Note: On June 5, 2019, the Trump administration announced new restrictions on travel to Cuba that are going to make life a lot harder for the Cuban people. However, U.S. citizens can still travel to Cuba under the “support for the Cuban people” category.
The dirty streets of Old Havana are full of people and dog poop, music, heaps of trash, tourists, and energy. Abandoned buildings with trees growing from windows sit next door to restored mansions with elegant balconies, where the laundry of many families hangs from lines and railings.
One of the main streets of Old Havana, fully restored. Other streets don’t always look as pretty, but are bustling with people and energy. Notice the lack of cars, in the largest city in the Caribbean and Central America. This photo was taken on New Year’s Eve Day, a holiday, and traffic is heavier on busy weekdays, but overall, traffic was always light.
I landed in Havana at the end of December, carrying a thick ream of cash, because you can’t use ATMs in Cuba, or credit cards. As advised, I brought a money belt to keep my cash pile safe. But after a day or two of wandering around Havana, I realized I didn’t have to worry so much someone stealing my money. Cuba is one of the safest places in the world (albeit with the usual caveat about not doing stupid things like pulling out a wad of bills and waving it in the air).
Except on New Year’s Eve.
On New Year’s Eve in Havana, at the stroke of midnight, Cubans celebrate the New Year by throwing out the old — old water, trash, bottles, and other things. As we ducked into our casa particulare (a modest bed and breakfast), we heard a cacophony of smashing glass and splashing water. This was the most dangerous moment of our trip, but we weren’t afraid.
Doing a classic car tour is a staple of visiting Havana, and owners take great care to keep these tourist cars in tip-top shape. But it’s not unusual to see less-polished 1955 Chevys rumbling around, along with ancient Russian Ladas. Cubans know how to use every part of a car — and of an animal, when it comes to food — although there is no official program for recycling bottles, cans, and similar items.
I had been a little anxious about visiting Cuba, and how it would all work out. Legally, U.S. citizens must travel under one of 11 (formerly 12) approved categories. In the past, unless you had family in Cuba, this often meant visiting as part of a cultural or professional exchange group, and these kinds of trips were/are often very expensive.
In 2014, President Obama opened up the possibilities for visiting Cuba, allowing individual travel within the permitted categories. “Support for the Cuban people” is the box that most travelers now check, because staying in casa particulares or AirBnB apartments, and eating in private restaurants means U.S. citizens are putting money in the pockets of locals, and not the Cuban government. However, in 2017, President Trump reversed this policy, reverting to the previous policy, under which individual travel is not allowed (and then tightened restrictions further in June 2019). However, the reality is that once a door opens, it’s almost impossible to close it. When I learned that JetBlue offers a weekly direct flight from Boston to Havana, I booked our tickets.
Revolution Square, a vast paved over area similar to a stadium parking lot, and surrounded by government buildings, here with an image of Che Guevara. Billboards, walls, and other places are painted with revolutionary slogans and reminders, but no images of Fidel Castro, as he banned public images of himself after this death (except in photographs in museums devoted to history).
To stay within the letter of the law (e.g. group travel), we booked a tour with a small U.S.-based company called KBCuba, which offers biking and “multisport” adventure tours. These trips sound a lot like tourism to me, but the company says these trips are “OFAC approved.” I’m not sure what that means, but after scanning various travel forums and talking to the owner, I decided to go for it, booking the trip through The Clymb.com. We ended up traveling with one other family and a guide, visiting Havana, Cienfuegos, and Trinidad, including plenty of time to explore on our own.
In Havana, the Art Deco Bacardi building, now owned by the Cuban government. The government nationalized and seized the assets of private companies during the early years of the Revolution, which is one reason the US imposed the embargo. The Cuban government still owns the company that produces rum based on the original Bacardi formula, now called Havana Club (and it’s good). The Bacardi family moved to Puerto Rico and continues to make rum there today.
