Cuba: Eileen's Reflections after a Visit February 2008
for my Global Citizenship class, Sociology 433A, by Eileen Dombrowski
for my Global Citizenship class, Sociology 433A, by Eileen Dombrowski
When we discussed identity, ideas of nationhood, and the nation-state, many of you frequently brought in history as an essential component in an understanding of the present. So it is with Cuba - and it's quite a story.
Cuba's history resembles that of many colonies of European powers: the Spanish missionaries “saved the souls” of the indigenous people while their overtly exploitative countrymen killed them or worked them to death. But with the natives gone, how could the Spanish rulers possibly work the fields or mines? By importing blacks, of course! Havana became a major port for the slave trade, and slavery wasn't abolished in Cuba until late in the 19th century. The Spanish colonial elegance of parts of old Havana and such spots as the town of Trinidad (both UNESCO heritage sites) was an elegance founded on the labour of subjugated people, working the profitable sugar and tobacco fields. Much of it has now crumbled, though some restoration is underway.
In the final years of the 19th century, Cubans rebelled against the Spanish colonial power. As they overthrew the Spanish, however, the United States entered with its military might, finished off the Spanish, and made Cuba its own protectorate. Out of the frying pan - into another frying pan!
Cuba became a dependent of the US - compelled to specialize in sugar for American markets and to buy its manufactured goods from the US, which had established for itself the right to intervene in Cuban affairs at any time (Platt Amendment). US-backed governments, including those of the brutal dictators Machado and later Batista, controlled Cuba, while US corporations ran the island's infrastructure, including the gambling industry in what had become a profitable American playground.
NEXT
The villa in these photos is on the town square of the UNESCO heritage town of Trinidad on the south coast of Cuba. The villa's owner had 900 slaves.
The communist government is ideologically secular, but is currently allowing freedom of religion.
(left: Havana. right: Trinidad, Cuba)