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By
Gordon Bonin
Of the NEWS Staff
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Cuban
economic history can be seen in the cars on its roads. First
to catch the eye of an American visitor are the scores of
U.S.-made vehicles built before 1959, before the Cuban Revolution
and the U.S. trade embargo. Many are in rough shape, while
others are in mint condition with fins flashing and original
hubcaps.
In the mid-‘90s, it was estimated that three-quarters
of the cars on Cuban roads were pre-1959 American models,
said Adier Sanjuan, a tour guide.
Then there are the hordes of Soviet-built Ladas, little
boxes that look like Fiats, as well as Soviet trucks and
tractors identifiable by their Cyrillic lettering. Ladas
are "very strong," good for the average Cuban
family, according to a Cuban man with a family of four.
The latest vehicular invaders are French, South Korean,
Japanese and German. The roads swarm with new Hyundais,
Daewoos, Citroens, Peugeots and Toyotas. Fewer in number,
but more prominent by their rarity, are the black Mercedeses
and Audis.
Motorcycles with sidecars are a popular means of transportation.
It is not unusual to see two or three people squeezed into
one sidecar. But for a city of 2 million, there aren’t
that many vehicles in Havana. Traffic is easily managed.
In downtown districts alternating streets are one-way, as
in Manhattan.
Buses, which cost less than a nickel to ride, are jam-packed.
Some are called camels because they are long, ungainly,
bent-back beasts that are more like a tractor-trailer than
a bus. As well as regular taxis, there are "bicitaxis"—pedal-driven
rickshaws, found in tourist areas.
Many Cubans "hitchhike." They’ll wait at
a stop sign or traffic light until a car with just a driver
and maybe a front-seat passenger stops. The "hitchhiker"
will approach the car and ask for a lift. Many cars are
repaired at curb side in Havana, the owners sometimes dismantling
the whole engine or an axle in the road.
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| The owner of a 1947 Chevrolet does an
engine repair job on a street in Old Havana. Cubans are
adept at keeping the aging fleet of American cars running
and it is not unusual to see repairs being done in the
street. (NEWS Photo by Bob Delong) |
Old American monsters are still going with their original
engines. Others have new engines taken from Ladas. No one
owns a car in Cuba. The government owns almost everything.
Cars are registered in the name of the original "owner"
until that person dies. Though car titles can’t be transferred,
one can obtain an early ‘80s model for $12,000 to $15,000.
Gasoline costs 75 cents—U.S. currency—per liter,
the equivalent of $2.85 a gallon. That sounds expensive to
American ears, but is not out of line with world prices. Until
its collapse, the Soviet Union provided 98 percent of Cuba’s
oil needs.
As in Havana, there is little traffic on the island’s
main east-west highway. There is so little that horse- or
oxen-drawn carts and bicycles share the highway with buses
and trucks— sometimes even using the passing lane. In
1992, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba
imported 4 million bicycles from China because there was a
gas shortage, according to Barbara West, a founding member
of the group Let Cuba Live, who visited the country that year.
The problem was Cubans weren’t used to riding bikes,
she said. There were lots of crashes and bikes careening wildly
around Havana. Today, West said, there are far more cars and
much more air pollution.
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Next article: Diverse influences seen in buildings
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