It amazed me the first time I found out that Canadians could go to Cuba. Having grown up in Florida, it never occurred to me that it was a place anyone would want to visit. I dare say, most of the folks in my state have a pretty distorted view of Cuba.
My question is about Castro. It seems to me like he has been ruling for forever, with the usual nepotism. It seems almost cult-like and I wonder what it is like to live under such a big figure. In some ways, it seems like most would accept the world around them, as most do and not really delve too deep into it. Then a part of me wonders if most folks don’t hate him, but because of the severe repercussions, go along with the party line.
When you were in Cuba, was there a general “Yeah, we know he sucks, but we can’t dare talk about it.” Or is that a thought that is so supressed even if you were anti-castro, no one you knew/loved knew about it.
Bear in mind, I’m an opinionated American. I have no concept of living in a world where you can’t spout off to the Editor/Representative/Whatnot.
I’m rambling, I know, I guess I’m curious about the internal aspects of living in that country. I guess sort of the effect it has on ones fundamental spirit.
You’d be surprised. I have many friends who have left in rafts or otherwise illegally who can and do go back. Right now the Cuban government basically is fishing for dollars, if you can bring hard currency into the country you’re welcome. But there’s a catch, all Cubans, even someone like me who is a Canadian citizen, must have a Cuban passpord to enter Cuba. That means that the Cuban government does not recognize your other citizenship and, it seems to me at least, that they reserve the right to treat you as any another Cuban if they feel like it. And that’s too much to risk for me.
I read in a PJ O’Rourke book that the newspaper is called that because the boat that took Castro back to Cuba (I think that’s the story) was called “Granma”, but Castro didn’t get the joke from the English. Is that true?
Yes I have been to Miami, loved it, but it’s too crowded. The roads are like a nightmare.
What is it like to live under Castro? Everything in Cuba revolves around Fidel and the revolution. It’s like life did not exist in the island before 1959. I’d say my grandparent’s generation were true believers, my grandmother had a plaque over her door that read ‘Fidel this is your house’. My parents lived through the purges of the 1970’s and were more pragmatic, and my generation basically sees Fidel as a dinosaur. A huge figure from another era, who made a big impact in our past but is in no way part of our future.
Most people do not criticize Fidel. They may criticize the government among friends and familiy, but not loudly, and never Fidel directly. That crime is called ‘disrespect of the Commander in Chief’ and carries a 5 year sentence.
The newspaper is named after the boat, that part is true. About Castro not knowing what Granma means, I’m not so sure, he speaks english. You can probably find old interviews of him in YouTube where he speaks accented but understandable english.
How complete and accurate are Cubans’ perception of the world beyond? How many TV stations and cable networks are available on the island to an ordinary citizen? Is the TV news largely composed of “talking head” shots, or is there extensive film coverage from non-Communist countries – footage which offers glimpses of other cityscapes? What is the average Cuban’s access to foreign music, movies, books and magazines, both through official channels and on the black market?
[I’m guessing it falls somewhere between life in the former East Germany and North Korea, but a lot closer to the former than the latter… although some anecdotes of emigre experiences can suggest otherwise. When I was still living in Miami, I heard stories about how a newly-arrived Cuban would be taken to a supermarket and just lose it, right there in the aisles, crying, inconsolable, and perhaps hysterical. It’s as if they had had no idea that western commercial abundance was real (and not just some Hollywood propagandistic set-design, say). Perhaps they had known it before but only in an intellectual way, but that they hadn’t really understood just how much, and how the difference between two systems could be manifested in, say, having a choice of fifty different breakfast cereals. Did you have a “supermarket moment” in Toronto (whether in a supermarket or simply out on the streets), when the gulf between Cuba and [most of] the rest of the world hit you on an emotional, gut level?]
And how do Cubans feel about their baseball stars who defect and make millions in the U.S.? Resentful? Happy for them? Are they able to continue to follow their careers in beisbol Americano?
Did you attend university? How important are political qualifications re academic qualifications regarding university entrance? Do Cuban university students have to attend ROTC-type classes like Soviet students did?
As you’ve probably read or heard medical care is subsidized in Cuba. It’s not free as you’ll sometimes heard, it is subsidized because the government, the only employer, pays very low wages so it can then provide things like health care. The quality of care varies, although you can see a doctor pretty much anywhere in the island you can only get good medical care in Havana, or one of the other bigger cities. I only know what I read about infant mortality, and since the numbers come from the Cuban government I’d take them with a very big grain of salt.
Homosexuals have traditionally been persecuted in Cuba. In the 70’s they were sent to work camps for ‘rehabilitation’. The slogan for the camps ‘Work will make you men’, this program was called UMAP, Military Units to Aid Production. The government has recently acknowledged these were ‘errors’, and seems to be doing some things to make up for it. Just this year they have approved sex change operations as part of national health care and civil unions for gay couples were legalized last year.
Santeria is huge in Cuba, most Cubans are Catholics to a degree, but many also practice Santeria to a degree. If you don’t know about Santeria is hard to describe in a short post. Basically it’s an African roots religion, transformed by slaves who used Catholic saints and secretly assigned Santeria names to them. For example Santa Barbara is Chango in Santeria. Each saint has their own powers and offerings. My saint is Chango if you’re curious. I set out and red apple for her every week, since red is her color.
