IN SEARCH OF A REVOLUTION 10

Some of these places I hardly remember now because we seemed to speed through the days: lush countryside; cultural and historical places of interest, a swim or a walk, a lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches or rice and beans, arrive at our hotel at dusk to avoid over-booking, at least one member of the family unhappy about the accommodation, eat a banquet in a government restaurant or private home, go on to a 'Casas de la Trova' to hear music and watch dancing (we were mostly too intimated by the standard and not know Salsa steps well enough to take to the floor), drink a lot of cocktails, do a morning walking tour before jumping back on the bus for the panoramic tour and off to our next destination. The tour was following a pattern that not everybody appreciated but I was still loving every minute.

      Day 6 was one of my Cuban highlights-a visit to Che Guevara's mausoleum and museum at Santa Clara.  Throughout Cuba there is a refreshing absence of billboards and commercial advertising. No big yellow M's. Instead, there's Che's charismatic face looking at you everywhere. Not so often is the image of Fidel. I asked Ainsley why.   

      'We tend to honour the dead heroes of the revolution. Che is close to our hearts. When Fidel dies no doubt we will honour him in the same way.'

        After the unsuccessful attack on the Moncada barracks in Santigo de Cuba on 26th of July 1953, (which more of later), Fidel was sentenced to fifteen years in prison but was released after two years. He managed to escape to Mexico where he was joined by Che, doctor and revolutionary. In late November 1956, together with Raul, Fidel's brother and eighty other loyal comrades they set sail for Cuba in a yacht called 'The Granma,' built to carry twenty. On landing and suffering many casualties, the small band made for the wilderness of the Sierra Maestra mountains, from where they were to plan and execute the revolution. Photos of the time bear witness to the harsh conditions and Che's attempts to live like the other rebels without any special privileges that might go with his rank of General. 

       Che Guevara was to earn some of his reputation based on his bravery at Santa Clara in 1958, using tractors to de-rail a train carrying arms and troops. Greatly outnumbered he still managed to achieve his objective and many of Batista's troops surrendered.

       Che's remains were brought from Bolivia where he fought as a guerilla in the Bolivian army and was captured and shot in October 1967. He was a Cuban citizen and many of his family still live in Cuba today.

       In the mausoleum, a star of light shines over his remains. He lies there with other brave rebels. I scanned the names. I could see only the names of men. 'But what about the brave women? Where are the women in the revolution? 'I asked myself and Ainsley later. He looked rather sheepish.'Wait!' he said. And I wasn't to be disappointed. They do exist and their stories are inspirational. More later in this story.

    

      

GUANTANAMERA

Based on a poem by one of the heroes of independence, Jose Marti, the song tells the story of a woman farmer, a war hero from the town near Guantanamo Bay. It's led here by Compay Segundo, a founding member of Buenas Vista Social Club. His gravestone sports hat and guitar.

IN SEARCH OF A REVOLUTION 9

   Members of the family were starting to relax, beginning to get to know each other better. I was waiting for the storming phase. All new groups with a mission go through it. If they can work through the issues the group will re-form stronger, but if not there will be splinter groups and possibly counter-revolution. A parallel process for the history we were learning about and experiencing.
     That evening in Cienfuegos, a sub group we'd become involved in took part in a lock-in. Not a political gesture but a social one- at the Casa de Trova- the house of music for tourists, that you can find in all the main Cuban towns and cities. Tourists like Salsa and Son. According to the Rough Guide, 'Son is the blood running through the veins of Cuban popular music.' Many younger Cubans prefer Reggaeton or Cubaton, based on hip-hop.
       As we supped Ron Collins after Ron Collins and listened for the thousandth time to 'Guantanamera', we shared stuff about ourselves and bitched about other members of the family. Rhys and I were given the title of mama and papa, there was the renegade and the bolshie teenager, apart from uncle of course.  Like an Alan Ayckbourne play. It reminded me not to rely on first impressions.
     Cienfuegos is a pleasant city with a European feel-largely due to the influence of French settlers in the 19th century. The family saw the city by bicycle-rickshaws. When I lived in Indonesia over 40 years ago, we saw the bicycle rickshaw as a symbol of exploitation. Now in London you can see young people in rickshaws transporting tourists. Cab drivers hate them. It's probably the same in Cienfuegos but it's a great way to see the sights.

   The Little White Shoes and Elegy by El Indio Nabori ( El Cucalambe)

IN SEARCH OF A REVOLUTION 8

Day 5 and today we retrace our steps to Havana and then south into the Matanzas province. We will be passing the area on the Zapata peninsula that is rich in exotic wild life and visiting a museum at Playa Giron near the 'Bay of Pigs' that tells the tale of this episode of the socialist revolution.
      As we pass the park/zoo where you can see crocodiles, Ainsley tells us that our fellow countrymen don't rate it- it's too tame- so we won't be stopping there. Instead we get a chance to swim in a sea water cave. And the history lesson begins today in earnest.
     Ainsley has named four men travelling together with the family as,'The Four Seasons.' Uncle is one and today he's decided to opt out. He puts in his blue ear plugs and closes his eyes. He's soon spotted. They have a laugh and Uncle sits up to listen.  We arrive at the museum half an hour after closing but it's opened up for us and we wander round looking at the photos and hearing the story.
     'Fidel is my hero,' Uncle says. Ainsley looks a bit surprised and replies, 'Yes, he's mine too.'
     After the success of the revolution lead by Fidel with Che Guevara and others in 1959, huge sectors of Cuban industry were nationalised and foreign businesses, most of them American, were confiscated. The US Government retaliated by freezing all imports of Cuban sugar, restricting exports and in 1961, breaking off diplomatic relations. Seeking to overthrow what they saw as an evil regime, the CIA became involved and the US backed counter-revolutionary forces in Cuba. They trained mercenaries and Cuban exiles in the US and Guatemala, and on April 17 1961 launched an invasion landing at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast. The revolutionaries were ready for them and the whole operation ended in failure but many lives of soldiers and civilians were lost.
      There were guns and weapons of war displayed in cases against a backdrop of photos of Fidel and Che Guevara. The most moving item for me was a pair of pretty silk white shoes blown off their teenage owner, Nemesia, in the battle that lasted 72 hours and killed her mother. Next to them a poem by El Indio Nabori (El Cuculambe) imagining the scene; Before the revolution the daughter of a poor charcoal worker had dreamed of owning a pair of white shoes but her father would never earn enough to afford them. Then came the revolution and landowners were forced to hand over their land to the workers. At last the young woman was able to have her dream, she no longer wandered barefoot and wild. She wore her white shoes with pride. Until the invasion.
 

