Canada and Cuba: a Peculiar Contrast
By Luis Rondón Paz
HAVANA TIMES – Canada and Cuba have a strange relationship, based mainly on tourism, especially the appeal of Cuban tourist resorts and its warm climate. When the winter season comes in the north, many Canadians turn to Cuba, attracted by its all-inclusive holiday packages and beaches. However, they tend to be unwilling to get involved with the complexities of Cuban politics.
When you’re a Cuban who’s just arrived in Canada, in my case to Quebec, and you get into conversation with a local, their questions often show their curiosity about Cuban reality. Questions about the Cuban economy and freedom of speech naturally arise. Lots of the time, I’ve felt uncomfortable knowing that most of these people are completely unaware of Cuban reality, and they choose to enjoy their vacations at resorts that belong to the Cuban military regime, taking the Cuban people’s apparent happiness for granted.
However, the reality of this feigned happiness hides a contrasting truth: the reality of Cuban society that has been surviving decades under a dictatorship that sells a public image that has nothing to do with what’s really happening behind the scenes.
The facade of happiness
One of the first things Canadians notice when they visit Cuba is the seemingly joyful and welcoming atmosphere. Cubans welcome tourists with smiles and a warm hospitality, making them feel at home. However, it’s important to understand that this happiness is a facade, up to a certain extent.
Forced smiles: Cuban hotel policy requires employees in the hotel industry to welcome tourists with a smile. Failure to comply with this regulation could lead to disciplinary measures. As a result, smiles tourists receive often have more to do with complying with this policy than genuine happiness.
Tips and remittances to survive: In a country where the average monthly wage is approximately $30 USD, tips tourists leave become a vital source of income. Many Cubans rely on these tips to cover their basic needs and to access goods and services that would otherwise be out of their reach.
Cuban sense of humor: Cubans have a unique sense of humor, often using laughter as a defense mechanism against the everyday challenges they face. Their ability to find humor in their own adversity pays testimony to their resilience.
Economic reality
Outside tourist resorts, Canadians are often curious about the economic situation in Cuba. While the country offers affordable holidays for them, the average Cuban citizen faces economic hardship that tourists rarely see.
Economic hardship: The centrally-planned economy in Cuba has faced countless challenges, which has meant limited economic opportunities for its citizens. Many Cubans struggle to satisfy their basic needs and depend upon government rations and remittances that their family members send from abroad to buy food and basic essentials.
A Single Currency: Cuba recently eliminated its dual-currency system, using only Cuban Pesos (CUP) now. But the magnetic dollar called MLC was introduced for Cubans to be able to buy at stores with cards that are topped up with money from abroad. This has led to a higher conversion rate for the US dollar (USD) and has shot up prices.
Freedom of speech
Curious Canadian tourists often ask about freedom of speech in Cuba, where the Government has strict control over the media and represses breakaway groups.
Limited media: The Cuban press is under the State’s strict control, severely limiting access to alternative sources of information. Dissidence is punished with prison sentences that can be as long as ten years, which means public discourse is lacking in political diversity.
Limited access to the Internet: Internet access is limited, especially during times of political events in Cuba, and it’s extremely expensive for many Cubans. Furthermore, online communications are monitored, and the regime controls the flow of information received both on the island, as well as whatever is being projected abroad.
Surveillance and repression: Surveillance and repression are especially intense for human rights activists and other minorities who don’t support the regime. Phone calls are tapped and there is rigurous surveillance of human rights activists and opposition members.
Conclusion
Despite the appeal Cuba has for Canadian tourists because of its tourist resorts, climate and hospitality of its people, I personally believe it’s essential that visitors are aware of the stark contrast that exists between this appearance of happiness and the harsh reality of life under a military dictatorship in Cuba. I would like to point out that many Canadians may not be aware that the money they spend as tourists is contributing to keeping an authoritarian regime in power in Cuba. This is especially important in the case of Quebec, a province that prides itself on principles of peace and human rights.
From my perspective, Cubans’ forced smiles, their dependence on tips, economic hardship and limited freedom of speech are only some of the complexities that define everyday life on the island. In this regard, I believe it’s essential Canadians visiting Cuba make informed decisions about their trips and contribute to a more profound dialogue about Cuban culture and the political implications of their choice of tourist destination.
What embargo, everything is available in Cuba, you claimed to have been going there since 1986 and lived there for 5 years and married a Cuban and you don’t know that now everything is available in Cuba, New cars, the latest appliances, flat panel TVs ,cell phones ,all types of groceries, it’s all there if you have money or are part of the military and the police, how do you think they keep the military and police loyal to the government. The failures in Cuba have less to do with the US and more to do with the abject failure of communism and the Cuban government. A real conversation with a Cuban will have the Cuban telling you there’s no future in Cuba and they would rather die trying to escape Cuba than die on the island where nothing is happening for them except further deterioration of living conditions for the majority of Cubans. People who stay at these resorts on cheap package vacations know next to nothing about Cuba and seem more concerned about the unlimited availability of beer and alcohol.
