Real Life in Castro's Cuba (Latin American Silhouettes)

Real Life in Castro's Cuba is written by Catherine Moses, who lived and worked in Cuba as a press secretary and spokesperson for the United States from 1995 to 1996. This compelling, compassionate portrait contains personal observations about the Cubans' struggles, triumphs, hopes, and daily compromises to survive. The Cuban population lives with a deteriorating infrastructure, forcing many hardships on the people, including a scarcity of food, fuel, clothing, medicines, and other basic needs.

The author's detailed cultural account of Cuba introduces the reader to everyday Cubans from party officials to dissidents to everyone in between. It shows how Cuba's socialist system works and gives reasons why Fidel Castro is still in power. Real Life in Castro's Cuba also describes the significant role of religion and spirituality in the life of Cubans. Although Moses expresses regret over the state of U.S.-Cuban relations, the purpose of the book is not to choose up sides. Instead, the book is designed simply to introduce readers to real life in Cuba.

The book's unique approach allows an intimate picture of life in a faded Marxist regime. As the author writes, Cuba is a curious mixture of Spanish Caribbean, socialist ideals gone awry, memories of what was, and a desperate need to survive.

This fascinating new book will appeal to all readers who are interested in getting a closer look at what life is like in Cuba today.

Especially irritating is the fact that she mentions numerous individuals, and whether a revered patriot or her kindly next-door neighbor, she describes each in terms as mundane and pointless as skin tone and intelligence level, attributes some blase word or phrase to him or her meant to be clever or all-knowing, then rarely mentions that person again. Worse, her final statement about that person is often something to the effect of, "I'm not sure whatever became of him."

Referring again to the book's generalities, most readers will already know that the Cubans are an oppressed people; that they live in a police state that (like every police state) follows their every move and metes out punishment to those who do not toe the line; that they (like all oppressed peoples) are conflicted by a love for their homeland and the idea of chucking it all for another place and a better existence. Again, in my estimation these are commonsensical, everyday notions. It is not necessary to have lived in Cuba to understand them. And although there has to be a wealth of knowledge available from someone who has lived there, it is to be found in some other book. This one does nothing to impart the Cubans' unique plight, and after reading it, the reader will know little more about Cuba than he or she probably already does.


A fair first glance   January 1, 2003
Richard E. Morris (Nashville, TN, USA)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful

Some of the other reviewers for this book have forgotten that no book exists independently of its author's experience. Unless one has preconceived notions about how life in Cuba "should be" rather than how it is, the mere fact that Ms. Moses lived in Cuba as a U.S. government employee is neither to her credit nor her discredit. Much more significant is the fact that Ms. Moses provides a perspective few Americans are able to have. It is ridiculously cynical (and even sensational) to suggest that Ms. Moses is simply spouting a "party line" - certainly she hoped for more cogent, astute readers. It is much more reasonable to assume that her book is a reflection of her honest experience, rather than an homage to her "bias."

It is worth noting that this book is a useful first glance, yet hardly sufficient pre-trip reading for anyone planning a trip to Cuba. As a university Spanish professor who leads student trips to Cuba on a fairly regular basis, I do recommend it to student participants as pre-trip reading, but balanced with some other types of analysis, such as Jane Franklin's "Cuba and the United States: A Chronological History," which is decidedly more "pro-Cuban" (sold freely in Cuba, incidentally).

Only by taking a balanced approach to Cuban issues can anyone hope to unravel the intricacies of Cuban society and U.S.-Cuban relations. Does any one book give a complete and accurate picture? Of course not. Does Moses' book capture the honest experience of an American living in Havana at an interesting time in history? Most definitely.


Bordering on propaganda - not a good factual read   March 29, 2001
37 out of 70 found this review helpful

Having read portions of this book while on a recent visit to Havana, I was a bit disappointed by the difference between Moses' words and my own daily experience. This may be a helpful book to read for anyone looking for a general sense of Cuban culture, but it can't be read as an accurate documentation of Cuban reality, and Moses' perspective and motivations must be kept in mind at all times.

For all of her denouncing of the Cuban "party line," Moses doesn't stray far from the U.S. government's policy, which is to be expected - she worked at the U.S. Interests Section during 1995 and 1996. One thing worth remembering of that period compared to the current day is that the Cuban economic situation has somewhat improved since Moses' experience - though the "Special Period" instituted at the fall of the U.S.S.R. has not officially ended, the worst has passed for the moment. Of course, there's no denying that Cuba is economically depressed, and extremely so - but Moses' portrayal of Cuban life is a bit exaggerated for Cuba in 2001.

Moses may favor ending the embargo, but only as a means of encouraging free exchange of U.S. anti-Castro publications and the market-dominating manufactured goods of consumerism. She consistently downplays the severe economic effects of the U.S. embargo (rightly called a "blockade" by Cubans - it's more international than bilateral), instead blaming the ever-popular failure of socialism. She should notice that this "failure" has produced systems of health care and education that the U.S. has yet failed to imitate. Never does she acknowledge that perhaps the U.S. could learn something from Cuba, only seeing the great wisdoms of capitalism that tourists and U.S. propaganda might distribute.

To be sure, Moses' perspective of Cuban life is not fully wrong, nor direct U.S. propaganda - but just because she has the freedom to separate her opinion from U.S. policy doesn't mean she does. She's right that the Castro regime is fundamentally flawed and denies many liberties, but she would do well to put these elements of Cuban life into perspective - instances of the U.S. government cracking down on dissent and violating human rights may be less publicized, but no less significant.

While Moses certainly learned a great deal in her time in Cuba and tells her experience honestly, she never fully escapes the paternalistic condescension so common to U.S. "Imperialists." Perhaps an accompanying "Real Life in Bush's United States" would put some perspective on this book, but failing that, a reader would do well to find a more genuinely Cuban perspective - my tourism guide was more balanced than this, and even Cuban government propaganda would make a decent counter-point to Moses' limited thinking. Do not expect an objective opinion from an agent of the "Empire," and you won't be disappointed.