Insight Guides Cuba (Travel Guide eBook)

By Insight Guides

Insight Guide to Cuba is a pictorial travel guide in a magazine style providing answers to the key questions before or during your trip: deciding when to go to Cuba, choosing what to see, from exploring old Havana to discovering Valle de Vinales or creating a travel plan to cover key places like Santiago, Santa Clara. This is an ideal travel guide for travellers seeking inspiration, in-depth cultural and historical information about Cuba as well as a great selection of places to see during your trip.

The Insight Guide CUBA covers: Old Havana, Centro Habana and Vedado, Vinales and the west, Varadero and Matanzas, the Zapata Peninsular, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos and Trinidad, eastern lowlands, Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Baracoa and the far east and the southern islands.

In this travel guide you will find:

IN-DEPTH CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL FEATURES  

Created to explore the culture and the history of Cuba to get a greater understanding of its modern-day life, people and politics.

BEST OF

The top attractions and Editor's Choice highlighting the most special places to visit around Cuba.

CURATED PLACES, HIGH-QUALITY MAPS

Geographically organised text cross-referenced against full-colour, high-quality travel maps for quick orientation in Havana, Trinidad and many more locations in Cuba.

COLOUR-CODED CHAPTERS

Every part of Cuba, from Old Havana to the southern islands has its own colour assigned for easy navigation.

TIPS AND FACTS

Up-to-date historical timeline and in-depth cultural background to Santiago de Cuba as well as an introduction to Cuba's food and drink and fun destination-specific features.   

PRACTICAL TRAVEL INFORMATION

A-Z of useful advice on everything from when to go to Cuba, how to get there and how to get around, as well as Cuba's climate, advice on tipping, etiquette and more.   

STRIKING PICTURES

Features inspirational colour photography, including the stunning Bay of Pigs and the spectacular Playa Esmeralda.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Sep 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781839053511

Insight Guides

Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon. 

Book preview

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Cuba, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Cuba. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Cuba are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Cuba. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2022 Apa Digital AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

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Table of Contents

Cuba’s Top 10 Attractions

Editor’s Choice

Introduction: The Isolated Island

The Cubans

Decisive Dates

Conquistadores and Pirates

The Struggle Against Colonialism

The Age of Decadence

The Revolution

Socialism or Death

Cuba in the 21st Century

Beliefs and Religions

Dreaming of Miami

Insight: Cuba’s Transportation System

Tourism: salvation or sellout?

Cuba’s Sizzling Sound

The Arts

The Essence of Cuban Food

Sport

Introduction: Places

Old Havana

Insight: Cuba’s Colonial Architecture

Centro Habana and Vedado

Around Havana

Viñales and the West

Insight: Secrets of the Cuban Cigar

Varadero and Matanzas

The Zapata Peninsula

Insight: Bird bonanza

Santa Clara to Sancti Spíritus

Cienfuegos and Trinidad

Eastern Lowlands

Insight: Dream diving

Holguín and Granma

Santiago De Cuba

Around Santiago

Baracoa and the Far East

Southern Islands

Transportation

A-Z: A Handy Summary of Practical Information

Language

Further Reading

CUBA TOP 10 ATTRACTIONS

Top Attraction 1

Old Havana, the historic core of the Spanish Colonial City, is bursting with life, new bars, cafés, stores and restaurants found in the restored and unrestored streets of balconied homes, and squares of mansions, churches, museums and fountains. For more information, click here.

Shutterstock

Top Attraction 2

Trinidad. A Unesco World Heritage Site, this is one of the most beguiling towns in Cuba, a place of great architectural interest, full of atmosphere and color and throbbing with music. For more information, click here.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 3

Museo Nacional Palacio de Bellas Artes (Arte Cubano), Havana. A magnificent collection of 17th-20th-century Cuban art is on display here, including pre- to post-revolutionary paintings and sculpture. For more information, click here.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 4

Fábrica de Tabacos Partagás, Havana. Even for non-smokers, a visit to this famous cigar factory is an experience, both aromatic and educational. For more information, click here.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 5

Valle de Viñales. When the mists hover over the tobacco fields leaving only the tops of the palm trees and the sheer-sided limestone mogotes on view this is one of the most beautiful places on earth. For more information, click here.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 6

Santiago de Cuba - the former capital has a historic Spanish colonial heart, great museums and a tremendous musical and dance culture. For more information, click here.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 7

Cementerio Santa Ifigenia, Santiago. Most of Cuba’s famous sons and daughters, including Fidel Castro and José Martí, are buried here. There is an eclectic mix of mausoleums and graves. For more information, click here.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 8

Callejón de Hamel, Havana. Where exuberant art and music mix – this is the place to be on a Sunday afternoon. For more information, click here.