Love all this Canadian saying Cubans are Adorable, nice people blah. I e en heard a guy from London saying once I like the Cubans but from Cuba. Well you have to born in Cuba to be Cuban and he responded I don’t know when Cuban get out of Cuba they become arrogant to which I added You mean we are equal in a free world and we don’t have to hustle for a bottle of Shampoo?!?!
“Cubans are lovely people, some of the most generous on earth, they deserve better”
I totally agree with Peter’s comments especially the quote above which summaries succinctly the majority of Cubans living on the island.
Interesting comments, all of them, but missing the point. I have been visiting Cuba since 1986, I’ve worked and lived permanently in Cuba for 5 years, and I am married to a Cuban, so first I would like to confirm everything that Luis states is true. The problem that all us foreigners has, is to work out which in reality is the best course of action for the Cuban people? To spend money in the country and therefore support the regime to a greater or lesser extent economically or to stay away? Many of course, couldn’t care less, it’s a cheap holiday, the Cubans are likeable hosts and we’ll be home soon so let’s enjoy the fun. But those who do think about it probably come to the same conclusion as me. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that money spent in Cuba benefits all Cuban people, rich and poor. Of course the regime will get a slice and spend it on new hotels; they’ll bolster the police; they’ll increase the surveillance; they’ll buy more Mercedes cars; and all the rest. But the cash that goes to individuals will give them a chance to eat, to buy medicines, to pay backhanders for hospital treatment, to pay for the internet connections, to educate themselves…and to leave if they wish. Cubans are lovely people, some of the most generous on earth, they deserve better. Help them by spending money in the country. A final thought. The embargo is disastrous for both the US and Cuba. If the US abandoned the embargo, Cubans would be free within 5 years. Money talks.
IMO…the only reason Canadians go to Cuba is the fact that it is a cheap beach vacation they can afford. They don’t care that they are funding the Cuban government, they go because it is a cheap vacation. They attempt to make their conscience feel better by taking Dollar Store gifts to the resort workers. Then they come back and complain because there wasn’t their alcohol of choice and lobster at their resort.
The only thing Canadian tourists care about is having good food at the buffet and enough alcohol to stay drunk for a week on their cheap vacation.
Some Canadian tourists are naive, sone are dated leftists that think they dollars would help the Cuban’s “ glorious” Revolution going. And so my e are sexual tourists looking for the “exotic” Mulato’s and so my e are just curious about the 1950’s theme park.
As Canadian i think that, If we are consistent with Canadian policy towards Russia, we should not accept Russian athletes within the NHL team. It is hypocrite for Canadians and the Government also to recruit players in Russia. While we are not supposed to do business with Russia.
The complaint from Canadian tourists about Cuban resorts is always about the food. It’s obvious that the desperate food situation faced by Cubans is affecting tourists too. I’ve read that the Hotel occupancy rate in Cuba is presently 27% . It seems word is getting out that, for many tourists, a vacation in Cuba is more of a endurance test than a vacation.
Luis you state: “In other Hand its not possible, i would say unfair, to make a comparison between Cuba and Russia, when in the first place Russia does not have borders like Cuba, and their source or revenue is way higher than he Caribbean island.”
My comments were not comparing Cuba and Russia in any way. Of course, and obviously, there is no comparison to be made.
What I stated and intended was that Canadian tourists when cornered into a destination dilemma of perhaps supporting a totalitarian Cuban military government on their winter vacation can look to Russian hockey players. Do those players not support Putin’s military regime when they send money in remittances back to Russia? They or their families must pay Russian taxes which aid the Russian war machine. So if they can do it so will I is the simple reasoning.
Canadian tourists will think and say why should I feel guilty going to Cuba for a winter vacation and consequently supporting the Cuban military when many Russian hockey players playing in Canada and the USA are doing the exact same thing. In fact worse because Canada and the USA have placed monetary sanctions on Russia. Plus Russia is at war with a Canadian ally.
You are new to Canada so you probably do not understand how the actions of hockey players in Canada influence Canadians.
Martin states: “I think most of the money from the tourist industry goes into government budget to finance government services.” Have you visited Cuba lately? Walk down streets in Havana or other major cities and see and smell the huge amounts of garbage piled or strewn on many streets. Moreover, throughout the country, sadly, there is infrastructure crumbling as citizens plead with their state government to repair dilapidated buildings.
The Cuban totalitarian government has no concerns nor the finances for delivering government services at least for ordinary Cubans. Cuba is not like Canada whereby members of the political party in power are voted into their political position. These elected Parliamentarians are politically subservient to the people they represent. If they fail to do their jobs, they are voted – figuratively booted out of office and rightly so. Hence they are politically motivated to action.
