Cuban celebs capitalizing

Published: July 22, 2013 3:00 a.m.

Cuban celebs capitalizing
Enjoying ability on island to own private business
ANNE-MARIE GARCIA | Associated Press

HAVANA – Cuban track and field legend Javier Sotomayor has launched a
sports bar named for the height of his world record high jump. An
Olympic volleyball champion has opened a swanky new Italian restaurant,
and salsa star Hugo Morejon has a first-rate automotive repair shop.

Armed with money and name recognition, Cuban athletes and artists who
have long enjoyed a far more luxurious lifestyle than their compatriots
on the Communist-run island are embracing the new world of private
enterprise. In doing so, the celebrities have exposed themselves to more
than a little envy from a population already weary of the perks they've
long had.

At least a dozen athletes and artists have started private businesses
since President Raul Castro began opening Cuba's economy to limited
capitalism in 2010, and others have quietly invested in such
establishments. Many of the spots have opened in recent months.

At Sport-Bar 2.45, patrons sip icy-cold Cuban beer and eat pizzas while
perusing memorabilia from Sotomayor's career, such as a white athletic
shoe he used in competition. The bar is named after the height in meters
(equivalent to 8 feet, one-half inch) of Sotomayor's world record high
jump, set in 1993.

The record stands 20 years later, but the 45-year-old Sotomayor has
moved on from his past as one of the Communist world's great athletes,
and now considers himself a businessman. He opened the bar in the front
garden of his home, with his ex-wife as a co-investor, and it is often
filled with young Cubans and tourists.

"I feel good about what I am doing now; for me it is a challenge,"
Sotomayor said. "I had success in competition in the high jump. Now, we
will see if the bar reaches these same heights."

Salim Lamrani, a professor at the Sorbonne University in Paris who
writes extensively about Cuba, said the embrace of the reforms by such
stars sends a strong message to other islanders that change is here to stay.

"These celebrity businesses are powerful publicity for the new policies
of the Cuban government," Lamrani said, which "in the future will be
increasingly based on the private sector."

At the Van Van Garage, gleaming Fiats, Mercedes and Peugeots overflow
into the street outside, and uniform-wearing mechanics use a desktop
computer to show clients which parts need repair. The garage, owned by
trombone player Hugo Morejon, is a striking departure from most Cuban
repair shops, which labor to keep hulking 1950s Chevys on the road using
homemade parts fashioned from scrap metal.

Morejon, a member of Cuba's most famous contemporary salsa group, Los
Van Van, doesn't need the money. But he says he's always loved cars and
opened the shop after the Cuban government legalized some forms of
private enterprise in 2010, hiring several young mechanics to handle the
workload.

"We work like a cooperative," Morejon explained. "I am the owner but I
don't earn any more than them."

He acknowledged his recognizable name helps draw clients, but said more
has been needed to make them regulars.

"Musical fame has helped me, but only the first time," said Morejon, who
recently returned from a European tour, his suitcases filled with spare
auto parts unavailable in Cuba. "After that, one must give quality
service or the clients won't return."

Other Cuban stars have joined the party: Singer Kelvis Ochoa has a
restaurant, and comic Robertico has opened a cafe. Even former Foreign
Minister Roberto Robaina, who was fired by Fidel Castro in 1999, has
opened a popular restaurant called Chaplin.

Cubans love their music and sports stars, but they also envy their new
cars and grand homes, their international travel and the imported
goodies they bring back.

Musical stars can sign record contracts abroad, but they must pay the
state part of their earnings. Even athletes, who earn tiny salaries by
global standards, often get perks such as cars and travel stipends that
are out of most Cubans' reach.

The perception of artists as part of a jet set elite was captured in the
2011 Cuban comedy "Habana Station," a prince-and-the-pauper tale that
compares the son of a poor family and the child of a Cuban musician
living a life of relative luxury in a country where the average worker
earns $20 a month.

"Most people couldn't even dream of opening a bar like Sotomayor's,"
said Roberto Blanco, a 29-year-old used books seller. "In fact, most
people on a salary don't even have the money to buy a drink or a pizza
at these places."

The celebrities shrug off the criticism, saying they are doing what the
Communist government wants: investing money at home and creating
much-needed jobs.

"I am contributing to my country," Morejon said. "I am giving work to
three young men and offering a useful service."

Triple Olympic volleyball champion Mireya Luis has hired five people at
her Italian restaurant in Havana's upscale Miramar neighborhood. Chef
Orlando Montoya said that with tips he earns many times the $14 a month
he got at his last state job.

"I came to ask for a job here when all I had was a pair of tennis
shoes," he said. "I work from midday until early in the morning, but now
I have six pairs of tennis shoes and a little girl who doesn't want for
anything."

Source: "Cuban celebs capitalizing | The Journal Gazette" -
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130722/BIZ/307229991/1031