Has the "new man" been developed in Cuba?

One of the aspects of Cuban revolutionary history which is often considered "failed" was the attempt to create the "new man"  This ideal of Ché, among others, envisioned a person (man was used to include humans of both genders back in the 60s, although it really did mostly mean man) who would work and sacrifice for the community in a disciplined and selfless manner without thought of reward.  It's true, there aren't many of that sort of person around in Cuba or elsewhere.  But is the "new person" an entirely failed project?  I don't know.

Ché isn't just for tourists.  He is revered in Cuba.  One finds signs of this in unexpected places.

 A car decal, a tattoo on a young nurse's hand...

Look, son, it's El Ché!

What I do know is that the streets of Havana are  enormously safer  than those of any other big city I've ever been in. (I've never been to Scandinavia, among other places.) It's routine to get a helpful response from people, even as a visitor, and it is also clear that neighbors are routinely helpful to each other and share, for example, their telephones. The large public celebrations also used to puzzle me - how was it possible for so many people to crowd together and drink so much without a fight starting every minute?     

the beer wagon at Carnaval

Obviously the Cuban reality is very complex, nuanced, and in flux, so that anything one writes is an over-simplification, and maybe temporary too.

But there are some noticeable differences, even now more than 50 years post-Revolution and about 20 after the worst of the Special Period, compared to the US.  In Cuba cooperation is the norm and fierce competitive acquisitiveness is not seen as desirable, but as deviant behavior.  (This is an over-simplification about the US also - I live in a rural community where cooperation is normal, but it is obvious that this does not reflect the economic life of the nation.)  Random hostility and violence are not common in Cuba, even in big cities.        

It has been alleged, and some studies show, that highly competitive societies promote sociopathic behavior. Since the absence of mercy and morals offers advantages in achieving business success, this becomes adaptive behavior.  Perhaps the Cuban achievement is not to have formed the communist new man but to have resisted the creation of the capitalist neoliberal new man and to have allowed people's natural humanity to remain intact.

Long time comrades, in every sense of the word.

Electricity outage (apagón) causes this woman to work in the courtyard.

These men fought under Ché's command.

restoring a car

Zaida and her combatientes medal.  The men in the photo above are also wearing these.  Not all revolutionaries have beards.

Vilda Figueroa and Pepe Lamas are the Proyecto Comunitario Conservacion de Alimentos.  The previous post is about this.

 The project is actually now rated "Triple Excelencia."

The Tercera Edad (Elders) Group eating at noon.

The community supply of drinking water is also at Martin Luther King Center.

It would be impossible to list all of Pastor Raul Suarez's achievements in a long essay, much less in a photo caption.

He has shared leadership for making a vibrant church in Pogolotti, for building the Martin Luther King Center and all its programs, for forging a connection with Pastors for Peace, for creating a Baptist liberation theology, for changing the attitude of the Cuban Revolutionary government about religion, and so much more.  He is truly one of the great men of the 20th Century.

He was also wounded at Playa Girón, where he went to aid the casualties of the failed US-sponsored invasion.

Lázaro Ostelaza volunteered for the Cuban army in Angola.  The Cuban help in defeating the forces of South Africa was important in ending apartheid.

The kids are all right.

Proyecto Conservación de Alimentos

Everyone who has gone to Cuba and is at all interested in nutrition has noticed that the  Cuban diet is not optimal.   The reasons for this are partly economic, but to a much greater extent cultural - when Cubans have more economic resources the main dietary change is to eat far more meat.  The historic reasons are complex - Cuba lacks an indigenous food tradition, the main dietary influence is Spanish, of course, but the plantation economy did not encourage peasant subsistence agriculture since people had no land to cultivate.  They worked in the cane or the coffee and ate what they were given.  So, what does the typical Cuban diet include?  Staples are congri - a rice and bean mix, or beans and rice in another form, and starchy potato-like vegetables - viandas.  Add fried bananas, and pork or chicken if there is any, and that's about it, except for dessert.  Some salad of cucumber, cabbage or avocado may be eaten sometimes.  Street snacks are bread with - ham, cheese, egg, or made into pizza, little fried bits, and ice cream, which is everywhere.  This is it for most people and furthermore it is what they want to eat, only more meat and lunch meat, please.

Making a cultural change, especially a dietary one in this situation of fixed habits, is a hard job.  Jose (Pepe) Lamas and Vilda Figueroa have been at it for more than 15 years.  Their multi-faceted Proyecto de Conservacion de Alimentos includes gardening - growing herbs, vegetables and fruits for home use; methods of canning and drying foods within the Cuban situation - Pepe, an engineer by trade has invented a solar dryer which can be made from locally available materials;  and cooking a wider variety of healthy foods with delicious recipes.  They do a radio program; publish extensively about food, nutrition, preservation methods, with many cookbooks; and train food activist "promoters" to return to their communities and teach others.  They are always experimenting with new plants, recipes, and methods; both seem tireless, although I'm sure this is an illusion.

Pepe Lamas with giant red quimbombo

Vilda Figueroa at a conference

At a book launch - the latest publication will be available in English.

