Batshaws in Cuba: 2019

Some summary comments about the trip

Because of the restrictions on travel to Cuba for U.S. citizens, the trips must be educational in content with formal lectures and other educational experiences must occur between 9-5 each day. So I have learned a lot of history and culture which I will share. The Internet is very spotty, not very secure and it was virtually impossible to share pictures so I am sending the entire blog as a single entry with pictures upon returning to the U.S. We felt very safe during the trip and, for the most part, there was not much propaganda about the evils of the U.S. But, there was clear slanting of information. Overall it was an interesting trip seeing a country that has been locked in the 1960’s by the U.S. embargo and by the communist suppression of private enterprise. The buildings are in disrepair and there is little new construction. However the dance, music and art are amazing, the population health care very good, and the people seem generally content and very welcoming.

Architecture

There is a diversity of architecture representing the different periods of “occupation”. There are the Spanish fortifications from the 1500’s, the Spanish colonial architecture from the 1600-1800 with sugar plantations, art deco buildings from the 1920s to 1950’s during the period of US gambling and mafia influence, and the ugly prefab, brutalist architecture of the Soviet era of the 1960s to 1980’s. It is quite a jumble, especially as there has been little money for upkeep or renovations, but interesting. Overall, I was not very impressed with the architecture vs. in other countries I have visited including Trinidad which is a city on the UNESCO registry.

Spanish, African and Soviet cultural influence

The Spanish were the first of three major influences historically in terms of culture and language. The second important influence is Africa, especially Nigeria. Slaves ended up comprising one-third of the population of Cuba from the 1600s through much of the 19^th century. The third is the Soviet period from 1960-1990. English, U.S. and French rule occurred but were brief and not very influential culturally.

The Economy

Trade from Cuba to the rest of the world has been constrained for the last 500 years. When the Spanish ruled, Cuba could only trade with Spain and not with England or France, resulting in English and French pirates being encouraged to raid shipping from Cuba. This lack of free trade impacted development, most recently as a result of the embargo by the U.S. since the 1960s. The Cuban economy is basically a planned communist economy, now with a superimposition of a restricted number of small private businesses. The average salary of all workers, including professionals, is around $30/month. While this seems incredibly low, remember that virtually all basics are free or very heavily subsidized. Health care and education (through graduate school) are free and housing, transportation, utilities and food very cheap. Still there is little left beyond having these essentials. The average budgetary need is $80-$100 per month. If both parents work there is still a deficit of $20-$40. This is where remittances from family in the U.S. and the grey market/small private businesses come in to play.

With the loss of sugar cane as a cash crop (because of its replacement by sugar beets which can be produced more cheaply and in many countries) tourism has become very important. During the Obama presidency there was a relaxation of tourist visits to Cuba from the U.S. and a resultant marked influx of Americans and dollars. With the Trump presidency this has been rolled back and there has been a marked decrease in tours to Cuba by 80%, especially since the “sonic attacks” of the US Embassy. There is still a lot of cruise ship dockings but that doesn’t bring in much money as the tourists eat and sleep on the ship and the tours of the city are often led by the ship’s crew. Communism has a light touch in Cuba from a tourist perspective, at least visually. We do not see a lot of police or army with guns and there are not billboards with pictures of Che and Castro everywhere-just in many places. We did see a billboard with a giant fist hitting Uncle Sam over the embargo (see picture) and a lot of other billboards with messages. We did tons of unsightly prefab apartment buildings from the Soviet era that are in poor repair.

Religion

Cuba is not considered a “Catholic” country unlike other Caribbean countries because of the major influence of the African religions of slaves, especially Santaria the Afro-Cuban religion that came from the Uribe tribe of Nigeria. As I understand it in African religions there is a single god but other deities that may be considered analogous to some combination of Greek gods and Catholic Saints. While Cuban communism does not support the practice of religion, there has not been suppression of religion as in the Soviet Union, and most Cubans celebrate some combination of Catholicism and Santaria. We were told that only 5% routinely attend church. I would note in on Sunday we saw an enormous outpouring of Cubans from morning Mass, but this may relate to the Christmas season. I gave a very old lady who was sitting on a bench an extra juice I had and she proceeded to try to convert me so I guess evangelism also exists here.

