Cuba, Costa Rica and a bit of the US.: Day 12. 14.4.16. Trinidad to Santa Clara – Ché Guevara Memorial and Varadero. LSCT day # 8.

Up and said goodbye to Joellis and Irael.

Irael and Joellis with the breakfast table.

Trinidad Family.

On the road for our visit to the Ché Guevara Memorial.

Yaniel shared some facts along the way.

Ché was an Argentinian doctor, who realised that there was much injustice in the Latin Americas. He met the Castro’s (Fidel and Castro) as young men in Mexico. Ché joined the Cuban army as a Doctor from Mexico in 1956. At some point a group of soldiers he was with were ambushed and Ché grabbed for his gun and bullets rather than his Doctors Bag, from this point he became known as a soldier not a Doctor.

Santa Clara was the site of a major battle on the day before the Revolución, Ché derailed Battista (the enemy President) at Santa Clara.

From this point in 1959 the Revolución takes over Cuba. Ché is a major leader of the country.

Once Ché was done in Cuba he went to the Congo to fight injustice there and then to Bolivia to fight. In Bolivia he was killed, reputedly by the CIA and his body was buried under a runway there in Bolivia in 1967.

Ché’s remains were found in 1997 and brought back to Cuba and buried at Santa Clara, here at the memorial.

Battista was a cruel president, he killed people against his regime, there was lots of poverty, hunger and corruption was rife. It seems there were some HAVE’s and many HAVE NOTs. Hence the people banding together with the Castro’s and Guevara in the Revolución.

Today as we drove Yaniel provided a ‘potted’ history of Cuba. There have been so many dates mentioned during the trip it is confusing.

So here are some of the facts I managed to capture/recall:

· Ernesto Ché Guevara was born on 14 June, 1928
· 1492 - Cuba was discovered by Christopher Columbus.
· Cuba has three indigenous tribes called Indios.
· 1509 – The Spanish colonised 7 villages around Baracoa, Trinidad etc.
· 1523 – Indigenous people wiped out by disease or tortured and forced to hand over the gold they had.
· 1520’s – Spanish brought slaves from Africa, slavery remained until 1886.
· 1520’s – 1868 – Spanish rule. Slave trade, sugar.
· 1762 – British invaded and Cuba became a British colony for 11 months. The British traded Cuba back to Spain in return for Florida in the States. Strange to think that countries/states can be traded just like a commodity.
· 1868 – First war. Cespedes freed his own slaves and encouraged them to fight the Spanish, this lasted only a year (I think) and they failed to conquer the Spanish.
· 1885 - José Marti, a writer and poet, was thinking about planning a war/revolution, he collected funds from the US. War began in Havana on 24 February 1885. José was killed in May. This was a 3 year war.
· 1898 – Maine exploded, the US blamed the Spanish and the US was interested to assist Cuba, the US came and helped Cuba supposedly. There was a treaty between US and Spain, I think the US got Cuba, Guam and Portugal in this deal. The USA helped to create a constitution in Cuba, which enabled them to establish bases in Cuba, eg Guantanamo Bay
· 1902 – 1953 – Many Presidents presided over Cuba and did whatever the US wanted. Poverty and starvation was rife.
· 1953 – Fidel Castro, a lawyer and leader of University Students, attacked a garrison in Santiago de Cuba and failed. Castro escaped to the mountains and was caught. At trial he defended himself with his ‘history will absolve’ statement. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was set free two years later in 1955 due to public pressure. Fidel and Raul went to Mexico and met Chè Guevara, who returned to Cuba with them in 1956 to start the war in Santa Clara.
· 1.1.1959 – the Revolucion took over and Cuba was nationalised. Anyone holding more than 80 acres had their land confiscated to be shared among the people. Everyone got a bit of land. And so began the Castro regime, still in place today under brother Raul.
· 1962 - The Bay of Pigs/ Cuban missile crisis. The US had placed missiles in Turkey, Krushchev asked Castro for use of Cuban land to establish some missile bases. Kennedy sent boats to surround Cuba – the blockade. Negotiations between the two were not friendly, on the verge of war. Finally there was an agreement to move the missiles from both Turkey and Cuba. All of this was done with no reference or discussion with Cuba, Castro felt that Cuba was a pawn, this led to some friction between Cuba and Russia, but the situation remained OK till 1991.
· 1991 – Soviet Union collapses along with the support that Cuba had enjoyed.
· 2006 – Fidel fell ill and Raul was in charge
· 2008 – Raul ‘elected’ and has taken steps to open the country, but the US embargo remains.

