CUBAN TRANSITIONS

We first encountered Havana Hotel on March 3rd after numerous flight delays and long airport transit times. As we anxiously familiarized with our first sights of Cuba, Hotel Plaza was our first stop from the airport and evolved to become more than that in the next few days.

We had a warm welcome with tasty fruit platters and drinks before heading to our rooms. The lobby was very beautiful and the gasp everyone had as we entered the hotel was priceless; partly a reflection of the exhaustion after a long 2-day travel and the awe over the beauty of Hotel Plaza.

For me Hotel plaza served more that being just my hotel while i was in Havana. Firstly, i never used a map of Havana as I walked often to explore this historic city. Hotel Plaza served me geographically as my reference point so that I became familiar with different streets and points of interest based on their position in reference to Hotel Plaza. Honestly if you asked me to identify many places I frequently visited without referring to Hotel Plaza I would be lost!

Another purpose was that the lobby became our meeting point due to lack of cell phones that we often use to text each other as we organize dates and meetings. Instead, I arranged to meet different people down stairs in the lobby to head out for walks, some night life or more often meals, especially dinner. This is also the same location where Yoel had us “approach the bench!” several times and as I write this I can vividly picture him impatiently waiting [15minutes early] for us to trickle down from our rooms as he repeatedly prompted Adrianna to do head counts to make sure that nobody was missing.

Then I’ll talk about the 5th floor; that beautiful terrace! Not only did we enjoy breakfast every morning during our stay in Hotel Plaza, we were also greeted with a breath-taking sight of Havana with the warm sun and amazing breeze. How I miss it!

Finally, coming back to Hotel Plaza on May 15th after visiting many other cities and resorts, I felt like I was home, partly because being in Hotel Plaza meant that were almost going back home but personally I felt comfortable because Hotel Plaza was a familiar place and I found myself having an attachment to it; one that I can best describe as a “Home in Cuba, Away from Home”.

Below is a timeline of the history of Hotel Plaza as described on their website:

1909 In January of that year the Hotel plaza is officially inaugurated with a charity Ball.
1920’s The world famous Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova visits the hotel
1930’s Albert Einstein is paid homage by the local Jewish community, with a rich banquet at the Plaza Hotel. Efforts are made during this decade to turn the hotel into a casino, but local permits and licenses aren’t granted.
1940’s The hotel is now operated by Hotel Plaza S.A., a public company.
1950’s A casino license is granted and the Hotel Plaza commence casino operations.
1960’s The casino is shut down with the Triumph of the Revolution. The hotel becomes part of the National Tourism Sector.
1970/80’s The hotel is closed for renovations.
1990’s The hotel is newly inaugurated after a full renovation. The Gran Caribe hotel group is created. Hotel Plaza becomes member of the group.
2000’s Throughout the past couple of years our staff’s dedication, as well as our customer’s satisfaction has been recognized in the form of several awards.

Sources

http://www.hotelplazacuba.com/

http://havanajournal.com

“Are you Jewish?,” I asked the hostess of the paladar we entered.
She looked up, confused, and handed us menus.
I pointed to the silver star of David around her neck.
The hostess laughed. “ You know, only tourists ask me that,” she said. “I just really liked the design of it. I don’t even know what it means.”

Source: The New York Times

This wasn’t the answer I was expecting. Were the stories of a remnant Jewish community in Cuba just another incitement for tourism, a commercialization of a religion as a way to bring hard currency into a floundering economy?

Such began the long and muddled journey for what I would learn about Judaism in Cuba. From the Jewish themed hotel we saw in Old Havana to Yoel’s occasional mention of Cuba’s Jewish community in the context of Alan Gross, the supposed “revival” of Judaism in Cuba was difficult to comprehend.

To understand Cuba’s contemporary Jewish population, we must first understand the history of Jewish migration in Cuba. The first Jews to arrive were not practicing Jews, but rather conversos, Spanish Jewish converts torn between their Jewish ancestry and Spanish identity. Under the Spanish empire, these Jews could only practice in secret, and thus, it was difficult for them to continue their religious practices. Only following the abolition of slavery in Cuba and the fall of the Spanish empire was it possible to establish the foundations of a Jewish community in Cuba.

American Jewish expatriates were the first practicing Jews to arrive in Cuba. Other Jewish immigrants gradually siphered into Cuba–Sephardic Jews from Turkey, Askenazic Jews from Poland (so many in fact that many Cubans adopted the term “polaco” or pole, to refer to Jews in general), and Jews that were brought in out of the desire of Cuba’s elites to “whiten” a Cuba that had become too dark following independence.

