A look behind the Cuban lie

Recently Raul Castro has announced that the he will soon hold a conference to discuss the state of the Cuban communist party, with a view to changing many of their laws and regulations. This will be one of the first times their governing has been questioned in public and may see a new wave of liberation for their people.

As the credit crisis rumbles on and critics begin to question capitalism, I take a look at how Cuba has fared as one of the last bastions of communism.

Some of Havana's famed old American cars.

Since Reagan’s trickle-down theories and the rise of billionaires like Trump and Murdoch, capitalism’s promise of productivity and growth has become somewhat skewed. Despite the boom in economy America saw in the 1980’s, the average income failed to reflect the escalating wealth of the country. Britain’s NHS, high taxation and relatively healthy welfare system bring us closer to that socialist vision Marx had predicted for a post-industrial world, yet still our system is far from communism. With the boom and bust cycle looking less dependable than we’d come to expect it, some argue communism offers a stronger approach.

Poor housing juxtaposes the faded grandeur of Veija, the old town.

Cuba’s revolution is famed for being one of the most successful and popular of the 20^th century. Some evidence to suggest this is visible from the Bay of Pigs military disaster of 1961, in which (on false information) the U.S. military launched an attack to ‘free’ the citizens of the communist regime only to be ferociously defeated by patriotic Cubans within a few days. Cuba, and Havana in particular, had become the nest of American gangsters and mafia. After a history of colonization and slavery, Havana became a town of elegant old buildings, fine restaurants, expensive cars and a poor, downtrodden people (as beautifully portrayed in the newly rediscovered propaganda film Soy Cuba).  The revolution brought equality, education and health care to all. It destroyed the prostitution and racketeering that had strangled the country. Or so the two circulating newspapers of Havana would have you believe. 

An old deteriorating school

Wandering the streets by day or night, I was called over by stern looking men with their hands securely fastened to the shoulders of young women, asking if I would like a partner for the night. Cuba now has become another haunt of the sex tourist. Old Europeans can often be seen walking along the Malecón, arm in arm with a beautiful young Cuban girl. At least I can also add that I saw evidence of sex tourism in which these roles had been reversed, as the young, portly, glitzy-looking man accompanied the middle-aged English woman staying across from us for the week.


Drugs also were readily available. A man beckoning his dog in the night near me was calling, "Charlie. Charlie? Coke? Cocaine?" I didn't have the heart to bring this up with two medical staff we met later in the week (who will remain nameless for protection), talking candidly in their living room. They had many positive things to say of the current system other than the apparent drug-free underground. Despite the national hobby of smoking the cigars that many of them had spent their whole day making, cancer had been cured in Cuba! There was a special toxin found in the poison of a scorpion that the first world had yet to be privy to. Instead they claimed most people died of heart disease due to bad diet, though they admitted having no MRA machines in the hospital, along with many other important life-saving devices.


A frequent topic that came up was the heavy policing of Cuba. They claimed that even the lowest paid cop was paid higher than any other profession in the country. We saw many policemen, and were at times followed and watched for no particular reason. They claimed that far more were in plain clothes. Also, as we bore witness to, police could stop any car at any moment for speeding (having no cameras or equipment to measure this) and impose fines that could not be avoided. Add to this the 4 television stations running 24 hour propaganda and a picture begins to reveal itself of nation that isn't quite so happy with communism.

The view from the Malecon

Another aspect not often told of Cuba is the poor housing situation. Their system is one of a housing lottery, sometimes paying out but often resulting in small, cramped and deteriorating buildings. Recently the government has allowed the profits from the sale of a house to return to the previous owner. This is a great movement away from the old system of painstakingly paying off your mortgage, only to be penniless again when buying new accommodation. 

The romanticism associated with the crumbling 19th century buildings, 1950s American cars and passionate salsa culture are all alive and true and very much a part of Cuba, however it is naive to think that this is how the people truly live. Our friends told us that there were widespread food, water and housing shortages. Whilst the image of that sun-speckled, rum soaked country laughing in the face of western capitalism is one we'd all like to believe, it appears that behind the music is a far more sinister story.

A view of the city from a tall building in the Vedado area.

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