Cuba – a place whose name conjures up a handful of mixed emotions for Americans: revolution, edge of the nuclear apocalypse, communism….. but also romance, music, a Caribbean idyll. These conflicting feelings propelled us to visit Cuba in January with a group of photographers.
What we found was an island and its people filled with both joy and sadness, a nation very talented in the arts, and a people who really like Americans and are excited at the prospect of them becoming the backbone of the tourist industry.
The island is in almost complete decay, with little maintenance on the infrastructure for five decades. Little has been built anew, with construction taking forever. Nothing is thrown away. The Cubans know how to repair everything, often with disparate parts.
The revolution resulted in the truncation of a society. The vast majority with education, talent and ambition left. Castro pacified most of the remaining indigents with education, healthcare and rationed food. Over the decades the poverty has been widely accepted. But a new generation is excited at the prospect of entrepreneurism and progress.
Cubans are a naturally friendly, outgoing, easygoing people who find comfort in family, spirituality, music, dance, sports and, of course, rum and tobacco. We enjoyed meeting them and spending time with them as they shared their experiences, daily life and hopes with us. There is a strong historic connection between America and Cuba, and my bet is that that connection is poised to regain its strength in the coming years.