A photograph taken at Hotel Raquel, the Jewish themed museum our tour stopped at.

In the 1960s and 70s, synagogues in Havana and Santiago de Cuba were kept alive with monthly membership fees, money the government paid to rent the space, and the yearly sale of Passover goods. The Canadian Jewish Congress, replacing the marred diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, also delivered Passover goods to Jews who registered for them. Unfortunately, by the 1980s, many Jews decided to detach themselves from religion, integrating into the Cuban ideology of national unity. This diminished the prospects of continuity for Judaism. Under Castro’s rule, it was difficult for Jews to find religious texts and kosher foods.

Despite these odds, in 1992 amidst religious openings in Cuba and the United States’ encouragement to send religious missions to Cuba, the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) was founded. This paved the way for various other Jewish organizations such as B’nai Brith, Hadassah, and Hillel. This resurgence of a Jewish community in Cuba, under the idea that all Jews are part of “one people”, resulted in the contemporary Jewish communities in Cuba. Many of the Jews currently in Cuba are recent converts; they sought to find their religious roots and determine their identities.

Cuba has a current Jewish population of about 1,500, far fewer than the 15,000 that existed prior to Fidel Castro’s usurpation of power. The Jews currently residing in Cuba must be very aware of their financial dependence on the larger Jewish community. There is no rabbi on the island and there is only one kosher butcher. With their salaries averaging roughly $20 a month, adhering to Jewish traditions and surviving on a day to day basis is challenging.

Many outside Jewish entities organize religious trips to Cuba, where they are often scheduled with a set of religious and humanitarian activities that often include the donation of clothing, medication, and objects for prayer. To me it sometimes seemed as if Cuba was exploiting this fact, and using religion as a tourism export or as a way to obtain hard currency. The influx of Jewish dollars and donation, though well intentioned, provides help for a small sect of the Cuban populace solely because of their religion. The majority of the capital to support the synagogues, purchase kosher foods, pay for medicines and cover the costs for Shabbat meals comes from the United Jewish Communities. The Cuban Jewish economy economy is bolstered by the Jewish community, including Jews who fled Cuba and have been sending funds since.

Despite it not being a focus of our trip, it was easy to see tenets of Judaism manifest themselves into the Cuba we, as tourists, were exposed to. The Hotel Raquel we stopped at, catering to the needs of Jewish tourists, is one example. Similarly, the night I went out to Teatro Bertolt Brecht with Jonah and Isabelle, I learned that the building of the theater itself used to be part of the Patronato (Havana’s main synagogue). Half of the synagogue’s original structure was sold to the Ministry of Culture during the years of the Revolution when religious participation was low. The actual synagogue, that today is a fully functioning synagogue that actively receives international Jewish tourists, is right next door. This location is quite popular for tourists, and, thus, another example of how Cuba’s Jewish community centers its locations of worship in touristic areas.

According to Yoel, the Cuban government is very accommodating to the needs oF the Jewish community. It doesn’t interfere in the business practices of the one kosher butchery in Havana, the distribution of matzah during Passover, and the frequent departures of Cubans to Israel ( often completely funded by the larger Jewish community). Many Cubans are incentivized to convert to Judaism because it gives them a greater chance to leave. Israel and other private Jewish organizations traditionally cover the immigration costs for Jews from isolated locations. This stems from an effort to illustrate how Israel is a haven for Jews all over the world, despite financial differences.

The cover image from one of my sources, a book by Ruth Behar titled, "An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba". It depicts the temple entrance of the "El Patronato" synagogue in Havana.

It is difficult to say that the revival of Cuba’s Jewish community is solely due to the incentives the larger Jewish community provides, but it is something that must be brought into question. Although the survival and perseverance of Cuba’s Jewish community is both admirable and miraculous, how much of it is rooted in what the larger Jewish community can offer Cuban Jews?

Sources:
Behar, Ruth. An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2007. Print.

Gerszberg, Caren Osten. “In Cuba, Finding a Tiny Corner of Jewish Life.” NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 04 Feb. 2007. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.

Millman, Joel. “Rites of Passage: In Cuba, a Revival in Judaism Leads Some to Israel.” The Wall Street Journal Online. The Wall Street Journal, 14 Jan. 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.

