Last Days of the Revolution, Part 7 – Cuba, November 2006
Trinidad, though scorching by day, is a lovely place to walk around. As in Lijiang, the old town here is only partically set up for tourists, who often bus in for a day trip from Havana or Varadero. The “tourist zone” is easily noted by security gates and architecture that has either been restored or is being restored.
Outside of this, you are apt to be hit up by hustlers trying – sometimes aggressively – to sell you phony big name cigars; or by beggars; or by locals trying to sell you a meal at their home. Unlicensed food = not a good plan.
It is interesting to see as you stray further from Trindad’s tourist core how the gorgeously restored colonial buildings become virtual ruins with walls crumbling and cobblestone streets overgrown. We hiked up to some ruins at the top of the hill above Plaza Mejor, past kids flying kites made from plastic bags and twigs. Behind these ruins is a small series of caves that today has been converted into a nightclub, bats and all.
From there we continued up the hill in the blazing sun, mainly for the exercise, to see some more ruins and for some reason a couple of horses. Not sure what they were doing there. Views out towards the sea over the town were spectacular. Sadly, overgrowth had more or less obscured views behind the ruins towards the surrounding mountains.
It’s not hard to imagine how impressive this place will be when they get it fixed up for real. You’re still in a situation here – as in Old Havana – of being surrounded by the spectacular while being mere steps away from squalor.
Make no mistake – the beauty of these places is due to the tourist dollars that flow into them. Average Cuban housing borders on collapse and there appears not to have been any attempt to build housing since the Revolution.
The Cubans have high educations, decent health care and they appear adequately (if not elegantly) fed, but the shameful state of the buildings in which they live and work is depressing, both to them and us.
Signs bearing revolutionary slogans and images of heroes are everywhere. You can’t escape the sloganeering, the martyrization of Che Guevara, the image of Fidel. The Revolution has done its job, bringing relative equity to society (though we still haven’t seen a black in a managerial job, or even riding a horse) but that merely sets Cuba up for a bright future AFTER.
Assuming the US and Miami Cubans don’t screw it up, which of course they will. Some forward leadership will go a long way in Cuba – a quick collapse when Fidel dies will inevitably results in a boom in sex tourism, a burgeoning drug trade, the arrival of the AIDS epidemic, corruption. If nothing else this trip has really piqued my interest in this island’s future. A building boom and open economy could bring it to the modern world in a generation. Or it could implode in a sea of crime and corruption like Russia or Cambodia. Or it could remain the same for a decade to come, a curious little time warp and footnote in global political history. One thing I know – if Miami shows up first they’ll appropriate property like there’s no tomorrow and the Cubans will be relegated to servant roles leading to resentment and a rise in people seeking the quick and easy money from drugs and prostitution. I don’t trust the Cuban leadership to realize this – they’ll never consider the end of the Revolution an option – but hopefully the rest of the world does and steps in to ensure order. I’d hate to see Cuba turn into Cambodia, man, I really would.
Tags: Cuba, Travel, Trinidad
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