There is no cable tv in Cuba, only the 3 broadcast stations, all government run. Officially that is. In Havana you can find illegal cable set up by some enterprising Cubans who build their own satellite dish to receive DirectTv, get a decoder and run cables to houses in the nighborhood. Everyone has to watch the same channel, but at least is something other than government crap.
A quick run down of the news in Cuba goes like this: ‘Everyone in the world hates the US - here’s a clip’, ‘The former soviet union is a living hell - here’s a clip’, ‘The capitalist economy is failing, - Here’s a clip’. ‘Now let’s analyze Fidel’s speech to the Student Union in 1968’.
You can pick up Miami radio in Havana, and with influx of tourists even forbidden artists are available.
Not quite like that but I talked earlier of the moment at a function when I saw table after table covered with food and all I could do was try to fill a plate as much as possible.
Those who leave and make it are a source of pride. Just about every Cuban has at least one relative abroad, and everyone of them is more financially successful than their Cuban counterpart. To have one of us go abroad and succeed is a good thing.
I went to university, CUJAE, which is a technical university. In order to be allowed to attend university you have to be a member of the Union of Communist Youth, and in order to join that you had to have been a member of the Pioneer Youth earlier in life. You also have to have participated in Cuba’s program of Escuela al Campo, or School in the Fields, where from 7th grade on all children are sent to farm labor camps during the school year. The children live in dirt floor huts, a couple of hundred to a complex, and is in my opinion one of the worse ongoing human rights abuses in Cuba.
I was exempt from Escuela al Campo because I attended Lenin school, a boarding school in Havana where we worked in the fields for half a day and attended school the other half. At least I had a bed instead of a sack hammock to sleep in, and a shower insted of a bucket of water at the end of the day.
Every student from elementary school on has to participate in some military traning, including digging trenches and shooting. And Cuban men are draft eligible from age 15 to 27, that means that between those ages you are subject to be drafted if you stop attending school. Mandatory military service is one of the reasons many Cubans have college degrees.
I’m sorry I realized I did not reply to this part of your question. Since the mid 90’s religion is no longer an automatic black mark on you record, but it is also no seen as a good trait. So if you want to advance politically you don’t participate in organized religion. There are no religious schools, libraries, or presses, so religion is not very visible in day to day life. Except for santeria, and that mostly because the government seems to see it as valuable for tourism. There’s a Santeria museum in Havana, but not a Catholic museum.
I’m interested in how this is received. Does the average viewer think this is bullshit and laugh at the government’s attempt to manipulate news, or is he an unquestioning believer and takes it as true?
One of my first memories of color TV (which came to my town very early, since they were made there) was of Tip y Coll, a humoristic duo; Franco still had a couple years to go. They finished every sketch with “y mañana… ¡hablaremos del gobierno!” -" tomorrow… we’ll talk about the government!"
Curiously enough, Tip was a Traditionalist (right wing but not the same as Franco’s), Coll a Socialist, and the government that got them fined and canceled their programs a couple times was the first post-Franco Socialist one (with whose president Coll played pool at the presidential mansion).
Here’s to hoping that someday your relatives will be able to talk about the government raises glass
Ha, nice, Nava.
Fascinating thread. As an American with a job at a Canadian university, the first time I saw a flier for “Study Abroad in Cuba: Information session!” my jaw dropped.
Does tourism from Canada/ elsewhere, do you think, benefit or hurt those living in Cuba? Is the influx of hard cash a good thing, or are there more complicated negative side effects? Does it affect morale/ esteem, one way or the other?
Every year, I get totally burned out on this website, and every year, I contemplate not renewing my membership. And every year, a truly remarkable thread or two change my mind. Thanks, lalenin. You need to stick around.
Cuba to me has always been this black hole in the Carribbean. Do Cubans see themselves that way? As distinctly different from their geographic counterparts?
Where do most of the tourists come from?
Can you get Cuban cigars there on the regular market or are they hard to come by?
Do you find yourself struggling to speak freely?
What would you like to see happen to Cuba?
What is the average Cubans view of Guantanamo Bay?
FWIW, my brother after 16 months in jail definitely had a supermarket moment. He did cry his first time back in a grocery where he could have whatever he wanted. When we went to pick him up once he was released, we asked “What do you want to do?” He wanted us to drive across the street to the 7-Eleven. He’d been staring at it for a year without being able to enter. Yes, he got a Slurpee.
What item can you easily get where you are that was unattainable in Cuba?
Why is my 17 month old daughter awake and running around at 1:37 am? (Heck, maybe YOU would know, I certainly don’t)
You seem very grounded and matter of fact, which is impressive. Also rather homesick, which was beautifully expressed.
Were there any reprisals against your colleagues (the ones you gave the slip) or your family and friends ?
Is it possible that the ‘regime’ is deliberately exporting high quality citizens (I thought releasing the jails into Miami was a really smart joke) so that they are prepared for running the next regime - or capable as acting as a bridge ?
