Cuba Libre!

I met Alfredo in the alleys of Plaza Revolucion, a history teacher with an interesting enthusiasm about American culture, we exchanged ideas about socialist Cuba and capitalist America over a bottle of  Bucanero and a plate of rice, beans and lobster, he eagerly asked about what America is like – specifically snow,  i had the impression that his curiosity comes as a result of a more than 50 year economic isolation brought by the US embargo, but nevertheless, he has given me more than what needed to know about Cuba, where to eat, get cigars, what cuban nightlife is like and most importantly, how their socio-political structure has molded a generation based on socialist ideals, Alfredo strikes me as a realistic version of what is called the “New Man” – free from the corrupt moral ideas of capitalism.

Cuba is neither rich nor poor, such concept does not exist in the beautiful country, everyone has a house to live in, they have free and quality education, free healthcare and free food. They don’t have high speed internet – they probably have the worse connection in the world and you wont see Maseratis nor Ferraris in the streets – you wont see any form of excess wealth, and most of us, for that reason, would describe Cuba as a poor country… i beg to disagree… i think were just used to live excessively.