Havana: The Potemkin Village Of The 21st Century

By ALBERTO MARTINEZ PIEDRA

According to the media, it is often heard that many Americans are interested in traveling to Cuba because, as relations between the jewel of the Caribbean and the United States warm, they “want to see the island before it changes.” And they make this statement with a certain degree of optimism.
The question the reader of this article needs to ask is: Whether it can honestly be said that the expected changes in Cuba will benefit the island’s suffering people; or, on the contrary, that they are mere appearances that will only serve to strengthen the goals of Castro’s Communist regime and continue to ignore all the abuses that remain in the area of human rights and dignity.
Creating an appearance is not a new propaganda tactic. It has often been used in history. Be aware that change per se does not necessarily mean a change for the better. Keep in mind that Raul Castro, the Cuban dictator, has repeatedly stated that no matter what changes take place on the island, it will remain a Communist country.
Anyone who has lived under a Communist regime knows perfectly well what that means. History has demonstrated that as long as a country is ruled by a tyrannical Communist regime, violations of human rights are the rule. The very concept of natural law and the rights of man are ignored or rejected and thrown into the dustbin of history.
This inevitably occurs when the theological virtue of justice is lacking, as in the case of both Fidel and Raul Castro. Justice, according to Plato, is part of human nature (excellence). It is the quality which entitles a man to be called good. St. Augustine goes so far as to say: “If the prince is unjust, or a tyrant, to use the Greek word, or if the aristocrats are unjust (in which case their group is merely a faction), or if the people themselves are unjust (which for lack of a better word must be called a tyrant also)…then the commonwealth is not merely bad…but is no commonwealth at all.”
The recent visit of President Obama to Havana is supposed to bring about a new era of rapprochement and friendship between a freedom-loving America and a tyrannical Castro-run Cuba. It is claimed that as a result of these negotiations, both countries will enjoy the political and economic benefits of this pseudo “alliance.”
This is false. The reality is that the Cuban government is in dire need of assistance: Its economy is in shambles and its population is experiencing all sorts of scarcities. The United States is in a much better position, economically and otherwise, to set the conditions if and when any serious and objective negotiations are to take place.
The question of human rights, not only economics, should be the first priority in any future negotiation that takes place with the Castro government. They can go together, but not one at the expense of the other. From now on we need deeds, not words. As José Daniel Ferrer, head of Cuba’s largest dissident organization, the Cuban Patriotic Union, said on March 20: “We want to see results.”
It is interesting to point out that while Obama was enjoying the flatteries and pleasantries of Raul Castro, in the capital people were shouting in the streets “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” and throwing leaflets into the air. The security forces carried them away.
On March 19, the Ladies in White, a well-known dissident group, protested, demanding freedom and respect for human rights. As they protested in front of international television cameras they were not chased away or beaten, but the men who went with them were handcuffed and brutally carried away by Cuban security forces.
The desire for liberty of the Cuban people is amply demonstrated by the millions of native Cubans who have left the island in search of freedom and justice. Even as Obama was praising the Castro brothers during his visit to the island, the U.S. Coast Guard picked up 18 Cubans trying to reach Florida in search of freedom. I am certain they were not simply cruising on the ocean in order to admire the calm blue waters of the Caribbean!
President Obama departed from the “pearl of the Antilles” with vague and magnanimous statements about the dramatic improvements in relations between Cuba and the United States.
Both countries working together, claimed Castro, “benefits not only Cuba and the United States, but the entire hemisphere.”
The American president did not waste words in talking about brotherhood and a shared history between both countries. As a contrast to these laudatory statements of friendship by the American president, the ailing Cuban dictator did not hesitate to respond to his “brother Obama” in an open letter that appeared in the official newspaper of the Cuban government. In it Fidel categorically and arrogantly asserted that Cuba did not need anything from the United States. His comments were quickly transmitted through official radio, television, and all other means of communication to the people of Cuba.
Recent articles and speeches by both Fidel and Raul Castro should leave not even a shadow of a doubt as to their real intentions with respect to the future political and economic goals of Cuba — not to mention their interpretation of human rights and the dignity of the human person.
On April 19, Fidel gave a vitriolic speech to the Communist Party in which he reiterated that the Cuban people should never abandon the Communist ideas that he brought to fruition in 1959. He used the following words:
“The ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain as proof on this planet that if they are worked out with fervor and dignity, they can produce the material and cultural goods that human beings need, and we need to fight without truce to obtain them.”
