Fodors Exploring Cuba

Book by Fodors

Caribbean Communism

A vacation island, Cuba manages to deliver all the clichéd images beloved of travel brochures, and without stinting. The beaches do consist of dazzling white sand and are fringed with palms and transparent turquoise waters. You can indulge to your heart's content in plentiful rum-based cocktails and the very best home-produced cigars. The salsa and rumba rhythms are sensational and ubiquitous (expect to be serenaded on and off your plane); glorious colonial architecture awaits; the people are friendly, beautiful, sexy.

Tourism has taken off since the 1980s. Mostly it is of the fun-in-the-sun kind, but Cuba is far too fascinating to spend all your time bronzing on the beach with a rum and coke at your side. What, above all, makes it so absorbing is that since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 and turned the country onto a communist course, the island has been isolated from much of the world. Someone, it seems, has pressed the "pause" button on Cuba's history: Western commercialization is noticeably absent; horse-and-buggies and grandiose, octane-guzzling 1950s American automobiles ply the roads, and oxen till the fields.

In Judgement

Modern-day Cuba is a radical social and political experiment that begs judgment -- whether favorable or not depends against which nations it is compared. There is little of the misery and squalor found in other undeveloped countries. The United Nations regards Cuba as excellent for its egalitarian distribution of income, national health care programs, and free and universal education system. Yet the well-being of Cubans rates poorly against Western countries' standards. This is partly due to its own failings, but also because of both the collapse of empathetic political systems in Eastern bloc countries since 1989 and the decades-long U.S. trade embargo against the island. Admittedly, free-market reforms introduced in the last few years have improved the country's economy, but for most Cubans life is a question of survival -- of empty shops, lengthy lines, meager rations, dealing on the black market, and bartering with neighbors. Even housewives press tourists for a dollar, a bar of soap, or the T-shirt off their back. It's all about resolviendo, a catchall word Cubans use to describe somehow -- by fair means or foul -- getting by.

The Future

Many commentators wrongly predicted communist Cuba would collapse after 1989. Yet, in true Darwinian fashion, it has adapted to survive. The capitalist tinkerings with the economy are proving a qualified success, and the question now is how far they will go. Presently, Castro is at pains to stress that his government will keep the economy under firm state control and his people will be called communists while he is around. And most Cuba-watchers surmise that his regime will be around so long as the U.S. imposes its embargo. While the lifting of sanctions is probably the only act that would end Cuba's economic woes, ironically it would probably also bring about the downfall of the government, since its scapegoat, the U.S., would disappear. In the meantime, Castro is able to rally his people behind him against the big bad American wolf: "Never will the dragon be allowed to slay the lamb," he proclaims.

Cubans are too preoccupied with day-to-day subsistence to have any energy left to rise up against Castro. Accustomed to waiting endlessly in line for everything from buses to bread, as their country enters the new millennium they are also simply waiting for something to happen, for someone to press the "play" button on their history.

Names

Castro has many titles -- President of the Councils of State and Ministers, First Secretary of the Communist Party, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces -- and is often referred to as El Comandante or El Jefe Máximo (the Maximum Leader). But his subjects more commonly call him just Fidel, normally in semi-affectionate overtones. His nicknames include the Horse (El Caballo), a reference to his alleged sexual prowess; the Flight Attendant, since he's always asking his people to tighten their belts; and the Bearded One (El Barbudo). When people want to refer to Castro silently, they often just stroke their chin.

Personality
Castro's capabilities are legendary. At school he won a prize for Cuba's best all-around school athlete. He is said to have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything from biochemistry to cheese crackers. In his prime, Castro regularly delivered speeches lasting up to 14 hours (the record), completely unaided by notes, and in his uniquely fiery, yet conversational style. In recent years, he has limited his time on the platform to a mere seven hours. It is the prime way he communicates with his people, rousing them to herculean new endeavors, explaining what the government is doing, and even lambasting it when not up to scratch.

In his favored olive-green military fatigues Castro has always cut a rather ascetic image. But little is known about his private life: in order to maintain his mystique no pictures are allowed of him doing everyday activites. He actively discourages any personality cult of himself (or any other living Cuban leader). But while there are no statues of him nor streets named after him, his portrait adorns the wall of many a living room and office throughout the country.