Cuba was once a rich place, attracting bohemians in the likes of Ernest Hemingway even. Its beaches were legendary. Its taste for the good life was almost proverbial. It was full of creativity and romance. 50 years after the revolution and the place is an anachronism where elegant structures of old mix with the dire reality of destitution. Gone are the days of liquor and song, of beautiful sultry women of leisure and places of entertainment and gambling, and of dance and the throbbing dance floors. Havana was once a shaking epicenter of thriving commerce and dynamic culture. Now, no more.
The Leftists destroyed all that. Fidel Castro’s nationalistic dream brought Cuba to the ground and grinding poverty. The rebellion only managed to deflate what was once one of the most exhilarating places in the world. Castro’s rebels did oust the equally militaristic regime of Fulgencio Batista. Castro, who started as someone who shuns the abuses of power, allied himself with the USSR at a time when the Soviets were the biggest enemies of the United States. This alone was a gross miscalculation. Cuba is closer to the US than to USSR. If the country wanted to have expedient trade, it should have been with a rich country that is in close proximity. Unfortunately, Castro’s ties with the USSR have merited a devastating trade embargo from the US.
Cuba is reeling from crippling poverty these days. It has been relying on aid from Venezuela for its food. The people must have been so tired to struggle that they cannot even farm their own sustenance, because the richness of the Cuban land is still very much in place. But the biggest handicap of Cuba is the leader that promised them a better life 50 years ago. Castro and Cuba are still painfully Communist, amidst a world where former Communists such as Russia and China had already discovered the fundamental folly of the fallen ideology. Cuba is left dry as it bears the selfish ego and self-serving political ambitions of the revolutionary they once called liberator.
Via BBC
