Should I Tell My Friends to Visit Cuba, or Stay Away?
HAVANA TIMES – I have friends who aren’t from this island, and they’d like to come visit Cuba. More than once, I’ve felt a certain degree of shame for belonging to a country that has produced nothing but tyrannies in the last decades of history, and with them a criminal culture. That’s how I see it. A place where there’s no rule of law, and no respect for the people or anything else that lives in it. Also, shame for the consequences of a crisis that not only is never overcome but instead is ever more atrocious. Yet all these friends manifest their desire to experience this Caribbean land, and I continue wavering about whether or not I should encourage them to have such an encounter.
So I posted about this matter on my Facebook profile: “Friends – I’m wondering about the following: when faced with other people who aren’t Cubans and want to see Cuba, what do I tell them?
Choice one: Not to come, so as not to inject money into the dictatorship’s economy, since this corrupt Communist government then eats it up, dying of laughter in front of our eyes, while they make us suffer the way they do, which is very easy to verify.
Choice two: Or do I tell them – yes, they should come, so they can see close up what communist fascism is capable of doing to a people? How people have to leave, fleeing to other lands; the buildings falling to pieces; how those of us left are dying of anguish and hunger…
What do I do? I don’t know which answer to give.”
I got a lot of reactions. But only two people told me I should suggest they don’t come. One of those two, a journalist from Camaguey who today lives outside the country, wrote: “I tell those I can, not to go. Not only to keep from giving more oxygen to the GAESA [Cuban military-run conglomerate that controls much of the economy], but also for themselves, to avoid a bad experience.” The other comments advocated for the positive, for two main reasons: 1) to confirm for themselves what the Cuban reality looks like; 2) To share [the truth] with the world.
So now, after thinking a little more about this matter. and considering the responses of my friends. and my own experiences receiving delegations from Canada, the United States, Latin America, and other places when I studied at the Matanzas Evangelical Theology Seminary, I then asked myself: When these foreign friends come to Cuba, will they experience the Cuba I suffer with?
Obviously, the answer is no. They’ll stay in hotels that millions of Cubans have never known, and possibly never will know. The blackouts that send us running won’t touch them, or very little, since – as one of those in charge of Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism has declared – the alterations in the provision of electricity don’t occur in the tourist centers.
Instead, they’ll be treated like goddesses and gods, whose smallest wish will be granted, not only because of the inculcated sense of inferiority we carry for remaining imprisoned in Cuba (Citizens we’re certainly not, given all that’s forbidden to us politically and economically) by a regime that has always worked for its international image, while treating the country’s working people like mere game pieces in their political-ideological apparatus.
They’ll get to see wonderful places on the Island that are closed to us, because we were born here and don’t belong to the leader caste – those “others” who hold the unquestionable honor of knowing better than anyone else how to safeguard their power. And for many other reasons, those friends from the other shore won’t get to know the Cuba that I live in.
The one I live in is crumbling. In the Cuba where I live, no one wants to be there, and people flee terrified to any other place beyond its borders. The Cuba I live in generates anxiety, terror, panic… because it’s very hard to live where there’s no water, food, cooking gas, and where every transaction, no matter how small or insignificant, demands a brutal quantity of work, effort and time.
I remember one time when I was visiting with some neighbors I loved dearly. They had begun to attend the same Protestant worship group as me, and the community leader asked me where they lived, so he could make the customary Pastoral visit. Naturally, I went to see them and mentioned this. My neighbors’ mother responded: “No! You can’t bring them here!” And I, in my girlish innocence, asked her: “Why not?” To me, such visits were a natural thing. She answered: “Because all this is very ugly.” That remark made me aware that she lived in very lamentable conditions.
Over time, I understood it better, and I comprehended the importance of having a space we call decent – clean, ordered, comfortable. Something that’s become very difficult, and increasingly more so, for a long time now, and – for some people – during their whole lives.
So, I myself now feel like my neighbor did, and I want to tell those would-be visitors the exact same thing. No, don’t come. We have some crucial affairs to settle in the country. A despotic, abusive state must be brought down and replaced by one that values happiness. Reconstructing the decaying buildings whose collapses have already killed so many people. Institutions for everyone must be repaired or founded. And especially, we must care for nature and see if we can resolve the pollution we’re suffering from; raise up an economy that’s currently non-existent, not even a glimpse, because all the money is in foreign banks owned by the military, and by those in high Communist Party positions….
There’s a lot to do – better to tell them not to come for the moment.
But none of us are God, I believe, so, like it or not, I have to agree with one of the answers I got, in this case from a friend who happily now lives in the United States. She says, and I quote: “Explain your dilemma to them and let them decide.” That’s right. The decision should always be made by each individual. I can’t allow myself – as the Cuban dictatorship has done, is doing, and will continue doing when faced with ways of thinking different than their own – to eliminate them. In any case, it’s best to share my points of view out of consideration and human obligation. Later, each one can make their own decision. That’s my final criteria.
It is not an easy dilemma to resolve! I think your friend’s point is valid: potential visitors must make their own decisions.
