Cuba, one of the few countries that still has a communist regime. And also a dictator with the associated misery. Censorship, secret service, fear…. But not everything is bad about the 1959 revolution. The position of women developed positively.
Havana, the Cuban capital, has the oldest colonial city center in South America. In 2012, little is left of the old glory. Many old, dilapidated buildings that were once inhabited by a wealthy elite. Now the rooms are divided among several poor families and the buildings are completely worn out.
Although the houses are shabby, the people look healthy. In Cuba, health care is free and basic food is also largely subsidized by the communist regime. There is little material possession, but people enjoy music and each other's company. Elderly men and women are not inferior to the young. Everyone flirts and dances to the music of the many salsa bands in the city.
All in all, not a bad impression of a country that is counted among the Third World countries. But there is a downside. Tourism, which has taken off again since the 1990s, is creating inequality on the socialist island. Prostitution is also flourishing again.
Women's rights
Women have never had much to say in Cuba's macho culture. Until well after the colonial years, in 1902 Cuba became independent from Spain, marriage and having children was the only option for a better future.
The women's lives took place at home and the men enjoyed themselves in the streets. In the 19th century, at a congress of leaders of the independence movement, Ana Betancourt first demanded equal rights for women. This gave rise to a feminist movement that fought for women's suffrage:this succeeded in 1934.
During these years, the island was unofficially owned by the United States and a favorite vacation spot for wealthy Americans. A nice climate with a lot of gambling, sex and of course alcohol, which had been banned in the US since the 1920s. Cuba was a paradise paradise, but the profits disappeared into the pockets of the mafia.
In the slums of Havana and in the countryside, there was abject poverty. For many girls, especially the black girls from the lowest classes, there was no other option than to go into prostitution to support their family.
Ideals of the Revolution
A group of young idealists were tired of America's exploitation of the poor. Led by the charismatic Fidel Castro, a group of young people unleashed a guerrilla war in the 1950s. After the failed coup d'état in 1953, the revolutionaries managed to take Havana on January 1, 1959 and oust the pro-American dictator Batista.
The ideals of the new rulers were beautiful:equality for all, unknown race or gender and the elimination of the gap between rich and poor. The idealistic plans were immediately executed.
The revolutionaries drove out American landowners and provided work for the population. Homes, schools, health care and childcare facilities were erected. Man and woman were equal so they both had to develop through education and work. The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) was founded in 1960 to eliminate the disadvantage of women.
In addition to all kinds of practical provisions, this also resulted in progressive legislation such as the Family Code from 1975. The man was no longer seen as the head of the family and the law regulated matters concerning family, marriage, divorce, alimony and guardianship on an equal footing. way.
Prostitution was a thing of the past. Without poverty there would be no prostitution. The revolution allowed women to continue their education and become doctors, mechanics and politicians.
The prostitutes before the revolution were seen as victims of the rotten capitalist system and were able to receive education in special training farms at the expense of the state. There the women learned self-esteem and a trade or study.
After the fall of the Soviet Union
The socialist measures cost a lot of money and Cuba was boycotted by the United States for fear of communism. Soon the communist Soviet Union set itself up as a lifesaver. They massively bought sugar, Cuba's most important export product, provided cheap oil and pumped billions in subsidies into the island.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of the Eastern Bloc, Cuba lost its main lender. Isolated by the US in the world trade market, Castro was stuck. The island had to do its own thing and become self-sufficient.
The state instituted the Special Period and this meant rations for everyone. Long lines for food stores, a shortage of medicines, teaching materials, fuel and a faltering public transport and electricity network.
Since 1995, companies were allowed to be bought by foreigners again to rake in foreign capital. Entrepreneurs and the government invested massively in tourism. The little money was used to improve the facilities for the tourists and they got the best food. Holidaymakers were kept separate from the population as much as possible and paid with a separate currency, the CUC (Cuban Peso Convertible).
A Cuban doctor now earns several tens of euros a month while the waitresses bring in a lot more in tips that have been pushed back. The black market is thriving and because of illegal trade the social structure of Cuba is shaped like an inverted pyramid. Low-skilled people who profit from the black market are more prosperous than academics and intellectuals.
Everyone who has a car through the government plays a taxi driver and highly educated women start working as chambermaids, which means that important knowledge is lost to the economy. Prostitution is again a very common phenomenon in Cuba. This is a thorn in the side of the Cuban government.
She acknowledges the existence of prostitution, but explains that this only concerns fallen women. In theory, prostitution is not a necessity because of socialist system. In practice, this way of life is for many women the only option for any form of prosperity.
Despite women's emancipation and the promotion of love-based marriage, 50% of households are single mothers (2004).
Prostitution visible again
Cuba has had new lenders for several years now and the economy is doing better. Friendly Venezuela pumps billions of cheap oil into the island and communist China, in addition to subsidies, mainly supplies many goods from its own make. The enormous shortages, mainly in food, have already been reduced.
However, luxury goods are still not for many Cubans. The shops for foreigners are full, but these items cannot be paid for with a normal salary or the local currency. Many poor people who have been given opportunities through the revolution that they would never have had otherwise, such as an education, home and pension, still stand behind Castro.
It is mainly the young people who no longer see much in the faltering system. But fleeing is difficult:Cubans who try to leave the country end up in prison. In addition to prostitution for money, many Cubans, both men and women, try to find a foreign partner. Marriage is one of the few options to get out of their peeling golden cage.