Although we were brought in to learn about the Cuban Healthcare
System, the tour was not complete without a visit to the North American
Division of Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples. The concept
of this institute is to educate foreign nationals with history of both
pre and post revolution history.
We were greeted by a very friendly representative who began by
telling us about the status of the country just prior to the revolution.
Details included the story marching of Fidel Castro and his troops into
the city of Havana after the departure of the previous government. The
story entailed the emergence of US crime bosses building hotels and
casinos using the Cuban peoples as a work force to make them millions of
dollars. The existing government at that time had a friendly
relationship with the mobsters. Even though millions of dollars were
being sunk into the city of Havana, the Cuban people were being paid
less than minimum wage. The forces of Fidel Castro desired to rid the
country of the mob friendly government freeing the Cuban people of this
oppression.
Also shared was a story of Fidel actually being arrested at one
point, but due to technicality was released back to his mountain haven.
The president at the time then lied to the people of Cuba stating that
Fidel had been assassinated. It was after evidence of this lie was
uncovered and Fidel was indeed still alive that the Cuban people lost
complete trust of the president and his government. All these events
lead to his departure from the country.
We were showed a video with footage from the revolutionary war. A lot
of the footage was scenes from Revolution Square were Fidel made
numerous victory speeches. Not being familiar with the history of Cuba, I
was confused by much of what I was seeing. I think the video served its
purpose as it did initiate many thoughts and questions in my mind.
We
were also showed a second video that starred American actor Danny
Glover as the spokes person. This video was about a group of men known
in Cuba as the “Cuban Five”. The Cuban Five are in jail in the United
States for alleged acts of terror. The story the video offers is that
this group was working with the FBI on counter terrorism activities
preventing many major attacks on the country of Cuba. Many of us had
never even heard of this case, but it is a very important piece of
propaganda promoted around the country of Cuba. The story of injustice
of the US government against these Cuban heroes was relayed over and
over. There are posters and billboards all around the city with a
picture of “the five” stating to free them!
Another part of this story shared was that the Cuban government has
in custody of an American CIA agent accused of anti-government
activities in the country. The current government allegedly has asked
the Obama administration for an exchange of prisoners. With the release
of the 4 remaining Cuban Five members, the Cuban government offered the
release the CIA operative they claim to have in custody.
From the propaganda shared with us, a very political discussion
erupted. I think many of us were uncomfortable with some of the
questions being asked. The answers seemed canned at times, but our guide
at one point became very emotional regarding the topic of how
conveniently Raul Castro was “voted in” after Fidel became ill.
We all received a free DVD before we left. It was a copy of a
pictorial collection from the Cuban Revolution. I have never opened my
copy. That whole segment of the trip left a bad taste in my mouth. I
felt like the Cuban representatives were attempting to play on the
emotions of the American visitors. There were a lot more Americans
getting into the country than I ever imagined. I wonder how many of the
American tour groups pass through this institute and get fed this
propaganda material.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions. I will be sharing more
about our trip this week, including the architecture and local cuisine
we experienced.