[Marxism] Cuba: Restoration Drama (TIME magazine)

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here is a remarkably-enthusiastic report in TIME magazine about
Cuban tourism. None of the clap-trap about the Castro regime's 
supposed hostility toward the industry finds expression here.

As we know, there are divided opinions among the policy-makers 
and would-be policy makers in the United States toward Cuba in 
which some favor keeping the blockade and some want to scrap it 
in search of a better way to deal with Cuba. In the latter are 
some who just want a business opportunity for US travel and tour 
agencies. 

Then others thinking that the best way to get rid of the evil
of Castroism is to dangle the wonders of capitalism in front of 
the Cuban people who will immediately swoon and bow down before 
the Almighty Dollar. 

(And those among us with a Marxist educational foundation, we
would NEVER be seduced by the many goodies capitalism brings, 
but is one can transfer associated guilt by worrying about our 
tragically less-sophisticated cousins in faraway, warmer climes
who would be more easily seduced than we [think we] would be.)

The U.S. presidential election campaign, over a year prior to 
actual balloting, already includes some candidates "pandering" 
to what is clearly a majority sentiment in Florida, which today 
includes the right to travel to the island by Cuban-Americans,
not to speak of the rest of us. 

This is a good sign, indeed it's a very good sign, regardless
of the motives which prompt the politicians' postures today.
Some people don't get it, and they think now is the time to warn 
against tourism's evils. To such people, I can only suggest that 
they calm down, have a good stiff drink (that is, if they're not 
in recovery), and read Daniel Chavarria's novel ADIOS MUCHACHOS, 
available in English as well as Spanish. 

Tourism's rich and complex mosaic was admirably elaborated in 
Rosalie Schwartz's terrific monograph, PLEASURE ISLAND: 
Tourism and Temptation in Cuba (Univ. of Nebraska, 1997). 

Rosalie Schwartz: Pleasure Island, Ch. 12
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1121.html 

Rosalie Schwartz: Pleasure Island, Ch. 13
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1022.html     

Some radicals in the advanced industrial countries love to fret over
Cuba's developing of tourism in the last twenty years, pointing to 
the various social, economic and cultural problems which accompany 
this way of raising hard currency income. Among these are social 
stratification, consumerism, jineterismo and so on. Regrettably, 
the critics offer nothing as an alternative for Cuba to raise the 
hard currency it needs to participate in the actual world today.
How should Cuba pay the bills? Specifically? These critics give
great whine and much silence when it comes to actual alternatives.

Yankee radicals, and other troubled souls, love to fret over the 
dangers of capitalist life, though we are, of course, fortunate in 
being able to partake of them (if we have enough money). 

Actually, I first came across such arguments as long ago as 1960, 
in Joseph Hansen's mostly outstanding pamphlet THE TRUTH ABOUT CUBA.

Joe argued that tourism was OK to the extent that it provided cheap 
vacation possibilities, but that the Cuban Revolution would obtain 
more support in the U.S. if it appealed to working class people in 
the U.S. on a socialist political basis. I think it's not unfair 
today to say that Joe's assessment on this was somewhat optimistic.

Today you can read Joseph Hansen's complete pamphlet here. It's a
really fine essay, except for the few silly notions near the end.
http://www.walterlippmann.com/hansen-the-truth-about-cuba.html

Don't miss the nice photo of the Saratoga Hotel at TIME's website.
====================================================================

TIME magazine
Wednesday, Sep. 12, 2007
Cuba: Restoration Drama
By JESSICA CARSEN

Cuba's cars and crumbling may still be stuck in the 1950s, but its
hotels, at least, are finally moving into the 21st century. Leading
the way is Havana's Hotel Saratoga, which epitomized the city's high
life until it fell victim to neglect and disrepair. Now the hotel has
been restored to its former glory, offering guests all the five-star
facilities that have eluded the city for so long.

Located on a corner of the old town that overlooks the Capitolio ? a
gleaming replica of Washington's dome ? the Saratoga boasts a rich
and colorful heritage. In the 1930s, writers, artists and socialites
gathered under its colonnade to enjoy acts like the Anacaona all-girl
orchestra, a band of sisters who played salsa-style son music decades
before the world heard of the Buena Vista Social Club. But not long
after Fidel Castro's revolution, the hotel had deteriorated into a
seedy boarding house.

Now Castro seems more at ease with tourists. A government-backed
international consortium rebuilt the Saratoga in 2005, maintaining
its original neoclassical façade for a result that's more colonialist
than communist. Floor-to-ceiling French windows with mahogany
shutters frame wrought-iron balconies, and inside there's Internet
access in each room, wi-fi in communal areas and top-end gym
equipment.

Nothing says you're in Cuba more than a cigar and a mojito. Savor
both in the Saratoga's airy, palm-filled atrium cooled by antique
ceiling fans, or indulge in the inventive tapas menu at the Anacaona
Restaurant, which spices up Cuba's typically bland cuisine by adding
European flair. The hotel's rooftop pool overlooks the Partagas cigar
factory, the opera house and, around the corner, Floridita, one of
Ernest Hemingway's favorite bars and home of the Daiquiri cocktail. 
A modern hotel with a hint of nostalgia? Could be the start of another
revolution. www.hotel-saratoga.com

* Find this article at: *
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1661038,00.html



________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism