Is Cuba turning around?

It does look as if Senor Raul Castro is slowly liberalising the economic system in Cuba, much to the gratification of the West. Nationals of the island republic of 11 million souls are being allowed to build their own homes using private funds, vacant farmlands are being privatised, farmers’ wages have been increased and private contractors are now sharing the island’s transport sector. What is more, residents have been allowed to buy computers, own mobile telephones and rent cars in an effort to empower locals and attempt to soften the impact of 50 years of hard-line socialism on the economy.

While laissez-faire might be creeping into the sugar plantations, one can never forget the elder brother Senor Fidel Castro, once the undisputed leader of the island nation who was sidelined by surgery a number of years ago. He is the last of the great charismatic leaders of the 20th century — a formidable catalogue of political figures that included Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Gandhi, Ho Chi Minh and Mandela.

For 47 years, Senor Castro survived nine American presidents and managed to resist numerous US attempts to oust him. These included stiff economic sanctions and a US-abetted invasion of the mainland. With his tempestuous nature, fiery oratory, scraggy grey beard and eternal green military uniform and cap, he became an icon of international socialism. He was an inspiration to the anti-imperialist movements in the Third World. And the fact that he continued to cock a snook at the great superpower to the north and managed to get away with it has also made him a cult hero with left-wing groups in the developed world.

Senor Castro owed some of his popularity to his role in the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Unlike most heads of state that prefer to remain cocooned in heavily guarded fortresses during times of conflict, Castro behaved like Rommel in the North Africa campaign, riding with his soldiers, drinking tepid water from chipped mugs and personally calling the shots on the dusty desert plain. Cameras often caught Castro on the bullet-scarred battlefield, marshalling his troops, signalling to the pilots of his ragbag air force and goading his anti-aircraft gunners to do their best.

Havana hasn’t really changed all that much during the last 50 years. There are the refineries and the assembly plants, the rum distilleries and the cigar factories. And one still comes across those brightly coloured 1960-style American automobiles, their chrome bumpers gleaming in the tropical sun, and men in short sleeves in the city square, chomping on eight-inch long cigars and playing chess, just as the great Jose Roul Capablanca used to do in the earlier part of the last century, before he became world chess champion. A country that spawned the rumba, son, guajira, mambo, beguine bolero, afro-cubain and conga is still the grandaddy of Latin American music.

The people of Cuba might not have a high standard of living compared to the West, but nobody goes hungry in the island republic. The country has some of the best doctors in the world, an enviable national health system and a high standard of education. Despite increasing isolation from the world community, the people have an indomitable spirit not often seen in other parts of Latin America. This was perhaps the greatest legacy of Senor Fidel Castro. It would indeed be a pity if that legacy was corrupted.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2010.