“Conscious over Commerce”
Chris Madden

“I like your shoes,” I said, excited to see something that reminded me of America. “Are those Yeezy’s, Kanye West’s shoe line?” The pop-culture in America was going crazy about these.

“They are actually fakes, my friend,” Pedro responded confidently. “We don’t get a lot of American goods here in Cuba. My mother brought these back from her trips to South America.”

I shuddered as I looked at my feet, imaging how my life would be without Jordan’s and Nike’s. “Wait, so you guys don’t get any American products?” I was confused, since America’s large economy was so close to this small island. Although, I wasn’t too surprised that the Cuba-American relationship had not yet reached the point of open trade. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, it’s shocking that Americans get to travel to Cuba. I was on this trip with my girlfriend, Maya and her family, who were all part Cuban. We were visiting her family in Havana. On the ride from the airport I felt as though the plane might have been a time machine. We were picked up in a taxi that resembled the “Mystery Machine” from the Scooby Doo movies. Not only that, all the other cars on the road were from the 50’s. The frames of the cars were complete metal and the inside, old leather. These cars definitely did not have Bluetooth.

We had just arrived in the house we would be staying in. Maya’s family met us there to help unload the taxi. Pedro was one of her cousins. He was a 24-year-old Cuban citizen. He looked a lot like most Spaniards I had met, light skin and dark hair.

“Well, we get things like,” Pedro paused for a second, and I could see him translating the words form Spanish to English. “How do you say, refrigerators? Yes, we get those from the company Samsung.”

“That’s a pretty big company,” I said, trying to make Pedro feel better about his country’s position in the international economy. “Do you have a Samsung phone, or Apple?”

“I have a Samsung. Apple does not sell their products here.” Pedro pursed his lips. “I don’t think it’s fair that companies like Apple punish Cuban citizens for the actions of our leader.” He was referring to Fidel Castro of course. Castro’s communist movement in Cuba cut the nation off from the liberal international economic order. Company’s like Apple had taken a strong stance against trading with Cuba to show their dissent with the country’s supposed human rights violations.

Coincidentally, two days before my trip, Fidel Castro had died. Many Cuban-Americans in the states celebrated as though they had been liberated from some sort of tyranny. “How do you all feel about Castro?” I said, eagerly awaiting the answer from someone who lived under the rule of Fidel.

“Why don’t we go inside so you can put your bags away. I’ll tell you more about my country when you are done,” Pedro motioned us towards the door.

***

I thought it was hot outside, but the heat inside was different. I laid in my room under the air conditioner. The home we were staying in was very much an estate. There was a family who worked in the house, under the government, who were meant to be hosts for tourists. They reassured us that this was one of the nicest places in Havana. I left my room to catch up on my conversation with Pedro. As I exited my room, the doors opened up to a living room in which the grandmother of the host-family was watching a memorial service for Fidel. “Te gusta Fidel?” I said, curious about whether or not she like him.

“Si, Fidel ha hecho muchas cosas buenas para Cuba,” She responded with pride.

I nodded politely and headed towards the kitchen, where I had heard Pedro, wondering what good things Fidel had done for Cuba. “Alright Pedro, lay it on me. How do you feel about Fidel?”

“To be honest, this might be hard for you to believe because of what your country thinks about Fidel,” He paused and looked up to find the words to express himself. “Fidel gave me and my family everything we have. Without Fidel’s free healthcare, my mother would have died giving birth to me. Without his free education, I would not have been able to afford school. What Fidel did improved the living standards of the poor in Cuba.” His eyes lit up every time he mentioned Cuba—this was what true pride looked like. His argument became more valid when I later discovered that he had studied to be a doctor.

“Well, then why did so many people run off to America when Fidel rose to power?” I said perplexed by the divide in opinions about the man.

“All the people who defected to America were rich,” Pedro said shaking his head, “the rise of communism meant the rich had to lose things? The inequality in Cuba was growing quickly before the revolution. The Cubans that turned their back on their country took away capital that we needed to build up our nation under Castro.”

This all made sense to me. I had flown from Miami to get to Cuba. In Miami we stayed with Maya’s aunt, who was originally from Cuba. She was retired now and lived in huge mansion near the ocean. During our entire stay she expressed her jubilance about Fidel’s passing. She was very affluent and also very conservative. After hearing Pedro’s testimony about Cuba, Maya’s aunt’s point of view seemed a little skewed.

***

The next day, Pedro organized a trip for us to visit the monuments in Cuba. “You will now get to see some of the most beautiful places in Cuba,” Pedro said from the front seat of the taxi.

We arrived to the first structure, which looked like the Washington Monument. It was placed directly in the middle of one of the city’s squares. There was a long stairway to the entrance so Pedro and I headed to the top. Pedro passed by the security guard without interruption but I was stopped. “May I help you?” I said, expecting the reason I had been stopped to be the same as it was in America.

“I’m very sorry,” Pedro said walking back towards me, “to come inside you must pay 3 CUC,” the tourist currency.  “I get in for free because I’m Cuban; everything paid for by the government is free for citizens,” Pedro smiled, realizing he had perks that foreigners did not.

I reached into my wallet thinking about the free healthcare, free education, and free entertainment Pedro enjoyed in his homeland. I live in a relatively rich country where paying for healthcare and education were two of the biggest financial burdens. Yet, here stood Pedro, making an equivalent 30USD per month as doctor, yet he didn’t have to spend any of it on his health or knowledge.