The University of Alabama
International Business Programs
Cuba Interim 2003
Study Abroad Program in Cuba
The first UA study-abroad course conducted in Cuba was a resounding success. The College of Commerce offered International Business Administration 351: Focus Cuba during Interim 2003. From the outset the idea was for the course to be inter-disciplinary, and I’m happy to report that we ended up with solid cross-campus representation: seven business students, two English majors, one each from political science, journalism, international relations, and the ever attractive undecided. The fifteen-member group consisted of thirteen students a volunteer assistant, Deborah Weiss, and the instructor, Dr. Chad Hilton, Director of International Business Programs for the College of Commerce and Business Administration.
The course focused on the economic and social elements of current Cuba – from the Cuban perspective. Prior to departure the students read two texts (The Cuban Way and Cuba: Contours of Change) to provide them a relatively objective external perspective on the Cuban economy. Once on the island they received the Cuban view of the economy and the social structure. The student’s and, of course, the instructor’s job was then to synthesize and make sense of the two perspectives.
Highlights of the course were the opportunities we had to meet and talk with Cuban citizens, particularly at a Committee for the Defense of the Revolution meeting in Vinales, a rumba in Callehon Hamel (an Afro-Cuban musical performance held weekly in one of the more “marginalized” areas of Havana), in a friend’s home, or on the Malecon late in the evening where Cubans of all stripes come to relax, make and meet friends, make love, hustle, and dream.
In addition to the personal contact afforded by the course, we also had excellent lecturers on the economy, health care, education, and social issues such as women’s issues, gender bias, and racism. Site visits that included lectures took us to several schools, particularly noteworthy were the escuelos especial we visited, one for the arts and another for disabled children. We also visited polyclinics, alternative medical clinics, a rum factory, a cigar factory, and a sugar plantation as well as the Bay of Pigs. We got to appreciate the stunning beauty of the Vinales valley in Pinar del Rio and the variety of Matanzas province including Varadero Beach where we had the opportunity to be for one night the “fishtank” tourists that we’d read about.
And, constantly, every single day was an unrelenting lesson on the economic situation of the island and the terrific pressures that result from a true “dual economy.” Those with dollars are relatively well off, and those without are not. And, virtually everyone is seeking dollars.
In addition to the schizophrenic economy, politics is always present in Cuba. Every Cuban has the dollar sitting on one shoulder whispering in his or her ear and Che sitting on the other declaiming in that ear. Propaganda is not subtle and is everywhere – Patria o Muerte, Bring Home the Detainees, Contra Guerre y Contra Terrorisme – on signs; children singing strange romantic ballads about Che, and, naturally, Fidel on TV.
It was particularly interesting to talk with Cubans about the current tensions between Cuba and the U.S. From day one, we learned that Cuba was fearful that the U.S. was on the verge of launching an attack on Cuba – just one more domino in the axis of evil knockdown set in motion by the Bush administration. My initial reaction, and I think that of the students as well, was that this issue was simply a set piece that our facilitators were obliged to put out to us as U.S. citizens. I really did not think the fear was sincere. So, I pushed the question – “are you really fearful of U.S. action against Cuba?” I asked everyone I could in as varied and as private a situations as possible, and, disturbingly, the answer was always the same and seemed quite sincere – “yes, the U.S. is probably going to mount an invasion of Cuba.” In pushing my respondents for some explanation of this anxiety, it became clear that the Castro regime, through all the media at its command (which is essentially all the media in Cuba), was working overtime to develop and maintain this fear. When I protested that Cuba was just not really on the screen for most of us in the U.S. and that we certainly didn’t get the idea from our media that attack was either imminent or in the plans of Washington, my contacts always fell back to an argument that essentially said that the south Florida Cubans were driving this action; that the exile group was driven by hate and that it was working now to make the attack happen.
My first visit to Cuba was for two weeks in 2001 just after the beginning of hostilities in Afghanistan. On returning from that trip, I realized that Cuba was a genuine land of contradictions – great promise and great despair. This trip in 2003 served to reinforce my impressions from two years prior. In 2003 the importance of the dollar economy has intensified; the poverty of the mass of Cubans seems to have deepened, as has their resentment of their situation. At the same time, the resolute desire not to be “Americanized” is also intensifying. And, there seemed to be real fear in the air – fear of the U.S. and fear of their own government. What a predicament. Cuba is still a land of contradiction, but it strikes me now that those contradictions are becoming so intense, so extreme that the island is approaching some sort of meltdown – probably slow and endurable but perhaps not.