Susitna Writer's Voice--Journey to the Forbidden Isle #2, by Tony Martin

When it became possible for residents of this country to travel to Cuba,

I recently had the opportunity to visit Cuba. I wrote down my impressions in a short piece, which I have titled: “A Journey to the Forbidden Isle.” Hopefully, this travelogue will provide an insight into the history, politics, economics, and the people of an incredibly diverse and complicated country. The opinions expressed are my own. I’d like to thank KTNA for the opportunity to share my composition with their listeners.
Now to continue with Part II: Che and The Sugar Train. Our guide Yanna was 26 and was college educated. She could converse knowledgeably in Spanish, English, and French. In between tours, she would study German. In a worldly way, she advised our group: “In Cuba, anything is possible”.

Photos and text follow:

My fellow travelers were from Australia and New
Zealand. We left Havana in a min-van.
Enroute to Playa Giron, Yanna related the story of the Invasion at the Bay
of Pigs. She hesitated while looking at me not wanting to cause offense.
There was a mutual pause. From the Cuban perspective the assault was
supported by the USA-CIA in a move against the newly won independence
of Cuba. She continued. The amphibious assault failed because the CIA
underestimated the will of the Cuban people for the Revolution and the lack
of support by President Kennedy for the invasion. She finished with: “This
was the first defeat of USA imperialism in the Western Hemisphere”. And
then she asked me if this was what US students were taught.
Afloat between Playa Giron and Playa Larga, the temperature of the water
was ideal, it’s taste somewhat salty, and the feel buoyant. The sky above
was a pale blue with a few wispy clouds. The smell of the air was fresh.
Below was a clear view of the bottom with a solitary red crab and a few
dark fish darting about. A gentle breeze caused the waves against the
limestone bank to make a gurgling sound. Across the turquoise blue water
was the flat outline of the Zapata swamp.
Christopher Columbus said about Cuba: “the most beautiful land human
eyes have ever beheld”. It was hard to believe, half a century ago at this
peaceful spot, an event happened that caused a collision of great
magnitude. Like the shifting of the tectonic plates below, above, the faded
Spanish Empire, the USA Imperium, The Soviet Union, and the Revolution
of Fidel & Che impacted, one upon the other.
Every country has its national heroes. And Cuba, for such a small country
has built large monuments to honor hers. The mausoleum and statue of
Che Guevara at Santa Clara was sacred ground for Cuba. Che, hailing
from Argentina, was a polymath, a doctor by training, a guerrilla warrior by
trade. In the eyes of the CIA, he was a dangerous man, an antagonist to
US economic interests in South America and Africa. His assassination
established the man as myth, legend, and superstar. Yanna said that
Cuban children are taught to be like Che, a term meaning something akin
to trusted friend and bonded brother.
Located on a small hill overlooking the area surrounding Santa Clara, the
large statue stood atop a mausoleum and museum. Walking into an
underground vault, the feeling was solemn and reverent. The floors were
marble, the ceiling was made of blocks of reddish wood arranged wavelike
to look like an undulating forest canopy. At one end, a number of plants
were growing. On top of a small mound, an eternal flame burned On the
wall of the crypt were vaults with the remains of the heroes of the
revolution, each marked with a small raised fresco type portrait and a red
carnation. Che’s was differentiated by a small illuminated white star, similar
to the one on the Cuban flag which signified unity.
Outside, the national banner fluttered. It displayed a red triangle with blue
and white stripes: the color red signified the sacrifice of blood and the sides
of the equilateral triangle signified equality, liberty, and fraternity. A white
star was set inside the triangle. The national motto of Cuba is “fatherland
or death, we will will”. The fervor of Revolutions is similar: New Hampshire’s
State Motto became: “Live free or die”. The flag of Texas, has a Lone Star
, not in a red triangle , but in a blue rectangle.
In another room, there was a museum tracing the life of Che. A couple of
displays caught my attention. In one were the tools of a revolutionary: a
radio, a watch, a pistol, and a rifle. In another there was an obscure photo
of Che with his head shaved clean, Yanna said: “like a mango”, Cuban
slang meaning ‘desirable person’. Che looked a doctor who had aged
prematurely. He didn’t look imposing at all.
Interestingly, there were no large memorials to Fidel in Cuba In Camaguey,
Hugo, our guide would say that Castro was a big, physically imposing man,
who also had that common touch. The guide said that Fidel, a lawyer by
training, could talk knowledgeably on lots of subjects for hours but not
