CUBAN TRANSITIONS

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