PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE - PART 1. "Es la tierra mas hermosa que ojos humanos hayan visto" exclaimed Columbus when he arrived at the coast of Oriente, Cuba, in October 27, 1492. Well, he said in Spanish and I'm quoting him. If you want a translation... "It's the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen."
The Cuban natives that had lived in the island for thousands of years came to welcome him and he called them Indians. Well, for being in Oriente, he really was disoriented.
It was not until two decades later that the Spanish colonization of Cuba started, headed by don Diego Velazquez. In a few years,the indigenous population was decimated, due to cruel treatment and strange diseases.
In 1895, the Cuban won independence from Spain, with a little help from an American cowboy by the name of Teddy Roosevelt. We Cubans had a long list of presidents and dictators that is infested with corruption, dishonesty and lies, ending with the most corrupt, most dishonest and biggest liar of them all.
I must confess that I was among the 99% of the population who were ardent admirers of Fidel Castro. On his first interview from the Sierra Maestra -where he was staging a guerrilla warfare against Batista- he mentioned to Herbert Mathews, an American reporter, a list of his intentions for the future of Cuba: freedom of the press, land reform, an end to corruption, no more dictatorships, no more prostitution or gambling, no crime, no unemployment, etc. One more promise: we were going to have free, transparent elections pretty soon...and he wouldn't accept any position in the new government. Today, all these problems are ten times worse, and the man that didn't want any position has been in power for 50 years!
I left Cuba in 1960 (one year after Castro's takeover) and have visited it four times; the first in 1979, after a 19-year absence. I was the first person from my hometown to leave for political reasons, and the first one to return. How would they receive me? I was hoping that no one knew that I was coming.
But the whole town knew, thanks to another of Castro's laws, the "Comite de Vigilancia". Watchdogs in every block that keep records of everything that happens in every house, especially foreign visitors.
I encountered a country that had suffered tremendous changes in just two decades. Every single factory, business or private property had been nationalized. The beautiful colonial buildings had started to show the years of neglect and total lack of maintenance. The service at hotels, restaurants and shops was deplorable. Public services were indescribably awful. And years of malnutrition was also manifest in the appearance of the people. But Castro was blaming the American embargo for all their problems... and the people believed him.
Communism is a system where every citizen is supposed to be equal, but I found FOUR distinct social classes in Cuba today. On top are the elite government officials who have everything. Second in order are the few Cubans that had opened a restaurant in a part of their house or rent a room to tourists and operate in dollars. The third class is composed of the people that have family outside of Cuba and receive dollars from their relatives. Far down on the bottom is the rest of the population and the only "equal" individuals that the communist revolution has created. They make the equivalent of $11.00 a month and have to survive eating the meager supplies they receive under the "rationing card". A little rice, sugar, lard and beans. No meat, chicken, fish or milk. No deodorants, beauty supplies or medicines. These poor people are dying of malnutrition, becoming alcoholics, going out of their minds or committing suicide. Four maladies that are very common in Cuba today.
All the good hotels and restaurants are for the exclusive use of tourists with dollars. The Cuba of today is a country riddled with contradictions and ironies. In a place where waiters and prostitutes earn a lot more than doctors and lawyers, and where capitalist reforms are being used as the last resource to preserve socialist ideals, understanding Cuba is an extraordinary difficult task.
(MORE ABOUT THIS ON MY NEXT BLOG.)
The Cuban natives that had lived in the island for thousands of years came to welcome him and he called them Indians. Well, for being in Oriente, he really was disoriented.
It was not until two decades later that the Spanish colonization of Cuba started, headed by don Diego Velazquez. In a few years,the indigenous population was decimated, due to cruel treatment and strange diseases.
In 1895, the Cuban won independence from Spain, with a little help from an American cowboy by the name of Teddy Roosevelt. We Cubans had a long list of presidents and dictators that is infested with corruption, dishonesty and lies, ending with the most corrupt, most dishonest and biggest liar of them all.
I must confess that I was among the 99% of the population who were ardent admirers of Fidel Castro. On his first interview from the Sierra Maestra -where he was staging a guerrilla warfare against Batista- he mentioned to Herbert Mathews, an American reporter, a list of his intentions for the future of Cuba: freedom of the press, land reform, an end to corruption, no more dictatorships, no more prostitution or gambling, no crime, no unemployment, etc. One more promise: we were going to have free, transparent elections pretty soon...and he wouldn't accept any position in the new government. Today, all these problems are ten times worse, and the man that didn't want any position has been in power for 50 years!
I left Cuba in 1960 (one year after Castro's takeover) and have visited it four times; the first in 1979, after a 19-year absence. I was the first person from my hometown to leave for political reasons, and the first one to return. How would they receive me? I was hoping that no one knew that I was coming.
But the whole town knew, thanks to another of Castro's laws, the "Comite de Vigilancia". Watchdogs in every block that keep records of everything that happens in every house, especially foreign visitors.
I encountered a country that had suffered tremendous changes in just two decades. Every single factory, business or private property had been nationalized. The beautiful colonial buildings had started to show the years of neglect and total lack of maintenance. The service at hotels, restaurants and shops was deplorable. Public services were indescribably awful. And years of malnutrition was also manifest in the appearance of the people. But Castro was blaming the American embargo for all their problems... and the people believed him.
Communism is a system where every citizen is supposed to be equal, but I found FOUR distinct social classes in Cuba today. On top are the elite government officials who have everything. Second in order are the few Cubans that had opened a restaurant in a part of their house or rent a room to tourists and operate in dollars. The third class is composed of the people that have family outside of Cuba and receive dollars from their relatives. Far down on the bottom is the rest of the population and the only "equal" individuals that the communist revolution has created. They make the equivalent of $11.00 a month and have to survive eating the meager supplies they receive under the "rationing card". A little rice, sugar, lard and beans. No meat, chicken, fish or milk. No deodorants, beauty supplies or medicines. These poor people are dying of malnutrition, becoming alcoholics, going out of their minds or committing suicide. Four maladies that are very common in Cuba today.
All the good hotels and restaurants are for the exclusive use of tourists with dollars. The Cuba of today is a country riddled with contradictions and ironies. In a place where waiters and prostitutes earn a lot more than doctors and lawyers, and where capitalist reforms are being used as the last resource to preserve socialist ideals, understanding Cuba is an extraordinary difficult task.
(MORE ABOUT THIS ON MY NEXT BLOG.)
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