We were up, fed, and on the bus at 7:00 this morning anticipating a day on the road. We pulled away from the hotel just as the city was coming to life.

It was interesting to see the countryside. The divided highway was not busy at all (fuel shortages) even if you count the horse-drawn carts, scooters, bicycles, and buses. The roads were in great shape and the countryside green.

We stopped in the geographic center of Cuba to explore Santa Clara, a city known for its revolutionary history and connections with Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentinian by birth and a physician, author, guerilla leader, diplomat, political activist, and military theorist by trade. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Guevara came to Cuba, rose to second-in-command during the Cuban Revolution, and played a pivotal role in the two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the corrupt U.S.-backed Fulgencio Batista regime in favor of the Soviet-aligned socialist state of Fidel Castro.

After the Cuban Revolution ended in 1958, Guevara played key roles in the new government before moving on to do good works in Central America and Eastern Europe. After his remains and those of 16 other freedom fighters were discovered in a mass grave in Bolivia, he was buried here in October 1997 with full military honors. We heard his story, visited his gorgeous memorial and imposing statue, and enjoyed the small museum built to honor his life and legacy.

After lunch, we were off to Abuelitos de Fiesta, a vibrant social club for seniors in Santa Clara. Three women and three men demonstrated a couple of dances; explained how, back in the day, young women accompanied by chaperones used to use fans to communicate with prospective or current love interests; and then asked us to join them in a dance.

We passed the time on the bus napping; watching videos about sugarcane, the American mob influence in Cuba, and Castro; and listening to commentary centered around questions we asked our Cuban guide, Vladimir. We arrived at our destination, Camaguey, around 7:00 and went straight to dinner before checking into our charming hotel, a former monastery named Hotel San Juan de Dios. Thank goodness our luggage was delivered, because our room is on the third floor.

… Historical Overview …

Indigenous South Americans arrived in Cuba around the year 1000
and developed a culture and economy based on the cultivation of maize, tobacco, yucca, and cotton.

Christopher Columbus is the first European to lay eyes on Cuba.
He explored the northern coast and claimed the island for Spain in 1492.

Slaves were imported from Africa in 1526 to work the tobacco fields.
Eventually sugar became an important crop that made brutal demands on the enslaved.

Slavery was abolished in Cuba in 1886.

The United States supported Cuba’s war of independence (Spanish-American War) after Spain was blamed for an explosion aboard the USS Maine anchored in Havana Harbor.
At war’s end, control of Cuba passed from Spain
to the United States, not to Cuba, (say what?) in January 1899.

Cuba’s newly drafted constitution was approved in June 1901.
It contained provisions imposed by the U.S.
Among other things the provisions stated that Cuba would lease naval stations to the U.S.,
and if necessary, permit the U.S. to intervene in Cuban affairs of state
in order to preserve Cuban independence and/or assist its government
if it seemed inadequate to protect life and property.

Three and a half years after the end of the Spanish-American War,
with its new constitution in place, Cuba elected its first president.
One semi-corrupt president after another put his unique stamp on the country until January 1959.

In spite of numerous ups and downs, not to mention the debilitating global depression of the 1920s, the presidential years offered Cuba long periods of prosperity, calm, and national unity
thanks to the global demand for sugar; a blossoming tourist industry embraced predominately by Americans; expat communities, predominately American; casinos; baseball training camps; warm winters; no prohibition laws; fishing; beaches; nightlife; and relative lack of racial tension.

The last president stepped down/fled in January 1959 when Fidel Castro took over.

The early days of Castro’s administration were marked by triumphal visits
to neighboring countries including the United Staes which immediately recognized
the legitimacy of the 33-years old’s new government.

This love fest was short lived, however, once Cuba entered into a trade pact
with the Soviet Union in February 1960.
Things continued to deteriorate and in January 1961
President Eisenhower severed diplomatic relations with Havana.

Between 1959 and 1993 an estimated 1.2 million Cubans fled to the United States.
Most settled in Miami, Florida.

In 1960 Cuba allied itself with the Soviet Union, instituted communism,
and nationalized all businesses, including U.S. businesses.