Prologue - What is this book all about? by Denis Dextraze
This book was written so that an interesting capsule of Cuban history, starting in May of 1998 and spanning over two years, will not be lost forever.
Hence the title of this book: “Once upon a time in Cuba”.
Since I spent a total of 11 years in that country, this book is only a sample of anecdotes about living in Cuba during the first two years. I might want to tell you more incredible stories after this first book is published.
These first two years were times of changes and uncertainty for the Cuban authorities who needed and wanted our money but did not want us because we were “contaminating” the communist indoctrination of their controlled population. We were pioneers in gladly doing so! We were living interesting times, sharing the pier In Marina Hemingway with an array of adventurers not representing any normal and organized society in the world and ranging from millionaires, drug smugglers, Hells Angels members, pedophiles, Cuban cigars smugglers, tough Vietnam vets, world class sailors, escaped refugees. We were living interesting times and loved it!
This is not a novel but an accurate flashback in time divided in independent chapters. During those days and still today, the Cuban society was segregated into two categories. On the upper side, the communist ruling party, living in incredible luxury just like their ousted predecessors of the Batista regime. They represented only 0.3 to 0.5% of the population and were composed almost exclusively of militaries whether in uniforms or not. On the down side were the other 11 million slaving Cubans living in desperate conditions. We, as visiting foreigners with money to spend at a tune of $35,000.00 per year, were odd-balls in this two-class system. Since we did not belong to either class, we were tolerated and generally allowed privileges that were reserved to the Cuban military elite and forbidden to the general population.
All events reported in this book really happened no matter how ludicrous, illogical or incredible some of those were. The names of some characters in this book have been changed to protect their identity. Still today, with the same Cuban repressive system still in place, they would risk deportation or jail as counter-revolutionaries if their identities were revealed
Once you read all chapters of this book, you will conclude that the system had two weights and two measures, one for the riches who controlled every aspect of the economy and one for the slaving population. For example:
- Two monetary systems: The CUC and the Cuban pesos.
- Two store systems: One for the privileged having access to U.S. $ or CUC and one for the other 90% of the population who are not lucky enough to have families abroad feeding them monthly.
- Two health system: One for the high levels militaries and foreigners and one for the other 11 million poor Cubans.
- Two accesses to pharmaceuticals products: Again, one for the privileged having access to U.S. $ or CUC and one for the other 90% of the population who are not lucky enough to have families abroad.
- Hotels for foreigners of good qualities and run down hotels for Cubans.
- Two transportation systems.
- Beef and lobsters were not allowed to be sold to the general population under strong penalties. They belonged to the State and were reserved for tourist hotels or export.
- Satellite receivers, cellular phones, VCR’s, computers and Internet were not allowed to be sold to the general population. They were reserved for State business and the military.
- Modern cars were denied to the general population. The only cars available were pre-revolution cars mainly of American models dating up to 1959. Russian made Ladas were supplied by the government to high level states employees and militaries.
- Ownership of property by individuals was illegal. All properties belonged to the State.
As you learn more and more from each independent chapter, you will be able to see behind the facade of the Cuban propaganda. You will discover another Cuba which had nothing to do with Varedero Beach or Cayo Coco. These segregated enclaves were meant to deny real access to Cuba to foreign nationals and keep the desperate life condition of the population away from foreign tourists. These enclaves of civilisation had nothing to do with that country. Beaches, pools and waterfront tourist hotels in tropical climates are all the same whether they are located in the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guatemala or St-Martin. What make the difference are the real people, their living conditions and the real towns that they live in.
The Cuban system was demoniac in basic concept. By paying pennies in wages to the workers, the State forced them to “invent”, as the Cubans called it, by getting involved in illegal activities, as benign as making homemade pies. Due to their extremely low wages, the workers were stealing from the State which made the State business even less effective than it already was. Since everybody had to feed his family, everybody had some kind of infraction to their credit. Therefore, everybody lived in fear of being caught. The authorities were well aware of what was going on but they closed their eyes unless the culprits turned against the Party not only in actions but in only words as well. Then, if accused of a counter-revolutionary crime against the State, all hell would break loose i.e. interrogations, incarcerations, exclusion from working legally, family harassment, the works. Nobody mentioned the forbidden name of “Fidel” for fear that they would be heard or recorded. Instead, they would scratch their chin as to mimic a beard. So, everybody kept their mouth shut. They were scared.
As a Canadian, living on my sailboat, Aventura, almost permanently in Marina Hemingway and receiving frequent visits from Canadian diplomats, I am sure that I was an odd ball and an enigma to the Cuban authorities. In retrospective, I believe that they did not know what to do with me. Who was I? They knew that I made frequent trips to Canada. I was invited routinely to the Canadian embassy where I knew everybody. I was a member in good standing of the Canadian Club, a group of Canadian businessmen who met monthly under the chair if the Canadian Commercial Attaché at the Embassy. I travelled frequently outside of Cuba with my American dockside neighbor who had a dedicated picture on the wall of his boat of him in tuxedo shaking hands with Bill Clinton, then president of the United States. I had myself a picture on my boat’s wall of me shaking hands with the Cuban Vice-President of the State Council, the number two in Cuba at the time, Carlos Lage Davila. So, for maybe all these reasons, the Cuban authorities just left me alone. As you will read in the following chapters, I took full advantage of this freedom of action…
Enjoy the reading. These are all events that really happened once upon a time in Cuba.
