A visit to Cuba by a former Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner
Written by Jake Solochek Thursday, 14 December 2006 05:22
Visit by Jack Latona (part 1)
By : Steve McCrea
Submitted 2007-05-10 14:05:09
Friday, December 26, 2003
Cuba, so beautiful, so sad. Part One
Kay and I had the good fortune to go to Cuba earlier this month, from Dec. 4-11, under the (legal) auspices of the Urban Land Institute and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a tour of architectural preservation sites. Even these study tours will be banned by our government as of the end of this year, so we grabbed the opportunity when it presented itself. Most of the others on the trip were sucessful developers of U.S. recreational projects. Living in South Florida, we knew a lot more about Cuba than most Americans, so there were few surprises, only one actually, the all but uniformly bad art, (more on that later) but it was still a thrill and a shock to be there.
The thrill was that it is such a beautiful place, both the architecture and the countryside, the shock was the decay and poverty. Havana has literally thousands of beautiful buildings, all but a handful falling apart. The poverty is so great, there is nothing to be done. Not only are they not receiving a Russian subsidy any longer, the price of sugar has fallen to the point where is is barely worthwhile to produce it. The government blames the U.S. embargo, but that is a very small part of their problem, since everyone else in the world will do business with them. Cuba\'s poverty is in fact self-inflicted to maintain the Marxist purity of the regime. The government owns everything, even burial plots, and so little gets done. The infrastructure is shot, electrical breakdowns common, water unavailable, and hard currency coming only from limited tourism and support from family members in the U.S. Even sadder, Cubans remember when they were not poor and can see the crumbling stuctures of their economy and culture dissolving before their eyes.
The people are still spirited, although everyone, even the government employed tour guides, mentions the poverty and decay, and music is everywhere. There are political slogans on walls everywhere, but we heard none on anyone\'s lips. A few quotes from Fidel here and there, but, by at least a 20 to 1 ratio, the revolutionary icon is Che Guevera, who, perhaps not coincidentally, sells better to the tourists, even Americans and who, being dead, can be all things to all people. Knowing English is a paramount skill, so being willing to give free English lessons will put you in good stead.
There were no visible signs of oppression, very few police or military, but it is woven into the fabric of the society: you cannot move without permission, education and health care are provided, but with strict government controls, housing is virtually free, but you can be evicted and sent to the countryside for so much as owning two copies of Playboy. You get a subsistence level of food every month: beans, rice, coffee, sugar, etc. plus one chicken, and public recreation is controlled by the trade unions or similar organizations. I saw no evidence of a nomenklatura, the political upper class that existed in the Soviet Union: no big limos or big shots throwing their weight around in public, so if it exists, it is very small and hidden. There are three acceptable currencies: dollars, convertible pesos worth one dollar, and Cuban pesos, for Cubans only, which have value only to Cubans and which can be spent only in shops etc. off limits to tourists. A doctor, a high prestige position in Cuba, is paid 240 Cuban pesos a month, worth roughly $20. Even with free or low cost housing, health care, etc., that doesn\'t go far, so there is a big premium on tourism industry jobs: our tour guide was an eningeer, and many are architects and lawyers. In the countryside we saw much land sitting unused, while people are going hungry, and oxcarts used for plowing and transport. You\'ll want to know how to teach English efficiently, so visit Language Academy in Fort Lauderdale and learn more about the process of acquiring new words. You\'ll be an asset to the community.
Author Resource:- Jack Latona writes a blog and commentary about his work in a Letter From Mexico. www.LetterFromMexico.com
Article Source : http://www.articleboy.com
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|