I was having a wonderful trip in Cuba during trumps last rule and travel ban. I was apologizing everywhere I went, people were kind and gracious and I hope to return someday.
We stayed in homes that were designated for travelers, ate in local food places and contributed as little as possible to the government.
Yes the cruelty of the government was obvious and people were very honest when asked about conditions. It was sad, but I am so grateful for that trip, a wonderful country and people. So I say, visit and support the people as much as possible.
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“In any case, it’s best to share my points of view out of consideration and human obligation. Later, each one can make their own decision. That’s my final criteria.”
I totally agree with Lien Estrada’s answer to her perplexing dilemma. It is a very tough minefield to walk through. Do you advise visitors to come to Cuba knowing full well that the majority of those visitors will be housed in hotel resorts owned and operated by GAESA [Cuban military-run conglomerate that controls much of the economy]. They will be wined and dined by the brutal regime probably totally unaware of how their dollars are in support of this abuse of power.
It is they along with their totalitarian government operatives who subjugate their citizens as though the majority of Cubans citizens were simply disposable chattels not worthy of any humanitarian decency. Under such despicable inhumane circumstances, Lien Estrada makes the obvious case of saying No, for heaven’s sake do not come and continue propping up an authoritarian beastly animal.
On the other hand, Lien Estrada can sympathize with those visitors who do want to come and witness for themselves the horrific horror in its totality. Those few visitors who do come and stay in “casas particular” will experience the full brunt of the totalitarian government’s ruthlessness. Unless the host family has the resources to afford a generator or solar panels, the excruciating heat and humidity, molesting mosquitoes, and perhaps cooking with charcoal will erase any desire to return. Nevertheless, some visitors continue to return not abandoning their Cuban friends – some consider even family.
Despite the horrific hardships some visitors endure while visiting Cuban entrepreneurial rentals, the friendship they developed over the years supersedes any living hardships encountered. They may convince themselves that without the significant tangible help they bring to the family and/or families they visit things would be even worse for their hospitable Cuban hosts.
So the dilemma arises. What does one do when contemplating a Cuban visit? Do I not go or do I go? Each potential visitor must make a decision based on his or her own moral compass. There is no absolute right or absolute wrong decision in this dilemma. Each decision has its merits and each decision has its detractions. As Lien Estrada correctly concludes: Each person can make their own decision. And, that is also my final criteria – make your own decision.
Having visited Cuba from Pinar del Rio to Baracoa from 2015 thru 2017
Each three or more weeks at a time.
Casa Particulars were the way to go only 2 nights in Gov during all our trips
I would say yes if my casa was prepped and ready and could handle US dollars
There is the problem…
I say no way at this time
As a Canadian living in Canada and having visited Cuba over 80 times since 1999 , I have watched the rapid decline in recent years to where it is now in a humanitarian crisis. I still tell friends to come visit with me. I also recommend for them to bring 46 kg of donations and a backpack with their personal belongings. Some do. We make sure the supplies goes directly to the people in the villages and towns we visit providing medical , school and other basic goods. Yes, we stay at the hotels where we tip the staff in USD or Canadian $ because they get gifts from regular tourists. Yes, I know the hotel fees will go into government coffers and not back to the citizens… but if we refrain from visiting the island is there any guarantee the citizens would in good time benefit if Miguel does not cave in to world threats to step down and let democracy take over? Would the citizens get any more electricity, food, medicine? If i could be sure, then i would reconsider what to do , but we would have to do it as a nation ..so it would crush the island with one quick blow.
Cuba is one of just a few countries I would love to visit. For its authenticity, friendly people and lack of the “modern” infrastructure you see everywhere else in the world. I was born and grew up in a socialist/communist country. Then there was a change of the system. We gained a lot and sadly lost a lot too. We have open borders now, are part of a wonderful project called the EU. We can theoretically buy anything in our shops. We still have poor people, homeless people, we are in debt and ruled by money. We no longer know our neighbours, we don’t have time we used to have. The old party officials became billionaires and keep laughing in our faces. They do not have to falsify elections now, they can buy politicians. Or become ones.
I dread this is what’s going to happen in Cuba too…
So yes, I would love to visit while it is still a country where people know each other and help each other. Perhaps it is possible for visitors to stay with with a local family for a few days and spend money there rather in a regime controlled venue? Maybe to hire someone to be a guide and see places tourists normally do not see? That’s certainly how I would like to spend my time on your island. Best wishes to all Cubans, and do not lose your soul in the inevitable changes to come!
You are ignoring sir that you can stay in private homes that help the Cuban people and not in the fancy hotels.
Also when Obama open Cuba you could have seen over 100 tourists eating at a privately owned restaurant daily. Why not mention that?
Visit Cuba and support the Cuban people is very doable even today.
It’s a beautiful country, with very beautiful kind people. I’ve been there many, many times. Have a few friends there. As much as I love it, the last time I visited two years ago, I felt sad and almost guilty, that even though I was able to help out my friends, most citizens can’t enjoy the same things as tourists.