Brave New Traveler on why traveling to Cuba is quintessentially American
Today, July Fourth, is the day that we Americans are required by law (only kidding) to reflect on all the freedoms and liberties we enjoy. I’m certainly glad to live in the United States, but one of my most cherished freedoms is the ability to get the hell out if I want. Not everyone in the world is so lucky.
Though the US government places oftentimes insurmountable barriers in the place of those trying to visit or move to this country, the gummint seems to have its citizens’ backs when it comes to the freedom to leave and return.
Except to Cuba. Though it’s certainly possible for an American citizen to travel to Cuba (you didn’t hear it from me), you might not want to show your vacation photos at the next FBI-sponsored Chili Cook-off.
Over at Brave New Traveler, a site you should probably be reading if you aren’t already, Julie Schwietert Collazo explains why visiting the forbidden fruit of Cuba is one of the most patriotic and American things a person can do. For Julie, it’s all about pushing boundaries and seeing not just what’s out there, but what else is out there. She writes:
America is not simply a nation of immigrants; it is a nation of travelers: Gold rush prospectors pushing their horses to pull wagons across the country in search of riches. Anthropolgists, sociologists, and naturalists convinced they could discover new people, new species, new lifeways.
Settlers who braved rough terrain to push the boundaries of the nation further and further west. And, as the nation progressed, aviators and risk-taking adventurers of all sorts who wanted to explore areas that seemed to exist beyond reach: the sky. Space. The deep sea.
What united all of these travelers was not a simple hedonistic desire to see their country and the world, but to do so as representatives of the United States, traveling on behalf of their fellow Americans. In going, they would share news of America with the world. In returning, they would share news of the world with America.
Read the whole thing here.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
While I’m not sure I agre with every detail of her article, her general philosophy is correct. I would also hope that when certain elites tell us we shouldn’t travel to Burma (even if they have no problems doing so themselves) you would be ready and willing to say it “is one of the most patriotic and American things a person can do”.
Frank
July 7th, 2008 at 8:36 am
As someone who lived in Miami and lived with the Cuban exile community, I can tell you I would never visit Cuba until Castro (Fidel or Raul) is gone and freedom comes to the island. I know far too many people who lost their homes, savings, and their freedom rotting in Castro’s cells. To support his regime is absurd and sickening. Moreover, please dispense with how you are helping the Cuban people by going. Every action you take is carefully monitored and controlled by the Cuban government to maximize the benefit to itself. Only certain stores will accept dollars, and regular Cubans cannot shop there, either because they are not allowed or cannot afford to do so. Also, since traveling to Cuban without permission is a felony, how exactly is one supposed to just pick up and go? I enjoyed how the article glosses over the heinous actions of the Cuban government. Missteps? Thousands jailed or slaughtered and she calls it a misstep? Was her article pre-approved by Castro himself? I’d be offended as a freedom loving American, but what would be the point? I would invite her to speak to some of my older exile friends who spent years in Castro’s gulag or the Brothers to the Rescue pilots who saw their friends blown out of the sky (while in international airspace) for dropping leaflets over Cuba, but I’m afraid her head would explode.
July 7th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
brian – your opinion on the Castro regime is duly noted, but i don’t think julie was approving or condemning the actions or history of the revolution. her article was simply about true freedom in America – which means exercising her right to go and see it for herself.
July 7th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Another thought provoking post by Aaron.
I agree with Frank–this concept applies equally to Burma–and I also suspect it’s no coincidence that country and others got no mention.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Brian
I am sure that your opinion is based on the fact that you probably do not have family in Cuba. I am sure that if you mother, father, or even gradparents would live in Cuba, your view of the issue would be a different one! Trust me, you would do anything to get to Cuba and be able to see your family no matter your political affiliation.
Jake
A Cuban-American from Miami.
July 7th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Visiting Cuba because you have family members is a far cry from the article’s point. She and her husband may be there for family, but she encourages the reader to visit just because we can (when in fact we cannot….) as an exercise in our freedom as Americans. As far as the exile community is concerned, I express my love for Cuban cigars to a classmate, who then explained to me how buying these items benefits a regime that hurt so many people. Moreover, she glosses over the massive human rights abuses of the Cuban government while extolling Cuba’s education system. Somehow, I do not believe torturing dissidents is mitigated by the fact that almost all Cubans can read.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Brian & all-
Thanks for your input– and Aaron, thanks for the excerpt.
Brian, many Cubans who live in Miami are justifiably angry and bitter towards Castro; after all, they were the elite whose wealth was taken from them and redistributed in Castro’s socialist experiment. I’d be angry too. But my article and my personal stance after studying Cuba for years and visiting seven times is that Cuba is far more complex than either right wing Miami exiles would like to convince you and left wing bleeding heart liberals would like you to believe. It’s only something you can begin to understand if you go in person.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:35 am
[…] above yourself.) and (2) a rather heated–and, if I may say so, not so well-informed–response to an article I wrote on July 4 about why travel (and travel to Cuba, specifically) is the most […]