When my friend Kathy went to Cuba as part of a Key West Botanical Garden Tour she came back with a bunch of pictures of Finca Vigia, already published here, showing Ernest Hemingway's Cuban home, and a bunch of pictures from her trip around Havana. The magnificent:
The not so magnificent:
The revolutionary:
The military:
The middle class (in a class-less society):
The artistic:
I like the modern art gallery above with the sign outside- peligro, "danger" - though I have no doubt it refers to roadworks, not art. Cuba for an American is the back door equivalent of North Korea, though unlike North Korea, every sign I have seen is that Cuba is just another Latin American country, partially dysfunctional, and yet in many ways more functional than one might imagine, considering the US's hostility of the past 60 years.
The American love affair with the automobile is one starting point for a rapprochement, a way to close the gap between two nations ninety miles (150 kilometers) apart:
It used to be that the automotive world in Revolutionary Cuba was stuck in drive circa 1959, but these old cars nowadays are more often powered by modern Japanese or Korean engines and parts cobbled together in ways that Americans have never had to learn. 
These old cars and Soviet era Ladas (Fiat 1500) are replaced by modern shiny go karts from the Far East where trade embargoes and ritual resentment are anathema as far as Cuba's import market is concerned.
Tourists with hard currency (what an Iron Curtain term!) get special treatment, consisting of whores restaurants and buggy rides. In a land of egalitarian poverty, the dollar rules:
There is so much propaganda about Cuba in the US it's hard to discern truth from fiction. My sole visit was a close sail-by taking cover from a storm in the Straits of Florida and all I saw were revolutionary slogans, mountains, fields and endless mangrove islands along the north coast. I listen to Radio Reloj (950am) and Radio Nacional (590 am) in the car, now that I am forced to drive, and while I sit up at work in the quiet times I wonder what they are doing across the way. Probably much the same we are, with less. They tell us Cuba is allowing Havana to crumble, which owing to their lack of money wouldn't be surprising. Perhaps it's true in some parts of the city:
To compare Cuba to the United States as so many critics do seems irrational to me. Comparisons with similar countries might be more in line. I'd rather be Cuban in Cuba, than Haitian in Haiti or Honduran in Honduras. If I were Cuban in Miami I would count my blessings in my dollar denominated bank account, or if I wanted my finca back I'd do what Castro did and take to the Sierra Maestra and fight for it. Otherwise I would shut the fuck up, grow fat and contented in the land of the free and let commerce do it's work to break down barriers. The embargo benefits the dictatorship across the way and the would-be dictators in Miami and why President Obama, who wants change in the rest of the world, won't do anything about this stupidity is just another of those mysteries that puzzle me about our leadership. Banks yes, autos no. Palestinians yes (at last) Cubans no. If not now, when?
The not so magnificent:The revolutionary:The military:The middle class (in a class-less society):The artistic:I like the modern art gallery above with the sign outside- peligro, "danger" - though I have no doubt it refers to roadworks, not art. Cuba for an American is the back door equivalent of North Korea, though unlike North Korea, every sign I have seen is that Cuba is just another Latin American country, partially dysfunctional, and yet in many ways more functional than one might imagine, considering the US's hostility of the past 60 years.The American love affair with the automobile is one starting point for a rapprochement, a way to close the gap between two nations ninety miles (150 kilometers) apart:It used to be that the automotive world in Revolutionary Cuba was stuck in drive circa 1959, but these old cars nowadays are more often powered by modern Japanese or Korean engines and parts cobbled together in ways that Americans have never had to learn. These old cars and Soviet era Ladas (Fiat 1500) are replaced by modern shiny go karts from the Far East where trade embargoes and ritual resentment are anathema as far as Cuba's import market is concerned.Tourists with hard currency (what an Iron Curtain term!) get special treatment, consisting of whores restaurants and buggy rides. In a land of egalitarian poverty, the dollar rules:There is so much propaganda about Cuba in the US it's hard to discern truth from fiction. My sole visit was a close sail-by taking cover from a storm in the Straits of Florida and all I saw were revolutionary slogans, mountains, fields and endless mangrove islands along the north coast. I listen to Radio Reloj (950am) and Radio Nacional (590 am) in the car, now that I am forced to drive, and while I sit up at work in the quiet times I wonder what they are doing across the way. Probably much the same we are, with less. They tell us Cuba is allowing Havana to crumble, which owing to their lack of money wouldn't be surprising. Perhaps it's true in some parts of the city:To compare Cuba to the United States as so many critics do seems irrational to me. Comparisons with similar countries might be more in line. I'd rather be Cuban in Cuba, than Haitian in Haiti or Honduran in Honduras. If I were Cuban in Miami I would count my blessings in my dollar denominated bank account, or if I wanted my finca back I'd do what Castro did and take to the Sierra Maestra and fight for it. Otherwise I would shut the fuck up, grow fat and contented in the land of the free and let commerce do it's work to break down barriers. The embargo benefits the dictatorship across the way and the would-be dictators in Miami and why President Obama, who wants change in the rest of the world, won't do anything about this stupidity is just another of those mysteries that puzzle me about our leadership. Banks yes, autos no. Palestinians yes (at last) Cubans no. If not now, when?
