From the WaPo: Fidel Castro is retiring; well he’s keeping with his generational status-quo and going into semi-retirement-stepping down as Presidente and head of the armed forces but still keeping an eye on the store by staying on the Cuban government’s payroll as “first secretary” of the Communist Party.
For all of you developers salivating like Pavlov's dog at the opportunity to get down there and build some condos, I would suggest you relax and hold off making the Cuba Libras (rum+coke and a lime). First, Raoul Castro who's been running the show for the past 19 months is Castro's brother and he's a bit more extreme than Fidel. Secondly, Europeans aren't on the same blockade as America, so they've been investing there for quite sometime. (Read: Americans are showing up late to the party because of an archaic Cold-War political stance towards Communism). Then again, the Bushido does have a lighter that reads, "F*** Communism" (courtesy of Big Dave) so its a bit hypocritical of me to knock the "archaic Cold-War political stance" that we've taken for the past 50 years. That being said, I would love to get down there before developers have a chance at knocking down those grandiose mansions and building condos.
Off the blade: If you get the chance check out the article "Finca Vigía: A tumultuous fight for preservation" about Hemingway's house in Cuba Finca Vigía ("Lookout Farm"-the only building outside of the States to make the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of 11 endangered landmarks) in the summer 2007 issue of Garden & Gun, it appears that historic-preservation (Cuban Ministry of Culture) exists even in countries under an embargo.
Well, those efforts are up to the Cubans now, since the previous joint efforts of the Hemingway Preservation Foundation (aka: The Finca Vigía Foundation-link to official site) started by Jenny Phillips-granddaughter of Papa's editor Maxwell Perkins and the Cuban Ministry of Culture are handcuffed due to the United State's embargoed financial limitations on Cuba and the limited resources of the Cuban government. But alas, there is still hope because in the words of Fidel Castro during a ceremony in 2002 commemorating the joint-preservation efforts, "What is a man without history? I think we would be savages, if we did not recognize the importance of preserving such a place" (Quote from G&G article)
There's more information of Hemingway's library available at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library (link here). If you would like to donate to the FVF, click here for more information.
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