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OMG FIDEL/CHE/CAMILO!!
Jan. 3rd, 2005 11:52 pmOkay. So the Museo de la Revolucion in La Habana is a really crappy museum. There is no narrative of the history of Cuba, just various fragments to explain the hundreds and hundreds of pictures present. Thankfully I had read the brief Lonely Planet refresher to Cuban history before going there, so it made sense.
And yeah, it's mostly pictures and their captions. That was highly anticlimatic. It's also got some clothing and personal items from some people that were somehow significant in Cuban history. Cuban Communist Party cards, Young Pioneers membership cards. There were a few weapons, that wasn't bad. In front of the museum is the SAU-100 tank that Fidel himself used to defend Cuba during the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Finally, it's dripping in nationalist and revolutionary propaganda, to the point where the language they use (the USA and/or USA-aligned dictators in Cuba are often refered to as "the tyranny") becomes almost too much to bear.
So even with all this caveats, I came out of the museum thinking this visit had been one of the most significant things I've done in a long, long time. I know that I don't know jack shit about the political maneuvering behind the cuban revolution, I know that there is surely lots of bad stuff that I don't know about. Cubans today live a hard life, so it's not like everything is all water and roses. But bloody hell, the Cuban revolution is highly inspiring and I cannot but admire it greatly, and admire the people that made it happen, in particular che guevara and camilo cienfuegos. and I guess fidel castro too. It's really inspiring.
Anyway. I'm going post more about my cuba trip in the next few days so keep posted.
And yeah, it's mostly pictures and their captions. That was highly anticlimatic. It's also got some clothing and personal items from some people that were somehow significant in Cuban history. Cuban Communist Party cards, Young Pioneers membership cards. There were a few weapons, that wasn't bad. In front of the museum is the SAU-100 tank that Fidel himself used to defend Cuba during the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Finally, it's dripping in nationalist and revolutionary propaganda, to the point where the language they use (the USA and/or USA-aligned dictators in Cuba are often refered to as "the tyranny") becomes almost too much to bear.
So even with all this caveats, I came out of the museum thinking this visit had been one of the most significant things I've done in a long, long time. I know that I don't know jack shit about the political maneuvering behind the cuban revolution, I know that there is surely lots of bad stuff that I don't know about. Cubans today live a hard life, so it's not like everything is all water and roses. But bloody hell, the Cuban revolution is highly inspiring and I cannot but admire it greatly, and admire the people that made it happen, in particular che guevara and camilo cienfuegos. and I guess fidel castro too. It's really inspiring.
Anyway. I'm going post more about my cuba trip in the next few days so keep posted.