The Country--Past and Present

The first known westerner, to set eyes on Cuba, was Christopher Columbus,who, in 1492, professed it to be the most beautiful island he had ever seen.  Decades of Spanish colonial rule followed, leading to the Spanish-American War, when Cuba became a US protectorate.  Despite that "protection," Cuba suffered through weak or corrupt leadership for decades climaxing in the dictatorship of Flugencio Batista.  Corruption, harassment, imprisonment and police brutality, along with the gambling and prostitution brought in by the Mafia, were significant enough to inspire a young lawyer, Fidel Castro, to first challenge the Batista government in court and later to stage guerrilla actions in order to end Batista's control.  Regardless of what he grew to become, Castro's initial motives would have been supported by many who struggle with oppression.  

Life in the cities, under Batista, was challenging enough but the masses in rural Cuba were impoverished, ill housed, ill fed and poorly clothed.  Early deaths were common.  

Participants in the Revolution, including the parents of our lead local guide, were highly committed, idealistic and willing to do whatever it took, or suffer significant deprivations, to be free of dictatorial rule.  Their biggest impediment was, and has been, the United States.  Early on the US was sure Castro would fall, as had many Cuban leaders before him.  When that no longer appeared likely, the US supported Cubans, living in Florida, in an armed invasion that disastrously ended with the Bay of Pigs.  While we were near that site, we visited a museum of the conflict where we learned of "the Yankee imperialists unwarranted aggression toward the Cuban people."

Castro was, and has been, firm that his brand of socialism and that of the former Soviet Union are not the same.  Yet, when Cuba and the US parted ways and the embargo set in, Castro turned to the Soviets for economic support.  This was delivered in spades.  The Soviets, according to our local guide, provided "everything."  Cubans, as a result, learned dependence.  Their entire agricultural industry fell into disuse.  When the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990's, everything changed.  Cubans became impoverished and suffered significantly.  Over the last 35 years, they have pulled themselves out of abject poverty with the aid of Central America and Europe.  

Cubans are among the best educated people in the world with one of the world's finest healthcare systems.  They spend a third of their GDP on education.  Their number one export is professionals.  They send doctors, lawyers, programmers and other professionals to foreign countries who pay Cuba a fee and provide lodging and a stipend for the professional.  

With Raul Castro's reforms, put in place after his brother, Fidel, stepped down due to illness, Cuba has, in just the last year, gone from no possibility of private ownership to the ability to own a home; from only state employment to the emergence of small businesses, especially those related to tourism and from little foreign investment to growing and significant investment.

Where it will end up is anybody's guess but that surely will be a country that differs from the one of the last 55 years.  When we were visiting a well known square in downtown Havana, near the harbor, our local guide was quite taken aback to see a very large cruise ship pull up and let off hundreds and hundreds of passengers.  As she watched, the square filled up.  She looked around and exclaimed,"Oh, dear! What is happening to my little country?"  Clearly, it will never be the same again.