively short trip, focused on Moscow and St. Petersburg, plus some background research into statistics.

I will start by saying that I have never been to a country where you are so frequently thrown from luxury to poverty in a matter of blocks or minutes (sorry, NYC, you’re not #1 in this regard). One minute, you think that you are in one of the most developed countries on the planet. The next minute, you feel…completely the opposite. The gap between the rich and the poor is wide in America, too. But it’s a little different here. There is no visible middle class in Moscow, so you get thrown from “high” to “low” very abruptly.

Top reasons that make Russia look like a developed country:

  • Arts. Museums have amazing collections; orchestras have fantastic musicians.
  • Design. Although related to Arts, but Russia’s young designers (interior, product, etc.) deserve their own category. They do really cutting-edge work here.
  • Prices in big cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg). Moscow is the most expensive city in the world. No really, it is.
  • Nightlife. As described in one of my previous posts, the club scene is dazzling.
  • Education. Very high literacy level (Russia’s 99.4% rate beats America’s). Russians are avid readers. Good schools (although I’ve heard rumors it’s pretty easy to buy a college diploma here).
  • Luxury. Premium cars and fashion brands are seen everywhere. Heck, an enormous Rolex ad sits opposite the Kremlin.
  • Sushi. The sushi wave has hit Russia big time. It’s good and it’s one of the most reasonably-priced things to eat.
  • Good coffee. You can get a good espresso so many places now.
  • Technology. You can pay all your bills through electronic kiosks. How cool is that?
  • Wi-Fi. It is not difficult to connect to free Wi-Fi. Even Red Square has Wi-Fi spots.
  • Personal safety. You do feel safe here.
  • Low birth rates. On par with the rest of the West, Russian women postpone having babies and only have one, maybe two. (Not saying that’s necessary good, but that it mimics the developed world.)
  • Secular society. Although religion (Russian Orthodox), is an important part of the society, it doesn’t enter politics too much. (Same here: this is not a judgment.)

Top reasons that make Russia look like a developing country:

  • Can’t drink tap water in most places.

  • Service is generally quite poor. Certainly not compatible with the cost of things.

  • Plumbing. Showers are smelly (lack of traps) and in many places you can’t throw toilet paper into the bowl, and are told to put it in the bin next to the toilet.

  • Lack of international signage. Reading Cyrillic is a must, in restaurant menus or public transport.

  • Pollution. Air is terrible in Moscow and not great in St. Pete’s. Cars still use leaded gas here. And, that gas is cheap.

  • Russian passport doesn’t exactly “open doors” to many developed countries

  • Human rights abuses. Lack of care for the disabled or physically challenged (as of last year, there was not even a law prohibiting discrimination). Gay parades are prohibited. On-going freedom of press issues. (In the interest of brevity, I will spare you the citations in this post, so please feel free to do your own research.) Foreigners must register, like in many “police states.” Foreign tourists still have to register with the police if they want to stay more than three business days. This is a pain in the butt, but some hotels will do it for you.

  • Poor healthcare. CIA estimates that 1% of Russian are HIV-positive, while Russia “is not counting.” (Official estimates are less than a third of what international bodies estimate, and Russian health officials scoff at international estimates.) Cancer treatment is virtually non-existent for those who can’t afford it, and survival rates are a fraction of those in the West.
  • Low life expectancy. An average Russian man can expect to live 59 years.
  • Smoking. Sixty-plus percent of adult population in Russia smokes. That certainly doesn’t help their low life expectancy. It doesn’t help that cigarettes are cheap. A pack starts at less than a dollar. A pack of Marlboros will set you back less than $2.
  • Opulent displays of wealth, real or fake. The popularity of excessive jewelry and leopard-print clothing cannot go unnoticed.
  • Rudeness and inability to form functioning lines. My pet peeve. I always thought Czechs were rude. It must be an East European thing.
  • High emigration rate. A high percentage of people leaving a country with no intentions to come back…it’s a bad sign.
  • No middle class. It’s either Bentley or a Lada. Or, it could also be a “Volsche“. One billionaire had an old Volga (another Russian car) put on the chassis of a Porsche Cayenne and had the car decorated with Swarowski crystals–and a picture of Stalin— at a cost of $1m. Call me biased, but this is easily as bad as whatever the Tsar had ever done.
  • And, of course, xenophobia. Russia still remains the greatest country ever. (A least that’s what you get by reading the Moscow News.)

From Russia, with love.