Cuba

Cuba

Contrary to what some might think, Cuba has been a land of many discoveries over the centuries. In fact, before Christopher Columbus reached its shores on October 28, 1492, the island had already been visited by “foreigners”: natives most probably coming from the Caribbean mainland, who, in the course of their explorations,... Read on

Cuba

Contrary to what some might think, Cuba has been a land of many discoveries over the centuries. In fact, before Christopher Columbus reached its shores on October 28, 1492, the island had already been visited by “foreigners”: natives most probably coming from the Caribbean mainland, who, in the course of their explorations, had often sailed towards this new land seeking fair shores on which to settle. It is possible to imagine that these “indios”— as Columbus called them in the belief he had reached India — lived peacefully, surrounded by a nature that provided all their needs for a sustainable life.

The European discovery of the New World, dividing the earth into hemispheres, ended the peaceful existence of the original inhabitants, marking the start of five centuries of history that up until present times has also been, in different ways and in different moments, a history of encounters with Cuba. It was especially Cuba’s status as an island and its privileged location in the Caribbean Sea that made the land attractive. The warm temperatures and tropical rains have shaped a landscape that is remarkable for its variety and uniqueness. This virgin and fertile nature seduced not only Columbus, who stated, “This is the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen.” German naturalist and geographer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), who was considered the second discoverer of Cuba, provided the first scientific description of its fascinating mountains, endless beaches and the variety of its flora and fauna.

Linked to the island’s nature, which had so impressed Columbus and Humboldt, was another discovery that would prove to be even more important. Between 1920 and 1950, ethnologist and author Don Fernando Ortiz made an in-depth examination of the most intimate secrets of that impalpable and complex atmosphere that had developed over the centuries, which came to be known as cubanía. The scientist, born in his beloved Havana, the Cuban capital, thus earned for himself the title of the third discoverer of the island. If Columbus had revealed to the world the existence of Cuba, and Humboldt had described the land, Ortiz was able to sketch its profile, defining the Cubans as the most generous fruit of this land, and their boasting of it as their greatest quality. Through a complex process, which Ortiz called “transculturation,” the inhabitants of Cuba evolved in a world apart and sprung from diverse ethnic roots, with the white Spaniards and other Europeans who emigrated to Cuba mixing with the black Africans, brought to the island as slaves starting in 1526. The mulatto, which refers not only to the color of skin, expresses one of the most important symbols of cubanía, a fusion of diverse cultures that has created its own identity. Under the Cuban sun, which beat down with equal intensity on the Spanish merchant, the Creole proprietor and the African slave, the diverse religious beliefs, customs and many psycho-social differences of all the inhabitants melted together in a particular syncretism, even despite the barriers erected by the white dominion and Catholicism. Other nationalities, though not predominating in Cuba, have by their mere presence contributed their own characteristics and participated in the creation of this fusion that makes up the Cuban identity. Among them have been the Chinese, brought to the island and subjected to slavery, the French and Haitians, who came when they fled the bloody Haitian Revolt of 1791 and promoted, among other things, the cultivation of coffee in the East of the country, and the North Americans, present in the country since the 18th century. There has even been an Arab contribution, which had exerted influence on the Spanish culture over the centuries.

Cuba has always had an ambiguous relationship with the seas that surround it. From them came the conquerors, pirates and corsairs, the cyclones and hurricanes, and the slaves; they also brought scientific discoveries and such technologies as the printing press, the steam engine and the railroad. Because of the constant action of the waves, vast sandy white beaches developed, gently sloping into the clear waters of the bays that abound on the island’s long coastline. From across the sea also arrived, at the end of the 19th century, the United States navy, with the mission of intervening in the Spanish-Cuban conflict, but in reality interfering with the real independence of Cuba. And disembarking on the south coast in 1956 were the 82 young Cubans led by Fidel Castro, who once again took up the struggle for the sovereignty of their country, a half Republic since 1902 and governed by the interests of the United States of America. Surround entirely by water, buffeted on all sides by winds, the object of countless foreign passions, oppressions, conceits and plots, the island and its inhabitants finally became their own masters with the historic event that radically revolutionized the political, social and cultural life of Cuba. The 1959 triumph granted the people a heretofore unknown dignity, which itself generated new energies and other unknown quantities contributing to the Cuban personality and identity.

The city of Havana, whose history since its beginnings has gone hand in hand with the history of Cuba, still continues to be one of the places that best exemplifies the memories of the past and the excitement of modern times, Cuban style. Among the elegant buildings from past centuries, saved thanks to a keen interest for the preservation of their heritage, and old American cars, whose impressive numbers testify to their unusual mechanical longevity, the Habaneros, like most Cubans, demonstrate what they have lived through and what they have adapted to: that which they themselves call the “culture of resistance.” Living in a paradoxical dialectic of survival and development, of immobility and international leadership, the Cubans have developed into one of the most interesting peoples in the world, especially if one considers that the country is neither particularly large nor populous. But the mystery of cubanía reveals itself with difficulty. The question, “What is a Cuban like?” can be answered in a thousand different ways, many of them contradictory. Lively and extroverted, profound and tenacious, able to joke even in the most difficult situations and ready for sacrifice and extreme abnegation. While not neglecting their prevalently sensual side, they are romantics and pragmatics, patriots and cosmopolitan, austere and spendthrift... As soon as we meet a Cuban, many adjectives come to mind in describing him. However, there are still no precise words for a people who, despite their short time as a nation, have been at the forefront of so much history, have faced such powerful enemies and have dreamed in such an enormously impassioned way.

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