Cuba Libre January 19, 2008
Standing in the aisle in London Drugs, I’m suddenly paralyzed by the abundance of choice. In Canada we have an entire aisle dedicated to shampoo and conditioner, yet when Cubans shop, they’re lucky if shampoo is even in stock.
“Mike”, the guide on my trip to visit the cities of Ceinfuegos, Trinidad & Topes de Collantes told me that the government provides monthly rations for every person, but only the basics such as beans, rice, and oil. Cubans pay approximately two Pesos for their rations, which only provides about five to ten days worth of basic food stock; produce and meat must be purchased at the market. Although Cubans pay for their food in Cuban pesos, they must pay for clothes and entertainment (dining out, going clubbing) in Convertible Pesos. One Convertible Peso (CUC)= 24 Cuban Pesos. Most Cubans earn the Cuban Peso, unless they work at the resorts and hotels or sell their handicrafts to tourists, who bring with them an abundance of CUCs. The double economy is as confounding to the Cubans as it is to the tourists; my guide admitted that he didn’t understand why Cuban citizens were required to pay for certain items with inflated CUCs and others with Cuban Pesos. The clothing stores in Havana offered sparse selection, and the window displays were a jumble of cheap plastic toys, outfits and personal hygiene products, rather unsophisticated by North American standards, but which illustrated the lack of commercial influence.
Cuba is refreshingly free of the advertising bombardment that plagues North America. There is a distinct lack of billboards, bus shelter ads, and TV commercials enticing you to buy the latest night cream or Xbox. In Cuba commercialism has been replaced by propaganda. Rocks and walls are painted with slogans that encourage citizens to “Defend and uphold socialism” and to model themselves after Che Guevara. I noted that Cubans are immensely patriotic people; there are Cuban flags in every city and town. However, the pride they have in their country differs from American patriotism; it’s more collective than individualistic. Flags are flown between buildings and in town squares where the flags seem to embody a sense of community unlike in the United States where many people fly flags in front of their homes, emphasizing Emerson’s ideal of individual independence. It will be interesting to see what happens when Castro dies. How will the Cubans’ idea of identity change?