Most Americans seem to know about the U.S. embargo on trade with Cuba because it prevents them from buying or importing Cuban cigars. However, the embargo (known in Cuba as “el bloqueo” or “the blockade”) affects much more than the sale of tobacco and has a significant impact on daily life in Cuba, restricting Cubans’ access to many U.S.-made products, such as pharmaceuticals, electronics and even basic consumer goods like soap. Nonetheless, what many people don’t realize is that the embargo has never really completely stopped trade, at least in terms of the sale of U.S. goods to Cuba. Over the 50 years the embargo has been in place, U.S. corporations have consistently found or created loopholes and exceptions in the embargo in order to continue selling certain items, particularly food and agricultural products, in Cuba. The result is an “embargo” that is, in reality, hiding a massive one-way trade that last year (2011) amounted to $352 million worth of U.S. exports to the island.[1]

A Brief History of the Embargo

Beginning in 1960, the U.S. government enacted a series of increasingly harsh measures designed to end trade with Cuba. These policies were developed in an attempt to economically undermine the Cuban government, which had nationalized U.S. owned land and business interests and allied itself with the Soviet Union. While travel to and from the island was almost completely restricted and U.S. citizens were not allowed to purchase Cuban goods, American corporations were still able to conduct business in Cuba because the embargo did not prohibit them from selling goods in Cuba through their foreign subsidiaries. For example, between 1980 and 1992, the U.S. government allowed U.S. owned subsidiaries in foreign countries to engage in trade with Cuba that was valued at over $4.563 billion.[2]

However, when Cuba lost the economic support after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S. decided to increase the economic pressure on the Cuban government and put a harsher version of the embargo – which had previously existed only as a collection of executive orders issued by various presidents – into law. The so-called Toricelli Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 made it illegal even for U.S. subsidiaries in other countries to conduct business with Cuba and even mandated that products made by non-U.S. owned companies that contained more than 10% U.S. material could not be sold there. These laws effectively ended the large-scale trade U.S. companies had conducted with Cuba through other countries.

The Current State of U.S.-Cuba Trade

But U.S. companies persevered and in 2000, President Clinton signed into law an exception to the embargo that allows certain U.S. businesses, primarily agriculture and food companies, to sell products, such as corn and rice, to Cuba.[3] These sales were completely unaffected by President George W. Bush’s otherwise aggressive moves to tighten the embargo and actually reached their peak in 2008, when the U.S. exported $711.5 million worth of agricultural products to Cuba, which had seen reduced crop yields due to severe hurricanes.[4] Since then, the total exports have declined and seem to have leveled off at between $300 and $400 million a year.

On the Cuban side, trade with the U.S. is handled by a single government entity known as Alimport.[5] Basically, when a Cuban group or government entity needs a product from the U.S., they tell Alimport, which alerts U.S. corporations of a particular order and then accepts bids from the corporations, chooses which company to buy from and pays up front in cash for the goods. The U.S. government must then approve all individual sales before they can be delivered to Cuba, which exempts U.S. ships from the rule that prevents vessels that have docked in a Cuban port from returning to the U.S. for six months.

Still, the question remains: what do all these technical arrangements to allow one-way trade really mean? While U.S. agricultural sales do allow Cuba to purchase relatively low-priced food in times of need, the fact that the U.S. government has consistently been willing to provide large-scale exemptions to the embargo only to corporations seems to highlight the fact that the embargo is useful to the U.S. government primarily as a show of political force designed to win over Cuban exile voters. As long as sales to Cuba are kept out of the public eye, either by being routed through foreign countries or restricted to specific industries, the U.S. government sets aside its policies on Cuba in the interest of profit.

The idyllic version of the United States is one in which all Americans have equal access to opportunity, financial success, and ultimately happiness. However, this is often not the reality. In the United States general lifestyle can often be predicted by just a few key factors that constitute any given person’s lifestyle throughout their life. Life is first and foremost anchored in the socio-economic class the given individual is born into. From this point, with few exceptions, access and quality of education is highly influenced by this starting condition. From quality and extent of education the leap can be made to predicting the general type of profession the individual may engage in once education has been completed, and finally, the socio-economic class the individual will die in. Thus, in America, factors of beginning socio-economic status, education, and profession heavily influence the potential for socio-economic mobility, as well as social identity.

