I know exotic places
Of Egypt and Persia I know,
And yet I prefer the embraces
That mountain breezes bestow.
(Jose Marti, Versos Sercillos)
Certainly, Marti never visited Persia, and I, as a Persian, was lucky to visit his homeland. Since I was a teenage I would like to see Cuba, along with Vietnam;
the two countries that had dared to resist imperialism. In the year of the 1979
revolution in Iran, I read Satre's Ouragan sur le sucre. The first time
I decided to go to Cuba was in 2016 but I changed my idea and went to Italy
instead, where I heard about Fidel Castro's death. After two years, in December
2018, I went to visit Cuba.
 |
| Looking at the island from above, impatient to land |
We landed in Havana on 26 November 2018. We were in Cuba, with a passion to explore.
we hired a taxi to take us from to our rented room. The driver was the first Cuban I had a conversation with.
He drove an almost new yellow cab that belonged to the government. He paid a
monthly rental, 1,000 to 1,500 peso (Cuban convertible peso or CUC which equals
to one US dollar) to the government. He knew English fairly. When I asked him
"how is his life in Cuba?" he raised a corner of his lip and said
"not bad". "Do you like to emigrate from Cuba?" He paused
for a moment, and replied hesitantly "yes". In asking this question,
I noticed some Cubans felt a bit uneasy. As if a yes answer injured their proud,
and a nay was a dishonest one. "Everybody likes Fidel in your
country?", my fellow traveler asked. And he frankly said "not
everybody". At least, Cubans do not speak with reservation, something that
differ it from repressive Stalinist regimes where people did not dare to
express their dismay and complaints.
I asked the driver if there are
distinguished poor and rich areas in Havana. Apparently, such a contrast was
not much palpable. He said in Miramar area you could find houses of the rich.
And who are the rich? I expected state officials and political elite make this
richer group, but the driver said "businessmen and athletes". By
athletes, he meant, those who had won medals in world and Olympic games. But
how can an athlete make money in a country where commercial advertisement was
meaningless? This was the question that I failed to get across the driver.
As we were talking we passed by a
large round building with big pictures of Fidel playing boxing, chess and
baseball. This was the Ministry of Sports. We saw some state advertisement
along the road but they did not advertise goods or services but "unity,
companionship and victory". Occasionally, we saw pictures of leaders on
walls. In terms of frequency, Jose Marti ranks first, and after him come Che
Guevara, Camilo and Fidel. Behind Marti's sober resolute face and penetrating
eyes you can see the passion of a revolutionary. Surely, he, with his knowledge
and commitment, has been inspiring for Cubans in decades.
 |
| "True to our history", Che, Camilo and Frank Pais |
***
The weather and vegetation of Cuba reminded me of the north of
Iran, and even south of Iran in the rainy season. After a thirty-minutes ride
we were in the centre of Havana. My eyes started to see and record everything
that might be used to answer my questions.
The driver found the street and
stopped in front of the house we had rented for a week, and soon, landlord
George, tall middle-aged, man spotted us as his guests and came to us. After a
quick hello, he said the house has a problem with water, and told us we would
temporarily reside in another house until plumbing water was fixed. Though it
was not a good sign at the beginning of the journey, we did not have a problem
with moving to another house. The other house was abou 200-metre away. When we
get there, the landlord was not there. George talked to a young girl then on
the phone and again to the girl, and finally, after a quarter, the problem was
sorted out.
The house was an old mansion with
colonial architecture. A wide entrance and stairway led us to upstairs. Rooms
were on the periphery, and there was a large rectangular cavity in the middle,
which overlooked the ground floor. I could imagine perhaps an aristocratic
family that used to live there in early 20th century, 19th
and even earlier, days of affluence and pleasure for the rich. Now, at least
three families resided there. A family was a woman with her kids, who had a
busy life. Another family consisted of an old couple. When I passed by their
house, through the tall window I saw them watching watched TV, mostly baseball,
non-stop. Cubans used to keep windows open for ventilation.
 |
| Colonia aristocratic mansion, now home of three families |
Our landlord's name
was Omar. He did not know his name was Arabic, and when I told him this he
smiled and said "I don't know, I am just Cuban!". He had two large
rooms, a sitting room and a kitchen. The walls were very tall, about four
metres, and the doors extended up to the ceiling so that Omar had divided one
of the room horizontally and turned it into two rooms. The floor were covered
with beautiful old ceramics. Omar decorated the kitchen and the sitting room
with Chinese old plates and flags of a few countries, and a rainbow flag, which
manifested the acceptance of homosexuality, which Cuba is more tolerant toward
it after decades of suppression. Omar, contrary to other Cubans, liked to stay
in Cuba. He said he felt happy in Cuba and had no idea for leaving the country.
