Before we begin, a little political and economic background information.
In Theory:
Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, and stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general. Decisions on what to produce and what policies to pursue are made democratically allowing every member of society to participate in the decision-making process in both the political and economic spheres of life. The idea that a modern country or state is actually communist is impossible, being that one of the basic characteristics of such a system is the elimination of the government. [True communism has never existed in a modern state and probably never will. However some indigenous groups, who have remained isolated from the developed world practice real communism, without even knowing what it's called]
Socialism is the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism. It's associated with a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with an egalitarian method of compensation. Key theorists Marx and Engel predicted that socialism and communism would be built upon foundations laid by the most advanced capitalist societies. The healthcare systems of developed countries such as Germany, the UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan are examples of countries moving towards a more complex capitalism where a country's economic success is used to benefit everyone. A form of Socialism is what exists in Cuba, and socialism is the exclusive term used by Cubans to describe the sociopolitical system in their country. *Yet the implementation of socialism in a country that has not developed an advanced economy or democracy, leads to a unique and large set of problems. Cuba DOES NOT have the socialism depicted by Marx and Engel that might develop from an advanced capitalist democracy. Cubans do not even try to depict themselves as a real communist society.
The Confusion Between Cold War Communism/Socialism and the Philosophical Idea of Communism
The understanding of communism that most Americans have does not come from the socioeconomic philosophy outlined above, but from the 20th century states (USSR and China for example) who labeled their governments and economies as communist, although they usually operated/operate under a one-party system, where inequality and oppression were/are wide spread. In these countries, fewer and fewer people have/had any say in how the economy works and many civil liberties are taken away. These governments use the promise of "real communism" to initially gain the people's support, but when the harsh realities of trying to mix undeveloped economies with communist politics come to light, the system deteriorates, and in the many cases leads countries to return to a capital driven economy. *The one exception would be China, where the one party system has been able to monopolize all political control, and use a centrally planned CAPITALIST ECONOMY to modernize. Therefore China is FAR from being a real communist country.
In Conclusion:
If you have a problem with Soviet Russia, China, Venezuela, Bolivia, Vietnam, or Cuba DO NOT say it is because they are communist, because they're not. Learn about those countries and criticize them for what they are or were. I have plenty of criticism for Cuba, and the rest of the countries who have not chosen American style free market capitalism, but it is not based on a false classification of those country's economies or governments.
Here's a good example of how to criticize what many Americans would call a communist country:
I dislike the Chinese government, because they are undemocratic, and because there system is devastating the environment and doing little to improve the lot of average Chinese citizens. I would never criticize China because it's communist. BECAUSE ITS NOT.
Now to the stories....
The biggest obstacle in traveling to Cuba, is trying to understand the economy. How do you pay for tickets, where can you stay, how much money will you need. Because of the US blockade of Cuba, American credit cards and debit cards can not be used at all, not to buy plane tickets, not to get money out of the atm, nor to reserve accommodation or car rental. If you are European with a lot of money, these issues are irrelevant, and in reality the tourist economy of Cuba is set up for these types of travelers. As a backpacker with a small budget based in American financial institutions things are much much more difficult. Every single part of my trip had to be paid in a foreign currency, that I brought with me from outside the county, (I was unable to withdraw a cent while on the island.) In the end me and boys (I travelled with Bipin & my roomate Andras) had to withdraw Colombian pesos from our bank accounts, exchange that money into Euros (in Colombia) and then exchange that money into Cuban Convertible currency (CUC) and Cuban Pesos (CP) upon arrival.
