Dreams of Cuba, Realities of Misery

I went to Cuba years ago. There were no signs of an economic crisis in Turkey yet. 

The "good old days" when we were even thinking about going to Cuba.

Only economists who knew their business were circulating predictions like "we are walking on thin ice."

But not many people were paying attention.

The liberals had gone wild.

They were squandering the foreign funds they received on nights out after appearing on television every evening.

They were busy trying to acquire property and assets.

They had incredible credibility at the banks.

There are even those who buy mansions.

When they view those who want to protect their country, homeland, borders, honor, and dignity as primitive, barbaric, backward, and unevolved, and curse them twenty-four hours a day. 

And those doing the cursing are not Michael, George, Hans, or Helga, but circumcised men named Ahmet, Mehmet, Hasan, and Mustafa, and Sunni women named Ayşe, Emine, and Hatice.

If you want to learn their real names, type “let such and such be deepened” into Google.

You will immediately find the full list of these “hollow intellectuals” who are Turkish on the outside but infidels on the inside.

Anyway, let's not stray from the topic.

Putin and Merkel are flirting via Turkey. The gas energy from Siberia that has been vanishing into thin air for years is now having a love affair with the German euro.

Gas is coming, euros are going, through the pipelines.

Meanwhile, a famous artist of ours claims they are going to Cuba, the welfare state of their dreams, for treatment, only to later seek refuge with Turkish doctors and be forced to announce that they were treated in Turkey.

In some of our cities, 'Jose Marti Cuba Friendship Associations' are being established. The place is overflowing with Cuba enthusiasts.

Advertisements for tours to Cuba frequently catch our eyes in newspapers and on social media.

Naturally, we are influenced as well.

Capitalism is cursed, and the adoration for the welfare state of Cuba is brought to the forefront.

As for me, I do not look favorably upon 'savage capitalism' or 'brutal capitalism,' and I curse them as much as I can.

I know well what it has reduced its citizens to. I have witnessed many times how even a simple dental procedure can turn into a nightmare.

Anyway, I couldn't resist and searched for a conference held in Cuba. 

Since we are accustomed to traveling for free, our habit of paying for fabricated tours has been lost in the evolutionary process.

However, a talent for attending fabricated conferences has developed.

With tickets I received as part of a project, I arrived in Havana after a long flight with a layover in Paris.

The plane was packed to the brim. Almost all of them were men. Looking at their types, you can tell that many of them are middle-aged or older, financially well-off, but strange European men.

I won't go into too much detail, lest I be added to Europe's banned passenger list.

You get the idea.

Anyway, I traveled quite a bit during the 10 days I spent in Cuba.

I stayed in Havana for a few days.

A city without infrastructure, where filth flows into the streets.

An embargoed city where poor, neglected, and unhealthy people occupy every street corner, trying to entertain tourists and scrape together a few dollars.

A tropical capital founded by the Spanish in 1550. 

A theatrical city where world-famous cigars are sold for $300 in official shops, but for $30 in the depths of dilapidated houses, having been pilfered from the very shops where the sellers work.

I should note that in those depths, they are not just selling stolen cigars; they are also peddling other things to wealthy Europeans. 

In the citizens' pockets is a card they call a "Ration," similar to the "ration books" we know from the World War II era, provided by the state.

Because it is a welfare state, it provides its citizens with only enough rice, soap, meat, and bread to last a week.

For the remaining three weeks, everyone is left to fend for themselves.

How, you ask?

They will pilfer from the official retail stores.

The place is crawling with tourists.

Cubans work as servants in the luxury restaurants where tourists dine.

When they get hungry, they eat unhygienic, stomach-churning food at places they call cooperatives in the back alleys.

Since they do not have the currency known as 'CUC'—which is converted for tourists at the airport upon entry—they have nothing in their pockets that could be called money.

The welfare state has also provided its citizens with homes and cars.

However, only to a privileged segment.

And that was only after waiting for years.

Since the weather was beautiful and the country was cheap, I wanted to visit other cities as well.

I traveled to tourist cities like Santa Clara, Varadero, and Viñales.

Santa Clara is a city with an important place in the Cuban Revolution and is also the site where Ernesto "Che" Guevara's tomb is located. Santa Clara is mentioned in the song "Hasta Siempre," written for Che.

The island nation of Cuba is rich both above and below the surface.

Varadero has a magnificent beach. The sea is pristine, deep blue, and clear as glass.

Just like in our southern region, there are all-inclusive hotels.

But for some reason, there are no Cubans in the hotels.

And those who are there are either guards, waiters, or cleaners.

Viñales has magnificent forests. It is a lush, cool, mountainous region.

In other words, it is just like the Black Sea region.

There are not many Cubans.

And those who are there are either guards, waiters, or cleaners.

Oil is gushing from underground.

Everywhere is an oil well.

But the Cuban is a cleaner, a guard, a beggar.

As for those of suitable age and physique, they are either clowns or entertainment tools used to regulate the testosterone levels of Europeans.