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Published: December 2nd 2008
Cuba - a small Island nation, with a little population, but one that punches far above its weight in both history and influence. A little similar to a small South Pacific homeland? Well, no. We think it is a completely differerent animal to anything we have ever met.
Revolution. Che Guevara. Fidel Castro. Communism. Cold war. Cuban Missile crisis. Salsa. Rum. Cigars. Spanish base staging conquistador expeditions to tackle most of South America. Gold and silver fleets massed in Havana´s safe waters before embarking on the risky journey back to Spain. Riches everywhere + Spains´draconian and exclusive trade restrictions = the ´Pirates of the Caribbean´ flourishing.
But Cuba's focus is the recent history (1959), when a bumbling rabble of 70 or so idealogues spilled off a yacht from Mexico onto Cuba´s shore. The ensuing rout left 15 of them alive, but the wheels of revolution were underway, and the Socialist transformation tickled the underbelly of their capitalist neighbour to the North. The ensuing trade war between them escalated with Cuba being excommunicated from their one key market, and shooting back by nationalising all the vast American assets in the country. Snuggling up to the USSR, whose military and economic
assistance propped up Cuba, the stage was set for THE crisis of the Cold War.
The first difference to hit us over the head was the people. Unmistakably African influenced, tall, lanky, cruisy, 'pretty-boys', and stunning girls. A well dressed white gent patted a black parking warden on the back and had a chat as he paid for his parking. Three girls walking down the road, best friends, completely different colours. One of the first tasks for the post-revolution nation was to smash the class and race distinctions undemic in the USA dominated capitalist financial regime it supplanted.
Another difference was the history. Having travelled in Bolivia and Peru, where the largely indigenous population still feel a palpable sense of injustice against the colonial 'process', the history we have soaked up has been pre-colonial. But within a few decades of the establishment of a colony in Cuba, only 5000 indigenous people were alive. The pre-Columbian people and culture were literally eradicated by disease and working conditions best described as brutal enslavement. Now lacking an indigenous culture to feel the painful legacy of this, any hatred of their colonial history is entirely overshadowed by the government trumping up of
Revolutionary Spoon
While some exhibits were interesting, one gets the feeling they were scraping the bottom of the barrel when presenting this teaspoon used by a leftist subversive.their early 20th Century commercial subjugation by the US. So museums proudly display their beautifully preserved colonial forts guarding Havana harbour, with exquisite collections of arms, armour, ships, and buildings - the best we have seen.
But of course the Museo de la Revolucion was a must. A busy stream of tourists funnelled through the exhibits, rich on propaganda, and light on quality exhibits. Although Benj found a certain amusement out of the exhibited spoon that was used by some soldier in his revolutionary exploits. Repeatedly described as a ´tyrant´, we discovered the atrocities commited against revolutionaries by Fidel´s predecessor. There is no doubting that he lined his pockets with many millions of dollars before fleeing. But lacking in detail was the farce that was the yacht ´Granma´ landing starting the process. Also lacking a mention was the murder of the 'tyrants' henchmen that were rounded up by none other than revolutionary hero Guevara - and executed. Incidentally the same as the US-backed Bolivian forces would do to him 8 years later.
Curiously, the hall down from the Revolutionary history, detailing Cuba´s exploits after the revolution, was devoid of almost all tourists and locals alike. It´s a militantly
Museo de la Revolucion
The building was simply amazing. And then there was the content... oriented world we live in... nicely detailed was the role Commander and Chief Fidel had at the abortive Pay of Pigs invasion, where the US trained, equipped, and (failed to properly) support a militia of exiled Cubans to attack their little Island socialist abomination. Firing a gun from the safety of his tank no less than twice, Fidel was unable to hit the US warship as it was out of range. Apparently he then tried a self propelled rocket, with similar success.
The remains of a US spy plane shot down over Cuba were 'drawn and quartered' - pieces were distributed in museums the length of the country as evidence of hostile anti-Cuban activity. Unfortunately for the pilot, he was unable to be repatriated from a Cuban prison, as the US didn't want to fess up to any involvement providing Fidel with yet more fodder for the museums.
Faced with the need to develop a tourist industry to contribute to State viability, there was the slight problem of who is´inside´, and who is ´outside´the system. Having destroyed class barriers, their solution to this problem was perhaps surprising - effectively creating a different class: tourist. Creating a different currency
for this class (CUC´s), they set about creating a new economy to run over the top of the Socialist one. The problem is that tourists CUC´s are strong (25x), and buy nice things. So people who play with tourists, and earn money in CUC´s do really well compared to other people who do standard things, like doctoring, or teaching. No surprise, but tourists become the target of an awful lot of hustling... cigars, taxis, taxis intercity (for the same price as an intercity bus), restaurant meals, accommodation, artwork, music, taking photos of dressed up people...
Even more remarkable is the Cuban front footed ability to ask for whatever they would quite like. We asked a runner at the end of a race how long the distance was - his reply quickly moved on to ask us to buy him some new running shoes. OK, his uppers were completely ripped across the width of his foot, and running a half marathon in those was nigh on insane. A worker at the bus terminal took Benj´s sports sunglasses off him to try them on. Asking when we returned home, she proceeded to ask if it would be possible for us to
buy ourselves another pair when we got there. So the Cubans you meet and get to know are delightful - laid back, friendly, helpful. But you just don´t get the chance to know a fraction of the vast number of Cubans who bump into you.
