Cuba Today

Cuba today. Cheap Rum, $21 Crisps & McDonalds at Guantanamo Bay

Welcome back friends. I really hope you’ve taken some time to read The Evolution of Cuba posts which are the foundation of TMi! Cuba. You can find them all here & they will enhance your appreciation for this post. Because today, we’re looking at how Cubans are living in the here and now. Initially, that was my entire plan for TMi! but things took a turn when I realised that Cubans still use ration books & I just couldn’t get my head around it. Anyway, let’s dive into Cuba today.

TL; DR: You know the drill. Scroll to the bottom for a paragraph summary of the entire post. You’re welcome lazy bones.

Cuba Today

Salary

First, we absolutely must start with and explain that the average salary in Cuba is like $30 pcm. At the time of writing that’s a meagre £23. No, you’re not misreading that. That is the average. monthly. salary. But… this is communism remember. There’s a large number of everyday things you and I might pay for, that the Government covers for Cubans. I’m not saying like, phew that’s OK then, it’s still pretty dire. If you agree, make sure you check in for my next TMi! post where I will provide some ways you can help & support Cubans.

Ration cards

Remember those mum? Just kidding (she loves it when I joke about her age). Ration cards have been used in Cuba since 1962, shortly after Fidel took over. But, they are still very much in use today, especially by poorer Cubans. The ration cards entitle every Cuban to a certain allowance of basic necessities at ridiculously cheap prices. Although, not sure I would label it as ridiculously cheap if I was only earning £20 a month. They are allowed to purchase more, if they’re in a position to… Which again… £20 a month.

The ration allowance varies depending on the persons age – e.g. only pregnant women & children can get milk, or milk powder if it’s available. And that is a big if. Lately, it would seem the country is suffering some major import issues. Certain products become totally unavailable for extended periods of time. What’s more, the stores have had to impose some of their own restrictions on necessities. Sound familiar? 

Exploitation

We’ve had an ever so small taste of that in the UK this year with the great toilet roll shortage of 2020. The panic buying meant that the supermarkets had to impose restrictions on certain basic items. So just imagine that on a much grander and more permanent scale.

The Cubans also have the exact same issue with exploiters buying up necessities. The purchase items at the Government subsidised price & sell them on for much higher prices to those who can afford to pay for it. Which is literally like, the opposite of communism.

More Food Discoveries

Beef is practically non-existent for the average Cuban. According to Wiki, before 1959 the island had more cows than humans. But today, you can serve more time in prison for killing a cow than a human. Selling & consuming illegal beef can also get you jail time. Read about the time the US had to pay Cuba $2million in compensation because a part of their spaceship fell off and killed a cow.

When I was looking into the ‘Bodegas’ as the subsidised stores are locally called, I found this image that really pissed me off. The article linking to it was boasting that it was cool, Cuban’s could buy a bottle of rum for just $7. You better not want to eat your way through your shitty hangover – because let’s be honest, $7 rum ain’t going to make you feel good for long. Just look at that bottom shelf. Those Cheeto looking crisps (which after some investigating, I think are a brand called Pelly) are $21. WTF. I know its oranges and apples but the most expensive crisps I can get at Tesco is an entire box of them for £5.

Then I started wondering about McDonalds. (You guys are getting a real good insight into my diet necessities huh). So, I hit up Google Maps, swiped my way over to Cuba, punched in McDonalds and was surprised to find a single McDonalds on the island. Located in no other than Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. In other words, inaccessible to Cubans.

Internet

I thought most people had the internet nowadays. I’ve been to some pretty remote locations & everyone seems to have a phone with FaceBook on it. But the internet is a bit of a grey area in Cuba. From what I can gather, the average person is not entitled to the internet at home. If you’re a government official you can have it. Otherwise, you’ve got to go to a hotel & pay an exceptionally high rate to use their WIFI… which at £20 a month is just not tangible for many. In recent years, they have introduced ‘public WIFI spots’ so it does seem to be becoming more accessible.

When I first started out this TMI series, I began by looking for Cuban bloggers. And Holy shit I could not believe the lengths they had to go to. I came across Yoani Sanchez & her blog, Generation Y. A renowned & awarded Cuban blogger who has had to jump through the expensive hotel WIFI hoops (way before local spots opened up) to get her words into the blogosphere. It shows a huge commitment to democracy & free speech.

