Cuba: A beautiful island trapped in time – and a chance for change
About 10 years ago, the National Newspaper Association sent a delegation of American publishers to Cuba on what was described as a study mission.
We applied for visas, uncertain whether we would even be accepted. To our surprise, approval came through. Nearly 20 of us traveled first to Cancun, Mexico, spent the night, and then flew to Havana the following day.
We stayed in a downtown hotel owned by Spaniards – a reminder that while Cuba remains politically isolated, foreign investment, particularly from Spain, is still very much present. That was striking from a historical standpoint. After all, it was Americans, including Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, charging up San Juan Hill, who helped drive Spain out of Cuba more than a century ago. Yet today, Spanish influence has returned in a very real economic way.
From there, we traveled across the island.
What we found was a country of sharp contrasts – beautiful, historic and deeply troubled.
One of the most meaningful parts of the trip was our time at the José Martí School of Journalism. About six of us served as guest instructors for several days, speaking with students about free enterprise, a free press and the American system. The students were bright, curious and eager to understand a world beyond their own.
During the visit, we also met with a high-ranking Communist Party official. Conversations were candid and, at times, surprising. On a bus ride across the countryside, one senior Cuban official shared his belief that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was tied to lingering anger from the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Whether one agrees or not, it underscores how deep those events still resonate in Cuba.
We visited the monument to Che Guevara – a large, respected site where visitors are required to remove their shoes. In many ways, Guevara remains even more popular than Fidel Castro among the Cuban people.
But it was not the monuments that left the strongest impression. It was the poverty.
At the time, the average Cuban earned about $15 a month. We saw people fishing not just for sport, but for survival – and to supply struggling local restaurants. Prostitution was widespread. Pharmacies lacked even basic medicines. Water ran through broken streets, and once-grand colonial homes stood in decay, their windows shattered and doors hanging open.
And yet, it is a beautiful island.
We passed fertile fields where oranges lay rotting on the ground – not because the land failed, but because there was no incentive to harvest them. No reward for the work. It was one of the clearest illustrations I have ever seen of a system that simply does not function.
Transportation told its own story. Hitchhiking is common – even expected. We saw large trucks, including coal trucks, carrying people as makeshift buses. The cars were another reminder of time standing still – classic American vehicles from the 1950s, carefully maintained and still running decades after the revolution, alongside aging Russian imports.
At the time, Cuba was heavily dependent on oil from Venezuela, though we also saw Canadian-operated oil activity on the western side of the island. Again, foreign players are helping sustain a struggling system.
Despite everything, Cuba projects its influence beyond its borders. We were told the country had sent some 32,000 doctors to nations across Latin America and Africa. It was a striking contrast – Cuba, with so little, extending its reach globally while the United States often steps back.
That reality gives pause.
Cuba today stands as a powerful example of the failures of centralized economic control. Once a thriving producer of sugar, tobacco and coffee, the island has fallen into hardship since the 1959 revolution.
And yet, the potential remains enormous.
Cuba was the home of Ernest Hemingway – a country of natural beauty, historic architecture and a people full of resilience and pride. With the right changes, Cuba could once again become a vibrant destination for Americans and a strong economic partner.
The United States should not invade Cuba. But it should engage – economically, diplomatically and strategically.
With leaders like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who understands Cuba personally, there may be an opportunity – perhaps the best in decades – to move toward meaningful change.
Even today, with recurring blackouts and ongoing hardship, the need is clear.
Cuba does not need isolation.
It needs a path forward.
And if handled wisely, that path could benefit not only the Cuban people but also the United States.