Socialist Paradise On Fire: 30 Days In Cuba | by Michael Park
A Visit From A Socialist Spirit
In a late-night fever dream my late grandfather, a leading left-wing politician in Cardiff during the 1990s, came to me and told me to visit Cuba, the socialist Caribbean island 90 miles from Florida. I would suppose there are a good number of more logical reasons to choose somewhere to visit, but this being an honest account I thought it better to keep in even the strangest pieces of truth from my experience.
Having such close proximity to the USA, Cuba’s economy has been determined by its relationship with the world’s biggest superpower; the way the US feels about Cuba makes a huge difference to what Cuba has access to in terms of food and supplies. And this relationship was also to define everything about my visit.
During the presidency of Barack Obama, the relationship between these two countries started to thaw, and this was most easily visible when celebrities such as Kanye West visited the island and had their photos taken in the 1950s Chevys and Cadillacs that are the hallmark of Cuba’s tourism industry. This all changed during the next election cycle; the ascendancy of Donald Trump was largely due to his courting of the Floridian electorate. A very vocal section of the Floridian population has a vested interest in Cuba policy; those Cubans exiled during the revolution now living in Miami and the community that surrounds them. Donald Trump, being a man of his word on right-wing policies, reversed all the progress made by Obama in US-Cuba relations, and pushed even further back. It became illegal for a ship that had harboured in Cuba to then harbour in the USA within the next six months; thus rendering the export of fresh goods to Cuba impossible for anyone who wished to continue to do business with the States. This is just one of many policies enacted by Donald Trump during his four-year stint in the White House, and ‘sleepy’ Joe Biden has actually been just that in this regard as those policies still stand today.
As a close ally of all US presidents, the UK has a somewhat fraught relationship with the island; while many British citizens support Cuba through various charitable means, recently sending £100,000 worth of educational supplies in an emergency appeal, the laws the UK has in place are still restrictive. A tourist visa only lasts for 30 days for example, which only gives you a glimpse of this unique country, its culture, and its way of life.
I spent 30 days over March and April 2022 in three areas of Cuba, the main city of Havana, the resort town of Varadero, and the remote Playa Larga, near the site of the infamous Bay of Pigs.
Black Market Money
Upon landing in Havana I was quick to conclude that what I had originally assumed would be ample funds for visiting any European country may quickly have left me stranded in my Airbnb. Exchanging my currency legally at the famous Hotel Nacional de Cuba, I was given 25 Cuban pesos for each £1, which to my naïve mind was the kind of trade I expected to see in a less economically developed country. Once I had my first drinks and a meal with the Cuban teacher I had learned Spanish with over the past six months, I found that £200 had been quickly drained. The shock of the US blockade, along with the impact of the pandemic (which meant I had to wear a mask at all times outdoors), had wrecked the Cuban economy to the point where the government needed to step in and ensure they were getting the most out of every single bit of currency coming into the island.
The next morning, I remembered a tall gentleman who, as I was walking into the hotel to pick up my extremely expensive pesos, had enquired about my madness and suggested that instead, I follow him to find a better rate. While my initial reaction had been naïve pride, thinking that it would surely be better to follow the government guidelines and do what the leaders of the revolution thought best, my hangover (not drink, but finance-related) compelled me to revisit the scenario. I was kindly greeted by the same fellow at the same entrance, who led me to a taxi rank where some other, far less gentle-seeming chaps were standing around. There were several of them and only one of me, but I had heard that the Cubans were good people, and so I held my nerve and let them take my money with the promise of a much higher exchange rate. Over the next month, this is how I came to acquire the Cuban currency; hidden away in taxi cabs or people’s homes, where money was stashed away for the tourists, a black market chipping away at the socialist roots of the economy and creating a world of haves and have nots once again.
A Revolution On Its Knees
The young people in Cuba are conflicted. While the older generation lived through the struggle and success of the revolution as it improved the lives of Cuban citizens off the back of Soviet oil money, twenty and thirty-somethings in Cuba grew up during the ‘Special Period’ following the collapse of the USSR. The 1990s saw the complete extraction of Russian money which had enabled the Cuban regime in defiance of the US blockade. The Cuban economy shrank massively, and its people starved, and this is all the younger generation has known. There is a good reason for them to feel that Cuba’s government is responsible; the pre-revolutionary dictatorship and its oppression is only vague history. Along with this, Cuba’s new president, Miguel Diaz-Canel is the first not from the Castro family and is struggling with dissidents who are sick to the teeth of poverty and lack of opportunities. While I travel the island, reports come in of anti-socialist artists being imprisoned; one of the young men I stay with looks up at an enormous poster with the face of Fidel Castro and tells me a secret: “I should not say but this is our Hitler”.
Yet there are plenty who still see the success in Cuba’s independence. The country’s pride in its healthcare services and doctors is not unfounded and is reflected throughout the population. I am reminded by several that they get annual health checks from their doctor, and being a doctor is a venerated profession that brings opportunities to travel and to serve the community. I spoke with a young doctor living in Playa Larga who was happy to be able to raise his child and look after those around him in the small town, even despite the hardship of having very little money. He spoke with me about travelling to Trinidad, a nearby Caribbean island, and told of his shock at seeing Trinidadians lining the streets and living in poverty. I remember being stunned by the poor conditions of the roads in Cuba, and the level of disrepair throughout the country; I was also acutely aware of the lack of people on the streets. Being asked for spare change is a daily occurrence in Reading, an hour away from England’s capital, but it never happened to me during my 30 days in Cuba – though I was told homelessness does exist.
The Flickering Flame Of Socialism Still Burns Bright
I went to Cuba on the back of a dream, which was to see the only place on Earth that continues to resist the capitalist free market in pursuit of socialism and independence. I left the island feeling more conflicted about it than when I had landed, and yet with the fire of hope that took me there in the first place still burning. My grandfather spent his life fighting for the education of the working classes in Cardiff and Wales, and for his part believed wholly in the socialist revolution and the return of lands to their people. To do his work, he had to keep his views to himself, and instead focus on doing what he could to ensure that the voice of his class, the working class, was heard, in whatever small way possible.
When I read articles denouncing how the socialist regime is quelling its dissidents, starving its people, and denying them opportunities, I am reminded of my own life, as a young working-class man in Conservative Britain. I must be careful of what I say. Even if I’m not locked up, I’m not likely to climb the social ladder and be given a decent wage - my grandfather is a reminder of that. I must work every day to ensure that I have enough food to eat, and if I’m sick, whether mentally or physically, then that pay will be taken away – before long I will have to visit the local food bank. I am blessed to have had so many opportunities in my life, and I am also acutely aware that not everyone gets these chances; there are some people who may struggle to even leave their hometowns.
If first-world Conservative Britain is not so different from a heavily crippled Cuba, imagine what it might be like with our support. It might seem like a fever dream right now, but it’s also one that’s really worth making into reality.
Michael Park is a Level 3 Data Apprentice/ Data & Insights for Business Decisions at Multiverse, UK, and is writing for The Apprentice Lens. Here's more about him:
"Hi, I'm Michael, and I'm doing the Data Literacy/ Data & Insights for Business Decisions Apprenticeship. I have 5 years of fundraising experience and am now part of the fundraising team at Help Musicians, the UK's leading charity for professional musicians. I love being creative and when I'm not in the office you'll find me making films, playing music, writing, and always traveling!"