Tarara
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Tarara is a gated resort town 10km east of Havana, Cuba, west of two other beaches: Santa Maria del Mar and of Guanabo.
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[edit] Geography
The community was built in the 1940's in Art Deco style on a hill facing the Atlantic Ocean. A small marina is located in an inlet east of the town. An amusement park was located across from this inlet, but now (2006) lies in ruins. While there's hardly any evidence of its past existence on the ground, the aerial view reveals a pentagram shape [1].
[edit] History
After the Cuban Revolution, at the height of tight cuban-soviet relations, the town housed Russian officials stationed in Cuba, and for a while (early 1990's) functioned as a recovery resort for Ukrainian children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster [2]. After 2000 (and the partial opening of Cuba to foreign investments), this was a place of choice for foreign companies representatives that were doing business in Cuba, with the residences functioning as rental villas.
In 2005, the town was turned into a recovery resort for blind patients from Venezuela, part of a deal between Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, in which Cuba offered medical expertise in return for Venezuelean oil [3].
[edit] Oil discovery
In 2006, oil was discovered in a well near Tarara[4].