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University Daily Kansan Wednesday, Jan. 8, 1964
Cuba's Workers Live Lives of Depravity
(Editor's Note: Cubans now have spent five full years under Fidel Castro's communist regime. What is their life like today? Edward Murphy, a Canadian newsman, was in Havana recently for the trial of two Canadians for spying. He tells in the following dispatch what he saw and heard there.)
By Edward Murphy Written for United Press International
OTTAWA—(UPI) — The Cuban worker today is getting by on three ounces of coffee a week and a quarter-bound of butter a month.
He is allowed one shirt a year. Shoes are strictly a luxury.
Fresh meat is virtually unknown at his table, but there is plenty of Russian and Polish sausage—if he can scrape up money to buy it.
THERE IS plenty of milk for children, but little, for adults.
This is the situation I found in Havana when I was admitted there recently to cover the trial of two Canadians on charges of spying against the Fidel Castro government.
I saw much but heard little. Most Cubans I met were reluctant to talk to outsiders.
Although more money is circulating in Cuba than in pre-Castro days, the economy over the last four years has become progressively worse.
THE FOOD SHORTAGE verges on the critical. Many staples are severely rationed. Consumer goods have practically disappeared from store shelves. The Cuban with money in his pocket has little to spend it on.
Spare parts for motor vehicles also are in very short supply.
The overgrown government payroll has become an unwieldy burden for the almost bankrupt administration. Russian capital estimated at
more than a million a half dollars a day is pouring in to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of U.S. capital.
Cuba has a standing army of approximately 50,000 that is taking a large bit of revenues, and militia members numbering around 200,000 receive part-time pay.
EVEN STUDENTS are on the government payroll.
In Havana, most of the supermarkets, restaurants, night clubs and retail stores have closed their doors.
The cafes still open are well patronized, but prices are exorbitant.
At a fashionable night club, a sub-standard meal of salad, chicken stew with rice, ice cream, cake and coffee costs $15.
At a more modest place we paid $13 for five ham sandwiches.
GUESTS at the Capri Hotel in downtown Havana are required to show their room keys before being admitted to the dining room. Prices at the Capri are high and the food poor by American standards.
Breakfast of dry toast, sausage meat and hot chocolate came to $5.
The cocktail lounge of the same hotel does a booming evening business. But a bottle of day-old Cuban rum sells for $22, and if you know the waiter well enough he will get you a package of American cigarettes for $5.
But gay Cubans, undismaised by high prices and lack of food, jam the Capri lounge nightly.
MOST HAVANA night spots formerly owned by Americans have closed. Directly across from the Capri hotel, the once famous playspot of rich Americans, Club 21, is deserted and shuttered.
ders, bald tires, chipped paint and no mufflers.
Broken-down cars, trucks and buses are a common sight on city streets. All automobiles seem to be in a state of disrepair -missing fen-
Abandoned cars are stripped o their parts right on the streets.
Russia is supplying Cuba with gas and oil since the American blockade 13 months ago. But Russian gas is too low in octane and Russian oil is too thin for Cuba's torrid climate. The leaking oil covers streets and sidewalks with a thick, gooey film that sticks to your shoes and clothing.
THE ACRID ODOR hangs in the air.
Cuba's prime industry is still agriculture. But distribution and crop prices are rigidly controlled by the revolutionary government, and with few price incentives, the farmer is reluctant to produce more than he needs—except for the black market, which still flourishes.
From an approaching airplane, Cuba is a thing of exotic beauty. A peaceful paradise, from all appearances.
But as the Cubana airliner began its descent over Havana's Jose Marti Airport, I watched a ring of black dots on the beaches become anti-aircraft rockets.
AT THE AIRPORT after surrendering my passport I was requested to change my American dollars for Cuban pesos. The rate is even—one peso for one dollar.
Students in Cuba wear the militia uniform. They begin their training at age 8, when they are placed in large boarding homes.
These homes, in the fashionable Havana suburbs, formerly were owned by Cubans and Americans who have fled the Castro government.
Estimates of Russian troops in Cuba vary from 1,000 to 1,500. Regulations forbid the fraternizing of Russians with the Cuban population and the Soviets for the most part are confined to their bases.
BUT RUSSIAN technicians are a fairly common sight on city streets,
especially in the evenings and on weekends.
Despite the hardships, Cubans remain a gay, vivacious lot. They enjoy night life, the theatre and gambling. Downtown Havana is surrounded with pleasure-seekers most evenings. Although there are few wealthy citizens left, there still is a close knit circle of affluent society.
Deprived of the bulk of their assets, they gather at the few of their clubs still running and talk of the old days before the bearded man from the hills came to power.
ANNUAL WINTER SALE at the TOWN SHOP
WILLIAM H. SULLIVAN JR., president of the Boston Patriots, is serving as president of the American Football League for the 1963 season. A new president is elected each year.
LARGE REDUCTIONS!! 25% and 331/3%
on
- Suits -
- Sportcoats
- Topcoats
"the SALE everyone waits for!"
- Slacks
- Sweaters
... starts Thursday, Jan. 9, 9:30 a.m.
- Sportshirts
- Carcoats
- London Fog — All weather coats
- Robes - Wash Pants - Vests
- Tuxedos
The Town Shop
DOWNTOWN
Attention SENIOR and GRADUATE MEN Students
VI 3-5755
Attention SENIOR and GRADUATE MEN Students WHO NEED SOME FINANCIAL HELP IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THEIR EDUCATION THIS YEAR AND WILL THEN COMMENCE WORK.
APPLY to STEVENS BROS. FOUNDATION, INC.
A Non-Profit Educational Fdn. 610 Endicott Bldg., St. Paul 1, Minn.
UNDERGRADS, CLIP AND SAVE
839 Mass.