"Havana remains shrouded in magic and mystery. You can’t help but fall in love."
fact that everything sounds better in a romance language. Havana remains shrouded in magic and mystery. You can’t help but fall in love.
The rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba marks the beginning of the end of one of the greatest policy failures in Western Hemispheric history. U.S. visits to the island have increased by almost 40 percent since the announcement of bilateral talks last December. Havana’s hotels are busting at their worn-out seams, the city’s capacity to absorb this influx of tourists clearly limited.
Real estate developers from around the world cast a speculating eye at the crumbling mansions along the Malecón. It’s only a matter of time before this underutilized space will be repurposed to house novel combinations of retail, commerce, and residences – until then, good luck getting a hotel room.
The sun hangs low over the sea as you drive west toward Vedado. You’re in a 1958 Impala, and under the hood is the motor of a 2007 Kia. At the Plaza de la Revolución, a parade of antique cars waiting for a fare under the watchful eye of the iron Che Guevara sculpture that emblazons the Ministry of the Interior. Mere kilometers yet architectural eons from the breathtaking colonial majesty of Old Havana, here you’re surrounded by the functional charm of socialist modernism. Within the city’s boundaries it is outdone in its starkness only by the Soviet, now Russian, Embassy across town in Miramar.
Would Che have been disappointed to learn that these taxi drivers were for hire, shuttling tourists around the city in these relics of a foregone time? I would like to think that Che would have appreciated the industriousness of these and the other entrepreneurs who in one way or another were capitalizing on the glacial opening of the state-run economy. With 60 years of entrepreneurial energy finally allowed to flourish, if not outright encouraged to do so, you can see private enterprise seeping into the city’s daily fabric.
Paladars, or private restaurants, were among the first private enterprises, begrudgingly sanctioned as a way of invigorating the struggling economy. Far more interesting is the grey market, or the informal economy. The great cable TV and Internet heists are a frequent topic of conversations. Covert satellite dishes and a well-oiled grassroots machine deliver the “weekly package,” external hard drives and memory sticks filled with the most up-to-date television shows, music, and movies. The price is highest on Saturday, when the distributors first rip the package. If you’re willing to watch your shows a week after everyone else, you’ll get a better deal.
Havana can be easily romanticized, but by the light
5
Kate Maloff is Executive Director at the World Policy Institute in New York. In May 2015, she joined the Institute’s Board on an exploratory trip to Cuba. The delegation sought to open new dialogues with Cuban leaders, examine the achievements of 55 years of revolutionary society, and explore increased avenues for collaboration. nunc sed interdum.
SEVENSEAS - 19