If I’m honest, I couldn’t really get to the bottom of why the WIFI is so far behind in Cuba. I read it was a single cable coming from Venezuela, that the country just didn’t invest enough in tech and there’s always the ‘keep the people down’ option to consider. At the time of writing, the latest post on Generation Y talks of a blogger being fined 3000 pesos (apx £2300) for writing something against ‘public interest’ (C-19 related) on her own FaceBook… So, on an average income, it will only take her about 10 years to pay that off, you know, if she doesn’t spend any other money.

Education

“To be educated is the only way to be free”, is a famous quote from Jose Marti, a revered Cuban national hero, poet & philosopher amongst other things.

True to his word, Castro did ensure education was accessible to everyone. It’s completely free at all stages & actually does seem to be something the country has nailed. Their literacy rates are high & they boast a 12:1 teacher student ratio. The Government puts around 10% of their budget into education annually, that’s about double what the UK contributes. (Apples & oranges I know).

However. What I couldn’t seem to find was an opinion about what the education was really like. When I visited Thailand for the first time, I always remembered my tour guide (who was an expat living in Thailand) telling me that as soon as his kids were of age, he wanted to move. The reason being that he didn’t want his kids growing up in the Thai schooling system because they are not taught to think for themselves. I had a feeling perhaps this was also the case in Cuba. Most articles I came across politely state that yes, the educational system teaches the kids to praise communism. Until I came across this article.

NOTE: Take this with a pinch of salt because I searched for what I wanted to find until I found it – and it took multiple searches to come across anything like this. I’d bet there is some truth to it though…

Healthcare

Another free service in Cuba – but equally as questionable as education. One of the first things I came across was that whilst yes, treatment is free, you need to bring your own bedding & food to hospital with you. I’m sure that’s far from ideal. I am optimistically hoping that the culture is caring, & no one is actually left sans bedding and food because they’ve no family or friends. It breaks my heart. Imagine how dire that would be if the same rules applied in the UK. 

I read various articles that suggested buildings are derelict & hygiene is not so great. But you can at least assume that with even wages across the country, people are at least working in this profession because they care. An even bigger assumption is that because they care, they’ll do a good job.

I enjoyed reading this article (though there’s a few copy & paste mishaps) written by a man with a Cuban MIL & their experiences with the Cuban healthcare. He talks of tipping the surgeon & nurses which seems like a bizarre practice to me in the UK (and to him in the US). But an interesting comment discloses the opinion that it’s a cultural difference between a tip and a gift.

Working in Cuba

Finally, I wanted to look at what it was like to work in Cuba. From immersing myself in as much of Cuba as possible, without actually being in Cuba, it became apparent that many people work 2 jobs. In the film ‘7 days in Havana’, we see a character rushing around all day struggling to get ingredients to bake a cake for a client. She gets it done just in time, and is immediately at her next job – as a psychiatrist / TV personality. When I watched this at the very start of my journey, honestly, none of that made any sense to me. In fact, the penny just dropped about her struggling to get hold of ingredients from writing this exact post. But it was this film that raised the question – why? Can you imagine a TV personality / DR of any sort here in the UK having to supplement their income with a second baking job? Not for passion, but necessity?

Anyway, I won’t go on because this short VOX video will perfectly show you exactly what’s up.

Conclusion

Whilst writing the evolution posts, it was easy to root for the underdog who just wanted to knock the corrupt leaders from the top spot. Whilst it was abruptly clear that Fidel wasn’t going to be the panacea Cuba needed. There’s a subjective result to his socialist experiment. There’s an extremely low rate – near zero % of homelessness in Cuba. In comparison, The Big Issue reported in December 2019 that 1 in every 201 persons in the UK is homeless.

There’s a bottom line of food available – albeit not enough. And, whilst conditions are questionable, the healthcare is available regardless of status. We also can’t overlook the free education… just don’t forget it’s likely biased.

Whilst it wasn’t fair game pre-Castro, it does appear that Cuba was more prosperous. Perhaps with new rule and increased distribution of private business licenses, things will start to change for the better. I really hope they do.

Thanks for reading & I hope to see you at our next instalment where we’ll explore ways to support Cubans affected by the countries tough regime.

Until then, take care & remember… No Info is Too Much Info

xoxo

TL ; DR: Many Cubans still rely on baseline necessities subsidised by the Government through ration cards. Education is free – but does it teach free thinking? Healthcare is free but supplies are short (BYOB – bring your own bedding to surgery) and many folk work 2 jobs – even those who work in roles we would deem to be high profile. They earn the same as everyone else.

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