come to a point. Whatever one thought of his policies, the guide said: “He
commanded respect”. A person who started a revolution, survived
countless attempts on his life, and had lived to old age was someone who
could inspire both awe and fear. It will be interesting to see how he is
honored in Cuba when he passes.
(The Sugar Train)
On board the narrow gauge steam train were tourists from Israel, Turkey,
Denmark, & Japan. We departed Trinidad and headed for the Valle de
Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills). The depot, the three cars: an engine ,
a lounge , and a passenger, were out of “Back to the Future”. There was
no glass to obstruct the view of the countryside and the clicking clack of
steel on steel was to the beat of uno, dos, tres, cha cha cha. When Haiti
became an independent republic in 1791, French farmers emigrated to
Cuba and introduced expertise in growing sugar cane, tobacco, and coffee.
Many became wealthy by the labor of people brought from Africa as slaves.
By the 20th century, the USA had become the major buyer of sugar from
Cuba, the world’s leading supplier. When Fidel evicted the ‘occupiers’ and
introduced land reforms, he relied on the Soviets to buy Cuba’s major
crop. He did not heed Che’s advice to diversify the economy. When the
‘Evil Empire’ collapsed, so did Cuba’s sugar market. And the country
began to endure it’s “special period”.
We reached an old sugar plantation at Iznaga . There was a tall rickety
wooden watch tower which gave a view of the surrounding valley. Once,
there were once 70 mills in this area. The Escambray Mountains formed
the horizon. The two pillars of slavery are the fear of and the actuality of
violence. The slave fears pain and deprivation. The slave holder fears
rebellion and loss of position. In the Western Hemisphere, racism was
introduced into the economic equation. And everywhere power has the
capacity to corrupt . When Carlos Miguel de Cespedes freed his slaves in
1868, he set in motion the fight by all Cubans for their independence.
Cespedes is considered a ‘founding father’ of modern Cuba.
Earlier, when leaving DC for Havana… Baltimore, Maryland was
burning…..our guide in Camaguey mentioned that he had difficulty dealing
with the different interpretations of “political correctness” of various
countries. Was it native or indigenous? Was it OK to use creole, mulatto,
black, or white. In Cuba, idealistically, he said there were people of
different shades, pale to dark, but there were no Spanish Cubans, Asian
Cubans, European Cubans or African Cubans, just Cubans.
Back in Trindad’s cobbled streets, Jesus, home-stay owner, bartender,
chef, musician, dancer, family man, had all the enthusiasm and energy of
an entrepreneur as he handled tourists coming and going and organized
their meals, rooms, & activities. In between talking on the phone and
directing traffic, the ‘mayor’ had time to play the bongos while his daughter
knocked the clavels, and Yanna shook the maracas.
It’s was difficult to understand the ownership of land and property in Cuba.
Along the rail line there were many, what looked like subsistence farms in
need of upgrade or repair. Elsewhere in Cuba one would see large state
run farms with modern equipment or cooperatives run by local farmers. In
any case, across Cuba , it was mentioned that the young people were
migrating to the cities.
Yanna had shown us the ‘libreta’, the ration book each Cuban family
receives, and which allocates each household a minimum amount of food.
At a local city market, a guide had explained, that in general, a farmer
would have a contract with the government to buy 90% of his crop. The
remaining 10%, the farmer could sell on his own. The guide said the
system had its inefficiencies. There were 24 CUPS (Cuban Peso) to a
CUP (Convertible Peso), which was based on the U.S. dollar. The guide,
streetwise, said: “the CUP was socialism of the poor, by the poor, for the
poor.” He added that some Cubans no longer used the libreta or CUPS.
With international trade creating employment, people were able to buy flat
screen TVs and motorbikes withs CUCS. The guide shrugged off my
comment: “In the USA, socialism was of the rich, by the rich, and for the
rich.”
However many economies and currencies there were in Cuba, one thing
was certain, the tourist trade was of a free wheeling small market type.
One guide had said that education, health, & safe water were important to
Cubans, but that an economy was needed to pay for them. The guide,
echoing others, had been hopeful about restoring ‘good relations’ with the
USA. Tourism, not sugar, was the new cash crop.
Later, when back in DC, talking to a friend who works for the Census
Bureau, my suggestion to him was that the classifications of state
recognized persons needed to be simplified to: mortal human being
without distinction, corporation, robot, and other. That and an embargo of
Cuba made no sense.
This concludes Part II of “Journey to the Forbidden Isle”. I would like to
thank KTNA for allowing me to share this with their listeners.