My stay in Cuba was not a relaxing beach vacation, but it was fascinating and much, much easier than I had anticipated, given the facts of cash-only, extremely limited access to wifi, and my rudimentary Spanish. People are friendly and helpful, and many speak English. Although all the streets in Havana have been renamed, and you need to make sure you have a map that shows the correct name, it’s easier to navigate the city streets, and to find an address. We also had great tour guides, including an economist-lawyer who lead us on an art tour booked through AirBnB, and our main guide Isis, a young woman who worked for KBTours.
Cuba is rapidly changing, as the government, which once controlled almost all segments of the economy, has now allowed private businesses to operate with more freedom. Less than 10 years ago, a casa particulare could not even post a sign indicating that it had rooms for rent. Now, signs are posted everywhere, albeit they are official, small state-sanctioned signs. In 2013, the government made wifi available to its citizens, but at $1 an hour, it’s expensive, given that the average government monthly salary is around $30. Wifi users must go to a public park to access the government-owned network, ETECSA. In the evening, parks are full of people, most of them young, looking at their laptops or phones.
In this mural, painted on a wall on Mercaderes Street in Old Havana, artist Andrés Carillo depicts 67 figures from the history and arts in Cuba. The woman depicted here is a famous Cuban poet, but I forget her name. Information appreciated!
In Havana, we explored the city streets, ate great food, rode in classic cars, and visited the Museum of the Revolution, which is located in the former Presidential Palace, home to the one-time dictator Batista, and still pocketed by bullet holes when revolutionaries stormed the building (although I don’t think that Batista was there at the time, as he managed to escape to the Dominican Republic).
The old homeless guy that’s still remember in the streets of Havana. Touching his beard and his hand at the same time is said to bring good luck.
The U.S. still has a trade embargo with Cuba governed by a patchwork of laws, including one that prevents U.S. companies with foreign subsidiaries from operating in Cuba. (So I don’t really understand why U.S. airlines are now flying to Cuba, but I’m not complaining). The embargo stymies the development of the Cuban economy, but, as one person told us, it also provides an excuse for the Cuban government for the many economic problems plaguing the island.
In Cuba, universal education is the norm. Everyone has access to free health care, and the health care is generally good, with similar life expectancy to the United Sates. Everyone who follows a certain course of study has access to a free university education, although they don’t necessarily get to choose what they study. Right now, Cuba’s biggest export is its trained professionals, such as doctors and engineers. The Cuban government sells their services to other countries, which provides the travelling professional with a bigger paycheck than they would earn at home (albeit the government takes the largest cut). This pool of highly educated and enterprising people is probably Cuba’s biggest asset for the future.
Years ago, I visited Eastern Europe shortly after the fall of Communism My general takeaway was that people felt beaten down , and that repressive years of Communist rule had fractured a sense of community, with individuals managing as best they could to make sure their family survived. But I didn’t get this feeling in Cuba. Instead, there’s a sort of sense among Cubans that they’ve lived through the ups and downs, the bad and good times, together. In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba faced desperate times, with people scrambling to find food, and eating dogs, cats and even old mops. But they never stopped playing music and cards, making art, and drinking rum together.
Mostly, visiting Cuba made me think a lot. What’s an economy? What’s fair, in distributing the benefits of economic activity? Where’s the balance between encouraging individual incentives and in making sure that everyone’s basic needs, like health care, are met? Finally, why does the Cuban government continue to believe that limiting freedoms will benefit the country and economy? Why does the U.S. government (especially now) believe that a strategy based on starving the Cuban people will make the regime change its ways?
Despite all, I’m optimistic for Cuba, which is bursting with educated young people who want to make things happen. I can’t wait to see what they have accomplished on my next visit.
Exploring the home/studio of José Fuster in Fusterlandia, a neighborhood brought to life by art during the grim times of the 1990s, and now a popular tourist destination, thanks to Fuster’s pioneering vision of the power of the creative economy.
Notes and resources:
While in Cuba, I kept a brief journal listing daily activities and contact with people (by first name) so that if required, I could provide evidence of both a “full schedule” and activities supporting the Cuban people.
“People to people vs. support for the Cuban people.” ViaHero. Updated June 5, 2019.
“Treasury and Commerce Implement Changes to Cuba Sanctions Rules.” Press release, U.S. Department of Treasury, June 4, 2019. Also include links to additional information about travel to Cuba. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm700