11 comments:
You slept through this?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/13/cuba.travel/index.html
He can't change it overnight.
D
The president can change everything overnight, literally with the stroke of a pen. That's what he did for Cuban Americans didn't he? Overnight they were allowed to trtavel to Cuba once again. The embargo hurts the people on both sides of the border and is simply an act of revenge for a revolution that at the time had the backing of the majority on the island. Batista's government was so corrupt even the middle class, such as it was, backed Castro, a lawyer who took to the mountians with a gun and fought for what he believed in, unlike the ponces in Miami who call on the US to do their dirty work for them. The embargo has remained in place simply because that group of organised right wing Cubans in Miami ( what Castro calls the Miami Mafia)have been the swing vote for Florida's Electoral College votes. Their votes didn't keep President Obama out of the White House, ergo: get rid of the embargo please.
At the stroke of a pen it can and should be done.
Thank you for the re-education comrade Conchscooter.
D
I have believed for years, and still believe to this day, that the best way to kill the Revolution would be to smother it with American tourists and their dollars. The free exchange of ideas (not to mention currency) that would come from their closest large neighbor's people mingling on a daily basis would be a boon for the many Cubans who have never known anything but Castro's Cuba. Plant the seed and nurture it with American dollars. Don't just scatter the seeds via radio and a few token journalistic visits.
Then again, maybe the embargo protects the Cuban people from the Ugly Americans. Goodness knows there are many on the cruise ships that dock at Mallory Square who aren't fit for international consumption.
If Conchscooter is a comrade, he's the kind of comrade I'd be happy to call friend.
Conch (and Anonymous-whoever you are):
Being of Cuban descent I think I rank an opinion on this matter too... I'm no Poli-Sci major (ok..I am, but FSU is hardly a think tank on international affairs) but it seems to me that a policy that has little tangible effect towards the fruition of an overall goal is hardly worth maintaining.. least of all if in 5 decades it has failed to do so. I'm sure anonymous et al can conjure up a multitude of "GREAT" things the embargo has accomplished (as they are apt to do). The fatal flaw of those recognized "accomplishments" being that this is planet Earth and not Bizarro-land.
Who can argue with Conch and Phinz's point (and the point I have fruitlessly tried to make to my Father for over 20 years now)?! For fuck's sake, what better way to market the benefits of our democracy than to allow free commerce and travel?
Listen, the fact is that most of us blogging on our dear Conch's site daily weren't on hand to lose family fortunes and the like after that great New Year's gala in 1959. My Parents were, so I try and understand the bitterness. But seriously, it's been 50 god damn years already...
The embargo A: Has not returned the roughly 1,000 acres of land my birth rite would have secured my brother and me (and apparently a righteous cabana on varadero by the by--ugh, such capitalist trappings, thanks Fidel for liberating me of that!). B: Toppled the bastard that begot the whole mess to begin with. C: Changed the minds of essentially the entirety of the free world who travels there freely on a daily basis.