AWL Images

Top Attraction 9

Baracoa. Surrounded by mountains of coconut palms, coffee and cacao, Baracoa is Cuba’s adventure and foodie hotspot with a great little music scene, too. Its setting across two Atlantic bays is beautiful. For more information, click here.

iStock

Top Attraction 10

Monumento Che Guevara, Santa Clara. Fans of revolutionary history should make the pilgrimage to this giant monument, with its dramatic statue, the bas-relief of Che’s letter to Fidel on leaving Cuba for Bolivia, and the mausoleum where the eternal flame burns for Che and his comrades interred there. For more information, click here.

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EDITOR’S CHOICE

The palm-fringed shores of Cayo Levisa.

Dreamstime

Best unspoilt beaches

Cayo Levisa. On the north coast of Pinar del Río province, Cayo Levisa is a small dive resort reached by a short boat trip. For more information, click here.

Cayo Sabinal . A wildlife reserve with deserted, pristine white-sand beaches north of Camagüey. For more information, click here.

Playas del Este . Very close to Havana, this series of white sand, palm-flecked beaches with a few deck chairs are very accessible. For more information, click here.

Cayo Jutías. A small cay off the north coast of Pinar del Río, a beautiful stretch of white sand and calm, shallow water. For more information, click here.

Playa Los Cocos . Some 8km (5 miles) from the beach resort of Playa Santa Lucía, this is a broad sweep of beach with a fishing village at one end and a few beach bars at the other. For more information, click here.

Playa Maguana . Not far from Baracoa, the trees come down to the sweep of white sand in a curved bay where there is one hotel and beach bars. For more information, click here.

Statue of Antonio Maceo, in the Plaza de la Revolución, Santiago.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Best heroic sites

Monument to Che, Santa Clara. A dramatic statue overlooks the Plaza de la Revolución, while underneath is a museum and a mausoleum where the remains of Che Guevara and some of his fellow fighters are interred. For more information, click here.

Monument to Antonio Maceo , Santiago. The impressive monument to the great 19th-century independence fighter dominates the Plaza de la Revolución at the entrance to the town. For more information, click here.

Playa Girón . The site of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 is commemorated as ‘The First Imperialist Defeat in Latin America.’ For more information, click here.

Mausoleum of José Martí and Castro’s tomb, Santiago. José Martí, the Father of the Nation, lies in a splendid marble mausoleum, where an armed guard is changed every half hour, accompanied by martial music. Nearby is a boulder encasing the ashes of Cuba’s totemic former leader, Fidel Castro. For more information, click here.

Moncada Barracks , Santiago. The unsuccessful attack on Moncada in 1953 launched the Revolution. A museum is on site. For more information, click here.

Parque Nacional Desembarco de Granma , Niquero. On the edge of the Sierra Maestra, this is where the guerrilla war began, in 1956. There is a walkway through the mangroves to the sea. For more information, click here.

Best places to hear music

For more information on music in Cuba, click here.

Fábrica de Arte Cubano . Eclectic performances in a multi-arts converted peanut oil factory.

Casa de la Música Habana . Matinées and late-night performances of salsa, Son Cubano, swing, and rock.

La Zorra y el Cuervo , Havana. Famous jazz club on La Rampa.

Casa de la Trova, Santiago. This cultural center is one of the most famous casas in the whole of Cuba.

Club Mejunje, Santa Clara . An intimate local venue where you will hear local and national musicians.

Casa de la Música, Trinidad . On La Escalinata, there’s music and dancing until the early hours.

Best Havana plazas

Plaza de Armas . Havana’s oldest square is lit at night by antique lamps, and is a center of activity at all hours. For more information, click here.

Plaza de la Catedral . The baroque cathedral and handsome colonial buildings surround the square, where café tables invite you to sit and enjoy a mojito. For more information, click here.

Plaza Vieja . The square has been renovated with great care and is now one of the most gracious in the city. For more information, click here.

Plaza de la Revolución. The site of the stark memorial to José Martí and the illuminated murals of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. The vast square is impressive. For more information, click here.