Not so in Cuba. A Cuban can complain for infinitud and nothing will get done and there is no repercussions for the totalitarian representative and/or government because they are there for who knows how long.
Most of the money from the tourist industry does not go to financing government services for all Cubans. The tourist money no doubt goes to finance pet projects dreamed up by incompetent government bureaucrats like building more hotels that have been noted to be half empty.
If the Cuban government budget filled with tourist dollars supposedly goes to government services why can’t Cuba at the very least feed its population? You would think this would be the number one priority of a concerned government flush with tourist dollars. The totalitarian Cuban government is in complete charge of the agricultural sector. Wouldn’t a substantial monetary investment with tourist dollars bring this sector to fruition and help feed the majority of hard working Cubans?
There is a wide gulf between the ruled and the rulers in Cuba. If Cubans felt their government was in any way responsive to their dire basic needs, even in providing a minuscule, just a minuscule, of government services, why are so many, as quick as they can get some money or even without, fleeing the island in droves?
The only government services financed with tourist dollars are those that benefit the few totalitarian government ideologues. And if Cubans don’t like that approach, their government has already made the necessary arrangements for them to exit the island with a no visa requirement travel to Nicaragua. Nice.
It is incorrect to say that all these monies generated by staying in hotels or a % of same by staying in a casa goes to the military. Not all hotels are owned by the military and lets face it the Cuban military is not a well financed organization with most of their MIGS mothballed and their navy little more than coastal patrol boats. They do have some fearsome looking mobile ballistic missiles but how modern these are is doubtful.. I think most of the money from the tourist industry goes into government budget to finance government services. Besides which having tourists pay for the military saves the government from leaning on the people or taxes to pay for same as we do in Canada and elsewhere.
Hello, all the answers to your questions are already published in other articles i have written about Cuba. Noted that i was also a freelance Tour-guide and know first hand the Cuban entrepreneurs. Who create jobs for people in need and also when they get a direct contact to tourist its more closer human contact not limited by the military machinery. A few years ago Havanatimes published one article about creating change in Cuba from the economic approach separated from the institutions .
In other Hand its not possible, i would say unfair, to make a comparison between Cuba and Russia, when in the first place Russia does not have borders like Cuba, and their source or revenue is way higher than he Caribbean island.
Regardless the Canadian Gov giving money to Russia:
What can i say? Imagine that when i first visited Canada in my head was the irrational idea that they were one together with Cuba, and they make everything in their hand to keep Cubans far away from their lands, plus the risible cheap prices to visit Cuba (all inclusive resorts). Happily i was wrong when i learned about my rights and the Canadian Government dynamics. In resume i was another victim of the perfectly designed brainwash strategy from the Cuban regime.
About the Canadian make the final appropriate Cuban vacation, depends of how knowledge they have on the reality of that country, their values and freedoms.
Luis Rondón Paz makes the case that Canadian tourists be more aware of the implications that a vacation to the tropical island brings about. He would like Canadian tourists to make “informed decisions about their trips”. What does that mean?
If a tourist from Canada or anywhere else in the world plans a trip to Cuba the tourist has two options for accommodations. One, s/he will stay in a resort which Luis is absolutely correct in stating the funds paid for that stay goes directly to the Cuban military machine. Second. a more helpful alternative, for a Cuban entrepreneur that is, is for a tourist to stay in a “casa particular”.
Absolutely, at the end of the day even a stay at a Cuban entrepreneur’s revenue generating guest house supports the Cuban military machine. Cuban entrepreneurs who rent out rooms to tourists must pay taxes to the government; hence, the tourists are an accessory to the fact. So, in the final analysis an informed decision from a tourist to try and not contribute to the Cuban military coffers is impossible if a Canadian, whether from Quebec or elsewhere, wishes to winter in Cuba for a week or more.
A Canadian will look at this Cuba destination dilemma and ask: How about those Russian hockey players playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) in Canada and in the U.S.A? Players like Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Ilya Samsonov of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who earn substantial salaries playing hockey in Canada and the USA which, no doubt, they send back to family members as remittances or otherwise in Russia. And Canada and the USA have economic sanctions against any monetary trade with Russia.
Nothing is said about either the executives in the NHL or the players’ association condoning such action. Are these Russian players, and there are more than the two mentioned, not supporting a military machine in Russia? It would seem logical to infer exactly that.
So, Luis is right. Canadians should become more informed about their accommodations in Cuba because a resort retreat is a direct payment to the totalitarian military government. Whereas, a casa particular place is more economically advantageous to a struggling Cuban entrepreneur. Plus lifelong friendships are created in a casa particular setting leading to further future amicable relationships.
Let the Canadian conscious make the final appropriate Cuban vacation destination decision.