What can be grown in Cuba?  How?  What methods can prevent abundant harvests from being wasted?  How can the diet be extended to include healthy food which is locally available, and how can this healthy food be made so delicious that even those closely tied to the traditional Cuban diet cannot resist it?    These are the questions which Conservacion de Alimentos asks and answers.

The Revolution in Context

From the US point of view the Cuban Revolution started with "Castro" and came out of nowhere.  From the Cuban perspective, it was the culmination of an almost 100 year struggle to free the island from foreign domination.

On October 10,  in 1868 Carlos Manuel de Cespedes freed "his" enslaved people and invited them to join him in freeing Cuba from Spanish rule.  The end of slavery became one of the central goals of the independence struggle.  When the Spanish offered a compromise which included a limited independence conditioned on no change in the social and economic conditions, this was rejected by the Cuban independence fighters. 

Jose Marti was the intellectual center of the independence movement; his writings are still closely studied and he is revered in Cuba.  He died in battle in 1895.  His last written words were "Be just." He emphasized the participation of all races as essential to true independence.  

Antonio Maceo was the liberation struggle's greatest general. He was a descendent of the African diaspora. His grasp of the issues involved with national liberation, well as of political strategy, was profound; he was instrumental in refusing the Spanish compromise; this monument symbolizes that refusal.  He was killed in 1896. There are monuments to both throughout Cuba.

At this point Cuba was at the point of freeing itself from Spain.  Then the US stepped in, taking over Cuba from Spain at the Treaty of Paris (much as we took over the colonial power role from the French in Vietnam 50-something years later).  No Cuban representative was permitted by the US at this conference, and the treaty set no time limit for the US occupation of Cuba. The Cuban struggle for independence from the US continued in various forms for the next 61 years and finally was victorious in January 1959.  The beginning of this last successful struggle was the organizing in the cities, countryside, schools, and political arena and the first shots were fired at Moncada Military Barracks in Santiago July 26 1953. After years of organizing against tyranny and for better government,  158 men and 2 women led by Fidel Castro and Abel Santamaria attacked the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. 

Some were killed in battle, many were captured, tortured and killed. As a military operation it failed; there were logistical errors and mishaps as well as an overwhelming disparity in numbers and arms.  But Moncada wasn't only a military action, it was a political action and an organizing action and it was not a failure in those terms.  As we all know, 5 ½ years later the revolution triumphed.

At the most recent celebration of the revolution's beginning, the heads of state of many  Latin American and  Caribbean nations went to Santiago de Cuba and spoke in front of the Moncada, formerly army barracks, now a museum and school complex.  Presidents and prime ministers thought this was an important occasion: Evo Morales of Bolivia, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Jose Mujica of Uruguay, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, Winston Baldwin-Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, Kenny Davis Anthony of Santa Lucia, Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent & Grenadines.  A lot was said but  common themes were, " Cuba gave dignity to the people of Latin America" and "Cuba taught us not to be afraid."

OK, so an island nation of a few million people threw off a repressive government.  What is it about this change that has made Cuba an inspiration, a guiding light in the world, from one point of view and from the opposite point of view a  country which must be forbidden to trade, and which you as a US citizen are forbidden to go see?  The US had always assumed that it had the absolute right to decide everything that happened in the Western Hemisphere.  This didn't leave much independence or dignity for those whose lives and countries we were controlling.  Attempts at defiance or autonomy were quickly punished, by direct military force if required.  Cuba has not only held out, it has promoted the international nature of revolution.  Cuban volunteers in Angola fought the forces of apartheid South Africa and defeated them.  Cuban doctors are spread throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.  Evo Morales said, "The Cuban revolution is the mother of all the revolutions of America and of the world," and remembered that when he planned land reform which he feared would cause US retaliation, Fidel had said, "Evo, you are not alone."  The other big inspiration, or problem depending on your perspective, is that Cuba has tried to find a working alternative to corporate capitalism and the relationships among people that it produces.  There is no laboratory for social and economic changes, and they are not quick or fool-proof or easy.  The experiments have to happen among living people and some things go right and others don't. Enough has gone right to make the Cuban example very threatening to those who want corporate capitalism to occupy the whole world.  Cuba has tried to be a revolution of, by and for the

"humildes" - the ordinary people, (I'm quoting Raul Castro here, who also spoke.)  It has tried to be a revolution of dignity and self-worth, and respect for diversity, of basic equality, of  the weak not fearing that they will be crushed by the strong.  (quoting Jose Mujica, president of Uruguay)  This alternative way is either profoundly inspiring or really scary, depending on your outlook.  I was very proud to be present with Pastors for Peace at the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the start of the Cuban Revolution.

There are common themes which run through this history and cause the Cubans to see it as a continuing narrative:

An absolute refusal of foreign domination,

A commitment to the idea that national liberation is intrinsically linked to the idea of racial liberation,

A dedication by people across class, racial and gender lines to the struggle for sovereignty, to the point of giving their lives,

and the fact that revolution always begins in Oriente - in the eastern province for which Santiago is the main city.  It's a revolutionary city and in addition to the official signs and posters about the 26th, many people did a bit of homemade decoration.  One of the city's mottos is "Here no one surrenders." - that's what's written on the Juan Almeida image.

