"American in Cuba, briefly" a Cuba Travel Page by melosh

Cuba is music and a communist dictatorship. A visit can be educational or just a "cheap vacation" at Resort Castro. As has been said about Mexico, "So far from heaven, and so close to the United States." One difference is that politics have created a barrier for Americans and Cubans from visiting more effective than the Rio Grande. I was lucky to able to go on a licensed "official" trip of doctors and nurses. With my fluency in Spanish I could almost pass as a Cuban. I did learn how to ask questions carefully..

Unexpectedly, I learned something in Cuba in a brief ten day visit with human and political implications. I went as part of a medical group to learn and not to work, and I went knowing enough to not discuss politics or try to explore politics when visiting Cuba.
As soon as we arrived I bought a book to read: "El Polvo y el Oro" by Julio Travieso Serrano. This book opened my eyes to the horrific history of slavery in Cuba in a way my pre-trip reading had not. I knew, of course, of the connection between sugarcane and slavery. I guess I just did not think of Cuba as having a large black population. (You may have seen the Castro face of Cuba.) Our visit included a small town, the birth town of our coordinator, where this history was evident.
One of the highlights of our trip was an afternoon in Havana with the Black writers association. Our coordinator was a black Cuban, "former" communist and Castro supporter who grew up in Black Cuba and now lives in the US and arranges aid shipments and trips from the US to Cuba. The doctor who obtained the US State Department license was black and our group included some black nurses and a black folk story writer. Perhaps this is why our meeting was approved.
These writers were not enemies of the state, but their message was that their lives were ones of struggle (and they did not mean for food) and of unfulfilled promises. And the greatest need they saw was for unity in the struggle for equal rights and opportunity. They pointed out the "white " face of Castro's Cuba and the US prejudice they felt gives a "white" face to the exile population.
I am neither elite nor a proclaimed expert, but I think I learned something important by visiting Cuba myself. It has re-inforced my view that praise of Cuba from elite Americans black or white after visits with Castro should be evaluated with exteme caution. It represents just one reason why we should support free travel of Americans to Cuba.

You can visit a resort in Cuba and only meet Cuban hotel workers. Cubans are not allowed to frequent these hotels. I think this resort could be in any number of different countries, but if the price is right and this is what you want why not?

You should have seen how nervous our guide and driver (the party member) got when I asked if I could skip the fancy hotel in Guardalavaca and stay in Hoguin until our hospital and small town visits scheduled for the afternoon of the next day. I did not push the issue. Interestingly enough, the schedule was changed so we began our visits right after breakfast.

For a few stories on meeting Cubans, check out my travelogue.