Cuba: Government Center

Have you ever been on a snipe hunt? If you were a Boy Scout you may have experienced that adventure. It is a favorite activity for a young scout’s first camp-out. If not, you may have missed the fun. Let me describe it. 

A snipe hunt is, of course, the hunt for a snipe. A snipe, if you didn't know, is always described as a small, nocturnal, flightless bird. They are said to favor meadows and are kind of skittish. To find one you have to flush them out. The best way to do this is to line up at the edge of the meadow, shoulder to shoulder and proceed across, gesticulating and making loud whooping noises until you flush a snipe out of its lair. It doesn't always work the first time. Sometimes you have to come back the next night and try again. And again.

Finding the Cuban parliament felt to me a little like going on a snipe hunt.*  You try and try. You look and look, and at the end of the day you may not find anything. Finding a building that looks like a parliament in Havana is a piece of cake, especially for Americans. Right downtown, dominating the main square, you will find El Capitolio, a building that bears a striking resemblance to the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Built in the 1920s, El Capitolio housed the Cuban legislature (such as it was) until the revolution in 1959.

And after the revolution? They still have a legislature, don't they? Sure they do. It is called the National Assembly of People's Power. Well, the Assembly needs a building, don't they? Not so much. Cuba's constitution designates the Communist Party as “the leading force of society and state.” The Assembly only meets twice a year and when not in session, it delegates its legislative powers to the Council of Ministers (Assembly members must trust them a lot!) Two meetings a year. Seems like a waste of a big building. So after the revolution El Capitolio is repurposed to house the Academy of Sciences.

The Central Committee

And where does the legislature meet? I have no idea. Not only did I never find it (while in Havana my resources were limited to a guidebook and information offices - as you know, I had no chance to Google it.) I still can't find any mention of it's meeting place, even with the Internet.

I did find the locus of power in Cuban politics, however.  The real decision-making takes place at the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Their building is located in the military zone, behind the Marti Memorial near the Plaza de la Revolucion. From the memorial  you can see it, but you can't get anywhere near it. There is a checkpoint on all roads leading in to it and a cordon of sentries spaced 50 feet apart between the roads. I could see it, but I could not get near it.

Cienfeugos

I had a similar experience with the provincial capital building in Cienfuegos. It was there on the Central Square, a beautiful old building with its doors wide open. I thought I had a chance. Nope. Just inside the doors was a minder. As I walked past her (my usual MO -don't ask, just give it a shot.) she sprang into action. “You can't go in there!”  I don't know who can - my Spanish is not good enough for that. I just know I cannot.

*Okay, for those of you who don't know the inside joke - there is no such thing as a snipe.

Wit? Clue: The book and the sword are apparently a giveaway.  Though JP II could see St. Peter's Square, I don't think there is a statue of Peter there.  This one is not that close to the Vatican, but still not that far...