A visit to a junior conservatory

The first time I attended the Festival Leo Brouwer (2011) many things struck me as unusual.  Some of them I now take for granted: that audiences will be diverse in terms of age, race, and socioeconomic status; that the musicians themselves will be younger and much less male and white than their counterparts in the US.  Other things which struck me then still have resonance - one of the chief of these has to do with musical education in Cuba.  The Havana Chamber Orchestra is a young group; the oldest player is mid-30s.  I did the arithmetic and found that these young musicians were just entering school at the start of the Special Period - that period when Cuba lost its trading partners with the end of the Soviet bloque and when the US blockade was tightened to try to force Cuba to capitulate.  The early 90s were terrible in Cuba - without adequate fuel, transportation, electricity, inadequate food, and much very genuine suffering which was spread out fairly equitably so that no one actually starved to death and all adults lost weight. (I have heard everywhere that adults went to bed hungry so that the kids could eat.)  In the midst of this, some talented children were recognized, their talents nurtured and brought to the point of glorious professionalism that we hear now.

What kind of society is it that, in the midst of  a severe economic crisis, finds the will and resources to care for art music and its transmission through the generations?  Clearly one which actually believes that to be educated and cultured is to be free - a Jose Marti saying one sees here often.  Clearly one that values its artists as essential, not decorative, and not superfluous in times of crisis.  I contrast this to the US where in the majority of school districts free public arts education is either going or already gone.  I wish we had our priorities as straight.

I have visited the top level conservatory in Havana (the Instituto Superior de Arte) and if you set aside "little things" like gender and race, they are much like upper level US conservatories.  This year I had the chance to visit one of the many secondary school level conservatories - the Amadeo Roldan - and it was an unusual experience.  The guitar class I visited was having its first rehearsal of a work in 4 parts, the Leo Brouwer Toccata. There were 18 students and a teacher, the young guitarist Joe Ott Pons, just starting an international performance career.  The chairs were in bad condition, there weren't enough music stands so they pulled up tables in front of rows of students to hold the sheet music, the walls are not at all sound-resistant so loud invading brass and other noise is heard.  The students use strings until they break - a very generous donation by Strings By Mail allowed each student to have a new set after this visit.  Then - and this often happens in every country - there were serious errors in the sheet music that had to be corrected for 4 different parts.  The noise level was enormous and I was thinking that this was not fun and that I didn't see how any serious work could get done in this atmosphere.  Finally they were ready - first rehearsal, remember, and with many corrected bits that they would have to sight-read.  I expected nothing but in fact they produced an astonishingly good first run-through.  They seemed unaffected by the noise and chaos which were so distressing me; they had fierce concentration on the music and seemed undistractable. Furthermore, the professor, far from being distressed by the adverse conditions not only was able to concentrate but spoke afterward of how much he enjoyed teaching.  It did make me think that we US guitarists are rather sensitive and hot-house by comparison.  Prof. Ott said that after learning guitar in this system he is completely unbothered in concert by noise and movement and I have no trouble believing this.

So - the differences are: it's free, it's public and available to any child with interest and ability.  Guitar students learn from the beginning to work in guitar orchestras and other instrument ensembles, to sight-read and to follow a conductor, just like other music students.  The physical conditions are those of a poor country - crowded, noisy, broken, used up - but the vitality and enthusiasm and ability are enormous.  The gender and race distribution is more equitable.  Of 18 students 10 were boys and 8 girls.  I didn't try to count by race because race in Cuba is a spectrum rather than a division and it is not always clear to me who is what.  Prof. Ott was rather shocked when I told him that guitar instruction in the US for students ages 13-16 is generally only available to those whose parents can pay for private lessons.  What is a luxury and what is a necessity?  Here music is necessary. In fact Leo Brouwer himself said that if we remained without music for 48 consecutive hours, he believes there would be a world-wide catastrophe.  I believe this too.

Si nos quedáramos sin música cuarenta y ocho horas, absolutamente cuarenta y ocho horas seguidas, creo que podría haber una catástrofe mundial.

"Of course I've learned my part, Profe."

Practicing in the hall
(Students get their secondary school uniforms when they first start
school, then proceed to grow out of them.  Fortunately the girls
wear skorts, not skirts, because they

get quite high and tight.)

Music stands are in short supply.

There's no room and no footstools.
Students change guitar position as they advance.

The pleasure of getting it right.

Somehow it all works out. 

Trying to hear in a noisy environment

Each of 4 parts had to be corrected.  "How much would the right notes cost?"

Thanks, Strings By Mail.  You're great!

Private lesson

The professor is Joe Ott Pons

The student is Lazaro E Garcia Roman, age 15.

Thank you, Strings by Mail, for your generous donation.

A broken string made the Strings by Mail donation very timely for this student.