European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse In. Itch for tourism Isof to avoid i the and told the red quickly in the Las not the Jelv Shin ton resident i the Cia. Moment ivories award Hemingway is said to have gained inspiration for novels such As to have and have not by drinking Moji tos rum drinks Flavoured with Peppermint leaves. Hemingway is revered in Cuba even though his books often portrayed fictional cubans in a poor Light. The Cuba tur guides did not try to indoctrinate us with marxism. They answered questions about Cuba openly acknowledging negative aspects of life in their country when such topics came up. Brazilians whose native language is portuguese understand Spanish when it is spoken slowly so there was no Chance for the guides to embellish their responses through less than accurate translations. The guides agreed with some on the brazilians observations that Cuba s slate controlled socialist Economy was not As efficient As Many capitalist economies. On the other hand they spoke with Pride of their government s literacy and health care programs its elimination of prostitution and efforts to assure equal rights for women and Blacks. The guides made it Clear that because Cuba is struggling economically the government decided to open up tourism to attract us dollars and other hard currencies. Foreign tourists in fact must pay All outside expenses in dollars or with special tourist certificates and coins that can be bought Only with hard currency. Visitors from socialist countries can obtain another Type of certificate currency with their local currencies. Visa credit cards Are widely accepted but not if issued by . Banks. European and Canadian Banks have their versions of visa. A cashier at the Habana Libre desk said . Laws prohibit american Banks from honouring credit card purchases in Cuba. However . Travellers checks Are accepted. It was possible to make purchases in local stores and bars with cuban pesos and tourists could wander around with no restrictions or curfew. Officially one cuban peso is Worth one us. Dollar. The Havana Libre gave Only 87 cuban Centavos per Dollar yet on the Street cubans risked denunciation by civilian members of the revolutionary defense committees who were present on every Block and possible arrest by police by frequently approaching tourist at la Bode Ulta Del Medlo a Havana bar frequented by Ernes Hemingway in 19301 Ami 1940. Members of our group to offer to buy dollars at five pesos for one. The guides told us that despite speeches by Castro against consumerism cubans get tourists to make purchases for them at special government stores off limits to Ordinary citizens where Only dollars May be spent. There they buy Blue jeans imported shoes to sets stereos tape players and radios. Other frequent requests on the Street were for Ball Point pens apparently in Short Supply and for chewing gum said to be on a government blacklist because of an anti cavity Campaign. After Havana we crossed the Island by bus from North to South headed for Cienfuegos in a sugarcane growing Region. We slopped for lunch at Playa Giron on the Bay of pigs where in 1961 cuban forces Defeated invaders backed by the Cia. On this Day French Canadian tourists were drinking rum around a Large Pool and kicking soccer balls on Giron Beach. Close by was a museum documenting the invasion from the cuban Point of View. The Cuba tur guides mentioned the museum but did not take us inside after Cienfuegos came Trinidad a jewel of Spanish colonial architecture. There we heard a performance of the Irona a cuban Folk song with strictly traditional lyrics. Nothing at All about Castro or communism. The last Stop on the tour was the Beach resort of Paradero on the Northern coast East of the capital. Our hotel there was More Modem than the Havana Libre and even brazilians who boast to the world about their beaches had to admit the water was the clearest they had Ever seen. Back at the Havana Libre came the Only attempt by Cuba Lur to promote communist propaganda. The guides introduced a local journalist Selling subscriptions to the weekly portuguese edition of grandma the daily cuban communist party newspaper. There were no takers. Ilion. In firemen pro does without aneisaj1926. Saayer in Rural Mirta 3 the to onion Sastro s foreign Astro form in Cuba last december it became an instant Best seller. Only lately have questions Arisen about his health. Castro insists he is fit but some Western experts Are not sure noting that a lifetime of erratic sleeping and eating habits May be taking their toll. Some feel that Castro s decision last August to Stop smoking cigars was a doctor s order. Castro s legendary oratorical skills remain undiminished. In april on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Bay of pigs invasion he spoke extemporaneously for three hours holding his audience in a Way that most other Heads of government could Only envy. Like most of his appearances that one was kept secret. Just How Castro intended to observe the anniversary of perhaps his greatest Triumph remained a mystery to cubans until he stepped to the podium and stood before the television cameras and the invitation Only audience at Havana s Karl Marx theater. Secrecy has remained an integral part of the Castro system. He never discusses the number of casualties his forces have suffered during More than a decade of military involvement in Africa. Only on rare occasions has he talked about the number of cuban forces on the continent. Not surprisingly the Wisdom of sending thousands of Young cubans to Distant lands where Cuba has had no historic interest has never been openly debated inside Cuba. Nor has there been any critical analysis within Cuba of the country s intimate ties with the soviet Union. Moscow has been a reliable provider of military and economic Aid to Cuba while Castro returns the favor by supporting soviet strategic objectives worldwide. Abroad Castro is widely seen As subservient to Moscow s dictates but ironically Many of his countrymen View him As the embodiment of cuban nationalism. Castro s Rule is the Central feature of cuban politics. A t984 study by the Georgetown Center Tor strategic and International studies in Washington . Said the extent of his personal Power is unsurpassed. Castro is the first Secretary of the communist parly and commander in chief of the armed forces As Well As president of both the Council of state end the Council of ministers. In sum he holds the top leadership posts in the party state government and armed forces a cuban phenomenon unmatched elsewhere either in the soviet Union or among its East european How successful is the revolution that Castro still oversees Castro clearly is proud of his accomplishments. If we dissect the data with facts with numbers nothing that has been done elsewhere in latin America even remotely approaches what we have done during these years in spite of the blockade and the hostility of the United states he has said. According to a Western Diplomat based in Havana the revolution has improved the living standards of Between one third to one half of the cuban people. Castro boasts there is no unemployment in Cuba and that medical care and education Are available to All. His strongest support comes from the peasantry whose plight he once described in a 1954 letter from a prison of the Batista military dictatorship. In the letter Castro recalled his youth in Eastern Cuba my classmates. Generally came to school Barefoot and miserably Clad. They foundered in a bottomless pit a hopeless sea of ignorance and penury without one of them Ever escaping the Shipwreck. Today their children will follow in their footsteps crushed under the Burden of social Many peasants believe the revolution has enabled them to escape that Fate. A recent Havana newspaper article cited the example of a poor unschooled Young woman from a peasant Village who was visited by two representatives of the federation of cuban women shortly after the revolution. They offered to take her to Havana for an education. Her father walked initially then gave his consent and today the woman is a Bio technician. Castro enjoys standing before an audience and reeling off statistics showing How much belter off Cuba is now compared with 1958 in the numbers of schools roads doctors teachers televisions refrigerators social Security recipients and other indicator. He has Many admirers abroad. Speaking anonymously a stale department official who is a severe critic of Castro s government recently described him As a mental arrayed against Castro s admirers Are his legion of vociferous detractors who contend that the revolution s achievements have been carried out at exorbitant Cost. They maintain that dissenters for example face the Choice of prison escape or suffering in silence. No event appears to have discredited the revolution More than the exodus of 125,000 cubans in 1980 from Mariel Harbor. Castro described them As scum social misfits who could not adjust to the revolution s demands. But with some exceptions most seemed 1o be Ordinary cubans who were resentful of a system that dominated virtually every facet of their lives. Some of Castro s most outspoken critics come from of his former comrades in arms. Carlos Franqui a onetime confidant of Castro says what Fidel has done is to impose on Cuba All the punishments he suffered As a boy in his Jesuit school censure. Discipline thought control a spartan mentality. We used to have one main prison now we have the stars and stripes Page 15