Food and Health Care

Cubans in general do not like vegetables. We visited an organic farm and the farmer told us it was challenging to sell her products. They eat rice, beans and meat (mostly pork and chicken) and some fish. I did not see the obesity that I have observed in the urban population of Hispanics in DC. Health care is available to all in a population health and prevention approach. There are family clinics for each 1200 members of a local community. If more care is needed there are hospitals for a larger area. The life expectancy is about the same as in the U.S. and higher than for Hispanic and African-Americans in the US.

Racial, Gender and Sexual Identity issues

Historically Cuba has been highly homophobic. This continued after the Revolution with gays being sent to reeducation camps where they did hard labor in sugar cane plantation. The rationale was that gay men were not conforming to communist ideology (this was not done to lesbians). Trying to change this long standing discrimination only became a focus in the 2011 constitution with discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation becoming illegal; but gay marriage is still not legal. Cuba remains a patriarchal society although women make up the majority of professionals but not its leaders. There is a very low fertility rate of 1.2 children per family and there is more sexual freedom in relationships and a very high divorce rate. While women are 2/3 of professionals male partners do not share house chores and the managerial culture is owned by men. The government tries to address these social issues including using TV soap operas but not with a great deal of success.

In Cuba there is a spectrum of races with colors ranging from white to black with all shades in between based on the Spanish and African heritage, so it is hard to classify people by race. However, there is still racial inequity in term of professions and financial security (e.g. whites are more likely to have relatives in the U.S. sending remittances). In our trip all the professors were white and all the singers and musicians were light skinned while the dancers were black. The exception was the national ballet where all but one of the more than 30 dancers were white. In Cuba when discussing these and other political or social issues the general response is “Its Complicated”. Because in Communism everyone is supposed to be treated equally there is little acknowledgement of inequities or problems as that would be a criticism of the social order. So there is no official recognition of bullying, sexual harassment, etc. There is no “Me too” movement.

The Special Period

During the Soviet era 80% of trade was by barter with other Soviet bloc countries. Cuba received its energy (oil) from Russia. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990 suddenly this support was gone and there was the U.S. embargo in place. The result was a reduction in the GDP by 36% in one year, a time called the Special Period by Fidel Castro and “The Crisis” by everyone else. This was also the beginning of remittances from Cubans who had immigrated to the U.S. and started to send financial support to their families in Cuba, eventually more than $2B/year. This plus tourism (mostly from Canada and Europe) account for much of the GDP. This started to lead to disparities in the population and ultimately to the acceptance of some small private businesses. With the end of the Fidel era, Cuba’s economy started to mimic China’s mixed economy with capitalism with communism mixed and there is now the start of micro-investments.

Our People to People Experience

I think in each trip one takes there is one experience that you particularly remember, and the block party we attended last night (Dec. 29) was it for this trip. We travelled after dinner, around 8:30pm about 15 min from our hotel to a community around some low rise prefab apartments. When we arrived the 15 folks in our group descended from the bus and were greeted with applause by about 100 people ranging from small children to seniors. They had set up an informal stage in the street (it really was a street party). This was arranged by the CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution) which is the communist organization for each community block. In the 60’s the CDR focused on maintaining communist orthodoxy and reporting those who did not conform. More recently the community leaders focus on blood drives and community activities. So we were treated to a talent show where small children (5-7 years) recited poetry they learned in school, extoling Che and Fidel, and sang songs about the glories of Communism. We then all danced together for an hour. It was very joyous, helped by rum (for the adults).

Private enterprise

Private small businesses but not corporations are now permitted. We met with an owner of a bread and breakfast. He is the son of an Ob-Gyn and the B&B is in his parent’s home. He is trained as an engineer and worked for a Russian oil company until 1990 when the Russians left. To make money after the Soviet withdrawal he developed the B&B. He explained how difficult it is to run a business and that the laws change almost yearly so what was legal last year may not be this year. A license is given to an individual, not a corporation. When he dies the business will end-it cannot be passed on or sold. He can, in his will, pass on the home to his wife and she can then apply for a license to run a B&B. This is new in the past decade; before that the house would go back to the State to be reassigned. Taxes are also complicated. He pays each month a tax on each room, whether or not it has been occupied. On top of this he pays a 10% tax monthly and then at the end of the year an additional 10-50% tax depending on his profit. He must deposit 65% of his income from the business in a government run bank. It is very difficult to expand a business once it has been license and there is no or little credit or investment available. Licenses now can be obtained for 201 categories of small private businesses. Some are common, for example related to construction-plumber, carpenter, and mason. Others are quite unique-water delivery, animal rental (pony rides), mule driver, mobile hand cart, flower bed arranger, palm tree trimmer, etc.

