The ethics of vacationing in Cuba
National Post, 15 June 2022
Is it morally acceptable to vacation in the island jail known as Cuba?
If Canadians care about where their comestibles comes from, ought they care where they go on vacation, as well? The ubiquity of ethically sourced coffee, free-range chickens, dolphin-friendly tuna and pesticide-free pomegranates suggests that a great number of people realize that the decisions they make as consumers — like all free choices — are moral choices.
Is it morally acceptable to vacation in the island jail known as Cuba? Lots of Canadians do. Some 40 per cent of all tourists in Cuba are Canadians. Perhaps some are drawn by the ideological devotion of “the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for ‘el Comandante,’ ” as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gushed through his grief upon the death of Fidel Castro.
But most go to loll on the lovely Cuban beaches. For my part, I resolved years ago to never go on holiday in Cuba as long as the Castro regime was in power. It wasn’t much of a sacrifice though. I get bored on the beach by the second hour and don’t like the heat. Beach vacations at an all-inclusive resort are not really suited to an avid indoorsman who rarely takes a second drink. Yet if I was forced to go, I would go elsewhere.
Happily, Fidel is dead and Raul Castro retired last year as first secretary of the Cuban Communist party. Miguel Diaz-Canel is now president. Yet the repression did not relent — same regime, different tyrant.
Last July, long-suffering Cubans — exasperated by a lack of food and medicines, despite Castro’s supposed health-care success — massively took to the streets to demand liberty. The brutality of the regime’s response no doubt stirred up fond memories of the beloved Comandante himself. Protesters were rounded up and many were frog-marched through sham trials and sentenced to decades in prison.
I wrote recently about Latin America’s backsliding on the freedom agenda of the late 20th century. Providentially, this week, Cuban freedom activists launched a campaign to get Canadians to think about Cuban liberty before they slide down there in search of some sun. Freedom for the Cuban people is at least as important as freedom for Canadian poultry.
I was pleased to meet them this week and hear firsthand about the dynamics of tyrant-friendly tourism.
“We are convinced the timing is right for Canadians to consider the small but concrete actions they can take to help Cubans find freedom,” said Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, the general secretary of the Cuban Democratic Directorate. He is part of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, a coalition of human rights groups inside and outside Cuba that is leading the campaign UnLockCuba.org, which was launched this week in France, Spain, Italy and Canada.
“Year after year, decade after decade, the regime has lorded over our people and has done so with the financial support of individuals, business and even governments that are not aware of the realities on the island.”
The United States and the financial remittances of Cuban-Americans have the greatest impact upon Cuba, to be sure. But other factors — including Canadian tourists — have an impact, too.
“The Cuban military almost exclusively owns the resorts and hotels and are the ones who see 80 to 90 per cent of the money, not the Cuban people,” claimed Gutiérrez-Boronat.
Older readers will recall the opprobrium that was heaped upon the Sun City resort in South Africa. In 1985, Little Steven of the E Street Band assembled a collection of musical superstars to record “I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City.” The resort was a world-class destination, but the artists argued that to play Sun City was to endorse the apartheid regime and to enrich those it empowered.
Are the sunny beaches of Cuba any different? There is a functional apartheid at work, not divided by race but by dollars. Until about 10 years ago, local Cubans were banned from frequenting the resorts as customers. Now, they can, but can’t afford it and are harassed if they do. The resorts are for foreigners. The regime desires their hard currency and the resorts are luxury camps designed to hide the reality of Cuba.
Continue reading at the National Post.