This page aims to explore the apartheid applied in Cuba by the regime of Fidel Castro whereby Cuban nationals are physically separated and treated differently (worse) than foreigners be they residents in Cuba or "normal" or "health" tourists (including those in international programs like the Venezuelan airlift).

There are three main (intertwined) forms of apartheid in Cuba:

Tourist apartheid: the segregation between tourist in Cuba most clearly seen in the beach resorts like the islands (cayos) that are completely off limit to Cubans that do not live or work on the island. Hotels, bars, restaurants and other tourist facilities (up to beaches) are declared "tourist only". Unaccompanied Cubans (and even those with foreigners) are not allowed to enter these facilities.

Medical or health apartheid: whole hospitals (or floors - wings) of hospitals are reserved for "health tourists" only. These facilities then benefit of all investment needed and are fully stocked with medical supplies which both are totally lacking in the "Cuban" section of the health system.

Information apartheid: foreigners resident in Cuba have access satellite dishes, e-mail, internet and cell phones access to which is prohibited or subject to heavy restrictions for Cubans.

I. Tourist apartheid.


Even in 2005 the Cuban economy is still recovering from a dramatic decline in gross domestic product of at least 35% between 1989 and 1993 due to the loss of Soviet subsidies. To alleviate the economic crisis, in 1993 and 1994 the government introduced a few market-oriented reforms, including opening to tourism, allowing foreign investment, legalizing the dollar, and authorizing self-employment for some 150 occupations.

Cuba experienced a surge in foreign tourist visits over the following 15 years, from a few thousand in 1990 to 2.3 million (Cuban official estimate) in 2005. By the mid 1990s tourism surpassed sugar, long the backbone of the Cuban economy, as the primary source of foreign exchange. Tourism is a main part of the Cuban Government's plans for development, and a top official cast is at the "heart of the economy." Havana devotes significant resources to building new tourist facilities and renovating historic structures for use in the tourism sector. Tourism accounted for 41% of the monies flowing into Cuba last year (2004) and employed some 200,000 people, 9% of the country's workforce.

By necessity Havana actively sought foreign investment, which often takes the form of joint ventures with the Cuban Government holding half of the equity and management contracts for tourism facilities are given to foreign companies from Europe and the Caribbean. Cuban officials said in early 1998 that there were a total of 332 joint ventures (including other sectors than tourism).

The ideological problem that faced the Cuban regime was simple: how to explain this influx of millions of tourists and their preferential treatment to the Cuban people while "protecting" the people against the influence of these tourists.

The system of so-called "tourist apartheid" was set up giving foreign visitors who paid in hard currency preferential treatment over citizens for food, consumer products, and medical services. Tourist apartheid in Cuba prohibits Cubans from engaging with foreigners by barring them from places as hotels, clubs, and even large trackts of beaches like in Varadero or some of the "cayo's" (islands), which is reserved strictly for tourists.


Some background and comments:



There is another social problem in Cuba closely related to the Bryden's "demonstration effect": Cuban citizens' resentment at being excluded from the new joint venture hotels, captured in the term "tourist apartheid." The government is aware that such exclusion undermines one of its main claims to legitimacy - egalitarianism - and reminds Cubans of the time when all but the elite were turned away from certain beaches and clubs. The exclusion also flatly contradicts Article 43 of the Cuban constitution, which guarantees all Cubans, "without regard to race, skin color, religious belief, or national origin," the right to "lodge themselves in any hotel," "be attended in all restaurants and establishments serving the public," and "enjoy the same spas, beaches, social clubs, and other centers of sport, recreation, and leisure" (author's translation).
The degree of citizen outrage is evident in the remark of a vigorous Castro supporter, who over a three-year acquaintanceship had never criticized the regime. This autumn he remarked that once while jogging on the beach he had been stopped by a guard for a joint venture hotel, who said only foreigners were permitted on the next section of sand. Furious, he told the guard that Cuban beaches are for Cubans, and kept on jogging.
The anger was also evident in an April 1992 article published by Lisandro Otero, vice president of Cuba's National Union of Writers and Artists in Le Monde Diplomatique. The article, viewed by many observers as a protest document, remarked that tourism has substantial drawbacks including "the appearance of tourist oasis to which the Cubans themselves, the victims of segregation, have no access, resulting in great discontent." A young hitchhiker used more straightforward language when he told Washington Post reporter Lee Hockstader in May 1992, "Obviously it's unfair. They get the best, we get what's left." A few months later a nondissident Cuban academic dining at a hard currency-only restaurant told another Washington Post correspondent, Douglas Farah, "Can you imagine, I cannot even eat here without a foreigner, and this is a revolutionary government. We are not even allowed to go to the best beaches - they took the best beaches from us. Of course this creates great tensions. If this is not tourist apartheid, what is it?"

See: "The Sociological Impact of Rising Foreign Investment", Gillian Gunn, Jan 1993.





