I have an idea. But first, a little backstory:
Since the ‘60s, Cuba had been supported materially by the Soviet Union. The USSR acted as a surrogate mother for Cuba, subsidising things, buying exclusively Cuban sugar and tobacco, and importing things at a dramatically lower cost to Cuba. So essentially, Cuba’s relationship with the USSR was highly co-dependent and dangerous. Without the USSR, Cuba would be really screwed.
When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Cuba did indeed get royally screwed. Fidel euphemistically named this time “Special Period in Times of Peace/Periodo Especial en Tiempos de Paz” but everyone calls it “periodo espeical.” Imports virtually ceased, and there was nobody to buy Cuban sugar and tobacco. The economy shrunk dramatically. People starved. Rations shrunk. Salaries became pittances (no private employment = state salary for everyone). The population became desperate, people became hardened and wizened. Buildings crumbled, the government did nothing about it. Literally every sector of Cuban life was affected by the Special period. Things we take for granted in the states, toilet paper, fresh vegetables, air conditioning (you notice this when it’s been 110 degrees for three straight days), ice, were just not available, or when they were, they were considered luxury items. People were leaving by the thousands on cheap shitty rafts just to escape the every day shit that was Cuban life during the special period. More often than not, people would just get lost in the ocean and die.
There isn’t really a happy ending to this story. Eventually the government decided to start opening up the Cuban economy to tourism, and the economy grew. Predictably, the introduction of capitalism into a strictly socialist economy made things very complicated for a lot of people, introduced a lot of problems and exposed a lot of flaws in Cuban society. The drivers of collective taxis, self-employed people who inherit a car (cars are $20,000 on average, and Cubans make $30.00 a month if they’re lucky, you can imagine how unobtainable a car is here) and learn to drive instead of going to college, make salaries that dwarf those of doctors, psychologists, teachers and people who have worked incredibly hard to get where they are. So you can see how fucked up everything is. Socialism isn’t working for Cuba anymore. I predict within the next ten years things are going to become infinitely more complicated.
My friends were among those affected by the Special Period. They casually tell me stories that give me pause. Although all stories of the special period are tragic in nature, they are beautiful. They demonstrate humanity’s capacity to be resilient and strong, to have hope for a future where the country they love, their home, can offer the opportunities they deserve. They are also incredibly dark. Some stories involve people doing things unimaginable to us just to be able to eat. Here are a couple:
My friend Jorge (name has been changed) (23 years old) has the most incredible long eyelashes. One day I asked him which parent he inherited them from, and he said his mom. He followed up by saying that when his mom was studying during the special period to become a doctor, there was never any electricity. So she would study by kerosene lamp or candlelight. She would spend long hours with her face close to the fire. One day she realised that her beautiful long eyelashes had all burned off. Eyelashes don’t grow back. Now she tells Jorge not to study too hard.
My friend (21 years old) has lived in Vedado (my little Habana suburb, Glenview away from Glenview) his whole life. A man lived down the block from him, and would offer one dollar for every dead cat that was brought to him. It wasn’t that this man hated cats, this man just didn’t have any food. So he ate these dead cats. My friend and his friends (who were very young at the time) would spend their days killing stray cats, accumulating dozens in big bags and then selling them to this man so that they could make a few dollars to feed their families with.
A woman named Maria (45 years old) is currently employed by a German company, living comfortably. Her father taught her the value of a dollar. He had two cars, a private chauffeur and a nice apartment in Habana. However, she was never once driven to school by the chauffer. Her father insisted that she take responsibility for herself and her schedule and walk to school like everyone else. Her grandmother worked as a diplomat during the Special Period, she was around 20 during that time. One time, coming back from the United States, her grandmother brought her bags and bags of clothes. She and her family denied them all out of pride.
Anyway, I want to come back to Cuba within the next few years and record these stories. I want to record hundreds of them. Ideally it will materialise into a radio journalism piece, I’m envisioning a This American Life-esque deal, where the stories are organised into episodes centering around a theme, each an hour long. Each episode would be released in Spanish and then a separate one in English. So the content would appeal to two audiences: hispanohablante and English-speakers with global interest. With Cuba emerging into the world’s eye once again (due to re-opening relations with the US) I feel that the American (and perhaps the international) public would be open to this. Additionally, I feel it’s important to do a project like this to demonstrate the impact of the embargo, to make people privileged like us feel more grateful for what they have. The country has given me so much, taught me so many lessons I otherwise never would’ve learned, and this would be a good way of giving back. So I don’t know where to start really, but if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!