The Revolution in Modern Cuba

The new President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel has vowed to continue the revolution started by Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara. This came as a surprise to me. I had visited Cuba in 2017 and lived with a Cuban family during my 10-day stay there. I visited several places, including where Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote his novels, and Santa Clara, where a small team led by Che Guevara defeated the attack by mercenaries, cementing Castro’s regime. Santa Clara is an important place to visit because it memorialises Che Guevara, who in my view, was a true leader, fighting for the Latin American cause and not just for the cause of Cubans.

During my time spent in the country, visiting several places, I found that Cuba was on the verge of becoming an open, market-oriented country with tourists flocking from all over the world. The bars were filled with tourists interested in listening to jazz, smoking Cuban cigars and drinking Cuban rum. It was safe to travel anywhere during the day as well as at night. With so many tourists free to travel, capitalism seemed to have entered Cuba. So, it came as a surprise to read Díaz-Canel’s statement that the revolution will continue.