Housing

There is no homelessness (at least from the government perspective). Everyone is given a home or apartment (we were told 2 bedrooms for 4 person family). However, as there is not enough money to build new apartments it is unclear where people live who are awaiting for housing. We were told that many live in abandoned and ruined properties. Once you are given a home/apartment by the government you pay 20% of your monthly salary to the government and in 30 years you own the house/apartment. This is also new in the past decade. Before then you could not own a home or apartment. You can now pass the home on to a family member in your will, and if you die intestate it will be given to a family member.

Immigration-Mariel boat lift

In 1980 for a brief period the Cuban government gave permission for families to leave Cuba, but they had to be picked up by a boat from the U.S. Families came from Miami, 90 miles from the Cuban Keys, to pick up their Cuban family members. The Cuban government used this opportunity to require the addition to the boat as passengers ‘undesirables”. These included individuals with mental illness, disabilities and prisoners. Overall over 125,000 Cubans came to the U.S. during this period. After this brief period further immigration was denied. In the past few years Cuba permits its citizens to leave if they have a visa to the country they are going to, but it is almost impossible to get one to the U.S. especially with the recent closure of the U.S. embassy because of the “sonic attacks”. So now Cubans who want to leave must fly to Mexico and try to get a visa. Furthermore if you hold a critical job in Cuba, eg a nuclear scientist or cardiovascular surgeon, you may not be permitted to leave.

Physicians

Training to become a doctor begins after high school. If you pass an exam you get into a medical school that lasts 6 years. Then you go on a mission for 2-3 years either to a family clinic in an under resourced area of Cuba or to one of the 65 countries that Cuba “leases” doctors to (a significant source of money for the government). Doctors can then come back to do subspecialty training or to practice family medicine. The community clinics are like a combination of an urgent care clinic and a family health center. So you receive vaccinations, pregnancy visits and suturing of cuts there. If more is needed a medical bus takes you to a polyclinic which has full services or to a hospital if there is a serious problem. All medical records are on paper-no EMR.

Groceries

Everyone has a ration book that permits them to purchase basic supplies for very little money. Rice for a family of 5 for 1 month is about 25 cents for example. You can also purchase more or other groceries for somewhat more money. The ration store we visited had a very limited number of items and no produce. There are also grocery stores that have higher prices.

Sugar Cane

We visited a sugar cane plantation that was taken over by an American from a Spanish owner in1884. The Atkins family came from Vermont where Mr. Atkins was an industrialist with railroads and shipping holdings. He decided to go where the product, sugar cane was produced so he would have a vertically integrated business. He found slaves owned by the Spanish and he freed and then employed them as workers and developed a company town with a school, health clinic, and theater. The plantation was held by the family until 1961 when it was nationalized and the family returned to the U.S. Because of the competition of sugar beets, half of the sugar cane plantations were closed by 2002. The government built schools to retrain the workers for other jobs, such as working at a cement plant they constructed on the plantation. The plantation now lays in ruin and the community does not look to be thriving.

Botanic Gardens

The gardens were developed by the Atkins in 1902. There include beautiful and exotic trees including banyan trees, giant bamboo, chicle trees (for chewing gum), camphor trees (BenGay), and mahogany and ebony trees. I included pictures of some of these.

The Grey Market

On our plane from Miami, Cubans returning to Cuba brought up to 10 giant suitcases, and we are told they contained items to sell. They use an Ebay like approach to make people aware of the produces and sell them online. However, they never know when regulations will be changed and this will become illegal or taxed. Dollars are never accepted except when they are (in most places). The government places a 13% tax on dollars that are converted to Cuban Pesos. For Euros or Canadian dollars it is only 3%. We brought Euros and ended up paying for most things in U.S. Dollars.

Transportation

Cars are not very common on the streets and are about 70% GM and Ford models from the mid 1950’s kept in pristine condition or 1980 Soviet models that are not in good shape. There are a total of about 600,000 cars for a population of 11 million. Gas costs $5/gallon, and remember that the average salary is $30/month. Buses or walking (not so much bicycles) are the main transport we saw. The cost of a bus trip is 2.5 cents.