Cuba has two currencies, one of the most damaging and ridiculous things about the country, and the source of all of our problems while traveling there. There is one currency for the Tourists and one for the locals. The tourist currency is worth approximately one dollar and equals 25 of the local cuban pesos. By having these tow currencies, the country has developed two separate economies, two types of everything. The locals can see the things that can be bought with CUC, premium beers, cigars, cigarettes, ice cream, transportation, but cannot buy them unless they can find a way to get their hands on CUC. They are paid a monthly amount of CP that is equals about 20 CUC. When a tourist class beer costs 1 CUC and a tourist class meal costs 5 CUC, it becomes obvious that they cannot afford it without additional income. It becomes comical when the budget traveler like myself is doing everything possible to buy things in the local economy (ex. local beer 30 cents/10 CP) while the local Cuban is desperately trying to get his hands on the expensive CUC valued stuff. Because tourists are forced to pay for most things in CUC, Cuba becomes a very expensive travel destination. Well at least compared to the rest of Latin America. We each budgeted 300 dollars for our trip and I brought an extra 100 for gifts and safety. When Bipin lost 300 dollars or 1/3 of our money (remember we have no access to atm's or our foreign bank accounts) things became very interesting. Bipin is the most responsible 29 year old I know.
We got to the airport in Bogotá three hours before out flight (yeah totally not my style) only to learn that our Russian airplane was grounded in Cuba getting maintenance. The flight to Cuba from Colombia only occurs once a week, so we were seriously wondering why one week was not enough time to prepare the plane for this weeks journey. Luckily being gringos (Bipin excluded) that speak Spanish, we were able to convince Cubana airlines to put us on the only other flight to Cuba that day, going through Panama City. They made sure that all of the other stranded latinos who had planned to fly to Cuba had no idea we were getting this preferential treatment.
Unfortunately we did not have the pleasure of testing out russian aviation technology, and arrived in Cuba at Midnight on a Copa airlines flight. I swear to god the captain was American, his Spanish announcements over the PA system were in the most embarrassing thing I have ever heard. My first experience with Cuba was customs, and it was not exactly a pleasant one. In the Havana airport Customs is not a open process. You walk into a small office with a door at one end and three cameras starring at you. You can see where you came from, but cannot see anyone else in the offices next to you, nor do you know what's behind the door ahead of you. Customs immediately wanted to know what an Indian, a Hungarian, and an Australian were doing arriving together in Cuba at 1 in the morning. We explained that we live together in Colombia, but that seemed to confuse the officers (who did not have uniforms just name tags) even more.
Eventually we made it out of the arrival terminal and began to arrange our rental car. I don't know why, but throughout the whole trip I totally forgot the fact that you can't bargain on most things, you can't check the competition, because the prices are all the same and set by the government. So upon realizing that all of the rental companies had the same cars (even the same color) and the same prices, we began filling out the paper work. By about 1:30 we got into our tiny pugeout which the rental employee called the Boxer, do its extensive body damage. Without a map, but with a Cuban cigar in hand, we left the airport to try and find our accommodation in the city. What a disaster.
First and foremost, street signs are practically non existent in Cuba. We guessed this when upon leaving the airport the lights of the first sign we saw were angled entirely wrong. Instead of having them shine up at the sign, they were pointing straight out blinding anyone trying to read. We also quickly learned that Cubans speak a horrific Spanish, something similar to what Colombians speak on the northern Coast. So when trying to listen to directions we were hearing things such as "RETO" for straight instead of the actual Spanish word "DIRECHO". Nonetheless our Cuban Spanish for giving direction is now almost perfect. An hour later we finally reached Havana Vieja, the old part of the city where we were staying. And honestly there is nothing like Havana Vieja at night time. I swear you feel like your in Berlin at the end of World War Two. I was almost expecting Mortar fire, and fighter planes to roar over head. It's totally shocking. The stores are empty, half the building are gutted out or falling down, and the architecture is monumental and magnificent. Being a relatively well travelled guy, I think that nothing can really shock me, but honestly I was walking around with my mouth wide open, saying "holy fuck" Because it was Saturday night, the streets were still alive, with young Cubans loitering everywhere. I still don't know if half the girls in Cuba are prostitutes or just dressed that way. The feeling I got, was that you could pay any girl on the street to come home with you, even if she was standing with her boyfriend or mom when you found her. By about four in the morning we decided we better get to bed, and the owner of the house we had organized (full set of gold teeth, gold rings and chains) told us he would put us up in his neighbors place because his house was full. In Cuba, accommodation in a "casa familiar" (government sanctioned accommodation for tourists) costs 10 CUC.