To guarantee the continued unfolding of his Communist objectives “the maximo leader” appointed as future leaders of the country members of his own family and some of his closest collaborators. A new Castro dynasty was born and the world must accept this reality, including the United States. To think otherwise is wishful thinking, at least as long as the Castro dynasty is in power.
Cuba can easily become the Disneyland of the Americas for the benefit of foreign tourists who will enjoy the island’s natural beauty, but with little, if any, benefit for the average working Cuban. “Make believe” is the norm in Cuba.
A “policy of appearances” is nothing new in the history of mankind. The only thing you need is a group of “do good” people who are willing to accept what a politically shrewd government wants them to believe. “Naiveté” is not a rare commodity. It is not difficult to find even among some of the most sophisticated nations in the world.
People are easily led astray by well-organized, unscrupulous governments who falsify reality to attract, for example, naive holiday seekers who want to enjoy the beautiful sandy beaches of the island surrounded by the blue-green waters of the Caribbean. What they do not see is the deteriorated and crumbling walls of many buildings located in certain verboten sectors of the capital which, undoubtedly, had seen better days in the past.
This reminds me of what historically has received the name of “Potemkin Village.” It is claimed that during the time of Catherine the Great in Russia (1787), the empress wanted to impress foreign dignitaries with the accomplishments of Russia in Crimea, the newly annexed territory from the Ottoman Empire.
Potemkin, governor of the region, suggested that the empress set up newly painted “mobile villages” along the banks of the Dnieper to impress the distinguished guests on the imperial barge. It gave a perfect appearance of development. The villages were dismantled as soon as the imperial barge disappeared from the made-up scene.
The reality of Cuba is slightly different, but the truth still remains the same: Tourists and foreign dignitaries see what the government wants them to see. All else is verboten. It is a real farce which, unfortunately, neither government officials nor tourists are prone to see.
Another error is to believe — as do some so-called Cuban experts — that opening the door to American tourists visiting the island will be a source of income for the average Cuban. The same can be said of American investments. Dollars coming into the island, so they say, will raise the level of employment and be a major source of revenue for the low-income families.
Given the present circumstances, it is extremely doubtful that such a policy would have a favorable impact on the impoverished people of Cuba. Tourism on the island is totally controlled by the government, especially by the armed forces. The entire tourist industry is subordinated to the wishes of the military, which is the major source of support of the Castro dictatorship. This is especially true in the hotel industry, where the labor market is in the hands of Castro’s cronies.
Government authorities are the ones who assign Cuban workers to foreign companies operating on the island and usually keep about 90 percent of each dollar of each worker’s salary, especially if the salaries are paid in almost worthless Cuban pesos. Something similar happens when export credits are granted to a bankrupt state-controlled banking system where the threat of expropriation or outright confiscation is still a distinct possibility. A prosperous and productive free enterprise system requires a solid ethical foundation, a condition that is totally lacking in Communist Cuba.
Only recently the Cuban government permitted a cruise line to dock its ships in Cuban ports, but with the caveat that Cuban-born citizens were excluded from disembarking. This rule applies also to certain resorts which are reserved exclusively for tourists and non-Cuban-born citizens. If you don’t call this policy “discrimination,” how do the Castro brothers define the term?

A World Of Fantasy

It is painful to witness the lack of comprehension by the world at large about the tragedy that permeates Cuban society. For over 50 years, the island has been ruled by a cruel tyranny. Freedom and human rights are a thing of the past. For decades the world of fantasy has occupied the minds of many “connoisseurs” of the Cuban reality who are carried away by what they see from the imperial barge of the Castro-ruling dynasty.
Havana has become the Potemkin Village of the 21st century. Judgments of political and economic systems are, therefore, judged on the basis of limited and distorted appearances well manipulated by a government that wants to hide the reality that lies behind its falsely created mirages.
Whether Potemkin’s ideas of how to fool the distinguished guests of Catherine the Great were in fact applied or not is a moot point. Historians will determine that. The important point was to find ways to try to convince the empress’ allies of her accomplishments in an area in dispute with the Ottoman Empire.
Let the world not be fooled by artificially created mirages “à la Potemkin,” which only perpetuate the suffering of the Cuban people and hide the reality of a self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninist regime. Havana does not deserve to be the Potemkin Village of the 21st century.

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(Alberto Piedra holds doctorates in economics, political economy, and law.)