I was last in Cuba in 2010, and I admit that I left that country incredibly disappointed. I experienced it in its complete “nakedness.” Someone stole 300 euros from my room safe, and the police I called, instead of investigating, forced me to sign a document stating that, as an imperialist, I had made up the whole story. It was just one of many unpleasant moments that took place during the final year of intensive guiding around a country where the reality behind the glass of the tourist bus was completely different.
The local guide constantly monitored where we went and what we said, while always trying to create the impression that everyone was extremely happy. It was a period of guiding during which I frequently clashed with the local agency and refused to say the things the regime wanted to feed to tourists. I do not want to turn this country into North Korea, where you cannot move without a guide, but for tourist groups it was a serious problem. I have always had a complicated relationship with Cuba. When I moved around it on my own, without the shadow of local agencies, I perceived it much more realistically. I was able to understand some of the problems, worries, but also joys. The mosaic of the real Cuba was miles away from the image that state tourist agencies created – often with a bottle of cheap rum in hand, presenting the supposed island of freedom in a completely different light.
I still remember how one guide even reported me to the police when I took clients outside the tourist zones. I showed them “real shops,” took them to local restaurants instead of tourist establishments, and we bought homemade cigars from which no one in the system made any profit. At that time, I told myself I would not come back here for a long while. However, the situation has changed dramatically, and I feel that historic changes are taking place in Cuba today. Do not ask me why I want to see this with my own eyes. Perhaps it is that strange restlessness of a traveler – it is not enough to read about things; a person needs to form their own view. What is Cuba like today? What is happening there? And why is it happening?
Cuba today is experiencing one of its deepest economic and social crises since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The island, which for decades was accustomed to functioning thanks to the support of major allies, has found itself in a situation where this system is gradually falling apart. In the past, the economy was kept afloat mainly by subsidies and cheap oil from the Soviet Union. After its collapse, Venezuela took over this role. However, when the Venezuelan economy also began to decline and, at the same time, came under heavy U.S. sanctions, oil deliveries to Cuba dropped significantly. At the same time, in recent years, the United States has also been putting pressure on other countries that could help Cuba with energy supplies, warning of possible sanctions against companies or states that would trade with the island in the area of oil. The result is a situation in which Cuba has a chronic shortage of fuel, affecting practically all areas of life in the country.
The energy crisis has immediately manifested itself in the day-to-day functioning of the state. Power plants are old, often malfunctioning, and dependent on imported fuel, so without oil they cannot generate enough electricity. In many regions of Cuba, power outages lasting twelve to twenty hours a day are now common, and even Havana, which was traditionally supplied as a priority, is experiencing regular blackouts. Without electricity, factories stop functioning, transport is restricted, water supply fails, and hospitals and shops must operate under improvised conditions. The fuel shortage also affects the most basic services – garbage trucks often have no diesel, public transport runs irregularly, and in some cities waste is piling up on the streets.
The economic situation is all the more serious because Cuba is gradually losing its traditional sources of income as well. Tourism, which in recent decades has become one of the main pillars of the economy, is unstable and sensitive to every crisis. The fuel shortage also affects air transport, and some airlines have begun to restrict or cancel flights to the island because Cuban airports do not always have enough aviation fuel. At the same time, the sector that was once the symbol of the Cuban economy is collapsing – sugar production. As recently as the twentieth century, Cuba was among the world’s largest sugar producers, but today sugarcane production has dropped dramatically. Many sugar mills are outdated, there is a lack of investment, fuel, and labor, and the country that once supplied sugar to a large part of the world now, in some periods, even imports it.
The crisis is simultaneously manifesting itself in the daily lives of residents. Food prices and the cost of basic goods are rising sharply, while wages remain very low. Many products can only be obtained on the black market or for foreign currency in specialized shops. The fuel shortage complicates the supply and transport of food to cities, so some shelves in stores remain empty. More and more Cubans are trying to leave the country, and emigration is reaching its highest levels in decades. The island thus finds itself in a paradoxical situation: a system that was built on strong state control of the economy must today gradually loosen space for the private sector. The government has begun to allow small private businesses and, recently, has even been discussing greater involvement of private capital in the economy. This is an attempt to stabilize the economy without the state completely losing control over the system.
Cuba today finds itself at a historic crossroads. The island, which for decades was a symbol of revolutionary stability and geopolitical resistance to the United States, must now cope with a new reality of a world in which it no longer has such strong partners as in the past. Oil shortages, the collapse of traditional sectors, rising prices, and mass emigration are creating pressure on a system that has barely changed for many years. Whether the country manages to find a new economic model and stabilize the situation, or whether the crisis deepens further, will depend on a combination of internal reforms, geopolitical relations, and the ability of the Cuban state to adapt to the realities of today’s world.
Today I am returning to Cuba individually with my friends. I will be staying with locals – exactly as I preferred it most when I once moved around here on my own. I want to talk with them and soak up as much of the atmosphere and reality of the country as possible.
Therefore, expect regular dispatches from a country about which we have such conflicting information.
