So depending on the situation (and how dumb I would like to make that
person feel), I will say some version of this: “What exactly do you think
will ruin Cuba? Running water? Available food? Freedom of speech?
Uncontrolled media and Internet? Access to proper healthcare? You
want to go to Cuba before the buildings get repaired? Before people can
actually live off their wages? Or before the oppressive Communist regime
is someday overthrown? Make sure you hurry and go observe these
human beings in the time bubble that was created especially for you so
that you could post a #nofilter photo of it on Instagram.”
Look, part of me gets it. I appreciate good art direction just as much as
anyone else, and I see that Cuba looks like a beautifully destroyed photo
op. But it’s not your photo op. The old cars are not kitschy; they are not
a choice. It’s all they have. The old buildings are not preserved; their
balconies are falling and killing people all the time. The very, very young
girls prostituting themselves are not doing it because they can’t get enough
of old Canadian men, but because it pays more than being a doctor does.
Hospitals for regular Cuban citizens are not what Michael Moore showed
you in Sicko. (That was a Communist hospital for members of the Party
and for tourists, and I, for one, think Moore fell for their North Korea–
like propaganda show pretty hard.) There are no janitors in the hospitals
because it pays more money to steal janitorial supplies and sell them on
the street than it does to actually have a job there. Therefore, the halls
and rooms are covered in blood, urine, and feces, and you need to bring
your own sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, and mattresses when you are
admitted. Doctors have to reuse needles on patients. My mom’s aunt had
a stroke and the doctor’s course of treatment was to “put her feet up and
let the blood rush back to her head.” That was it. And this is in Havana,
the big city. I can’t be sure, but I’d imagine things there are a lot better
than they are in more remote parts of the country.
If you want to go to Cuba, I want you to go. I do. But can I ask a favor? Be
aware of what’s going on there. Try, if you can, to stay in people’s homes—
casas particulares—instead of hotels. They’ll take much better care of you,
the food will be much better, and you’ll be putting a little less money into
Castro’s tourism pocket. When you go, ask the people to tell you what’s
really going on…not the version they’re supposed to tell you. Things are
changing in Cuba, and maybe instead of seeing it before the change, you
can actually be a part of the change for the better. Also, for God’s sake,
please don’t wear a fucking Che t-shirt.
Natalie Morales is a Cuban-American actor, writer, and filmmaker.
For more on her career, see page 10.