Page Last Updated: Thursday November 11, 2010 6:02pm PST
Jim Snyder reporting
Big changes are happening inside Cuba, even though the Communist regime
controlling the country remains in place after 51 years.
While Fidel Castro officially stepped down as president a few years ago
and gave the title to his brother, Raul, there's seems to be little
doubt Fidel is still calling the shots.
Some of those recent shots are surprising coming from a man who has
stubbornly stuck with a Communist system of government despite the fact
that the system is failing to provide for its people.
To watch the traffic roll by in Havana is to step into a time machine.
You'll see American cars from the late 1950s, demonstrating how much
trade there was between our countries before the U.S. imposed a trade
embargo in 1960.
The Cubans call it "El Bloqueo," which translates to The Blockade. El
Bloqueo points the blame for the isolation right at the U.S. government.
While those cars have remained a constant for the past 51 years, some
things are changing in modern-day Cuba.
"This is part of the refurbished area that the city historian has worked
so hard [at] for the last 17 years; a beautiful project of
rehabilitation and reconstruction," our tour guide, Elian Rubio, pointed
out.
While much of Havana has crumbled into decay, pockets of the city are
being restored to cater to tourists. Not many of those tourists are from
the U.S., another byproduct of the embargo.
The construction cranes and scaffolding are evidence of a switch in
thinking for Fidel Castro.
Jim Snyder: Why has he slowly come around to allowing or embracing tourism?
"Well, it's the only choice, he realized, finally," Rubio replied. "He's
realized that an island like this, with great weather throughout the
year and beautiful beaches… why not exploit your natural resources?
That's what he's doing."
It represents a monumental turnaround. During his rise to power, Castro
rallied against tourists and the American mobsters who ran the casinos
that brought the tourists to Cuba. Now, with his country starved for
cash, Castro needs that outside money to provide better lives for his
people.
"He's not only turned this into a touristy area, he's got all kinds of
social projects and nursing homes; hospitals, all kinds of stuff," Rubio
said.
Tourism doesn't just bring in money for government projects. Contact
with tourists can be a huge windfall for any Cuban lucky enough to have
a job catering to outsiders.
There are two currencies in Cuba: the CUC, or cook, which tourists
exchange for their foreign money, and the peso, which Cubans earn with
their government jobs.
With average salaries equivalent to maybe 20 or 30 cooks a month, a tip
of a few cooks from a tourist can be a life-changer.
As such, even a doctor in Cuba will try to work an extra night or two as
a cab driver. The money is that much better.
Because of that hunger for tourist tips, the service in Cuba is excellent.
Alejandro Robaina is a Cuban capitalist, with the full backing of the
Cuban government.
Jim Snyder: You are a Cuban entrepreneur. That will surprise a lot of
American, don't you think?
"We think the new generation now wants to start out a private business
and I think this will support the economy in Cuba because now we are not
so good."
Robaina and his family own the La Casa restaurant in Cuba. It's a
fitting name because the restaurant is really their house. The tables
are packed into their dining room and living room.
They pay a heavy to the Castro government, but they are allowed to keep
any profit after that.
Jim Snyder: Do you think more of this kind of thing will start to happen?
"Yeah, I don't know. If, you know, next month the government wants to
give 178 new licenses for different things," Robaina replied.
Jim Snyder: So you have full control over the rest; the menu prices,
everything?
"Yeah, prices."
By allowing private ownership, Castro hopes to get 500,000 Cubans off
his government payroll by next spring. That's about a tenth of the Cuban
workforce.
Jim Snyder: We're seeing more private businesses like the private
restaurant.
"You're right," Rubio replied. "People are renting their homes to
tourists so more services are being provided to tourists and I believe
[this] will turn out to be a much better society in, let's say, the next
five years."
Making life better, whether through a side job in the growing tourism
sector or becoming one of the new breed of entrepreneurs, is the only
option for most Cubans. They are not allowed to leave the island. That's
a fact our tour guide lamented in the safety and shadows of our tour bus.
"As a Cuban individual, you have no right to go to a travel agency and
say forget about America, I just want to book a trip to the Riviera or
Jamaica right around the corner. That doesn't exist in Cuba."
After we got off the bus, standing in the wide open hotel lobby for all
to hear, Rubio felt free to express his hopes for a different way of life.
Jim Snyder: What comes next in Cuba? What are your hopes?
"We hope to have so many more freedoms that we are lacking now. Cubans
are curios. Cubans are educated. They want to travel; they want to see
the world. They want to be able to do that in the future. They want to
do something with their salaries that they can't possibly do right now."
While most Cubans are not allowed to leave, the rest of the world is
coming to them. It's not just tourists, but foreign money. Castro is
encouraging partnerships with foreign investors to pay for those
remodeling projects at hotels and restaurants.
It's a delicate balancing act between Communism and capitalism, because
the more contact Castro's people have with the outside world, the more
they may demand those freedoms our guide hopes for.
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