Tourists and Democracy in Cuba

American tourism going to Cuba in greater numbers than it is now, does not necessarily mean that these tourists are going to become teachers of civics, human rights advocates and, summing up, defenders of the restoration of the rule of law that was totally lost more than fifty years ago. It is not a question of considering tourists in general as uneducated individuals, but they do not know the psychology of the Cuban people and would not visit Cuba with that goal in mind. The purpose of their trip is to rest, enjoy the natural beauty of the island, its famous beaches and the hotels that the dictatorship operates with the complicity of foreign investors, where they find anything they might wish for recreation and comfort.

For many years now, at least two decades, the affluence of tourists from Europe, Canada and Latin America to Cuba, has done nothing in terms of fostering democracy or anything like it. That is not the purpose of their trip, and they are not specifically prepared for this mission, even though all or almost all of them might support the democracies in their own countries. It should be taken into account that there are many people from the United States, even many Cubans who live here, who already go to Cuba through a third country whenever they want to.

Those who travel to Cuba on cultural missions, when they speak, write, or lecture there in universities or elsewhere, do so in academic terms, avoiding challenging the tyranny and engaging in an exchange of opinions with professors or students without any debate of theses and antitheses in political matters.

It must be taken into account that not all Cubans who now live in South Florida, for example, are typical exiles, because they came to the United States only a few years ago and although they are not communists they are not as offended as they should by the sacrifice to which the Cuban people has been subjected. They consider that here there is freedom and prosperity not found in Cuba, and that is why soon they want to go back to visit their family and friends in the island bringing presents. If someone asks them about life in the United States, they will possibly explain honestly how it is, or how they see it.

None of the above means that there might not be people traveling to Cuba who, in one way or another, might sow an ideological seed that, sometime, could yield some fruits favorable to the restoration of the democracy that was terminated there more than fifty years ago. However, that is not what will determine the restoration of the republic.