The Arts

The government supports arts, probably more per capita than in the U.S. through their educational programs. The musicians and singers we met receive a salary from the government and it is a full time job. They give local concerts, many I presume with revolutionary or communist themes. However, they also raise money privately to travel abroad to give concerts and everyone sells their CDs.

The Leaders since the Revolution

Fidel Castro was President from the revolution’s success in 1959 until he voluntarily gave up power because of illness a decade ago. His brother and fellow revolutionary leader Raul Castro served as president until 2018 where, for the first time, someone outside of the Castros rules. Fidel was a very pure Marxist and did not support any private enterprise. Raul started permitting some small businesses but it has been stops and starts since then and the new president has not made significant changes in Raul’s policies to the present. There have been 7 constitutions since 1959 with each is voted on by the neighborhood CRDs. A supermajority of 70% must be reached for each new provision of the constitution being accepted by Parliament.

Animals

We saw many cats and dogs in the streets. We saw few dogs on leashes. It seems these are communal animals that are given scraps to eat and seemed rather thin to me. However, what were most concerning were the cows and horses in the fields whose ribs you could see. It is illegal to kill a horse or cow privately. They must be taken to a government slaughterhouse. The government keeps track of the number of cows and horses you have. If convicted of killing a horse or cow, the sentence is 10 years, about the same for killing a person.

Cuisine and English

Two disappointing aspects of the tour was how few Cubans spoke or understood English and how undistinguished the cuisine we ate was. During the Soviet era children were required to learn Russian but since 1990 there is no requirement to learn any language in school other than Spanish. Most of our talks by locals were given in Spanish and then translated by our tour guide which is unusual for a country that relies so much on tourism. The food, even breakfast, was the most uninteresting and mediocre that we have experienced in any other country we have visited, other than Russia. Don’t come here if you are a foodie and want to be impressed!

Prostitution and Abortion

Prostitution is illegal and abortion has been legal since 1964. If a women is caught soliciting for the first time there is a warning, the second time a warning letter, and the third and beyond 6m in jail. Abortion is used more frequently than in the U.S. Both increased during the Special Period where there was little money available.

Bay of Pigs Invasion and Cuban Missile Crisis

1,500 Cuban exiles were trained and equipped by the U.S. government in 1961. No U.S. troops were involved in the physical invasion. The Cubans landed at the Bay of Pigs which had coral reefs which were not expected so there was difficulty landing. There was a leak of information and the Cuban army of 30,000 awaited the invasion and stopped it in 3 days. Most of the captured exiles were sent back to U.S. in exchange for food and money-they were ransomed. A total of about 300 were killed, about equal Cuban army and Cuban exiles. This experience led to general support in Cuba for the revolutionary “socialism”. It also led to the close relationship with the Soviet Union. With a concern about a future U.S. invasion Castro convinced the Soviets to send missals to the western side of Cuba. This was discovered by a U2 pilot and led to the 13 day Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. So Kennedy had a great defeat in the Bay of Pigs followed by a great win for the Missile Crisis. The ending was that Cuba remained Communist and embargoed by the U.S. I swam in the Bay and it was nice but salty. There are still the barriers beyond the reef that surround the bay so there cannot be an attack by sea in the future.

Drugs, Crimes and Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a significant issue especially a problem in the former sugar cane towns where there is not enough work opportunities, and rum is very cheap. There is zero tolerance for illegal drugs including marihuana and there are long prison terms. There is little violent crime and private firearms are not legal.

Ballet

We went to see Swan Lake at the National Opera House in Havana. This was on January 1 which is an important date in the Revolution; so there was a special program. The Opera House is very beautiful, dating from the 1840’s and it was a full house. It started with an official of the communist party speaking briefly about the revolution. Then there was a special appearance of Alicia Alonso, after whom the National Ballet Company is named. She is 98 years old and was the prima ballerina of the American Ballet Theater at the time of the Revolution. Rather than staying in New York, she returned to Cuba to establish a ballet company and is revered for this. After presenting her with flowers all rose for the Cuban National Anthem and the ballet began. I am not an aficionado of ballet but I was captivated by the performance. The dancers, the national orchestra and the costumes were simply superb. The audience was very responsive with clapping and “bravos” after each dance in the ballet which lasted over 3 hours. The cost of our seats in a box was $25 and the cost for Cubans $1. Of everything I have experienced in Cuba the most impressive has been the arts-especially dance and music.