But the bizarre thing about Cuba is the level of control everywhere. Services are provided, and you take it or leave it. Don´t ask for something different, as the rules don´t allow it (unless it specifically benefits the person being asked). Arlene spotted a tomato salad on the menu, and thought to ask if the ham sandwich could have some tomato in it please. No - cheese sandwich, or ham and cheese only. Don´t ask if there is a bus to the airport, as that is what the taxis are for. Don´t ask your host to drive you out there in his car, as the Police will inquire why he is undercutting the state-owned taxis from making their lucrative trip.
But rules are rules. Looking to photograph a 'Zippy-Zither' - a child hood musical instrument that Benj and Ernesto 'Che' Guevara had in common, the signs preventing photography were less effective than the
Suspicious
This 'parcel' got us a serious inspection at the ferry loading passenger search. Eventually satisfied it was not attached to some C4, we were permitted onto the ferry. two observers keeping the small Che museum under a carefully organised field of fire from their gazes. So being good little tourists, we desisted until outside. But an attempted photo of the museum entrance was also prohibited, possibly as it included the rear end of the large Che statue, with the result of us being followed off the premises by two armed security guards...
Perhaps it is fortunate the Cuban revolutionary spirit is now more limited to small scale endeavours. The prospect of hijacking a boat and sailing it the short hop to Miami is definitely on the cards, and the full security inspection we received when boarding the ferry to cross Havana´s harbour was amazing. The full search of our daypack revealed a small explosive sized package loaded with electronics - flash drives, headphone with wires and batteries. This drew a remarkable amount of attention from all three bag inspection officers, who tried to carry on with their own ´customers´ but were rubber necking remarkably well. The metal detectors and inspections started after some entrepreneurial characters throught the ferry might just be able to crawl faster than the military coast guard. Needless to say, they didn´t make it
Arlene's favourite find
This little open fronted cafe was the finest and cheapest coffee you will find in the world. Locals pulled up to the bar for their tiny espressos, loaded the little cup half with sugar, and payed the USD 0.04 for the privilege. out of Cuba´s pristine waters.
Always up for the challenge of finding where the cheap eats are, we did lots of scouting -
Coffee in street stall (EXCELLENT) : 0.04 (in local's currency)
Coffee in flash restaurant (that Al Capone once booked out) : 2.50
Standard restaurant pizza (cheese) : 4.00
Street Pizza (cheese) : 0.21 (in local's currency)
Large ham roll, street : 0.42 (in local's currency)
30 min taxi ride from airport : 25
3hr taxi ride Trinidad to Havana: 25
Hoping to get some fruits or vegetables to chomp at the local ´markets´, instead we found 14 stands, only one of which had food - spring onions and something else, with a sizeble queue waiting to snap whatever was on offer.
So the people live in this fascinating world where their innate creativity is expressed in music, art (which are both exceptional), and working within (and to the absolute limits of) the strictures placed around them.
Up for all sorts of new experiences, Benj had to watch the grim scene of the preparation of a rooster for cock fighting. It involved one man holding the rooster, one kid watching to see how
do do it, one tourist (Benj) trying to blend into the woodwork, and our host with a blunt pair of scissors, all standing on the street outside the front door. The head and cheek combs of the rooster were snipped off, followed by careful further removal, just as someone would trim a finger nail that wasn't cut short enough the first time. The result, apart from a bloody and agonised rooster, was a face that would survive the punishment of a cock fight without being shredded.
Maybe tourism is part of the demise of this governmental system. Well, tourists, AND those with relatives in Miami (which is quite a few Cubans) who send computer games. This must demonstrate on a daily basis that Cubans don´t have much. And human nature is pretty unforgiving when it comes to who has, and who doesn´t. Free education and healthcare, housing, and a food ration doesn´t count for much against the freedom of buying what you want, close to when you want it.
The demise of our time in Cuba was unfortunately financial. The Cuban government displays their deep and abiding love for the US by adding a 20% surcharge on any
Classic Cuba
This lovely old building is absolutely Cuba. Part of one balcony has been closed in to accommodate another family member. Folk are hanging around watching life go by. Fantastic! exchange of USD into Cuban currency. So going to the cost of changing US into Euros before arrival, our meagre supply of Euros had to last for our two week stay. Unfortunately, we had a better chance of winning the Cuban General Election. By the time we had bussed from Havana halfway down Cuba to Santa Clara and Trinidad, we were looking shaky. To change our flights, dial up internet at USD$6 per hour was not an attractive way of downloading something ideal like Skype. And maybe it wouldn´t work either... so we tried our host. Local telephones are not able to call internationally, lest people chinwag anti-state content in an unmonitored fashion. The official phone office - a spangley premises with rabid airconditioning charged USD$3.50 per minute. Visualising an airline hold queue, we winced. So we were very relieved to get hold of Mexicana Airlines in Cuba, and change our stay to 9 days, allowing us the luxury of a rum cocktail at the airport, and 4 single chocolates as parting shots.
One thing for sure, the current Cuban state has survived for nearly 50 years against all odds, and remains an utterly unique treasure. We won't be
Shade
This light screen gave us some respite through the day at the beach. We still emerged fried on both sides. Woops. surprised if it lasts a lot longer. But in what form, who can say. Whatever happens, may it be good for Cuba.
Adios Cuba. Bien viejan y suerte para muchos años.
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