While in Cuba, I found myself struck by the missing presence of any apparent relationship among these factors of socio-economic status, education, and profession that Americans are so accustomed to linking to one another. From the very outset the first condition of identity, socio-economic status of birth, is significantly diminished, as the socialist state in Cuba demands a society built on class equality. So, while it can be argued that certain class distinctions still develop within society, they tend to be significantly less distinguished than class differences in the United States. Next, the link to access to education based on socio-economic standing is similarly demolished. The presence of universal education in Cuba has resulted in a system in which the entire Cuban population has nearly equal access to the same level of education. Distinctions between public and private educational institutions are not permitted, and thus the disparities between the quality of education provided by public and private institutions, an issue that is largely contingent on matters of affluence, are not permitted within the system. Additionally, while each individual has the freedom to choose the extent to which he or she pursues an educational path, through to the university level or not, education remains accessible to all at every level. The one existing limitation to access are entrance exams to higher education, but considering these limitations exist based on merit and not socio-economic status, this is an acceptable limitation to enforce as it is largely still left to the prerogative of the individual to pursue education or not. The final link in the chain of identity formation that is broken in Cuba is the connection between education and profession. While many people go to school to become educated in a particular field, and then pursue a career in that area, the connection between education, profession, and financial success has been largely subverted in Cuba. Social identity seems to rarely be based on professional identity as profession has significantly less impact on achieved socio-economic standing. While traditionally high-income professions are relegated to the realm of a state salary, jobs in the tourist industry that arguably require significantly less education and specialization than that of a doctor or professor, are associated with much higher levels of income.

As we traveled around Cuba, I encountered individuals working in the tourist industry over and over again, many with very similar stories. The example of our own tour guides attests to the conditions around professions in Cuba. Adriana, a tour guide in training, had completed study in ten different specializations at the university level, previously worked at the university as an expert in foreign relations, and had decided to pursue a career as a tour guide rather than to continue work in her field of specialization in order to make a better living. I heard similar testament to conditions in Cuba that bred these types of decisions from the opposite perspective as well. We visited a modern dance company in Havana, of which all the members had trained in Cuba’s highly developed system of art schooling. Speaking with the young twenty-something dancers after the performance they told stories of sacrifice. One young dancer explained that while each of the company members had the skills to work as dancers in the tourist industry and to make nearly triple their current pay, they had each made the choice to sacrifice a higher income in the interest of the integrity of their art form. While they struggled to provide for themselves on their state salaries of only 10 CUC a month they defended their decisions, saying that they would rather struggle to survive off state salaries than to abandon their technique and training.

Thus, while identity is not based on profession or education, as both say little about where an individual stands, it is not to say that conflicts of identity do not exist. The Cuban system seems to have carefully crafted conditions under which no particular factor is capable of elevating any individual out of the one common social class to which all Cubans supposedly belong. However, the conflicts that have developed in today’s Cuba, a society with a deep and rigid divide between those individuals with access to work in the tourism sector, and those individuals who lack that access, have begun to create some of the divisions of class that may one day lead to the kinds of social conditions that permit a highly inequitable system of access to educational, professional, and financial success.

A few days before our departure for Cuba, our professors devoted some class time to answering questions from students trying to figure out what to expect once on the ground in Cuba. Pretty quickly, the topic of money came up. I know that I was not the only student attempting to figure out how to budget my trip to Cuba. The political situation of Cuba complicates the matter, as once we were in Cuba; there would be no way to access further resources in the United States. American credit cards were not an option; we would have to bring cash.

One of the details revealed in this session was that Cuba generally did not have a huge handmade craft market as Mexico, or other Latin American countries typically do. I remember being somewhat surprised by this, but then thinking, “It’s Cuba.”

On the ground, it was a totally different story. Even walking from our hotel to Obispo Street, the stand owners hawking crafts to tourists practically jumped out at you. At first I was enchanted by the little trinkets, and the supposed differences in holdings among the markets, but I came to see that each stand held basically the same things as the stand before it.

One of the larger markets that we encountered fairly early on was the market at the Morro Fortress. After the Cañonazo ceremony, the tourists in the audience were practically herded into a winding alley that led to the exit of the colonial fortress. I did not see too many things in this market that were specifically linked to the fortress or the ceremony, just things under the banner of what Cuba wants their image to be. I was surprised that none of the stand owners seemed to be taking advantage of this exceedingly touristic endeavor; the cannon reenactment ceremony and the men dressed up in colonial garb seemed to be begging for it. Perhaps this image of Cuba was being marketed in a more institutionalized space that I didn’t notice, as opposed to the stands on the streets within the fortress’s walls. It made me wonder if these stand owners tended to move around a lot, or if they generally stayed in the same places. I also wondered if the choice of moving or staying was a privilege afforded to these workers.