Parque Central . This leafy square, home to the elegant Hotel Inglaterra, is always buzzing with life, especially in the Esquina Caliente. For more information, click here.

Plaza Vieja, Havana.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Casa de la Música, Trinidad.

Shutterstock

Best outdoor activities

Walking and climbing in the Valle de Viñales . Take walks with local guides through the breathtakingly beautiful valley, or climb the famous magotes. For more information, click here.

Exploring Alejandro de Humbolt National Park. Search for the world’s smallest bird and the elusive manatee at this Unesco treasure near Baracoa. For more information, click here.

Hiking in the Sierra Maestra . Challenging hiking in the national park and up to the highest peak, Pico Turquino, for views of the forest and the Caribbean Sea. For more information, click here.

Exploring the waterfalls of the Sierra de Escambray . Bracing walks and cooling dips amid pristine scenery. For more information, click here.

Scuba diving the Gardens of the Queen . The best of Cuba’s scuba-diving sites. For more information, click here.

Waterfall in the Sierra de Escambray.

iStock

Delivering a celebration cake by horse and cart in Santiago.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Old American car, Trinidad.

Shutterstock

Trinidad musicians.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Walking to work.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

INTRODUCTION: THE ISOLATED ISLAND

Cubans still find it difficult to buy basic products, yet have one of the best health-care systems in Latin America. It is such contradictions that explode prejudices and make the island such a fascinating place to visit.

It is difficult to be unemotional about Cuba. This Caribbean island thrills the senses, befuddles the mind, and tugs at the heart. It is a magical place, full of romantic images: conga drums pounding late into the night; spicy dark rum; baseball, ballet, and dazzling nightclubs; light-hearted and challenging street art; quick conversations spiked with wicked humor; people who are warm, expressive, and affectionate; music emanating from every window – all enveloped in Cuba’s tropical, humid heat.

There are also more somber images of Cuba: frustrated youths willing to risk their lives in search of a future elsewhere; an outmoded and slowly evolving communist system that is in many ways failing its citizens; political repression; crumbling buildings, empty stores, and overcrowded buses. Political opponents portray it as a dictatorship, yet some steadfastly support the system.

Cuba faces a difficult road ahead. Former president Raúl Castro’s 2010 economic reforms, and the steps taken to normalize diplomatic relations with the US under the Obama administration, all earmarked Cuba as a country on the cusp of change. But President Trump’s harsh tightening of the embargo from 2017, not yet rolled back by Biden, the Covid-19 pandemic which devastated tourism – the economic engine of the country – and summer 2021’s protests against the government, repression, and food shortages means Cuba, and its new president Miguel Díaz-Canel (the first president not hailing from the old guard), faces extreme challenges. Tourists are mostly shielded from the harsh realities of life on the island: the blackouts, fuel and water shortages, inadequate food rations, long lines, and heavy-handed bureaucracy.

For most visitors, Cuba is a taste of the good life, a tropical retreat, and an exotic escape. Even so, the average tourist will not leave Cuba unaffected. Slowly but surely this Caribbean island gets under your skin and touches your soul.

A NOTE TO READERS

At Insight Guides, we always strive to bring you the most up-to-date information. This book was produced during a period of continuing uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, so please note that content is more subject to change than usual. We recommend checking the latest restrictions and official guidance.

A Baracoa resident relaxing on the doorstep.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

THE CUBANS

Multiracial and multicultural, the vivacious Cuban people are universally hospitable and friendly. Many appear to support their government, but may not always feel free to express their opinions frankly in public.

How do you describe the Cuban character? Words like fun-loving, spontaneous, and warm come to mind (not to mention long-suffering). Regardless of their status in society, Cubans tend to be a generous people. This generous nature, closely linked to the gregarious spirit that characterizes the country, is embedded in the Cuban psyche. For one Cuban to label another stingy is to tag him or her with one of the worst character flaws imaginable. The song written by popular songwriter Juan Formell and sung by his band, Los Van Van, captures the idea: ‘My hands are always empty, giving when there’s nothing to give. Oh, but what can I do? These are the hands that I have!’

A mixed people

Barely a trace remains in Cuban culture today of the peoples who were here when Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. For the most part, Cuba’s 11.2 million people are a mixture of European, African, and indigenous ancestry. The government prefers to emphasize national rather than racial identity, so rarely releases statistics on race, and for a while it deleted all questions about race from the official census. While data gathered during the 2012 census suggests that 64.1 percent of Cubans are white, many unofficial sources calculate that two thirds of the population are actually black or mixed-race. The census figures might be explained by Cubans opting to identify as white in a country where inequality is still apparent and the top government posts are predominantly filled by white men.

