UMD Havana Class – 2023

Let’s start backwards. When we arrived from Havana at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, Customs pulled aside the two UMD professors – one being me. We had purchased rum and cigars at the Havana airport duty free shop. We were informed that according to US regulation that is illegal. Customs proceeded to bust each bottle and pour the rum in a sink, in front of our eyes. They then tore the cigars and put them in a trash can. We were then allowed to move on. I had forgotten that when Trump declared Cuba a Terrorist State in September 2020, he also outlaws bringing Cuban rum and cigars into the US.

Disgusting. Clearly, designating Cuba a Terrorist State was yet another Trump measure to spite Obama – and win some votes in Florida. Awful. Exasperating the situation, Biden has not rescinded this designation. Cuba is much less deserving of being labeled a terrorist State than Venezuela, China, or Russia. Yet.

The Experience

We went to Cuba as an academic exercise to teach a course titled “Havana’s Art & Culture: The intersection of planning, architecture, preservation, and economics”. Cuba’s heritage, complexities, and mystique provides an ideal setting to learn, pushing the limits of assumptions and conventional wisdom.

We stayed at private homes, frequented as often as possible paladares – entrepreneur ventures – for dinner and entertainment, and experienced spaces and places of our choosing. We were also inevitably steered into partaking in officially led tours, having to listen to official presentations. And yes, we also participated in other touristy activities to know for ourselves the view from inside and outside.

Certainly one of the highlights of the journey was looking at Havana through the eyes of the 12 students in the course. The beautiful combination of their naivety with their inquiring deep critical thinking and thoughtful questions taught me so much. They saw so much more that I have ever seen by myself. I thank them for their energy, enthusiasm, and participation.

Academically speaking

We started and ended the course virtually. For the middle ten days we were physically in Havana. We worked with a team of Cuban professors we selected. We planned the lectures and site visits together. The academic load during the weekdays was intense. The weekends were fun.

The structure of the time spent in Havana was simple. Week one we spent one day each in certain neighborhood, moving from oldest to newest. We began in Old Havana, moving west to Central Havana, then to Vedado and West Havana before returning East to East Havana. On the weekend the students went to Viñaled to enjoy the rural landscape and to Varadero Beach. The two final days were spent visiting major planning projects in South Havana and experiencing the Capitolio, a preservation masterpiece.

The Cuban people

Friendly. Proud. Funny. But also struggling, making do, and resigned to a situations beyond their control. Many yearn to emigrate, no doubt. But for those that stay by choice or cause, life goes on.

The faiths

Catholicism was highly influential in defining Havana’s urban spaces and plazas. The grace of old church steeples are inevitable in any skyline picture. Santeria – an Afro Cuban faith development – is prevalent and evident everywhere, influencing art, dance, music and much more. After decades of being silenced, these and other faith are alive and well in Cuba. (However, still no new house of worship is permitted to be built.)

Havana the City

Mystical. Compact. Beautiful. But also deteriorated – in places beyond repair – with a dilapidated infrastructure. In most cases the bone is there – but in many cases the cancer has metastasized.

Civic spaces

Underneath the authentic welcoming ambiance experienced everywhere in Cuba lurks the harsh reality of the absence of civic space independent of government oversight – if not direct control. There are (albeit limited) spaces for faith groups. But no Rotary Club, United Way, or Chamber of Commerce; no independent. non-profits, business associations, nor civic groups.

The food

Plantains. Yuca. Rice & beans. But also no consistency in quality, amount, or availability. Big difference between entrepreneur restaurants – much better – and all but the higher end government operated restaurants.

The cars

Yep, still there. The 57 Chevys*, Russian Ladas and older model, mingling with vicitaxis and cocos. (*But they function as “Frankensteins” – a strange combination of parts from everywhere.) And there are an increasing number on newer cars – and motorcycles – around.

The system

Proud, confident, and entrenched. But also clearly evidently tired, bloated, and inefficient. Changes come slow as molasses, sometimes taking two steps backwards for every step forward.

The new hotels

Why o why so many new hotels – including the new tallest building in Havana? For whom? Who is investing? Who will pay to stay? Who will benefit? Tourism gentrification – a new phenomenon for Cuba. The locals have so many questions. There are so few answers.

The economy

The trifecta of Trump/Biden impact on policies, Covid’s impact on tourism, and world events impact on inflation are devastating Cuba’s economy. Not since the 90’s ‘special period’ after the dissolution of the USSR has Cuba experienced such dire economic crisis. The Cuban government is not budging. If anything it is becoming more intransigent. The Cuban people are leaving in numbers never seen before creating a migration issue for both the US and Cuba.

oh, all the D words in Cuba!

Desperation Deception Desolation Dissolution Disillusion Destruction Disenchantment Despair Disgraced Disrespected Disregarded Disinterested Distrust Disinformed Destroyed Dissed

On a personal note

Promises made. Promises kept. At the beginning of the pandemic I made a promise to the Virgencita that I would not get a haircut again till I returned to Cuba. And so it was. I got my haircut at the Callejon de los Barberos, an entrepreneurship venture where elder barbers teach younger barbers from the nearby neighborhood the skills to cut hair so they can start their own shop.

In conclusion

Havana has evolved since 1492 in a way which is truly unique yet so common to other smaller nations. Its planning, architecture, preservation and economics reflect this uniqueness and commonality. Its art and culture reflect the dynamics of the comfort of dependence and the all too often turbulent territory of yearning for independence.

The evident physical destruction-by-neglect is numbing. It is everywhere. The crumbling – and oftentimes dangerously overcrowded – buildings, the absence of maintenance in public spaces and venues of all sorts, the awful public transportation, the near non-existence of common commerce for the masses. Sixty years of mismanaged expropriation of homes, land, and businesses big and small has led to an inexplainable situation with strange land uses and little if any new construction – except the recent rash of hotels. Yet there are so many diamonds in the rough, good bones without meat, and an inventive and educated citizenry.

As politics rage, the Cuban people hurt. As screws are tightened, the Cuban physical infrastructure crumbles. As those in power play, we all pay.

It is insanity to keep doing the same thing for over 60 years when not achieving the results sought. The embargo has to go. It is time to re-spark Obama’s approach to diplomacy based on mutual respect and reciprocity. Let the Cuban and American people meet, mingle, and dance.

And let the rum flow and the cigars smoke.

For the detailed itinerary and more information on the logistics of the trip, email me Reemberto[a]Gmail[dot]com

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