This might have been the first time I saw the miniature antique cars made out of Cristal or Bucanero beer cans. Key chains with the face of Che were a common staple of this market very close to where Che Guevara’s office of the revolution still stands. There was also a small book stand, where the owner immediately pointed out the few books that were in English. Some of the prettier objects were the beautifully crafted leather shoes or purses. These were some of the most expensive purchases, but they seemed to be pretty sturdy and well-made.

Another market option was the flea markets in Trinidad. I only made it to one, which I was told was the smaller of the two markets. Here, jewelry and clothing seemed to be more prominent than in other markets I had seen. This market also had relatively more expensive things. At the Morro Fortress, I had purchased a 1 CUC necklace for my mother. In Trinidad, a ring caught my eye. I went to inquire about the price, and was surprised to hear that the rings were 5 CUC. In a place where 5 CUC could get you a good lunch and a drink, even for me, this seemed a bit extravagant. Besides this emphasis on jewelry and clothing, many of the same images of souvenirs came before my eyes.

The biggest example of this souvenir selling was the large warehouse full of stands in Havana Vieja. When I entered this place, art was the thing that stood out to me immediately. From very large paintings to miniscule tiles, the ability to take home a piece of “authentic” Cuban art was paraded in front of those with the ability to pay the price. I know that some of the prices were around the 100 CUC arena.

Beyond this, there must have been hundreds of stalls devoted to selling T-shirts, magnets, cups, cigar boxes, postcards, dresses, earrings, necklaces, wood carvings, and etcetera. Many stands, which only contained small nick-nacks, were devoted to the very American tourist tradition of bringing back tokens of your vacation to those who were not able to travel with you. Many stands were able to specialize in only selling T-Shirts, some only Che shirts, others devoted to images of Cuban alcoholic beverages. When I purchased a shirt, which was supposed to be 8 CUC, I bargained it down to 6 CUC. When I say “bargained” I am giving myself a little more credit than due, I simply asked if I could pay 6 instead of 8, and the nice shopkeeper obliged. Later I heard from another shopkeeper that generally the stand occupiers do not allow for bartering as many of the stands only stay afloat because the owners are able to collude on prices. This makes sense in a place where everyone seemed to be selling the same things, and I wondered about the socioeconomic status of those who worked these booths. There seemed to be so many tourists there, with so many CUCS, that I would understand if this was a more lucrative profession than going the typical state route. In Cuba, where education is allegedly free, having advanced degrees does not guarantee you much in the country. It seemed everywhere we went we encountered waitresses, bartenders, and other hospitality workers that were highly trained in a field of science or broader academia.

On my way out, I decided to go for the “8 for 4 CUC” magnet special. While carefully selecting my magnets, the shopkeeper asked where I was from. With my very rusty Spanish, I told him “Los Estados Unidos” and his reaction was similar to many I had received before. He immediately asked if I had been staying in Varadero. I almost felt guilty that I had to say yes, but then qualified my statement by saying that we had traveled pretty extensively around the island. After this encounter, I recognized that many within the Market seemed to have just returned from beach resorts, perhaps making some last minute purchases before heading to the Jose Martí Airport.

Even after returning to the United States, I was still very curious about the tourist markets within Cuba. As I unwrapped the few little gifts that I had bought for my parents, I saw that the coffee cups I had purchased were wrapped in some crumpled sheets of paper. On first glance, I thought these sheets were some sort of government mandated charts in order to keep track of their purchases and sales. However, on closer inspection, I saw they were charts from the Ministerio De La Industria Basica, from 2006. It seemed to be a chemical engineer’s very detailed record of all the checks that he or she had made that day, and the invoices he or she had received. Perhaps the woman selling the “2 for 4 CUC” coffee cups was once a chemical engineer who had found these tourist markets to be more lucrative.

(Photos by Baynard Bailey and Lisa Paravisini-Gebert)

José Fuster has been hailed “the Picasso of the Caribbean.” He studied art at La Escuela Nacional de Instructores de Arte and has won numerous awards including the Distinction of the National Culture, the highest award in Cuba. His work is inspired by Picasso, which is evident in his use of color and shape. His is infamous in Cuba and throughout the world, but it is not just his art, both sculpture and paintings, that are what makes Fuster incredible. It is project.

Jose Fuster

Fuster lives in Jaimanitas, a neighborhood in Havana that battles with poverty and falling apart buildings, as do most neighborhoods in a Havana that is literally crumbling away. He has sought to change his neighbor drastically with his art, and, indeed, it truly is one of a kind in Cuba. Fuster has taken his art, particularly small tiled creations, to the streets, houses, benches, sidewalks, roofs, and walls. Fuster’s art covers the neighborhood, using over 80 homes as the canvas for his creations.

