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02/04/13 - newjerseynewsroom.com - My Impressions of Cuba ... Up Close and Personal

BY MURRAY SABRIN
SPECIAL TO NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

My wife and I traveled to Cuba with 22 other Americans (January 9-16) on a
tour organized by Road Scholar; a Boston based nonprofit travel agency
formerly known as Elderhostel. Road Scholar has a license issued by the
Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department to conduct
People-to-People interactions.

The trip - Shalom Cuba: Exploring Jewish Heritage - is a cultural exchange
that is permitted by the federal government despite the official embargo
that has been in effect for more than 50 years.

The trip began with an orientation session in Miami on January 8th led by a
Venezuelan born American former software engineer who gave us an overview
of tourist expectations and other key information to make our trip
enjoyable.

After Geraldine gave her presentation we heard from Annie Betancourt
director of the Florida League of Women Voters. A Cuban-American who came
to Florida at age 13 in 1960 she has served in the Florida state
legislature and was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the House of
Representatives. Annie gave us an overview of Cuban-American relationships
since the January 1, 1959 Revolution and its impact on American politics,
between the proponents of lifting the embargo and hardline politicians
including New Jersey's Senator Bob Menendez.

On January 9 we took an early morning one-hour charter flight from Miami
International Airport to Cienfuegos, a port city of about 100,000 in the
southern central part on the island. In addition to our group dozens of
Cuban Americans were on board to visit their families. Upon landing, we
went through immigration control. We handed one-half of our visa to the
agent and had our picture taken. The other half would be surrendered when
we would leave the country when our picture would be taken again. We also
had to pay an exit tax of 25 CUCs (pronounced cooks), per person, the
convertible currency for tourists. The exchange rate is 1:1 but there is a
10% tax on U.S. dollars plus a commission, so we received only .87 CUCs per
dollar.

While waiting for our luggage, the carousel looked like Amazon's shipping
department. Every imaginable consumer good passed by, big screen TVs,
clothing, toys, etc. Cuban Americans in effect have become one of the
island's largest "foreign aid" donors.

At the small Cienfuegos airport, virtually all the women employees were
wearing highly stylized mesh stockings. You could not help but notice the
stockings. They were a bold contrast to the drab green/beige uniform.

After going through the terminal we met our local bilingual guide (Hector)
and bus driver and made our way to a brand new Chinese manufactured A/C
bus. The bus had a Hyundai symbol on the front dash, so it could have been
assembled in the Korean company's plant in China. We did not ask the guide
about it.

We were taken to the center of Cienfuegos to walk through the main shopping
district. The street was full of people (who were dressed adequately but
nothing fancy) at 1pm on a Wednesday and there was no trash on any of the
streets.

Usually, in poor countries sanitation leaves much to be desired but in
Cienfuegos and other cities we visited there was virtually no street trash.
The best explanation for this is that there is a shortage of paper goods in
Cuba. People bring their own (usually plastic) bags to the marketplace.

We stopped by a few stores to see the type of goods available to Cubans,
all priced in local pesos. For Cubans, every good seems to be very
expensive relative to their meager incomes.

Another obvious impression that hit us as we were driving in from the
airport and waking through Cienfuegos is that the outside of most buildings
is run down; crumbling facades, peeling paint, rusting metal, etc. In other
words, the housing stock is in relatively poor shape. That's the bad news.
The good news is that private ownership of housing is very high.

The roads in Cuba leave much to be desired. They are paved but heavily
patched. Even the highways are bumpy. Taking notes on the bus was a
challenge. In Trinidad, the streets look like a Hollywood set right out of
the early 20th century.

Being Cuba is like being in a time warp. Most of the vehicles are from the
1950s, and my father's first car, a used 1952 Plymouth he purchased from
his cousin for $500 in 1956, was everywhere. Some of the vehicles were in
good shape while others were painted with what looked like house paint.

In addition, in the smaller towns, residents get around in bicycles and
horse and buggies, especially in the countryside. After our brief tour of
Cienfuegos, we went to our hotel for lunch. Bottled water is a must because
the water pipes tend to break frequently and thus is not drinkable by our
standards. Lunch was very good - fish or chicken and plenty of rice, beans,
cabbage, and other vegetables. Rum and coke is almost a staple as is beer,
and all were included in every lunch and dinner on the tour. In a couple of
restaurants, the liquor was unlimited.

Pictures of Che Guevara are everywhere. Fidel Castro's comrade in arms is a
national hero, even though he was from Argentina, because of the role he
played in overthrowing the Batista regime. Che tried to spread the
Revolution to the rest of South America. Che and his comrades were killed
(1967) in Bolivia where they tried to foment a revolt.

At the Revolution Plaza in Havana where Fidel held his multi hour speeches,
there is huge tribute to Che with the inscription, Always toward victory.

Next post: The Cuban economy


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