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Cuba with Simon Reeve

Simon Reeve heads to Cuba to find a communist country in the middle of a capitalist revolution and asks if the new economic openness could lead to political liberalisation.

Adventurer and journalist Simon Reeve heads to Cuba to find a communist country in the middle of a capitalist revolution. Two years ago Cuba announced the most sweeping and radical economic reforms the country has seen in decades. From ending state rationing to cutting one million public-sector jobs, one of the last communist bastions in the world has begun rolling back the state on an unprecedented scale. Simon Reeve meets ordinary Cubans whose lives are being transformed, from the owners of fledgling businesses to the newly rich estate agents selling properties worth up to £750,000.

In this documentary for the BBC's award-winning This World strand, Simon gets under the skin of a colourful and vibrant country famous for its hospitality and humour and asks if this new economic openness could lead to political liberalisation in a totalitarian country with a poor human rights record. Will Cuba be able to maintain the positive aspects of its long isolation under socialism - low crime, top-notch education and one of the best health systems in the world - while embracing what certainly looks like capitalism? Is this the last chance to see Cuba before it becomes just like any other country?

1 hour

Last on

Sun 12 Jul 202018:30

Music Played

  • UNKLE

    In A Broken Dream

  • Eliades Ochoa, Compay Segundo

    Chan Chan

  • Irakere

    Bacalao Con Pan

Credits

RoleContributor
PresenterSimon Reeve
DirectorTom McCarthy
ProducerTom McCarthy
Series ProducerSarah Waldron
Executive ProducerSam Bagnall
Production ManagerTheresa Lydon

Broadcasts

  • Tue 11 Dec 201221:00
  • Sun 16 Dec 201217:00
  • Sun 16 Dec 201218:00
  • Sun 1 Dec 201319:00
  • Tue 15 Sep 201500:00
  • Sun 4 Feb 201820:00
  • Mon 5 Feb 201801:45
  • Sun 12 Jul 202018:30

Making This World

Making This World

This World film-makers tell their behind the scenes stories about making the programme.