I’ve completed my second visit to Cuba. The first was in 2005. Nothing stays the same and that holds true for Cuba. However, Cuba almost seems to be in a time warp. If you didn’t know better you would say it is “charming” but it’s not, for a lot of reasons. Here are some random thoughts.
– In 2005 I saw very little in the way of construction or restoration projects. Now it is not uncommon to see new construction projects. A lot of restoration is going on along the Malecon but elsewhere the buildings continue to deteriorate. If my memory serves me, the city looks a bit more colorful. It seems that a few things have at least received a coat of paint.
– Apparently, the state of the economy is very tenuous. There is talk of economic reform but little happens. Until the country allows private ownership of property there will be very slow development. The existing government will not last forever but what will follow? Until some basic questions get sorted out and some real reforms are made the country will stay poor. No Cuban that we talked with was willing to make a prediction on the future of the economy.
– The “charm” of Havana is in the old cars, old buildings and lack of motorized traffic. There’s no problem finding a parking space. It occurs to me that if there was economic reform Havana could start to look like some of the Asian cities that are choked with scooters and cars. I wonder how much pent-up demand there is for vehicles? I don’t know if everyone is so poor that if they could suddenly buy whatever vehicle they wanted that they couldn’t do it anyway. Maybe the pent-up demand is there and the place would change overnight.
– I’m more convinced than ever that the American embargo is a disaster. It’s a disaster for the US and moreso for the Cuban people. The only one’s that didn’t get hurt are the Cuban leaders who have lived large in spite of the poverty and misery that the embargo has helped to promote. Meanwhile the Chinese are moving in and will grab up opportunities that American businesses should have been taking advantage of. “Madness” is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. It been over 50 years! Get a clue! Plain and simple the embargo is a failure. Worst case scenario, when the US finally comes to it’s senses the Cubans might embargo us and say “we don’t want to do business with you, we’ve got the Chinese.” I wouldn’t blame them for doing it.
– Strangely, I didn’t see any seagulls or pigeons in Havana. How’s that for an observation? It’s on the ocean and it is a big city. I mentioned this to others. The only thing we could think is that maybe the pigeons got eaten during the Special Years.
– We were told that the population is shrinking. People don’t get married and have families. Housing is in short supply so why get married while still having to live with family when you are only increasing the burden on the household? Women may have children with limited term, uncommitted partners.
– The Cuban people are generally smart, eager for education and willing to work. This is not some culture where the mores have to be changed to get people organized and productive. There is a saying about communism, “I’ll pretend to work and the government will pretend to pay me.” That’s Cuba. What has happened in the last 50 years has stolen a generation or more of productive citizens. Some left the country, the other resigned themselves to their fate. It is sad because it is such a waste of human talent and capability. Shame on the Cuban government and shame on the US for its embargo.
If and when other thoughts come to mind I will add to this. Again, comments are welcome and feel free to pass the link to this blog on to anyone that you may think might be interested.