The Malecón with the U.S. Embassy and Anti-imperialism Park. – Havana, Cuba. By John G.
Camera: Samsung Galaxy S7 (Panorama Mode)
This a panorama along the Malecón in Havana, Cuba as the sun has almost set. The Malecón is the main drag along the ocean. It is where people go to hang out and sit by the ocean at all hours of the day. It is extremely pleasant to sit here when the temperatures are scorching. But pleasantness is not what this photo is all about. It is really a story ground in hatred.
It will take some explanation, but this is a photo of two countries holding up their middle fingers at each other. At first glance it looks just looks like some buildings and a park with a bunch of flagpoles along the Malecón. The building on the far right is the United States Embassy. Back in January 2006, the United States did not have an Embassy in Cuba. This was home to something called the U.S. Interests Section, which is one step below an actual embassy. Someone in the U.S. interests Section got the cute idea to place a 5-foot-high scrolling electronic message board along 25 windows of the fifth floor facing the park across the street. The unique position of the U.S. Embassy allowed the message board to be seen for long distance alone the Malecón.
The U.S. Interests Section turned on the message board on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and led off with quotes from King’s “I have a dream” speech. Later the Cuban people would be treated to quotes from Frank Zappa who was quoted as saying, “Communism doesn’t work because people like to own stuff” and from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” It wasn’t just witty quotes scrolling every day; there was also news. The U.S. Interests Section made sure that the Cuban people learned how high profile Cuban baseball pitcher and defector, Jose Contreras, was doing in the Major Leagues in the U.S. The message board also let the Cubans know that Forbes Magazine estimated Fidel Castro’s net worth at $900 million. Not bad for guy who claimed he made $36 a month. It just goes to show you that, if you save, clip coupons, and shop at government owned food stores, you too can amass a small fortune on a tiny salary. Fidel was lucky they don’t have Starbucks yet in Cuba, because $36 a month would not cover most people’s weekly tab for iced chai lattes.
As you might have guessed, this message board was not popular with Fidel Castro. But what could the Cubans do about it? A month after the message board went into action, this grouping of 138 flag poles was erected. Each pole had a black flag with a white star in the center (and later the national flag of Cuba). There are a couple explanations given for the number of flags. One explanation is that each flag represents a Cuban victim of terrorism. Another explanation is that there is one flag for each year that the Cuban people struggled for their independence since 1868. The grouping of flags was called the “Mount of Flags” in the “Anti-imperialism Park.” It was kind of a catchy name, but to me, it sounded like the name of the worst ride in the worst theme park in the world.
Either way, the flags severed their purpose, which was to block the view of the message board of those walking along the Malecón. Under President Obama, the message board was taken down in 2009 and the Cubans took down their flags, but the poles remain. As Isaac Newton said, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” which just about sums up U.S./Cuba relation.
One bonus fact: In 2005, the U.S. rock bank Audioslave was the first rock band to perform an open-air concert in Cuba. This park was filled with 70,000 people for the free concert. Both Presidents George Bush and Fidel Castro had to sign off on this concert.
Photography Notes: There seemed to be almost no restrictions at tourist locations on taking photographs in Havana, Cuba. The only place that said “no cameras” (or bags) was inside a cigar factory. This was a little puzzling, since the factory ran continuous tours so there weren’t too many secrets being kept. The Cuban people were very warm and welcoming.