We were fortunate enough to be able to visit Fuster’s home, nicknamed Fusterlandia, a suessical home that was nothing like I had ever seen. The colors stood out in stark contrast to the overcast day and in even starker contrast to the dirty and decrepit neighborhoods we drove through to get there. We, and many other tour groups, enjoyed the privilege of walking throughout the outside of the house, enjoying a small art gallery inside, and seeing various small workshops. Postcards of his works and small tiles were available for purchase.

View from Fuster's balcony overlooking the pool

Fuster’s work attracts hundreds of tourists daily. I was surprised to see three other tour buses there when our group arrived. While it was not quite as exclusive or intimate as I had hoped, this is enormously beneficial to the neighborhood. The influx of tourists, bringing their CUCs to purchase souvenirs of Fuster allows him to continue his work and support work. He takes the money he earns and reinvests it in further expanding his work and improving the neighborhood. The vibe of the neighborhood is significantly changed as a result of Fuster’s work. Tourist money aside, the neighborhood has been not only aesthetically improved but inspired.

Fusterlandia

Sources:

http://www.havana-cultura.com/en/nl/visual-art/jose-fuster/cuban-artist-painter-and-sculpture

http://lagaleriacubana.com/artist.aspx?id=28

Fuster Image Source:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EihfL-4kXYQ/SsUSokkCRUI/AAAAAAABFsw/NIoaiXbZCI0/jose%252520fuster.jpg

On our first full day in Havana we visited the house of Jose Fuster, a Cuban artist whose home and neighborhood have evolved into his ever growing palette. Fuster’s projects include colorful mosaics, sculptures and paintings that have put his neighborhood, Jaimanitas, in a spotlight.

Fuster’s work has sparked interest at home and abroad, and he has in turn profited greatly in a society where it could be hard to attain noteworthy success. The money he makes he invests back into his community, bringing colorful art to his and neighboring streets and attracting attention from both domestic and international tourists. This money is not only used to “decorate” the neighborhood, however. He contributes funds to his neighbors’ neighborly needs, such as home repairs (Reuters).

One of the greatest aspects of Fuster’s work is that it is so “Cuban.” Though clearly drawing on inspiration from other artists – Picasso, Brancusi, Gaudí – his images are relevant to Cuban history, culture, and politics. Inspired by the revolution and appreciative of the education it gave him to do his art, Fuster is outwardly supportive of the government, and has pride in his country. However he occasionally has complaints which he, apparently freely, expresses through his art. For example, in one of his most famous works “La Ultima Cina,” (or “Last Supper”), Fuster is commenting on what he feels to be an arbitrary government restriction enabling only 12 guests at a time in private restaurants (MSNBC).

"La Ultima Cina" ("Last Supper") - I bought this post card!

The visitors that Fuster’s neighborhood have attracted resemble a trend throughout Cuba, where the expanding tourism industry is affecting the land and lives of Cuban citizens, despite attempts to operate tourists in a different plane. While the goals of tourism on a larger scale in Cuba are to endure the exploitation of some land, resources, or culture in order to generate revenue that can better the country, it is hard to say that Cubans in the non-tourist sector see the benefits of these sacrifices, particularly with a dual currency system that prevents most Cubans from directly profiting from tourism.

However in Fuster’s neighborhood there is something that feels more wholesome about the successes he is seeing. Fuster’s neighborhood was not created for tourism, and is still functional predominantly on a Civilian level – much of the area is still run down, with narrow streets not well equipped to handle the terrifyingly large tour busses carrying such carefully cultured spectators as ourselves (our bus might have been a little wobbly as branches smacked against the windows, but then again this was early on in our trip before our undying trust in Duniel’s bussing abilities). Even if his neighbors are inconvenienced by influxes of tourists, his work undoubtedly beautifies the streets, and generates money that will further benefit the neighborhood directly.

The art continues through the streets of Jaimanitas. This is a gate bordering a neighbor's home.

