Cuba, a Country Frozen in Time

Cuba, a Country Frozen in Time
By CARLOS MANUEL ÁLVAREZJULY 15, 2016

Havana — Never had a country appeared as old as Cuba did when it started
to upgrade itself. The mad rush to develop serves only to confirm our
comical, almost antediluvian backwardness. The New7Wonders Foundation,
an organization that aims to preserve monuments worldwide, has just
chosen Havana as a "wonder city." In a strict sense it is, although the
local residents struggle to believe it.

Hordes of inquisitive foreigners are eager to step back into historical
eras that are mostly extinct in other parts of the world. There are now
nonstop flights by six airlines based in the United States, and the
number will only grow.

The theme park that is Cuba is an insular museum, stuck between the Iron
Curtain and the industrial capitalism of the 1950s. The symbols include
the already insufferable classic Chevrolets, the Singer sewing machines,
the General Motors refrigerators, the Lada and Moskvitch cars, the
Aurika washing machines, the matryoshka dolls, the military and party
propaganda. It's likely that not many Cubans, promised a chance to move
somewhere better off, would pass up a chance to leave Cuba as it is,
untouched, frozen in time, covered in soot and light, varnished with
that curious and appealing patina of an era in which surviving, however,
is so terribly difficult.

Those travelers who are booking tickets on state-approved nonstop
flights to Cuba should be advised: "Fear not. Buy your tickets with all
the calm and confidence in the world that nothing has changed." The
resources we Cubans have drawn upon to modernize ourselves, and all the
good news that has transpired in the last few months since relations
with the United States were renewed, have failed to alter the status
quo. So there's nothing to fear. Havana is not quite yet turning into Dubai.

For Cubans, this results in the annoying experience of being viewed as
something like an exotic species. The national mood seems to contain and
define us, and keeps us on a short leash.

Forget the misleading suggestions of progress: the gimmicky Chanel shows
on Havana's Paseo del Prado; the filming of the pyrotechnics for the
film "Fast 8" on the city's scorching streets (badly paved and
practically unnavigable several days before); the Rolling Stones
concert; or surprise visits by Usher, Katy Perry, Rihanna, the
Kardashian clan. None of this is harmful in itself, but it is extremely
uncomfortable when the political aristocracy's flirting, if not
downright prostitution, is set against the lack of civil liberties and
the accelerated deterioration of public services.

That the cultural ambassadors of pop, rock and fashion are visiting us
is an unqualified signal of our continuing to be what we are, what we
have almost eternally been, not of our being something else, new and
different. The first day that not a single celebrity visits us after
this period of euphoria will be the first day of our new lives.

The only substantial flurry of activity in the country is in the parks
and public areas where the government has created Wi-Fi hot spots so
that ordinary Cubans, filled with wonder, can talk for the first time
with loved ones abroad. In video chats, Cubans see the faces and
recognize the features of a grandchild or sibling not seen for the
longest time, before the image freezes up.

I sit in a sidewalk doorway while I log on to a park's Wi-Fi to send
this article to my editor. That park is a shameless buzz of voices that
know nothing of privacy, of others' space, of reserve, of embarrassment.
There's almost a party going on, a tiny, fun revolution. Some shout. All
expose their intimate problems to anyone willing to listen — their dirty
laundry, their most trivial of yearnings. The medley of shameful
intimacies that families keep to themselves is available for public
consumption.

On Sunday afternoons, the park again resembles — either because of the
availability of Wi-Fi or in spite of it — a park at the turn of the 20th
century, where townspeople would gather to talk, to court, to stretch
their legs.

Last month, in his opening speech at the summit meeting of the
Association of Caribbean States, held in Havana, President Raúl Castro
boasted of his excellent mental and physical state at 85. Then, to
eliminate any doubt of his intentions, he said that regardless of how
his health was, he would hand over power on Feb. 24, 1918. That was no
gaffe, as twisted minds might think. Mr. Castro did nothing but cleverly
suggest the course he is charting for our country. If the historical
tide prevails, and Cuba continues moving inexorably toward its past,
another century of autocratic rule awaits us.

Carlos Manuel Álvarez is a Cuban journalist. This article was translated
by Victoria Treviño from the Spanish.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/opinion/cuba-a-country-frozen-in-time.html?_r=1