"What do you think about socialism?", as if he had heard an exotic
word, again raising shoulders, he leaned the neck to one side and a delivered
me an innocent smile. Socialism looked like a strange word usable only in the
formal language of papers and TV. I observed the same reaction, almost with a more
negative tone, when I asked about Andres Pascal Allende in a tourist
information centre. Allende was a leader of the Chilean MIR movement.
Apparently, he lived in Cuba and was engaged in tourism. I liked to meet him as
a historical figure. However, when I asked a staff in the tourist centre, the man
delivered me a cold smile with a contemptuous look and shrugged his shoulders.
 |
| Galiano Street, old Havana |
Exploration starts
 |
| Granma sellers |
On the
second day, I prepared the camera which I had bought for this travel and
started our exploration in Havana. Instead of going to the city attractions, I
preferred to see things spontaneously. Just a short walk from the house, I
noticed a newspaper hawker. We approached him. Happy of seeing something
political and readable, I bought a Granma, the paper of the central committee
of the Cuban party, from the old seller and tried to talk to him about the
paper etc but unfortunately and as ever he could not communicate in English.
 |
| Pargue de la Fraternidad (brotherhood park), symbol of Cuba's internationalism |
Though I do not know Spanish I could understand the content. Half an hour
later, near El Capitolo, a colossal building which was the government base in
pre-revolutionary years, I saw another old man selling the paper. Seeing all
old men and women who sold Granma, and often with persistence, I perceived they
did not have any political interest in their business. Selling Granma is just a
way to earn a few pesos a day. Some of the vendors persisted us to buy a paper,
and if we did not buy they just asked for a peso! From political activity, to
tiny business and to begging, this was the story of Granma selling unfolded
before my eyes. I used to put on an olive green cap, and perhaps this led them
to seem as a potential buyer of the paper. One of them approached me every time
I passed by that area.
 |
| Granma, the only paper found everywhere |
The fallen angel of dignity
The story of
Granma sellers happened in different ways frequently. In Havana centre, where always
there is a large number of tourists, when a native approaches you, you must
know he or she is trying to make money. This may start with a friendly chat, offering
information to find an address, showing a building, and everything ends up
asking for money. For example, I found the Writers' Association on the map.
With the hope to have some discussions in the association we went there. The
association headquarters was an old two-story building that was used as a bank
before the revolution. I started enquiring to find somebody to be able to speak
in English. A middle-age man, who was an alleged poet, and the building's
security staff smilingly ushered us when we strolled in the yard, which was not
very big and talked to us about the building, and at the end, when we were to
leave they openly asked for "contribution"!
 |
| At Cuban Writers Association |
In
central and old Havana, this has turned into a habit. Usually women approached
us and begged for one or two dollars to "buy milk for children". Once
I was on a queue for changing money. A man started speaking about renting his
house, and when I said we have rented a house before he asked for money! When I
asked him about his job he said he was a sports teacher at a primary school.
A
funny thing happened when I was taking photos in a busy street. An old black
man with white hair and beard with a large cigar between his lips attracted my
attention, and when I, in passing him, took a photo, he suddenly raised a piece
of cardboard bearing the words "one CUC per one photo"!
Though
prostitution has always been referred to a major problem in Cuba but I did not
see this very visible. This was probably due to the campaign against
prostitution. Crime rate is still low in Cuba, and some people attributed this
to the government's laxity towards black jobs.
Internet in Cuba
On the
second day, we noticed a building, with a crowd, mostly young people, standing
outside. Apparently, they were waiting their turn to go in. based on the sign
and words on the building I realised it should be Havana's computer centre. I
tried to speak with the people there. A young man said he was a programmer and
because he did not have Linux on his PC at home he came to the centre to use
computers with Linux system to write programme. He, as he said, was a freelance
programmer, and because there is no copyright and intellectual property law in
Cuba he wrote programmes just for friends and relatives. Again, the same
question about immigration from Cuba, and again a shy smile on the part of the
young man and ambiguous shaking of head.
 |
| A "hot-spot", where you can connect to the internet |
The Cuban
government has allowed access to the internet since a few years ago. But the
people still don’t have access to the internet at their homes. There are
"hot spots" designated for this purpose in different parts of the
city. For instance, we went to nearby park for connecting to the internet. From
the sunset, all benches of the park were full of the people who wanted to use
the wifi. The official price was is one CUC – equal to one dollar – per hour.
