‘Take me to Cuba!’

Those of us of a certain age remember it well: airplane hijackings were quite a common occurrence, and passengers often ended up with an unscheduled stop in Cuba. Cuba is now a very popular destination for Canadians who actually choose to go there for economical sun and sand along with some very interesting sites, such as the famous “Castro motorcade” that roars through the streets of Havana occasionally.

Our American friends still beg to differ over Cuba, even though in recent months the island has hosted a professional ball team and celebrities of all stripes. But old habits die hard, as a wire service story yesterday reports that “Miami airport officials briefly ban cigar magazine with Castro on cover.”

It seems that Cigar Afficionado magazine had dared to put the world’s most famous former cigar smoker on its cover this month. Sensitive to the powerful Cuban expatriate community in Florida, airport officials banned the magazine because it was “flattering” to Mr. Castro and contained a travel guide to Cuba that wasn’t accurate. The American Civil Liberties Union was quick to jump into the battle, and within a day the cherubic face of one of the world’s lasCommunists was back on the newsstand.