I went to a friends wedding last year in Varadero. The people were some of the nicest I have ever met. We hired one of the resort activity workers on his day off to take us into Havana. We went into one of the poorer areas and handed out things like school supplies and baseball hats and equipment; I think we might have got some of the smaller ones beat up for their goods. On the way back our cuban friend took us to his house to meet his family and have some coffee. It's a damn shame the conditions they are forced to live under.
I would never go back due to the communism. An example of the propaganda I saw were children's morning cartoons where U.S. troops in tanks drive children on there way to school over a cliff and into the sea.
/me puts on tin foil hat. One night I got into a drunken rant about commies and Castro at the poolside bar. The next day I forgot my camera in my room. When I went back to get it there was a man in my room spraying the vents with a liquid but I didn't think much of it. I ended up losing my voice for the rest of the trip.
Damn Commies 