Cuba's national telecommunication company sells you internet cards after
checking and recording passport information. At the hot spots there are some
vendors who sell one hour, two hours or more internet.
 |
| Cubans start to be fascinated by the internet and mobile phones |
Old Havana, and tourism-driven economy
Havana is
the heart of a tourism-driven economy. Everything revolves around the pivot of
tourism. And strangely, it is not a very cheap country for tourists at all. Accommodation
in "casa particulare" is affordable but hotels are usually expensive.
You can see expensive luxurious hotels with the same prices in London, Paris
and major cities of the world.
 |
| Beautiful Malecon seaside road |
Another
underground business appeared beside tourism is currency exchange. When we
approached CADECA, or state-run foreign exchange shops, some people came to us
and offered better rates. I asked two young men who had parked their motorbike
about the legality of their job, and they said it's okay. They said they were
happy with living in Cuba and believed their business is good.
Old Havana tour
I had booked Old Havana tour before
arriving in Cuba. A group of young volunteers manage the tour. The tour is free
but visitors pay a donation. The tour is very informative, both for knowing the
city and its attraction and social life in Havana. We met our tour guides in Di
Angello Square, and they divided us into three groups. Four American and
Canadian women and we were in a group, and our guide was a passionate young
girl, who enthusiastically talked about the city and answered our questions. At
the beginning, when somebody started to film, she asked him to stop filming to
let her speak "more honestly".
 |
| At a primary school |
The first
building we visited was a primary school. Apparently, good colonial buildings are
used as schools. The guide took permission from the school authority and we
entered. From the entrance, a plump 10-11 year's old schoolboy with sweet
movements, in a green short and white shirt and a red neckerchief which gives
him a sense of authority, guided us through the school. We stopped in front of
a class. I think it was the class of grade 1. On noticing us, about 20 small
kids stood up and, at the request of their teacher, chanted some slogans in a
serious manner. We could only distinguish the word "Jose Marti". The
school's building was acceptable but the facilities were awesome. Flimsy
worn-our tables and desk… The school had a lunch-room, and the students could
have their lunch there or dine at home. I pointed to a picture on the wall to
the scout by and asked him who he was. They boy replied with a resolute voice:
"Frank Pais".
 |
| Kids singing a revolutionary song for us |
Frank Pais
(1934-1957), whose name is heard less as compared to Che and Camilo, was the
organiser of the 26th July Movement of Castro and his comrades in
urban areas. He went into hiding after the police started a search for him. He
was captured, taken to prison and shot dead. Two other brilliant figures who
are not very famous abroad are Vilma Espin, revolutionary leader and feminist,
and also the wife of Raul Castro. Celia Sanches, a co-founder of the 26th
July, is also a very respected revolutionary figure in Cuba.
As we
strolling in the old Havana, I tried to take advantage of the time and ask as
much as questions I could because the tour guide was one of the best sources of
information.
 |
| Street artworks in Paseo del Marti |
She said
Cuban health and education systems are free – that everybody knows, but, she
added, that jobs in health and education system are the lowest paid jobs.
Teachers get around 20 USD a month, which is obviously not sufficient to afford
a life. Though Cubans do not have to pay for education, from primary school to
university, but the low quality of education causes the people who want their
children to receive better education to pay to good teachers to work with their
children in their extra hours. A story which is seen everywhere in the world.
And the same story is true with health services. Our guide called all these
business "bribery".
We visited a
shop that sold rationed foods. Every adult Cuban has a ration notebook by which
he or she can buy basic foods that meet only a part of their needs. This is a
possibility to provide minimum needs for the people, especially the elderly,
who are the poorest and miserable section of the society.
 |
| Ration foods shop |
During the
walk, I told her I did not have dreams about Cuba and I was aware of the
situation but what is annoying is the lack of hope and dignity. In response,
she said: "we are locked in the history!" I could feel the bitterness
behind these words uttered with a big smile. I said I engaged in a discussion
with rightists just a couple of weeks before coming to Cuba, and I was sure I would
not be able to defend Cuba as fervently as I did before.
I
told the guide that my grasp was that Cuba was not a closed country like the
Soviet's satellites in east Europe where people could not speak freely and
criticise. I asked her if there is a dialogue between the government and
citizens and if the officials listen to the people's say. She said briefly:
"They don't care us!"
Another
thing I realised was that religion has still strong roots in Cuba. A large part
of the population is Catholic and the rest are followers of Afro-Cuban
religions. Apparently, Cuban revolution has never been tough on religion. About
75 per cent of the population is religious; 60 per cent Catholics, Afro-Cuban
faiths 11 per cent, Protestants 5 per cent, and the rest non-believers.