"It's easy to forget when in this largest of the Caribbean countries that it's the 21st century, the digital era that has brought dizzying advances in technology, household furnishings and all things material. The complexities and amenities of modern life seem to have largely bypassed the inhabitants of the island, which is inescapably tied to its volatile political past. That's not to say vacationers don't enjoy the benefits of modern technology. Tourism is now the country's biggest industry, and visitors to the many three-to-five-star resorts can pamper themselves not only with sun-drenched white beaches, but also with nearly all the imported advances of the 21st century. Most hotels have air conditioning and offer their own Internet cafes, although connections are of glacial speed. Satellite television beams in the latest from CNN and HBO. Of course, under the watchful guise of Fidel Castro, Cubans aren't allowed to be "corrupted" by the values portrayed in American television, and must settle for rabbit-ear reception of state-controlled television -- if they can afford television at all. They aren't even allowed to set foot into many of the zones designated by the Cuban government as solely for tourists and resort staff. Indeed, Cuba is a tale of two worlds, one artificially created to resemble a sunlover's paradise and another engineered to be a socialist's paradise but in the end came up short. It's no accident the two remain out of sync. Beach resorts in the towns of Varadero and Cayo Coco feature guarded checkpoints to ensure the worlds don't collide."



See:

A tale of two realities - Cuba, Darcy Keith, CanWest News Service, October 11, 2005

 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaVerdad/message/18316



"Perhaps worst are the tourist hotels, beaches, and clubs that are simply off-limits to Cubans -- sort of a bizarre tourist apartheid."



See:  http://www.leler.com/cuba/



"One of the most disconcerting aspects of contemporary Cuba is the government's creation of exclusive "foreigner-only" tourism zones where Cuban nationals aren't welcome. Effectively, there are two Cubas, a reality that reeks of something akin to tourism apartheid, as many observers have noted."



Source:  http://travel.nytimes.com/frommers/travel/guides/caribbean-and-bermuda/cuba/frm_cuba_3173020876.html



"A Bridge So Far--To declare that Cayo Coco and Guillermo are only nominally connected to the rest of Cuba is no exaggeration. One has to pass a guarded checkpoint ($2 toll each way) to access the pedraplén that bridges the distance between the mainland and the cays. The only Cubans allowed to pass the checkpoint are the 3,500 employees of the resort hotels or others with official work business there. If you are driving a rental vehicle, your car may be inspected to insure that you are not transporting any Cuban interlopers. A few Cubans who are the lucky beneficiaries of special vacations from the state are also allowed access. When people talk about Cuba's penchant for creating apartheid-like tourist sites, the northern cays are often cited as a prime example."


Source:  http://www.frommers.com/destinations/cayococoandcayoguillermo/3195010001.html


"The best beaches (Cayo Coco), even if deserted are between (Cayo Santa Maria), and closed to Cubans."


Source:  http://www.cubaclimbing.com/travel.htm



"The Government tries to limit the effect of tourism by keeping the population as separate as possible from the tourists. The tourist industry is made in a way that allows tourists to enjoy their vacation without ever leaving their isolated areas. As a result tourists often have no idea of the internal structure of society and conclude that Cubans are poor but generally happy. Some even find Cuba to be a paradise. When they ask the (almost exclusively white) personnel of a their hotel for good local places to eat or drink they are directed to state-owned venues and are driven in state-owned taxis. If they ask to visit local private establishments, they are told that these places are not up to international standards. Tourists who does not believe this argument has to resort to asking one of the lobby attendants or people on the streets, as hotels do not officially give out this information. Private accommodations, with a few exceptions, are not allowed to advertise and are not promoted by the Government. As a result the Government is able to take in most of the profit made from this industry.

Cubans are not allowed to enjoy the new tourist industry because it has become de facto the sole purview of foreigners. Through a series of physical restrictions imposed on Cubans, the government is able to maintain what is known as 'tourism apartheid'. As is generally known, Cubans are not allowed to visit most of the tourist areas or even enter a hotel; and if they do, they must be in the company of a foreigner. Cubans are even gradually losing their beaches and beautiful reefs because the Government continues to discriminate against them. The old and newly discovered beaches are being transformed into virtual Caribbean paradises that are only accessible for those who have dollars and are not Cuban. They are also not allowed to travel outside of their area of residence without official permission. Even if they had the permission, their income does not allow them to stay or eat in tourist places. One night in a hotel or dinner at a restaurant would cost them several months' income. In private, Cubans repeatedly expressed their anger at being treated like second-class citizens in their own country, and they accused the government of harassment when they are seen interacting too much with foreigners."



Source: Pax Christi



How to get around it:



"And this trick works the other way too! If I want to pass any Cuban friend into any hotel, or onto a prohibited beach area, or wherever- When we approach the guard, I get involved in a rapid fire conversation with my friend, something like, "If you're not feeling up to it right now, we could rest for a while before getting something to eat, or would you rather go out and look for something now?" The longer the sentence the better. My Cuban friend knows in advance to say 'not now' when I pause. Then I go on with another couple of hundred words, and when I pause, my friend says "OK then". The trick is to pay no attention whatsoever to the guy doing the inspection, like you are so involved in a discussion that as far as you two are concerned he doesn't exist.
It seems that very few guards dare to break up what seems to be an important conversation between 2 yumas, especially when the 'Cuban yuma' appears to understand really rapid fire English! (or Italian, French or even Dutch)"