The virtues of capitalism is one thing President Obama isn’t likely to promote in his trip to Cuba, where he landed Sunday evening.
Yet it is capitalism — along with human rights, the ability to resist oppression and dream of a better future — that the island needs more than anything. For now, these will remain dreams.
The cigar industry is the pride of Cuba. Stogie novices habitually ask experienced smokers, “Is that a Cuban?” (Or, even worse, “Can I have a puff?”) Yet Cuba is no longer at the top of the smoker’s pecking order. Its cigar industry is falling behind the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and others in the neighborhood.
Yes, they still roll a great cigar in Cuba. But quality controls almost don’t exist. Your Cohiba, Monte Cristo and even lesser-known brands, like Ramon Allone (a great smoke you can get in Cuba for $7), vary in flavor, draw and other taste tests. By contrast, you always know what you get when buying a cigar from, say, the Dominican-based Arturu Fuente.
“If the guy who works for Fuente makes a bad cigar, he’s fired; in Cuba, he won’t be,” says David Savona, executive editor of Cigar Aficionado who travels to Cuba regularly in the hunt for the best puff. The magazine has some Cubans in its top listings, but other manufacturers are much more heavily represented these days.
Savona is hoping for a change in the Cuban industry, which will take better advantage of the climate, tobacco fields and tradition of Cuban cigar-making, and bring the country back to the top. That change can only occur, though, when the big boys step in.
“Look, capitalism works,” Savona says.
Yet that’s not very high on Obama’s agenda on the island. Nor is our president too keen on challenging the Castros’ terrible human rights record. In the hours before he landed Sunday, Cuban authorities arrested more than 50 members of the Ladies in White, a group that protests in Havana every Sunday.
Yes, some prisoners were released in a gesture to America after Obama signed his deal with the Castros. Since then, however, many more were incarcerated, rearrested and harassed endlessly. Oppression is cardinal to the Castros’ rule of the island.
Meanwhile, the much-promised interaction with Americans, leading to change on the island, isn’t happening. As part of the new era, Yulieski Gourriel, a great slugger and infielder, was slated to become the first Cuban baseball player to join a major league team without defecting.
But change was too slow for Gourriel. Last month he finally defected. Good for the Yankees, hopefully. But poor Obama. He won’t be able to watch Cuba’s best as he enjoys a game in Havana Monday between the Tampa Bay Rays and the local national team.
Meanwhile, tourists taking advantage of new rules that allow Americans to visit the island lustily ogle those 1958 DeSoto cars. They fear a capitalist onslaught that will flood the island with Starbucks and McDonald’s.
They should visit those Cuban co-ops, where the locals redeem coupons for rice and beans — their week’s worth of nourishment. Or talk to lucky hotel waiters. Lucky because, if they wait a few long hours after their shift has ended, they can get some leftover meat to complement that steady rice and beans diet.
Cuba’s Communism is sad. Capitalism works. But it’s doubtful that you’d hear anything about that as Obama makes history.
Source: The Washington Post