Cirilo Villaverde’s famous 19th-century novel Cecilia Valdés o La Loma del Ángel explores, brilliantly, the theme of the children of white ‘masters’ and their black slaves, and the prejudice they faced.

Sharing a joke in Trinidad.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

With the onset of slavery in the 16th century, many Spanish colonizers satisfied their sexual appetites with their slaves – a practice that was common throughout the Americas. The criollo children born of these unions suffered as much social prejudice as did the black slaves.

From the late 1840s, Chinese immigrants began to form an important segment of the Cuban population. According to historian Juan Pérez de la Riva (author of Slavery and Capitalism in Cuba), about 35,000 Chinese were brought from Canton to the island to work as servants in conditions similar to those endured by African slaves. Eventually, more than 100,000 came to Cuba. Though only vestiges remain today, until the 1970s Havana’s Chinese neighborhood was one of the city’s most prosperous. The so-called Barrio Chino in central Havana has been revived over the past few years, and now has foodstands and a popular art gallery attracting both local people and tourists, although it is but a shadow of its former self (for more information, click here).

Ration store worker and his companion in Sancti Spíritus.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Equality for all

Though once common, terms such as El Chino (the Chinese man), El Negrito (the black one), and La Mulata (the mixed-race woman) are rarely used today – even mentioning racial distinctions is a social taboo (although Chino, as a nickname, does still exist). In the 1950s, skin color was a divisive issue. Black people had very little access to good jobs or professions, and were not allowed to join certain clubs or attend private schools.

With its promise of ‘equality for all,’ the revolutionary government has gone a long way toward diminishing the effects of racial discrimination. Today, Cubans of all races and ethnic backgrounds are born in the same hospitals, attend the same schools, and are buried in the same cemeteries. But some sociologists argue that, although opportunities for black people advanced quite dramatically after Fidel Castro took power, the country still suffers from institutional racism. There are only a handful of black people in the upper echelons of the government, and only about a quarter of Cuba’s Communist Party are black or mulatto; and there’s evidence that black people have not benefitted proportionately from employment in the lucrative tourism industry during the recent boom. According to Carlos Moore, a black Cuban exile scholar, the color of power in Cuba has not changed at all.

In leafy Parque Vidal, the main square of Santa Clara, the double sidewalks that once provided separate walkways for black and white people are still visible.

The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church was officially separated from the Cuban Government with the birth of the republic in 1902. Until the 1959 Revolution, though, the government considered the Catholic Church its natural ideological ally. As in most Latin American cultures, it served as the foundation of an ordered society. But with the pronouncement of the socialist government in 1961, organized religion was condemned to disappear, and Marxism-Leninism replaced Catholic dogma. The church was not outlawed, but the government viewed it as a dangerous rival and a focus for dissent.

For many years practicing Catholics were punished by limited access to schools and job opportunities. To attend Mass was to ‘lapse into the past,’ and the ‘past’ was regarded by revolutionaries as a bad thing. But religious observation continued in private, and after the break-up of the eastern bloc, reappeared in public again.

Procession of the Miracles, San Lázaro church, El Rincón.

123RF

The papal visit

A landmark event occurred in January 1998, when Pope John Paul II visited the island – the only place in Latin America that he had not yet toured. The paradox was not lost on observers: that a Pope who had spent much of his papacy fighting communism should meet a Marxist like Fidel, who had completely relegated the role of the Catholic Church and institutional religion under his regime.

The Pope was keen to advance the cause of religious freedom and human rights in Cuba; whereas Castro hoped to benefit from the international prestige of the event (demonstrating that his regime had nothing to hide), and to exploit the fact that the Pope had publicly opposed the US embargo, so as to isolate the position of the US Government and the Miami exile community.

The Cuban state’s position on religion has altered somewhat in recent years. Practicing Catholics are allowed to join the Communist Party, and the state is now officially described as ‘secular’ rather than ‘atheist.’ There seems to be far greater tolerance of religious observance than there was before, a trend bolstered by visits by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 and Pope Francis in 2015. Currently, the island’s Catholic population hovers at 50–70 percent (depending on the source), but only a small fraction regularly attends Sunday mass.

