Visit to Cuba Is a Trip Back in Time

Havana Colorful, crumbling and controversial, Cuba is caught between then and now, between communism and capitalism and the challenge of two currencies.

Thanks to a loosening of travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans by President Obama, Cubans are beginning to get a taste of the benefits of free enterprise. All manner of merchandise has begun showing up in the country, including massive flat-screen TVs, bikes, clothes and microwaves.

It was the proverbial dark and stormy night when our charter plane finally touched down after an eight-hour delay in Miami. Once we were through customs, the glass doors slid open to reveal a crowd of people three deep waiting to greet family members pushing carts piled high with goods.

This welcome is all for you, joked in-country guide Vivian Quintero Triana. She assisted Joe Scarpaci of the Center for the Study of Cuban Culture and Economy as he led the group from the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

If you think cigars, rum and classic cars when you envision Cuba, you wont be disappointed. Even in the dark, cars from the 1950s and 60s were obvious in the parking lot just beyond the greeters.

There are so many still running that its like a vintage car show all the time. Weaving among them on the city roads are Soviet-era models, bicycle taxis and, in Old Havana, horses and buggies. Murals and billboards celebrating the 55-year-old revolution and its heroes add a surreal quality to the country, especially in combination with the old vehicles. Its like a movie is being filmed and you are an extra.

The impact of the U.S. trade embargo initiated in 1960 and the loss of Soviet support in the late 1980s have taken their toll. Buildings that would be declared uninhabitable in the United States are bursting at their disintegrating seams with inhabitants.

The two biggest issues facing Cubans are food and housing, said Scarpaci.

President Raul Castro, brother of Fidel, has introduced some reforms and the people are slowly shaking off the shackles of a 100 percent state-run economy. With state-issued permits, residents are allowed to operate businesses from their homes and buy and sell their own houses. You often see people holding homemade signs advertising for buyers or sellers.

Another reform is the permission to buy a car. A new Chinese-made car can cost up to $240,000, a ridiculous amount in any country. In Cuba, it would take the average person more than 1,000 years to pay it off, according to Scarpacis calculations. Those with beautifully restored relics offer rides around Havana and along the Malecon, the famous road and seawall built by the United States before the revolution.

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Visit to Cuba Is a Trip Back in Time