November 27, 2011
Regina Cano
"When Cubans try to get close to a foreigner, it's not to make friends.
It's always with the intention of getting something in return." These
were more or less the words of a Latin American who lived in Cuba for
several years. She was speaking with someone from the US.
I can assure you that I found this very painful to hear, because while
this might be the general opinion about us, it's unfair. It doesn't
reflect the feelings of everyone here.
It seemed to me that this person wasn't being completely honest with
herself, or that the depth of her analysis was shallower than I had
hoped. I'm sorry that this person's experience hasn't been happy here on
this island.
I must admit that, unfortunately, the occurrences in the past several
years led to a behavior of "everyone for themself" among some Cubans,
and the consequences of this can still be seen.
It's true that economic instability began to arise starting in the 90's,
which made us appear to the world as people in need, which in turn made
us look at the approach of a foreigner like a lifeline.
However, many Cubans also suffer manipulation by visitors, those who
find a country with a black-market economy offering low prices –
compared to the official prices. This allows them a bargain holiday with
everything at arm's reach: inexpensive food (including lobster and
shrimp), cigars, rum, and women.
Here, they found cheap prostitutes (very cheap ones), especially when
their ranks swelled after a wave of mange arose from the lack of food
and the shortage of hygienic supplies. Thanks to this, we've had
situations where prostitutes have been drugged so they could be abused.
They've filmed them having group sex, with animals and who knows what
else, possibly viewed over the Internet or in videos for sell, people
say. These are prostitutes by necessity, without rights or protection.
Novelists, actors, screenplay writers and musicians have seen their art
stolen when seeking to market their work. Others have been able to
migrate based on contracts that turned out to be pure fraud, though
others fared better.
I'm not here defending those people for whom the technology of the First
World, or whatever world, make them want to sell their soul to leave the
country. What I'm saying is that there are those here who don't want to
swap their lives for any of that, just as there are those who left the
country through good friends or who got married for the best reasons.
I don't deny or try to justify those Cubans who mimic the behavior of
visitors, or those who snatch a purse or a camera out of the hands of
their owners, or those who feign a pathetic "but I love you…"
There are also foreigners who come to Cuba to look at it as if going to
the zoo. They want to see a country that still claims to be socialist:
"What a rarity," they say. Or look – "people are starving," according to
how we exaggerate here, though these same people declare to the world
that they will resist, because that's the official version assumed in
one way or another.
It's true! We've really suffered a tremendous attack, but we haven't
gone starving. We didn't end up starving to death, though some people
were permanently affected (by neuropathies or impaired growth).
Cubans were doubly mistreated: by our own domestic problems and by what
was entailed in receiving visitors under such circumstances.
By not being able to "escape," as they say, we don't escape the various
forms of trafficking. We supply the market for human organs (in a few
instances) and the market for "slaves" (there was a huge business
involving Cubans who got married and were then stripped of their rights
while having to wait five years or more to become residents in the host
country). Thus, I assure you, that not everyone is tricked or cheated by us.
But there are also many people who come to the island looking for
kindness and warmth, as well as honest and frank communication; and
despite the reputation that precedes us, good friends have come out of
these encounters.
Among Cubans today, many still work hard to make a living. Many retain
enough of a sense of decency as to not to view a foreigner as an ace in
the deck, a horn of plenty or the El Dorado through which everything can
be solved.
There's no shame in a Cuban seeking or finding a foreigner who can offer
them work or the possibility of employing them in some pursuit through
which they can support themself honorably. This is what immigration
represents: allowing them to leave a situation that doesn't meet their
needs.
Perhaps I'm falling short in communicating the whole story. Maybe there
are others who can add to it with their own experiences or with those of
others. But make no mistake: Cubans are not always looking to get close
is to a foreigner to take advantage of them – okay!
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