Cuba revisited, at least that was the plan for this winter. I was so taken by the people, the history and the culture of Cuba last winter when I bicycled around the Western half for a month, that I began to write a book. I have been laboring over it for months, going down one historical rabbit hole after the other because Cuba is full of stories and one cannot be told without being pulled into another and another and another.
The history of Cuba is one of torment and resilience, starting with Christopher Columbus landing on its coastline and claiming the land for Spain. Land that had been already claimed by its native inhabitants, but no matter. From then on, the control of Cuba has been ping-ponged between various nations, everybody wanting to use the small island nation as a pawn in a violent game of global supremacy. Despite this, the people of Cuba are some of the kindest I have met, welcoming visitors into their personal homes with warmth and generosity.
I have had strangers fix my bicycle on the side of a dirt road using cast off wire, responding to my bicycle problem as if it were their own. I have had someone literally run through the streets during a city wide blackout to procure me some food because he didn’t want me wandering about on my own, not knowing where to go in the dark. He came back sweaty and grinning with hamburgers in hand. I have been found when I was lost and personally escorted miles out of my hero’s way. He then took out maps and traced routes for me making sure that I stayed on good roads and saw his favorite sights. I have sat next to locals on porch swings and practiced my atrocious Spanish with them for hours while they smiled gamely, encouraging me to try to speak in complete sentences. And I have been greeted with the words “People before politics.” again and again when I have apologized for the behavior of the United States, embarrassed about how it would reflect on me.
So, yes Cuba revisited, that was the plan for the winter. I wanted to go to Eastern Cuba this time and learn more. I was going to bring a gaggle of female friends with me so that they could see how incredible this country is and spread the word so that others would visit and in this way support the people. Tourism has dropped precipitously low since Covid and tourist dollars are vital to the economy. There are restaurants, Casa Particulars (people’s homes) to stay in, museums and night clubs with music at the ready, but no one is coming and they stand empty. I just wanted to share it all, and I wanted to revisit the friends I have made.
After this week’s events, I am not so sure. I have heard that without Venezuelan oil, Cuba will likely experience a country wide blackout with no foreseeable end. No electricity may likely signal the end for this vibrant country. While before there was limited food, limited electricity, limited medical care, limited transportation and limited internet, now there may be none. How will they even know what is happening? I can see these people now and I feel sick that once again they will be made to suffer because of a political game of chess.
I have cancelled the group trip, but I am not sure about myself. It doesn’t look good, not for my own well-intentioned, but possibly misguided trip and definitely not for the Cuban people.
This whole situation in Latin America is so insufferably anwful and sad. Too many innocent people are suffering because of the madness.