The power of Santería

Although all forms of religious devotion were proscribed for many years, Santería has survived. It is a mixture of Catholicism and traditional West African beliefs brought here by slaves in colonial times. Although it began as a religion of Cuba’s black population, Santería followers now come from all walks of life. It is estimated that at least 90 percent of Cubans have participated in some form of Santería ritual, despite the fact that for many years it, too, was discouraged by the state.

As in Catholicism, Santería priests, called the babalawos, offer guidance and counsel, but the source of their divine wisdom differs. Instead of consulting a supreme being, babalawos use various instruments to interpret the wishes of the orishas or gods. Each sign carries many myths and stories that the priest will interpret for his client. A babalawo might advise a patient to sprinkle Catholic holy water around their home in order to chase away evil spirits. If the problem is caused by the spiritual presence of a dead loved one, they might instruct the patient to ‘steal a mass.’ To do this, the patient would attend a Catholic Mass where the souls of the dead are being prayed for, and when the priest mentions the names of the dead who are being honored, they would whisper the name of their loved one. The annoying spirit then floats away and leaves the person in peace. (For more information, click here for more on Afro-Cuban religions.)

Santería practitioner dressed all in white.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Women’s rights

Women walking alone on the street are often bombarded with overt sexual comments from men. These piropos (flirtatious remarks) range from a courteous compliment to a blatant invitation for sex. Many Cuban women, however, accustomed to this from an early age, are capable of giving just as good as they get. Cubanas may be victims of machismo in some areas of life, but they appear remarkably self-confident.

Many years of official policy designed to achieve the ‘equality of women’ have undoubtedly improved the lot of women in Cuba, but it has by no means dissolved the island’s deep-rooted machismo spirit. Far from liberating them socially, the government’s goal of incorporating women into the workforce has actually led to their having two jobs: one at the workplace and the other in the home, doing most of the cooking, shopping, cleaning, and child-minding. However, this is not so different from what happens in the US and many European countries.

MOTHER’S DAY

The role of mother is revered in Cuba, and Mother’s Day, in mid-May, is a major event. Some say it’s the only day in the year when the mail is bound to arrive on time, for the importance of Mother’s Day cards getting delivered on the day is not taken lightly. Buses are crammed with people carrying flowers and gifts, and everywhere you go you see people carrying large, square cakes, brightly iced in pink or blue, that are handed out of baker’s stores by the dozen. Flower sellers, their trucks filled with blooms, do a roaring trade outside cemeteries as people come from far and near to visit the graves of their departed mothers.

Raúl Castro’s wife, Vilma Espín, who died in June 2007, championed women’s rights and lobbied for men to do more in the home and, especially, with raising children. She founded the Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (the Federation of Cuban Women) in 1960, and in 1975 drew up the Family Code, which obliged men to share housework and childcare. While this is obviously difficult to enforce, it was a move in the right direction.

Female factory workers in Baracoa.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Through education, women are now involved in all aspects of the economy and the community. However, there are still very few women in the higher echelons of government and those with most prominence are family. Celia Sánchez, like Vilma Espín, was linked with the Castro brothers in the Sierra Maestra, and was hugely influential, but she too is now dead. Of the next generation, only Dr Aleida Guevara (daughter of Che) and Mariela Castro Espín (daughter of Raúl and Vilma) are given worldwide political exposure in addition to their jobs in pediatrics and sex education. As in many Western countries, women are a small minority in the Council of Ministers and in the Armed Forces high command where real power lies.

A negative side effect of the Revolution has been the increasing divorce rate – although this trend may have evolved without it. According to government statistics, about 5 percent of marriages ended in divorce in 1953. It is now estimated that, among Cubans aged from 25 to 40, a remarkable 56 percent of marriages fail. One reason for this is the lack of independent living space for newlyweds, who are forced to live in cramped apartments with their families. The decline of the influence of the Catholic Church has also been a factor, though another reason for the rise is the fact that the revolutionary government has made it much easier to obtain a divorce: all it takes is a few hours and about half a month’s salary. Again, this should be seen in relation to the situation elsewhere: the US has one of the highest divorce rates in the Western world (53 percent), but neither is comparable to Belgium, with the world’s highest divorce rate at 71 percent.

