Flying into Cuba, from the air, the soil looks reddish brown, with a lot of waste land, that I suspect is sandy. Or it may be that it is dead looking due to dryness.
We are staying at Sol Melia Resort in Varadero for three days. The hotel is energy efficient with plastic keys for the air conditioner/lights, etc., that shut off when the key is removed.
There are many smokers at the resort which was unexpected, coming from a mainly smoke-free Canada.
When we arrive, I see many familiar flowers: hibiscus, azalea, rhododendron, honeysuckle, clematis, oleander and bougainvillea.
People describe Cuba as the most romantic place on earth. Cuba has 11 million people. It is the most bio-diversified country in the world. Fidel Castro is both revered and reviled around the world. There are two statues - Lenin (Joseph) and Lennon (John), the Beatle - in Cuba. These monuments show the diversity of Cuba.
Cuba has experienced foreign corporation ownership since 1492 when Columbus "discovered" it; first by the Spanish, then the English and Americans. There was much disparity between the poor and the opulence of the rich before the revolution.
The USSR supported industrialized agriculture which lasted until the USSR collapsed, in 1989. People had no fuel, blackouts were common and it took three to four hours to get to work. The caloric intake of Cubans dropped by a third for two years.
Every family has a ration book which was introduced to avoid the very rich buying everything and leaving nothing for the poor. You get your produce from the ration book store once a month. When registered with a ration store, you can't go to another unless you have a change of address.
Forty per cent of the food obtained here is rice, beans, peas, sugar, salt, oil, milk, eggs, fish, chicken, coffee, cigars and bread with so much per day per person. One kilogram of powdered milk costs $5.7 c. pesos. Children are provided with one litre of milk per day.
In the market downtown area of Camaguey, we saw the Copalia ice cream parlor, a most popular place where many Cubans meet as they don't have freezers.
In terms of the government structure, a grassroots vote is held every two and a half years. Representatives serve five years on the provincial and national governments. Every CDR or block, like our polls, assembles to vote. Grassroots equals people power.
There are two routes to get into parliament. Every sector of society can put forth their elected representative, for example, farmers, dancers, dentists, youth, women, the ANAP. The other route is like our municipal voting.
When serving at the national level, you are not paid but travel expenses are covered. Meetings are twice a year for about a week each time. There is only one party.
This year's voting was their lowest turnout - 89 per cent.
Pope John Paul II came to Cuba in 1988. What led to the acceptance of the Pope returning?
Fidel realized that people in union is power. If 50 per cent of the people are religious and 50 per cent of those are divided between Roman Catholicism and Protestant, you can't discard 50 per cent of the population. People were allowed to have a member of Parliament. An organization called Pastors for Peace would be allowed a member of Parliament too.
So, with time passing, it was acceptable for the Pope to visit in 1988. The Pope said, "May the world open to Cuba and Cuba open to the world". The Roman Catholic lands were returned to the Church.