CUBA -A MAP

CUBA-SOME FACTS

CUBA: SOME FACTS

• It is the largest Caribbean island, bound on the south by the Caribbean Sea and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean and covers 110,861 sq km.
• The current population is estimated to be over 11million with an ethnic mix predominately of African and European ancestry. The indigenous Taino who inhabited Cuba before Columbus's arrival were wiped out by Spanish invasion and European diseases.
•  The population is around 51% mixed race, 37%white,11% black and 1% Asian. We were told that race is not an issue.
• Cuba is a republic with a centralized socialist government. We were told that it is neither communism or socialism. It is Fidelism. However, the Communist party is enshrined in the constitution as the only legal political party.
• Tourism is the biggest industry,  with British tourists currently the largest number. Sugar is the second main industry. It is estimated that 3% of the economy is made up by remittances sent to family members by Cuban-Americans. More of that later.
• According to UNICEF, Cuba has 100% adult literacy rate, the highest in all of Latin America.
• Education and health are free to all at the point of delivery. Medicines prescribed in hospital are free. Those prescribed by GPs can be bought relatively cheaply.
• Life expectancy at birth is 79 years, also the highest in Latin America. (cf 78.4% men, 82.4% women in the UK in 2010)

        

                                            Cabins at San Vincente Ranch Hotel, in Viñales Valley

IN SEARCH OF A REVOLUTION 6

 November 30 2011, our 32nd wedding anniversary.The differences in those used to city life and the country bumpkins were beginning to show  We woke up in a cabin on the San Vincente Ranch to the sound of tropical birds, early sun streaming through the shutters and mist rising from lush vegetation in the forest. When I asked the girl with jet eyes, who hadn't been sleeping well, if she'd heard the dawn chorus, she replied,  'No, thank God, I was wearing ear plugs.'
     We visited a cave and on our way out, as we were browsing the hand-made crafts a couple of local women approached the few women in the party, rubbing their hands and arms in a washing gesture. 'Baby. Soap?'  Soap wasn't something we had thought of bringing from the UK. From then on I became a soap monitor. Members of the family donated small white cubes or bottles of shower gel from the hotel if they weren't using it. Every time the bus stopped there would usually be a disabled man and a very thin woman waiting for soap monitors. We also had the odd child asking for sweets. On one occasion after a bit of hassling Rhys gave away his half eaten packet of Hacks.  As the child popped the cough sweet into his mouth, I had to turn away.
      Ainsley saw to it that our wedding anniversary was one we wouldn't forget. I smoked my first hand-rolled cigar at the tobacco farm; at lunch we were serenaded by a salsa band and treated to pina coladas made with fresh coconut cream; applauded by the audience of an open air night club and treated to many drinks. To finish the evening I pulled an older member of the family we called 'Uncle' into the swimming pool with me, fully clothed.
 

IN SEARCH OF A REVOLUTION 5

The following day on the way to the Viñales valley, west of Havana in the Pinar del Rio province, the bus pulled up at a cigar factory. The guide leaned out of the bus and spoke to the security guard who shook his head. The bus moved on.
      'I'm sorry, but the factory's shut,' Ainsley said.'There's been a power cut and the workers have been sent home. . .  Welcome to Cuba, my friends.'
       'But we need compensation,' one of the family piped up.
       'Compensation? Ah! I'll see what I can do,' Ainsley laughed. 'But don't worry, you will see a cigar factory, I promise.
      Ainsley had talked non-stop for the three hours or so it took to get to Viñales. He told us more about Cuba and it's history as we drove through the striking landscape.  If he caught somebody snoozing he'd call out their name in a half-joking tone and ask them to remove their sunglasses. He pointed out places of interest that we could see and some we never got to see because he was worried about hotels over-booking. Our mission each day was to get to the next hotel before any other tour party, learn as much as we could from him about Cuba, and have fun. I couldn't get enough.
       The roads were deserted of traffic through most of our journey through Cuba. Imagine being the only vehicle on the M4 for several miles on a week day in December? People stand by the side of the road at designated places to hitch a lift from a government truck or private car. Although there is an inter-city bus service for the tourist and better off, local buses are few and far between and are like cattle trucks. A hundred or so local people cram, standing, a few sitting, suffocating in the heat with just a grill  to let air in.
       We drove on. Boulder like hills formed some 160million years ago by rain and erosion and covered in vegetation, known as 'mogotes' are similar to the limestone hillocks you see in China and Vietnam and loom out of the valley floor giving an ancient and eerie feeling.  Ainsley pointed out tobacco plantations and other crops. He told us that there's little incentive to work the tobacco now. 90% of the crop yield goes to the government, leaving 10% for the farmer.
       'You will visit a tobacco farm tomorrow, he said, as he went round the bus with plastic cups, pouring from a bottle of rum. 'In the meantime, here's the compensation.'
      .