Misfortunes comes
Sometimes a misfortune worsens the chaos
and confusion. We, somewhat disillusioned about the situation, got food
poisoning. We were suspicious of the chicken we had or the sausage that the
host gave us as breakfast. The bad feeling, vomit, headache and weakness was
with us and spoiled our journey for at least 48 hours.
You rarely
find fridge in shops in Cuba. Meat, sandwiches and perishable foods are held in
ambient weather, and in the hot weather the foods can easily and quickly spoil.
Settling in George's House
George informed us that the water supply
was restored and the house was ready. So, we moved from Omar's house to George's.
George, a tall white man, was a former quality control officer who now engaged
only in hosting tourists. He and her wife were fortunate because they have two
houses, and they rented one during the year.
He
was interested in learning English. He read English books and listened to
English music, perhaps because he believed his future "would be there, in
the United States."
He
was very patient and helpful. On the first day, he gave us a Havana map on
which he had marked attractions, bars, restaurants etc. When we came back from
our daily ramble, George were at home and we chatted about life in Cuba. Our
talks were on a wide range of subjects and I tried to learn from him as much as
I could.
He
felt frustrated about Cuba's bureaucracy. He said people always waited uneasily
for change in laws and consequently change in the mode of living. He preferred
a system in which the state does not have a strict control on citizens' life.
He said Cuba would change its constitution in coming months and everything
would change. He said people could express their opinion on laws in the past
more freely but now this was not true.
Are Cuban
officials and leadership corrupt? He was not sure but he talked about "those
who see in the front row of meetings, those with thick necks". He believed
these people are paid better, and have access to better food and facilities.
For us, two weeks was not enough to prove or refuse this assumption.
According to
George, the only job with relatively higher salaries is in sugar plantations, a
very hard job and long work hours, perhaps from dawn to sunset. George had
worked as an apprentice at the end of his college.
I asked him
about a documentary that showed how Cubans fled the country in 1990s, and if
the story was true or an exaggeration by the Western media. He confirmed the
authenticity of the documentary. He said many people fled simply by car inner
tubes and their legs were injured by fishes in the sea.
He did not
deny the revolution's achievements and the improvement of people's life,
especially in rural area. He said Cubans lived normally in Soviet era. But, the
collapse of the Soviet Union brought a big misery for Cubans. He said in the
first year after the collapse, there was not enough drinking water and petrol.
Surgeons had to cycle a long way to get hospitals, and went to operating rooms
while they were exhausted because of long rides.
In last days
of the journey, I showed my interest in Cuban cinema. George took me to a shop
which sold DVDs. Exactly like Iran, such businesses are the grey zone of life,
between legality and illegality. They are tolerated, however the vendor was
cautious about taking photo from his shop. George talked to him, and he saved a
few Cuban films on my flash drive.
Visiting attractions
The first place we went was the Cuban
Revolution Museum. In front of the museum you see a tank, which is famous
because it is said that Fidel Castro personally shot at a US vessel by its gun.
The museum is a good reminiscent of the revolution's events, from early days in
Sierra Maestra and the advance towards major cities. You can see Camilo's
boots, Che Guevara's cartridge belt, gun and the radio transmitter he used to
convey revolutionary messages and many other nostalgic revolutionary objects.
 |
| Che Guevara's beret and Camilo's hat in the Revolution Museum |
The
museum compound was also interesting. Perhaps the most important item in the
museum was there; Granma. Granma was a yacht, which Fidel, Che Guevara and
other guerrillas embarked on from Mexico to Cuba. The yacht is protected like a
jewel in a cage, so that seeing it is a bit difficult. Two soldiers guard the
yacht round the clock. The cars used by the revolution leaders during the civil
war also can be seen there.
 |
| Legendary Granma in the Revolution Museum |
 |
| Radio transmitter used by Comandante Che during the civil war |
We
visited the Arab-Cuba solidarity centre in Paseo de Marti where a Cuban lady
who was fluent in Arabic but not in English tried to provide us a history of
the centre.
In
the University of Havana, some academic journal in Spanish and a Lenin's bust
in the university's library were the only thing that caught my attention.
