¡Viva Cuba Verde!

 

by Pa Rock

Baggage Handler

Looking back from the sunset of my life, I note with sadness that I missed some opportunities along the way and spent too much time involved in things of little importance.  But I also experienced some resounding successes:  three very fine children and a half-dozen grandchildren, progeny to carry the family well into the future, an impressive pile of genealogy research, several successful careers - most of which were in direct service to others, a monumental blog covering personal, political, and cultural history, along with tales of travel - and it is in travel where many of my best memories are rooted.

One of my favorite trips abroad, and also the most recent, was less than a one-hour flight from Orlando, Florida.  In the spring of 2016 I traveled with a group from The Nation magazine to Cuba and spent a week on the ground meeting the people and absorbing Cubano culture.  It was an experience of a lifetime.  The large island nation was in the process of opening its long-closed doors to the United States.  The entire Obama family, including Michele's mother, had been there two weeks before my group arrived, Fidel Castro was still alive but had retired from governing, and his younger brother, Raoul was in charge.

Cuba was not the overt military-police state that I had been conditioned by decades of Cold War to expect.  The police presence, even in downtown Havana, was small and less than obvious, and I only saw a handful or so of uniformed members of the Cuban military during my stay.  Commercial activity was brisk, with everyone trying to make a dollar, especially off of the newly arriving American tourists, and the people were outgoing and friendly.  The political leaders, ours and theirs, were the ones who had had issues with one another for decades, but the ordinary people were fine and dealt with each other in chatty conversations about day-to-day life ahd their shared joys and concerns.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the island was the ubiquitous presence of big American cars from the mid-twentieth century, all of which were being driven on the island when the revolution occurred in 1959 - and eventually caused Cuba to lose access to the US car market.  The antique cars, many of which shined with constant polishing, were everywhere, and many served as independent taxis ferrying tourists about, with the rides in the big-finned vehicles being every bit as exciting and enticing as the ultimate destinations.

But those cars were not only "classic" in make and style, they were classic "gas guzzlers" as well, manufactured at a time when regular gas in the United States sold for around 25 cents a gallon.  Gas-guzzling vehicles do not translate well into modern times, especially when Trump has Cuba under an oil embargo as his administration is trying to wreck the island's economy and crush the peoples' spirit.

But like most other things Trump does, this attempt to starve the people into a submissive state where they are forced to beg for US aid, or political domination, is beginning to fizzle.  In fact, the Trump administration's heavy hand on Cuba seems to be forcing rapid innovation and a move toward a greener economy.  While Trump bathes in political donations from the fossil fuel (oil and gas) industry - and tries to defund and destabilize solar and wind projects - and electric vehicles - Cuba is joining the rest of the educated and civilized world and going green as quickly as possible.

Yesterday there was an article in the New York Times highlighting Cuba's speedy transition to green energy.  The big, classic cars from the 1950's are being parked and replaced with electric motorcycles - and electric rickshaws from China.  (I looked it up:  Electric rickshaws resemble three-wheeled golf carts that might have been designed by Henry Ford.)

The NY Times article also said that the Cubans are importing large lithium batteries to keep fans and televisions running, adapting generators to run on natural gas which is more available that regular gas, and installing solar panels on rooftops and even on vehicles!

The more I think about it, the more I can see myself navigating an electric rickshaw with solar panels up and down Porter Wagoner Boulevard in West Plains, Missouri.  Those kids on their damned electric skateboards had better make room - because Pa Rock is coming through!  

¡Viva Cuba Verde!