Er, I've met cuentapropistas, and even jineteros / jineteras in Cuba, but tourists?

Nicely done! We traveled to Cuba late 2013, and noted a number of similar things.

We also were welcomed by every Cuban we encountered (I speak Spanish fluently and spoke to many Cubans under unsupervised circumstances), and while the many negatives have been noted elsewhere, we were also impressed with Cubans' resilience, their humour, their ability to deal with the many regulations and restrictions with a sense of irony and satirical observations; also notable was the lack of prejudice so notable in most Latin countries (along whitest to darkest skin lines), at least among younger people.

We travelled with Euros to avoid the Cuban required payment of 15% surcharge on exchanging US Dollars, and found our copies of The Economist magazine were exceedingly welcome (the source of printed information in Cuba is the daily Granma newspaper, the official organ of the Communist Party, and Trabajadores weekly, issued by the Labour branch of the CP).

Anyone wanting books on Cuba will find them in the international departures lounge in HAV, offered by - a Cuban government kiosk, which can amazingly take US dollars, Canadian dollars, Euros, your spare CUCs, probably your firstborn. Of course, many books in English, and most of them with significant propaganda value, but some interesting nonetheless.

US residents licensed for travel to Cuba as well as others can bring back books, printed matter, art (including posters and crafts), CDs (what a vibrant music scene!), and the like - no cigars or alcohol, no clothing, etc. Mail service does not exist between the US and Cuba due to the blockade / embargo, so no postcards, etc. (though normalising mail service is under current discussion between US and Cuba).

I'd recommend NOT giving gifts (much less money) to the people begging downtown Habana - they are always coming up and asking for spare soap, toothpaste, etc. but - they are always the same people, and they seem to be supplying a small "cuentapropista" business, and not helping their families.

Our trip to Cuba meant Lady JDiver's 100th nation (not country, nation), and we've counted coup on all the remaining Communist nations (China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam - which I fought in in 1965) outside of North Korea - I won't visit that, too tricky. (Lady JDiver has visited such paradisical nations as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, but... I ain't goin'.) We had a lot of interactions with Cubans in various venues, and it was interesting and educational.

IMO by travelling we learn, and where we travel learn, and the denizens from and about us as well. Ideas are infectious and The Economist is seditious... (I found slipping them in a used Granma or Trabajadores made it less intrusive to give them over) but of course, some printed matter can be banned in other, non-Communist nations one visits.