His second term of office was characterized by graft and greed, including a deal with the American Mafia. His unpopular government opened the door for the nationalist revolution lead by Fidel Castro, as well as his brother Raul and Che Guevara.
The Castro government was formally recognized by the Eisenhower administration on January 7th, 1959. But Castro’s violent consolidation of control, as well as his opposition to US influence, quickly lead to plots and plans to depose the regime.
After a series of disputes, primarily relating to oil companies, the US imposed a trade embargo on February 3, 1962. Other nations were pressured to join the embargo, as a price of doing business with the US. Cuba was also effectively cut off from the world banking system.
With limited resources and a struggling economy, Cuba became a client state of the Soviet Union. For those few who could purchase a car, the only available automobile was the Russian Lada. The Lada was a Fiat design built with uninspired Russian labor.
My two favorite Lada jokes are: (1.) What is the difference between a golf ball and a Lada? You can drive a golf ball 200 yards. (2.) Why does a Lada have a heated rear window? So you can keep your hands warm while pushing it.
Cubans had a strong incentive to preserve their American cars, with Ladas as the only alternative.
Taxi drivers in Havana, with well-maintained American beauties, earn more than Cuban doctors. Most cars are now third generation, being passed down from father to son. Drivers are very cautious because of the income generated by their cars.
Also since the 50s were the last period of private wealth, many upscale suburbs have “ranch” homes. Few buildings of note were built after the 1950s.
Conflict
President Kennedy green-lighted a plan drawn up by outgoing President Eisenhower, to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs near Cienfuegos. The invasion was a disaster, and along with failed assassination attempts, served to further alienate Fidel. Perhaps that played a role in his agreement to have missiles installed on Cuban soil pointed at the US. Maybe his economic dependence on Russia made his concurrence inevitable.
The cliff notes/Camelot version of the Cuban Missile crisis is that in 1962, we discovered the installation of missiles and blockaded Cuba. As the story goes, Khrushchev blinked and the missiles were withdrawn. The full story is more nuanced. The US placed missiles in Turkey within range of most of Russia. Shortly after the missiles were removed from Cuba, America removed the missiles from Turkey. Kennedy won the PR war, but the result was a tit for tat.
For those of us who lived through the crisis, Cuba is further emblazed in our minds. We all feared a nuclear war between the two superpowers.
Post Russia
The breakup of the Soviet Union, lead to starvation in Cuba. Cut off from trade and aid with the West by the embargo, and with no further assistance from Russia, the Cuban economy cratered. Between 1991 and 1994 it's estimated that Cubans collectively lost 25% of their weight. This is referred to as the special period. The Cuban government considers it a genocide perpetrated by America. A possible lesson is that no matter how dire the impact of the embargo, it has not resulted in regime change.
If you wonder why posters of Hugo Chavez are common, usually together with Fidel, and, or Raul, it's because Venezuela came to the rescue.
Raul Castro
Poster in Havana
When I first arrived in Havana, my wife and I went to get bottled water and explore the area near our casa particular. We proceeded south along Galiano St. (away from the Malecon) and came across a nondescript park filled with hundreds of Cubans. Our first thought was that Cubans must cherish this park, Parque Fe del Valle. Then we saw that everyone had a cell phone or tablet. We had stumbled on one of the many wifi hotspots in Havana. Fidel’s brother, Raul, made this possible.
In 2006 Raul temporarily took over for his ill brother. Fidel officially ceded the presidency in 2008. In that year Raul made it legal for Cubans to own cell phones. He also provided for merit pay for good workers in state-run enterprises.
In 2011, partly in response to yet another economic crisis, Raul instituted 300 economic reforms. Of greatest interest to tourists, were the expansion of free enterprise, and the encouragement of foreign investment.
Prior to 2011, almost all restaurants were state owned. The few private restaurants, called paladares, were limited to 4 tables, and couldn't serve certain items, including lobster. That has all changed. Restaurants have proliferated, and there are also many more casas particulares.
Recently, President Obama and Raul Castro have started normalizing relations between the two countries. On March 18, 2016 Raul promised to remove the ten percent penalty on the exchange of dollars into Cuban CUCs. As of the middle of May 2016, this promise has yet to be fulfilled.
PREPARATION
Rooster in Baracoa RS
Legal Travel from the US
You will most likely travel under the People to People exemption to the prohibition on Americans traveling to Cuba. This is one of the 12 general licenses for travel to Cuba. Failure to fall under one of them requires obtaining a special license from the Treasury Department. It falls under Treasury, rather than the State Department, because technically the restriction isn't on travel, but on spending any money in Cuba. The embargo is financial.
Prior to January 1, for most Americans, the only legal way to travel to Cuba was with one of the many overpriced tour groups. These groups have a general license, under Education or People to People exemptions. Now independent travelers just have to keep a record of where they went and what they spent, to qualify for the people to people exemption. The record must be kept for 5 years.
We traveled under the journalism exemption. Through my blog, http://phoodphotospolitics.blogspot.com, we covered the American election from a Cuban perspective. Spoiler alert: Cubans hate Trump.
Visas
A visa form should be available at your airline counter. The cost is 25 dollars. The Visa is good for 30 days.
Vaccinations
Having decided which cities to visit, your next step should be:
1.Check international flight prices,
2.Choose hotels, or
3.Go to Pasadena.
If you live in the Los Angeles area, the correct answer, of course, is go to Pasadena.
The Healthy Traveler Clinic (www.healthytraveler.com) is on Green Street in Pasadena. A travel clinic is the place for vaccinations, malaria medication (not needed for Cuba) and the regionally correct antibiotic for diarrhea and dysentery.
The latter is particularly important if you are an adventurous eater. But even the pickiest eater may pick up a bug (even if he won’t eat one). A combination of the correct antibiotic and Imodium, will work within twenty-four hours. The Imodium will relieve most symptoms long before that.
A travel physician knows exactly what you need for your intended destinations. Since some immunizations require a series of shots, an early start is advised. On the subject of shots, experience counts. The shots given at The Healthy Traveler Clinic are virtually