One Cuban: 'I am hoping for change. Maybe when the Castros (Fidel and
Raul) die. Or maybe (Barack) Obama will change things'
By Kat O'Brien • Enquirer contributor • April 6, 2010
HAVANA, Cuba - The 92 miles of ocean separating Cuba from the United
States might as well be a time warp. That is how great the distance is
between the two nations' lifestyles.
The American Red Cross
Life in Cuba means most food comes via libreta, or ration book, which
guarantees each person certain quantities of staple items per month,
such as one pound of chicken, eight ounces of beans, seven pounds of
rice, four ounces of coffee, 10 eggs, etc. Among the items not on the
shopping list: beef, shrimp and milk - except for children.
(In fact, killing a cow can result in more jail time than killing a
human, because cows provide milk for children and pregnant women.)
• Photos: Baseball in Cuba
• Photos: Chapman with the Reds
Whereas many U.S. households have broadband Internet or wireless access
via cell phone, Internet use in Cuba is largely prohibited.
The same goes for satellite radio. In response to a passenger's
surprised comment that a taxi driver had Sirius satellite radio, the
driver said: "It's not very common in Cuba. Why? Because it's expensive,
because it's prohibited, and because someone in the United States has to
pay the bill for you."
Luckily for this driver, a family member in the U.S. has set him up with
this lifeline to the outside world.
Access to international radio means the man doesn't have to rely only on
Granma, the Cuban government-run newspaper, for the latest world news.
To read Granma alongside any other international news publication is to
read completely different version of the same events.
Cubans have to try to make their own sense of what is real and what is
propaganda. But talking to foreigners to get a different perspective can
lead to trouble. Being seen talking with a foreigner can lead to an
arrest for "bothering" the tourist, though police won't ask the visitor
if she is being hassled.
In one case, police took away two men for questioning after they spent
two minutes discussing baseball with a foreign woman. Those two minutes
of conversation led to one of the men being handcuffed and carted off in
the back of a police car.
"It's not your fault," a Cuban bystander said to the American. "That's
Cuba. They arrest you for anything."
A Cuban baseball player spotted chatting with a foreigner might wind up
being kicked off the team, as he instantly would become a suspect to defect.
Despite the harsh penalties for opaque "crimes," Cubans remain
remarkably open and friendly toward foreign visitors. A teenage boy
named Michael not only offered advice on how to get into a Cuban
baseball playoff game, he went and got the ticket and brought with him
as a gift a coconut-and-sugar afternoon snack.
Neither he nor any other Cuban really might know how his life compares
to that of a resident of the United States. But what everyone does know,
in the words of one Cuban, is: "I am hoping for change. Maybe when the
Castros (Fidel and Raul) die. Or maybe (Barack) Obama will change things."
It's a hope that floats upon 92 miles of sea.
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20100406/SPT04/4070338/
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