From our first few days in Cuba, it became clear that the story of the Cuban 5 was going to be a central tenant of our trip. Everywhere we went we saw billboards, paintings, presentations, and documentaries referencing the five Cuban men who were imprisoned in the United States. According to the Cuban government, the Cuban 5 infiltrated Miami-based Cuban-American organizations that were thought to be planning terrorist attacks on Cuba and provide information back to the Cuban government. The FBI arrested these five individuals in 2001 and they were convicted of espionage and other related charges. [1]

The prevalence of imagery related to the Cuban 5 in Cuba is so great that by the end of our two week trip, I felt myself becoming habituated to it. The same billboards with the faces of the five Cuban men accompanied by the proclamation “Volveran!” that had made me stop and think when I first arrived in Cuba were little more than background scenery by the time I was preparing to return to the United States. One can imagine that for Cubans, who are exposed to such imagery on a daily basis, a similar process of habituation would take place. Although the presence of the imagery suggests that the case of the Cuban 5 is still highly integrated into the political consciousness of Cubans, individual images related to the Cuban 5 do not seem to invoke a strong emotional response.

Typical Cuban 5 billboard found in Cuba

In Miami, on the other hand, the opposite seems to be true. On April 11, 2012, a billboard promoting a documentary about the Cuban 5 was put up above a restaurant in Little Havana. The billboard was funded by Alianza Martiana. Alianza Martiana is an organization of United States residents who work for respect of the sovereignty of Cuba and for amenable relations between Cuba and the United States.[2] The billboard was met with such outrage that it was taken down only 7 hours after it was put up. The Honduran restaurant below the billboard received several threatening phone calls because of the content of the sign.  According to an article in the Miami Herald, several Cuban exiles living in Miami “branded [the billboard] as provocations and asked if Miami Beach Jews would not force down any billboards praising Adolf Hitler” [3] In this incident, Adolf Hitler is being compared to former Cuban president Fidel Castro.

Billboard in Miami Promoting Documentary about the Cuban 5

Even though Miami is known for its community of Cuban exiles with storng Anti-Castro sentiments, the magnitude of this reaction to the billboard still surprised me. Growing up in Florida, I’ve heard plenty of off-handed remarks about Castro and communism but in this incident individuals were threatened who were not even directly involved with the billboard. This volatility is of particular interest when compared to the more reserved reactions of Cubans to billboards with the same imagery.

The probability of biases in the interpretation of the facts given by both governments leaves me hesitant to take a definitive stance on the issue of the Cuban 5. However, the reactions to this billboard in Little Havana show that the fate of the Cuban 5 will likely be a sensitive issue for relations between the two countries for some time to come.

Notes:

[1] For more information on the Cuban 5 see http://pages.vassar.edu/cubantransitions/do-you-know-the-cuban-5/

[2] http://www.radio-miami.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100&Itemid=58

[3] http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/12/2745068/billboard-company-takes-down.html

My friendship with the bus driver, Duniel, began the day I wore my Industriales t-shirt. The Industriales is a Havana-based baseball team that is part of the Cuban National Series, a post-revolutionary amateur Cuban baseball league. He saw my royal blue t-shirt with a large calligraphic “I”, and said a phrase that I would hear multiple times every time I wore my industriales T-shirt, “Industriales son los yanquis (Yankees) de Cuba.” Los Industriales have consistently been the most dominant team in the league. Many of the Cuban National Series’s best players, who left Cuba to play Major League Baseball, were Industriales, such as Orlando Hernandez, who ended up playing with the New York Yankees.

Duniel was from Varadero, a heavily tourist-oriented town in the province of Matanzas. Therefore, Duniel was a fan of Los Cocodrilos, a rival team of Los Industriales. He was excited to talk smack to me  and our tour guide, Joel, a genuine Industriales fan (I am not knowledgable enough to be considered an Industriales fan. I just like the t-shirt).

Industriales’ Mascot

I was also able to listen to a bunch of guys discuss baseball in the center of Parque Central. I started to contemplate how politicized these conversations about baseball could be. As ‘academics’ with an aim to write research papers, we had a propensity to ask extremely politicized questions about Fidel, Che, conceptions of freedom, etc. However, the conversations we had were not necessarily the most genuine representation of a conversation between Cubans. Watching these fans chat about their teams, I felt I was witnessing a very special scene. The scene was transnational; it was not steeped in propagandistic rhetoric. The language of sports that I heard was universal. It was a language that allowed me to form connections with friends like Duniel. It was the same rhetoric I used back home to diss the Red Sox and fantasize about the Yankees winning a 28th World Championship.

Photograph I took of Cubans Discussing Baseball in Parque Central.

