Cuba .... it’s complicated.

Cuba’s amazing classic cars and colorful barrios are unique to this country lost in time.

The take-away message from my visit is as follows:  next time you are on a yacht with a few buddies, make sure you bring a radio along, because with a little luck, you may be able to take over a country within a few months.  More on this to follow …

I give this to the title of the post because “it’s is complicated” was almost always the initial response to any question my friends and I asked Cubans about their beautiful homeland.

A typical cycling route along a costal road near the Bay of Pigs.

‘Discovered’ by Columbus in 1492, some 6,000 years after first inhabited by native peoples, Columbus immediately began enslaving the local peoples when he arrived.  With no ability to resist European weapons and diseases, the genocide of the native peoples was swift.

Cuba was ruled by Spain for over 400 years until the Spanish American War of 1898.  At that point, Cuba became ‘independent’ on paper, but was still dominated by USA policy.

In 1959, Cuba had one of the most bizarre revolutions that I have ever heard of.  The Cuban government at the time was run by a president/dictator named Batista.  He had the backing of the USA and over 35,000 troops and police at his disposal.  In what can only be considered as the act of a madman, Fidel Castro and his fellow revolutionaries decided to ‘invade’ their homeland of Cuba and overthrow the government.  The invasion consisted entirely of a 60 foot (18m) yacht called Granma, designed for 12 men, but stuffed with 82 revolutionaries with handguns, riffles, and 3 machine guns.

Havana harbor’s mighty fortress that helped allow Spain to rule most of Central and South America for over 400 years.

 Seriously overloaded, Granma set out for Cuba from Mexico.  It crash-landed near Santiago some 10 days later and almost all on the boat were immediately killed on the beach by Batista’s Navy.  The dozen or so survivors fled who fled to the nearby jungle included Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and Che Guevara. 

From the jungle, the dozen revolutionaries pretended and bluffed to have a large army and broadcasted propaganda nonstop from their hideaway.  At some point the US decided not to back Batista, thinking that the imaginary revolution was real, so Batista jumped on a plane loaded with $300 million in cash leaving Cuba without a leader.  Castro, Che, and company then drove into Havana claiming power with a few hundred farmers they met along the way and claimed control of the government because the army decided not to resist since the president just absconded.

Che Guevara’s memorial in The Revolutionary Square.

Castro then took charge and started a totalitarian government of his own.  Fearing the US would invade and topple him, he allied Cuba with the Soviet Union figuring the US would not attack Cuba if it meant World War 3.  Castro, who was not a communist, nor was fighting for a communist revolution, became communist after the revolution primarily because it meant he could stay in power and that it was less likely that the US would invade.

While in Cuba, I spent time in Havana which was teeming with culture, music, and history.  50% of Old Havana looked like a colonial masterpiece in its heyday, the other 50% looked like Europe right after a WWII bombing raid.  From Havana, I spent 1 week touring the countryside with a cycling tour of 20 wonderful people from around the world.  We visited the Bay of Pigs, Trinadad, and charming little towns along the way.  We sometimes stayed in hotels, but most of the time we were in Casa Particulares which are Cuban Bed & Breakfasts.  The Casa’s were very interesting because it gave us a chance to live in the homes of native Cubans.

Must see Trinadad with its lively dance scene.

Cuba is still officially communist, but is opening up a little.  I was able to enter the country as an American because I was there for educational reasons.  If you want to go, all you need to do is sign an affidavit saying that you are in Cuba for the 12 officially allowed reasons and you can get a 30 day visa.  Going on the cycling tour allowed one to see how people lived in little towns where the food is still rationed by the government and all property is effectively government owned.  You have to wait in lines for nearly everything, the locals say that the real name of the country is Queue-ba.  It is not a system I would have liked to live under, but it is fascinating to visit.

I ended my trip with a few days in Varadero’s gorgeous unspoiled white sand beaches.  You can go on a 2 hour walk along turquoise water and only see a hotel or two along the way … make sure you visit Cuba soon so you can see it before it transitions to a modern post-communist state!

The impossibly pretty beaches of Varadero.

I’m now in Costa Rica at a Spanish school, I’ll be back in the States mid February.

After going weeks without any real internet, it would be wonderful to catch up with friends! 

Hope to hear from you soon,

:) Tony

My cycling route.  Each day was a 20 to 60 km ride.  The tour guide never said there would be hills, merely, there were a few undulations :)