Mother and son, Trinidad.

iStock

Homophobia and gay rights

Born of two essentially patriarchal cultures, Cubans are largely machista, and traditionally homophobic. Although official statistics estimate Cuba’s homosexual population to be between 4 and 6 percent, the real figure is likely to be much higher since many gay people maintain public heterosexual relationships in order to avoid harassment. Since the early 1960s, thousands of gay people have fled the island, including a large contingent that left during the Mariel boatlift of 1980 (for more information, click here).

Guantánamo schoolgirls.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Homosexuality was legalized in 1979, and generally discrimination is less institutionalized today, although police harassment, for example, still exists. The movie Fresa y Chocolate (Strawberry and Chocolate), about a gay intellectual who falls in love with a straight Communist Party militant, brought the issue to the forefront in the early 1990s; it played to full houses in Havana and won several international awards.

Groups of gay men and women have begun to meet formally to discuss gay rights – a move that even a few years ago would have raised quite a storm. The island’s first gay pride march against homophobia was held in 2007. Also, many believe that a great deal depends on where gay people work. Intellectuals and university students are far more tolerant of individual sexual preferences than are blue-collar workers or farmers – but this is the same the whole world over.

Mariela Castro, director of the National Center for Sex Education and an activist for LGBTQ+ rights, was instrumental in getting a law passed in 2008 allowing sex change operations. She also campaigned for same-sex marriage to be included in Cuba’s new Family Law, expected to go to a referendum in 2022. An attempt to include same-sex marriage in the country’s constitution in 2018 failed after a backlash from evangelical churches.

The generation gap

Members of the older generation, who remember the time before the Revolution, are now enjoying the fruits of their labors. The ones who made the choice to remain in the country after the exodus of the early 1960s are now benefitting from the state health service, seniors’ care homes, and pensions. Their income may be meager, but at least they can maintain a roof over their heads.

Their children, now in their 40s and 50s, have been brought up on revolutionary dogma. They have learned how to work the system and many families know how to exploit the state to maximum advantage. There may be a bureaucrat, who can get round rules and regulations; a farmer, who can keep them supplied with food; someone who works in tourism to bring in hard currency; an academic who can access free internet; and a relative in Miami who can send funds. The family works together as a unit to maximum advantage.

The younger generation are increasingly dissatisfied. They see the material benefits their contemporaries are enjoying in Miami and around the world and they yearn for the clothes with designer labels, wearable tech, smart phones, and laptops, much of which is not available to them. Teenage rebellion, subversive music, even something as simple as leaving home and living independently, are all (for the most part) impossible dreams. The state controls where they live, their careers, their income, and their entertainment. It is no wonder protests erupted in 2021 and many seek ways to leave.

A girl’s 15th birthday, her ‘quinceañera,’ is a milestone, requiring extensive celebrations. Those who can afford it assemble a photo album, with the girl posing in a number of gowns, including a frothy wedding dress.

Make do and mend

‘No es fácil’ is an expression that is frequently heard, meaning ‘Life’s not easy.’ The daily grind to make ends meet is referred to as ‘la lucha,’ the struggle. Trying to make a peso salary worth the equivalent of US$88 last until the end of the month is an uphill struggle even with subsidies that mean housing, health care, and education are all paid for as prices soared for basic goods during the pandemic. Tourists marvel at the old American cars still on the road, held together with the apocryphal elastic band, and the unspoilt houses stuffed with antiques, but ‘make do and mend’ has been essential since the Special Period of economic hardship after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Nothing is thrown away in Cuba. Plastic bags are washed and used over and over again. ‘Poncheros,’ puncture repairmen, are constantly in demand. Housewives spend all morning going round the ‘agropecuarios’ and black markets until they have secured enough food to feed their families that day.

‘No hay’ (there isn’t any) is a phrase frequently heard in shops.

Support or discretion?

It is difficult for an outsider to know exactly how Cubans feel about their government and society. If they are critical, they are less likely to express it openly. On the one hand, people talk with apparent sincerity about the ‘triumph of the Revolution,’ and appear supportive of the late Fidel Castro.

A ponchero at work on a Bayamo street.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

On the other hand, there are those who find the system insupportable, and who make their feelings known by leaving – or trying to or protesting as occurred in 2021. Most people would like some of the consumer goods and freedoms that tourists take for granted, but often echo the government line in blaming shortages on the bloqueo, the US embargo. With the economy moribund, the arbitrary detentions of citizens after the summer 2021 protests, and tourism taking a while to revive, life is very unsettled on the island.

Lithographic cigarette wrapper depicting baseball scenes, c. 1880.