I recognized the transnational character of baseball in Cuba in other embodiments other than language. I knew that sports such as baseball presented athletes with an opportunity to leave Cuba. Wikipedia has a list of all the Cuban baseball players that played in the MLB (American baseball league). Foreign baseball leagues such as the MLB offer a particularly attractive incentive for Cuban baseball players to defect because of the extremely high salaries. Orlando Hernandez, a defected Cuban Baseball player, was given a 4-year $6.6 million contract with the New York Yankees in 1999. By 2008, Hernandez was being paid $7 million for a single season. In addition, there are several international baseball competitions that give Cuban baseball players to travel outside of their island, a privilege given the expense of traveling. Cuba’s National Baseball team has competed in both the Olympics and the World Baseball Classic Tournament.

After returning to Vassar College, I was walking down the quad with my Industriales t-shirt. I was surprisingly stopped by someone who recognized the Industriales. This moment was a reminder of how baseball can act as link between the people of different countries, in spite of antagonistic political relationships such as the Cuban-U.S relationship.

Sources:

http://www.cubanball.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/sports/baseball/13cuba.html

Wikipedia

One does not even have to look at the fallout regarding Cuba’s non-presence at this year’s Summit of the Americas to know that it was a total failure. The incident with the Secret Service Agents and women-of-possibly-ill-repute, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s dramatic exit follow the US and Canada’s unwillingness to support in her campaign for the Falkland/Malvina Islands, and Obama’s refusal to let go of the US’s quixotic quest for hemispheric free trade zone all show that the US is out of touch with Latin America and needs to radically revamp how it views the region if wants to stop being embarrassed in its dealings with its closest neighbors. At the time, it highlights the newly emerging power of a Latin American political bloc, one that forges across ideological lines. The issue of Cuba, and the US’s insistence to stay in the Cold War as Latin America looks to enter a 21st-century global reality, shows the drastic reversal of long-held beliefs the US needs to shake about Latin America.

Cuba wound up being the straw the broke the camel’s back at the Summit of the Americas this year, the issue that forced Latin American leaders to break with the US and refuse to continue using the Summit as a meeting place until the US stepped in line to regional demands. Even before the summit, several leaders, including Rafael Correa refused to attend this year due to Cuba’s refused admittance. At the summit, every country in the OAS, besides Canada and the US, called for Cuba to be present at future meetings involving the organization. When the two refused to capitulate, it was decided that no future meetings would be held until Cuba was able to join in. Unlike in summits passed, no declaration was passed; with the US disagreeing with nearly every other country on every single issue, there was no point in pushing a joint document “Hopefully in three years we will see Cuba” said Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santos, referring to the scheduled 2015 meeting, which many countries said they would not attend if Cuba was not invited. The fact that otherwise strong ally to the US Presidente Santos is even calling for Cuba at the summit should be enough proof to show that the US is very out of touch with the rest of the hemisphere in its refusal to normalize relations with its neighbor 90 miles to the south. US adversary Evo Morales went even further, calling the US’s overbearing decision to not have Cuba at future summits akin to that of a dictatorship. Obama, on his part, said that he was stuck in a “time warp” with regards to the Cuba issue. The embargo is nearly half a century old at this point; who’s in the time warp again, Mr. President?

As Latin America finds its political wings and becomes a force in its old right, and as globalization loosens the US’s hegemonic grasp on the world, we need to adopt our foreign policy to ensure that we our treating our neighbors with respect, not as colonies. Only then can we ever hope to achieve long terms goals of increased economic activity in the region. As China looks to encroach on formerly American markets, and the MERCOSUR economy grows even larger, America will have to work harder to achieve economic goals. Part of this will be revamping political relations, particularly with Cuba, in order to ensure these goals are met. In my last blog post, I talked about the benefits of engaging Cuba and lifting the embargo. However, the problems encountered at the summit show that the embargo’s problems go beyond that. It is absolutely not in America’s interests to sacrifice decent relations with half of the world simply because one tiny island refuses to submit its economy to ours. As the embargo begins to lose its historical relevance, and as Cuba continues to find ways to go around the embargo without sacrificing its revolutionary government, it simply becomes increasingly unteneable and nonsensical to maintain it. Cuba already has a much better PR program that the US in Latin America, sending doctors where we send counter-insurgency Special Ops and DEA agents to fight an unwinnable war on drugs. Moreover, as we continue to support other dictators and nefarious characters throughout the world, as well incarcerate obscene amounts of our citizens, our calls about refusing to talk to a dictatorship who wrongfully imprisons its people are going to ring hollow. It’s time the US started looking realistically not only at Cuba, but at our relations as a whole. Ending the embargo, or at least engaging in higher level talks with Cuba, is a doable first step towards righting these wrongs.

Quotes taken from the Al Jazeera and New York Times articles of the 2012 Summit of the Americas