This all got way too complex to capture…but you can check it out at: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/cuban-missile-crisis

· Yaniel says that Raul is making changes before they are forced, in other words they know it can’t go on, so he is ensuring that things are still done his way.
· Yaniel also mentioned a courageous young Cuban woman who writes a blog called “Generation Y,” she is monitored continuously by the government, but continues to write. Her name is Yoani Sanchez. You can check it out at: https://generacionyen.wordpress.com/ I am eager to get a chance but no time yet.

Ok here endeth my best attempt at capturing the history lesson.

From Trinidad, we left on time and headed out through the Valle de los Ingenios and Ignaza Manaca again and then onto smaller country roads. This took us through hills and small and medium sized towns which were really busy.

There was everything going on in these places, people everywhere, horses, carts, cars, tractors, bikes, people. Saw one guy with a street stall refilling disposable lighters – it just highlights how much Cubans DON’T have access to, this is most certainly NOT a throw away society.

We stopped at a school for a pic of the ever present José Marti statue.

The school.It is a vacation week this week. NO kids.

Jose San Marti

Jose and I.

One little guy in big gum boots.

Saw many huge Ceiba trees dotting the countryside, some towering above the canopy, a lot like in the Amazon. Chooks, goats, sheep, coffee drying facility along the way.

Then to Santa Clara, the location of the Ché Guevara Memorial. There was a bit of a wait to get in, as the memorial is a sacred and solemn place. We entered the first room – which contain the remains of Ché and a band of his soldiers. Each has a round relief plaque of their face, including one female soldier. There was also an eternal flame. Very well done and a very reverent room.

Then onto a very well curated Museum, which told the story of Ché’s life from childhood as Ernest Ché Guevara, looking at the pictures he was earnest in name and nature. There were letters/postcards he had sent to family members as a child, family photos on holiday, bits and pieces from his education, school reports, university papers, Doctor registration, dentistry equipment he owned. Pictures of him and friends camping, climbing snow peaks, he was an adventurer.

What struck me was how normal his life was, so similar to most of us really.

He joined the army as a Doctor. Became a soldier, when under ambush, he grabbed his gun and bullets in preference to his Doctor's bag.

It was the story of his life really well told.

There were pictures of him (even a selfie taken in a mirror) of him in disguise to escape to Bolivia. Letter, speeches. Very moving in fact. It has fired a bit of an obsession with Ché that goes beyond the many images of him around the country. The museum was actually very moving. He had to run/escape without saying goodbye to young children. He was captured and killed.

The outside area was a huge monument, a statue of Ché and more.

No photos allowed inside.

Huge Cuban flag at the Memorial

Beautifully coloured flowers on this tree and two soldiers for added interest.

Such amazing Autumn tones.

Che memorial.

Me in front of the brilliantly presented relief.

More propoganda - It was a star who put us here.

Che

The Flag.

The whole site.

We stopped at a servo for lunch, finally a Cuban pizza for $1cuc. Also I managed to get a 3 peso CUP (local money) which has Ché on it. Paid for it from the guy collecting tips at the loo.

A public bus.They are usually packed.

Servo - with a new Chinese fire truck.

We travelled on divided 3 lane carriageway for about 3 hours to Varadero. Hardly any cars on good roads.

Passed through interesting areas, mainly agricultural, there were a stack of Agricultural Colleges dotted around – each exactly the same – a Russian building style, in various states of dilapidation, but still in use.

Many different crops along the roadsides – bananas, tangerines, citrus and mango.

Then finally to Varadero, our Casa’s today are so so, I’d rate the one Glenda, Margot and I are at as 5 out of 10, Suzie and Jeannie’s is slightly better just two houses down. They both have captive birds of prey, which we are not real keen on either.

My Casa in Varadero.

Bedspread from the 40s?

Bathroom.

A friendly neighbour out in our courtyard.

The dog, his chain made him look unfriendly.

One of the larger birds.

A beautiful face, not keen on the tethering tho.

Our Casa.

The dog chilling out.

Quickly into togs, Varadero is a beach resort town, we walked to the beach for a quick dip – well Glenda and I dipped right in, Suzie about 1/3 and Jeannie about 1/5 wet. The water is beautiful azure blue and warm. This is Cuba’s Cancun, lots of hotels and it’s all about the beach and the resort.

Home via the shops for some water, Yaniel couldn’t find any to purchase today.

Varadero beach.

Jeannie and Suzie

The view from our Cabana, we were only there for 10 mins max.

Dinner tonight just around the corner at Varadero 60, a place with lots of old tin signs etc. I braved the Pulpo Carbeno (Octopus Caribbean) with the others having fish, prawns, oysters, croquettes. Everything was top notch. Mavis, our waitress was fantastic. The 2 piece band plus computer, kept us well entertained musically.