o you know that the most famous Cubans in America are Ricky Ricardo and Fidel Castro? What strange bedfellows! One led a band and kept a dizzy redhead nutty while the other led a revolution, still leads a country, and has kept a nation in ideological and economic isolation for over three decades.

After Ricky and Fidel, other images of Cuba come to mind. The earlier ones are in black and white (like an old movie): Cigar-smoking Mafiosos sweat profusely in their white linen suits as they overlook the card tables from the balcony of a Havana casino. Photos of J.F.K. contemplating the Cuban missile crisis. A bearded Fidel Castro in fatigues and thick black-rimmed glasses shouts into a microphone, denouncing American imperialism as he jabs his forefinger in the air. Colors seep into the more recent images: Fleets of flashy powerboats overflow with Mariel refugees and then desperate rafters cross the Florida Strait, all fleeing in hope of a better future. Finally, there is Fidel and, of all people, the Pope in a warm embrace of the tarmac. So much history. Babaloo!

It seems like light years since Fidel Castro and Che Guevara rolled into Havana atop a tank in early 1959 to begin their revolution. The country's thirty-year bout with Soviet-backed Marxist-Leninism ended in the early 1990s, leaving Cubans to ask themselves, "what now?" In the face of a collapsed economy, part of the answer lies in tourism. Although most of those who come to savor the island's attractions these days arrive from Canada, Europe, and Latin America, there is little doubt that Cuba will again be a destination of choice for Americans visiting the Caribbean once relations between the two countries normalize. Americans will come as much for the country's beautiful beaches and the colonial and modern architecture as they will for its very special people.

Much has changed in the ten years since our first visit to the island. As foreign journalists, we were constantly accompanied by a government "facilitator." The sight of a Westerner walking down the street attracted many inquisitive looks then. Soviet-style food rationing was the norm. Empty shelves lined supermarket aisles. If they were filled, it was mostly with endless rows of one product, like Bulgarian plum jam. When speaking with visitors, Cubans were shifty and paranoid lest someone should report their "inappropriate contact" with foreigners. The streets were empty and fashion was at least twenty years behind the times. They had also never seen a dollar.

Visit Cuba today and you'll think you've landed in some poor capitalistic tropical country. Whereas the possession of dollars a few years back was considered a criminal offense, today everyone is out to make a buck. For better or worse, the liberating power of the dollar has been unleashed. The good news is that the people remain friendly, sensuous, and seductive. The beaches are still as white and beautiful as ever, and Havana's colonial architecture, though quite decrepit, is still the richest in all of Latin America.