Getty Images

DECISIVE DATES

Pre-Columbian period (6000 BC–AD 1492)

c.6000–3000 BC

First waves of native American settlers, pre-ceramic hunter-gatherer groups, known as the Guanahatabeys, the ancestors of the Ciboneyes.

c.AD 600

Arawak-speaking Taínos reach Cuba, arriving in hollowed-out tree-trunk canoes. They dominate eastern and central Cuba, although Ciboney groups are never entirely displaced. Taínos bring a more settled, agricultural way of life.

c.1490

Native population estimated at more than 100,000.

Spanish settlement (1492–1762)

1492

Columbus sights Cuba.

1508

Sebastián de Ocampo circumnavigates the island.

1509

Diego de Velázquez’s first expedition.

1511–15

Velázquez returns to found Baracoa, followed by six other initial settlements (villas).

1512

Cacique Hatuey, the great Taíno chief, is burnt at the stake. Indigenous resistance crumbles. Subsequently most of the indigenous people are massacred, die of disease, or become forced laborers under the encomienda system.

1515

Santiago de Cuba becomes the capital.

1519

Havana is moved from the south coast to its present position on the north coast.

1523

The first African slaves are brought to work in the mines and on plantations.

1537

First slave revolt crushed.

1555

French forces sack Havana. By order of Felipe II (1527–98) fortresses are built to protect Havana and Santiago.

1607

Havana named official capital.

1668

English expedition under Henry Morgan sails to Puerto Príncipe (modern Camagüey) and sacks the town.

1682

The Inquisition comes to Cuba, and strikes first in Remedios, which is torched after a Spanish priest discovers ‘devils.’

1717

Tobacco trade declared a Crown monopoly.

The British occupation (1762–3)

1762

Havana falls to a massive British invasion force. The port is opened up to international trade, breaking the monopoly of the Spanish Crown.

1763

Havana is returned to Spanish rule as Britain swaps Havana for Florida (the Treaty of Paris).

Sugar boom and slavery (1774–1840)

c.1790s

Sugar replaces tobacco as Cuba’s most valuable export. African slaves are imported in huge numbers to work on the plantations.

1795

French Haitian landowners flee the slave revolution and settle in Oriente (Cuba’s eastern province).

Early 1800s

The price of sugar and land soars. Beginnings of independence movements in Cuba. Simón Bolívar leads anti-colonial revolts across Latin America.

1837

Latin America’s first railroad in operation between Bejucal and Havana.

Two wars of independence (1868–98)

1868

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes liberates his slaves near Manzanillo and issues call to arms against Spanish overlords, sparking the Ten Years’ War.

1869

Rebels issue Constitution of Guáimaro.

1871

José Martí, independence fighter, poet, and journalist, is exiled to Spain; he later settles in New York.

1873

Céspedes replaced as rebel leader.

1878

Peace treaty signed. Rebel factions split.

1879–1880

The ‘Little War’ breaks out.

1886

Spain abolishes all slavery.

1892

José Martí founds the Cuban Revolutionary Party from exile in the US.

1895

The Second War of Independence, led by Martí, who dies in the first battle at Dos Ríos.

1896

Antonio Maceo, who took over the independence leadership role, is killed in western Cuba. Máximo Gómez returns from exile and continues the struggle. Spanish forces initiate a ‘scorched-earth’ policy in the countryside.

1898

Battleship USS Maine sunk in Havana’s harbor after an explosion, which prompts the US to enter the conflict. Spanish forces defeated at the Battle of San Juan Hill. Spain signs a peace treaty ceding control of Cuba to the US.

Corruption and coups (1901–59)

1901

The Platt Amendment adopted: Guantánamo naval base ceded to the US, which claims the right to intervene in Cuban affairs. Provokes widespread Cuban anger.

1902

Tomás Estrada Palma is inaugurated as president.

1906–9

Marines invade to protect US interests.

1912

Afro-Cuban Black Uprising is savagely repressed.

1924–33

General Machado’s presidency is prone to venality and violence. General strike forces him to flee.

1934

Fulgencio Batista stages a coup. Puppet president is installed under army control. Abrogation of Platt Amendment, but Guantánamo left in US control.

1940–4

First Batista presidency follows national vote.

1952

Batista seizes power and cancels elections.

1956-1958

Fidel Castro’s guerrilla force sails from Mexico in the Granma. Hideout established in Sierra Maestra. Batista flees.

The revolutionary years (1959–90)