The show must go on (part 1)
A scant 90 miles of the Florida coast and a whole world away, Cuba remains the last foothold of communism in the Western Hemisphere and a constant source of mystery and fascination. For decades, the people of Cuba have endured shortages of food and medical supplies, economic hardship and family disintegration due to exile and political differences. Faced with the loss of vast economic subsidies after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the regime has been forced to set aside some of its ideological principles in the name of obtaining hard currency.
Living under a centralized island economy with limited international trading opportunities taught people real survival skills. Cubans learn to make do without some basic commodities and find creative solutions to life’s everyday challenges. The everyday life is a heroic epic and household items are diverted from their normal functioning, to ensure the survival or the escape.
Scraping and scrambling to get through the day, Cubans are haunted by the worry about the future. Someday not long from now, there will be no Fidel. Most Cubans have known neither other leader, nor other system. Fidel’s brother Raul, the designated successor, has none of Fidel’s magnetism, cleverness, or eloquence. What on earth will happen then?
The show must go on (part 1)
A scant 90 miles of the Florida coast and a whole world away, Cuba remains the last foothold of communism in the Western Hemisphere and a constant source of mystery and fascination. For decades, the people of Cuba have endured shortages of food and medical supplies, economic hardship and family disintegration due to exile and political differences. Faced with the loss of vast economic subsidies after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the regime has been forced to set aside some of its ideological principles in the name of obtaining hard currency.
Living under a centralized island economy with limited international trading opportunities taught people real survival skills. Cubans learn to make do without some basic commodities and find creative solutions to life’s everyday challenges. The everyday life is a heroic epic and household items are diverted from their normal functioning, to ensure the survival or the escape.
Scraping and scrambling to get through the day, Cubans are haunted by the worry about the future. Someday not long from now, there will be no Fidel. Most Cubans have known neither other leader, nor other system. Fidel’s brother Raul, the designated successor, has none of Fidel’s magnetism, cleverness, or eloquence. What on earth will happen then?