The thing is, for my Cuban brothers and Sisters still on the Island... Either fight for it OR, when you get here, here's an idea, stop your incessant bitching about the inadequacies of our system. Is it perfect, well hell no! But hmmm, I don't know, I'm pretty sure it beats state rationed meals and certain hours of electricity on certain days because the infrastructure makes remote Afghan enclaves appear positively utopian by comparison.
Thanks for allowing me to vent guys.. Great post today. Oh, and I'll meet you at the designated rendezvous point on zulu time comrade conch... Power to the people! Workers unite!
Lovely post, Conch. I've always felt somewhat removed from this issue while growing up. I don't have familial relations to Cuba and didn't grow up in south Florida. In Volusia, everything south of the Big Rat of Orlando was somewhat Other, regardless of language y culture. But I've been tangling with this issue in my head for a few years now. Mainly because some relations of mine have taken particularly strong (and surprisingly) anti-Cuban views in recent years, during this past decade. And other than chalking it up to a simple 8th-grade grudge-mentality, it simply hasn't made sense to me. At all. I'm not one to argue that all in Cuba is peachy clean, but damn. I can't make that argument about the U.S. either.
Curious to see how things unfold over these next few years. I get why Obama isn't rocking every boat in the first two years, but I'd be very, very surprised if we didn't see a massive policy shift regarding Cuba in the second term (if there is a second term). He seems more pragmatic than zealous, and this last round of Cuban policy shifts almost feels like he dipped his toes in the water to see how cold it really is. And I don't think it was very cold at all. Except, of course, for a rather vocal, noisy and terrified growing minority of hard-liners in this country.
Obama talks a lot about change, but I don't think his 'brand' of change must be or is designed to be overnight. Think of it as a kind of punctuated equilibrium, following a period of testing the waters and perceived-stasis. Partially to protect himself (he IS a politician) --- but also partially because you have to woo and move the people into a condition of thinking that breaks from the old model. Americans fear change, despite the election results. It's a kind of political triage, and though I agree that the issue isn't really an issue in the grand scheme of things, Obama (I think) understands the mainstream American ethos. It's kind of subversive, but perhaps will lead to positive results? (One can "hope", as we were told ad nauseum during the last campaign...)
- Janson
Havana looks like a really interesting city. Many nice pics. I was a bit disappointed that there were no pics of the whores you wrote about, but I guess it isn't that type of blog. Oh well...
About the whole US/Cuban relations thing-- I lived in florida for 25 years, and it was always a big issue. I then moved to Tennessee and Indiana, and perhaps the biggest obstacle to change is that much of the US doesn't really know anything beyond the travel&trade restrictions. The impact of these policies seems trivial once you leave the state of Florida. I've been out of florida for 11 years, and honestly can't recall anyone even talking about the subject in that time.
M
Dear Conch:
The day the embargo is lifted agsinst this place, these people are going to make a fortune... Just the way the Chinese are vacuuming the cash out of Hong Kong. The greatest risk to the Castro regime is that folks woth food, cars, money and options are less likely to trade them for slogans and bullshit.
It will give rise to a new form of Cuban nationalism that is going to take everyone by surprise.
Fondest regards,
Jack r
Twisted Roads
I pretty much agree with all the comments. Freom what we hear Cuba really is pristine right now,except for all those canadians and European tourists, but the absence of money renders beauty pretty moot for people who have had their ability to hope squeezed out of them.
I am not a Communist I actually believe in the tenets of US Constitiuon and the laws of the US which state unequivocally that interfering with a foreign government from the US is illegal.It is a thought that comes to mind every time I ride (or lately drive) past the entrance to Radio Marti at Mile Marker 15.
As to pictures of whores Kathy did not supply them as far as I can tell though you can live in hope as there are more to come.(Pictures, not whores).
How about the whores who used the Cuban peoples to make a fortune and keep them in poverty...Castro included.
Cuba is an island filled with so much history and music and beauty. It's a shame and a sham, everybody used and abused it to death.
Bring it back to its glory. You can start by exposing them all to the internet.
How about them? Take to the Sierra Maestra yourself to liberate them. Castro had the courage of his convictions and did what you are afraid to do. It's not the US's fight. You feel strongly about it? Have the courage to deal with it yourself instead of coopting me to do your dirty work for you.
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