Some places are blessed by geography, with a deep harbor, mighty river or abundant natural resources.

Then there are places where geography is more of a curse. In the absence of any distinctive feature or economic purpose, they appear like a blank slate, inviting grandiose schemes and outsize ambitions.

Cuba's Isla de la Juventud, the "Isle of Youth," is one of those places.

In other forlorn corners of Cuba, newly warming relations between Washington and Havana have kindled hopes for more tourists and investment. Here, the one place that came closer than any other except Guantanamo Bay to actually being part of the United States, Cubans have learned to temper their expectations.

Their island is a boneyard of big ideas. Over the years, it has been a pirate hideout, a Spanish penal colony, an American enclave, a Cuban penal colony and the setting for one of Fidel Castro's most ambitious attempts at communist internationalism.