Havana: The State Retreats

. It’s as if a catastrophe has struck. There is a constant, ominous feeling of abandonment and crisis. My impression doesn’t much differ from the diagnosis delivered on December 18—days after my arrival—to the Cuban Parliament by the country’s current leader, Raúl Castro: “Either we rectify our course or the time for teetering along on the brink runs out and we go down. And we will go down…[with] the effort of entire generations.”

Certainly the signs of this deep crisis have been in the air for at least twenty years. What’s clear now is that it’s not enough to go on blaming the American bloqueo or the fall of the Soviet Union. Something is wrong with the system itself. This could be glimpsed in the startling comment made by Fidel Castro to the

What model is he talking about? The Soviet model of forced nationalization. The Cuban Revolution was among other things a cure for the chronic weakness of the Cuban state prior to 1959. The new, postrevolutionary state would take upon itself all that previous governments of Cuba had done so badly. The example of the Soviet Union, with triumphs such as the 1957 launch of Sputnik, seemed to indicate that this was a promising way forward, and it had the added appeal to Cuba’s unelected rulers of calling for government by a single party, virtually without opposition, and the pulverization of civil society.

Now, on my first visit to Cuba in ten years, I had the chance to observe the first signs of the inverse process: the dismantling of this gigantic state, visibly in retreat. I saw the detritus left behind: the disaster of a dysfunctional economy and a deep financial crisis aggravated by a dual currency system. All amid the growing discontent of the population and surging dissidence.

2.

In Havana I buy every bit of printed news on sale at the kiosk near the casa particular where I’m renting a room. Such an unusual interest in publications almost no one reads immediately gives me away as a visitor from abroad. I ask for the recently released official publication “Proyecto de Lineamientos de la Política Económica y Social” (“Draft Guidelines for Economic and Social Policy”), but it’s sold out, the elderly vendor informs me: “All Havana is reading it.” In the end, I buy it secondhand, for ten times the original price, from a passerby who has overheard the conversation.

Casa Particulars In Havana - News


Havana: The State Retreats

In Havana I buy every bit of printed news on sale at the kiosk near the casa particular where I'm renting a room. Such an unusual interest in publications almost no one reads immediately gives me away as a visitor from abroad.



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Vertel hier waar je een spot goedkoop of last minute ticket naar Havana, Varadero of Holguin hebt gevonden! Een bijzonder casa particular, goedkoop hotel of reuze sjiek all inclusive resort gevonden? Je huurauto vooraf in Nederland regelen of op



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HT: La obra de Pablo Milanés es inmensa, pero como hija existe para usted alguna o algunas piezas de su autoría que han sido mas relevantes que otras producto de alguna experiencia personal o gusto estético muy particular en su apreciación?




Casa Particular Vedado Directory - Casa particular Habana - Cuba ...

Casa Particular Vedado Directory

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Casa Particulars In Havana - Bookshelf

The rough guide to Cuba

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There are hundreds of casas particulares in Havana. The neighborhoods of Centro Habana, Vedado, and Playa have the greatest concentration of casas ...

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Detect Information Directory


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Casaparticular.org - Organization of casas particulares in Cuba
Cuba information and on-line lodgings bookings at well over 200 casas particulares and budget accommodation in Havana and Cuba. Descriptions, photos and rates are ...

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Online accommodation booking service provided by cuban families for renting casas particulares (private rooms), apartaments or houses in Havana and all Cuba