Workers meeting
In a morning, we were walking in the
off-centre streets I noticed two buses bearing a banner on which I could see
the word "delegata". The passengers had worn red T-shirts and two
police motorbikes accompanied them.
 |
| Workers' meeting for pay rise |
I
noticed that the motorcade turned right into a secondary road. I thought it
could be an interesting event and proposed chasing them. By asking people, we
found the venue. A crowd of a few hundred were outside of a building. Seeking a
proper person to answer my question, I went to a young woman who was busy with
his mobile phone. I asked about the meeting. I used offline google translate,
which was very useful, and she answered by writing in Spanish and translating
her words by a software. She said it was the meeting of workers'
representatives from all over the country. They were to talk about their wages.
The meeting was not public and we could not go in. "How did she think
about the future?" I asked. In reply, she said that Cuba is a
revolutionary country but alone and isolated and everything would be OK if
wages would rise. She said she was not a party member.
Community activity
A night we were walking towards the Malecon,
a seaside avenue, we noticed a group of people gathered on the sidewalk of
Galiano street. At first, I thought it was a religious meeting. As we went closer,
we saw two middle-age women were standing in both sides of a Cuban flag that
was posted on the wall, and speaking. The people were listening seriously. I
struggled to understand what they say but I couldn’t. I went to a young man.
First, he shyly refused to speak because he did not know English at all.
However, when he saw my persistence he agreed to answer. With much difficulty I
wrote my question on the phone and translated into Spanish and showed him. I
asked him to type his answer in Spanish. The meeting was on civic problems,
such as hygiene and so on. I think they had posted the flat to show their
meeting or protest was not an action against the country or the revolution.
Unfortunately, our status as tourists and uncertainty about how far we can go
in our search to know the realities of Cuba made us a bit cautious.
 |
| Community meeting over civic problems |
Bookstalls
In a bookstall area, we had a chance to
speak with a book-seller who could communicate in English. He said he was once
a member of the youth organisation of the party. I asked him if they have any
organisation in their workplace or in communities, any councils or committees.
Apparently nothing. Though his business was about thoughts and political
currents but he was not aware of different international tendencies in the socialist
movement. It seemed Cuban are too busy with its problems to have an interests
in debates within the socialist movement. He, like George, complained about
excessive bureaucracy, which was a curb to his business. He had some faint hope
in the new President Diaz-Canel, a leader born after the revolution, and a
technocrat who, for his frequent inspections, is nicknamed "Dia y
Noche" or Day and Night.
 |
| A bit politics in bookstalls |
Conclusion
Of course, two weeks is too short to come
to a comprehensive conclusion about the nature of social relationships in a country. I
can only talk about the first impression I got.
I
think Cuba is in a deadlock. There is no future for the country. Its Spartan
socialism may survive for a long time but it seems to be like a closed circle,
with no chance to escape the destiny of being a less developed poor country.
Cuba
is on a crossroad. One of its options is to choose the way that China and
Vietnam have chosen. Cuba welcomes foreign investment but to enjoy this it
needs to abandon its revolutionary rhetoric, though after the collapse of the
Soviet Union, this has been limited to a mere rhetoric, and the harsh situation
have not allowed Cuba to have an active role in the Latin America, as it played
by offering support for revolutionary movements in the region openly.
The
world capitalism may tolerate such "benign" Cuba. In a world where
everything is commodified, including revolutionary symbols and signs, Cuban
socialism makes the capitalism's showcase lovelier. Millions of tourists will
go see Cuba's antiquity, music, beaches and socialism. Che Guevara's pictures on
T-shirts, cigars, pubs' walls, mugs bring dollars into this tourism-driven
economy.
Could
the Cuban leaders be blamed? I don't know about the extent of inequality in Cuba. It remains
a question if a layer of old revolutionaries or high-ranking bureaucrats has formed a distinguished class with their own privileges.
Nevertheless, even if such a problem exist it is the result of a graver
problem. It stems from the fact that Cuba is a poor small country with low
resources. A country isolated mostly by adversaries cannot make any better, I
think.
Cuba's
GDP is about 87 billion dollars. Its exports, which are mostly agricultural
products, are less than 5 billion dollars. Tourism brings about 1.5 billion
dollars. Cuba could survive the crush following the Soviet's collapse and
increase its GDP beyond the Soviet-era level, and all done with the help of
tourism. The GDP growth rate is less than 2 per cent.
Despite
all shortcomings, the Cuban political system is strong and flawless. Cuba will
survive but how depends on its leadership's choice. Whatever will happen to it
in long-term, the dilemma remains unsolved.
And finally, this is not an elegy for a revolution in stalmate. I just tried to explore Cuba and see its realities totally neutral and fair. More than being a pessimistic report, these words try to underline the complexity of social and political phenomena which call for closer studies and new experiences.
 |
| Journey ends; back to the aiport by a 1953 made car |
