VIP Rooms in Cuba

Daisy Valera

Not long ago I had to go to meet a friend at the airport, where I was astonished to discover the existence of a VIP lounge.

Until that moment, I had only had seen such facilities in the Hollywood movies on Saturday night TV or at the cinema.

Investigating into the matter, I found out that the expression began to be used between 1940 and 1945 to designate people who were famous, politically important or well-known business figures who required special attention or protection when attending public events.

A person who is considered “very important” in certain places, such as discos or airports, has access to reserved areas where they can enjoy greater privileges.

When discovering the meaning of these English initials, I asked myself:  What sense does the existence of these lounges in Cuba make if supposedly there aren’t people here who are so much more important than others that they merit special privileges?

Should government’s officials in my country receive special treatment?

History recounts how Fidel camped out in the middle of Central Park in New York and later went to a simple hotel in Harlem.

Should a revolutionary and socialist artist adopt the petty bourgeois customs that distinguish them from the rest of the workers?

I don’t even need to mention businesspeople, who are favored in exchange for the accumulation of capital that contradicts the principles of a socialist government.

It could seem exaggerated to get alarmed over this, but I believe that it’s not by chance that this is happening right now in Cuba and didn’t occur 20 years ago when the USSR was collapsing.

A 50-year-old revolution has not been able to put an end to the class differences in Cuba.

VIP rooms are no more than a demonstration of inequality and of the presence in Cuba of two populations easily distinguishable: the masses of workers and the privileged few.