Cuba – A Brief History
Since the early sixteenth century, Havana, Cuba, has played an important role in international economics and politics. Founded by Spanish settlers in 1515, the city rapidly became a leading commercial and urban centre in the Caribbean – and to an extent, the Americas (Levinson & Knight, 2016). Throughout its history, these factors have drawn significant attention and interest in controlling the city by imperial powers such as the British, French, Spanish, and later the Americans and Russians in the Cold War. Although Havana experienced numerous attacks from invaders in its early days, the Cold War was perhaps the first time that an event contributed to its stagnation (Levinson & Knight, 2016). As the capital city of Cuba, Havana plays an important role in Cuban politics and their foreign relations.
In the 1950s, Cuba underwent a revolution to overthrow the authoritarian government of Fulgencio Batista and establish a new socialist government under Fidel Castro, the leader of the revolution (Levinson & Knight, 2016). Previous Cuban governments since the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898) were mostly backed by the United States (U.S.). These close relations with the U.S. had led to lots of foreign ownership of property in Cuba, especially by Americans. Following the revolution, Castro’s socialist government nationalized all foreign-owned properties in Cuba because the revolutionaries saw the U.S. involvement in Latin American countries as a reason for the poverty and underdevelopment in the region. Taking control of Havana became the turning point for Cuban relations with the American government, who, under Dwight Eisenhower, imposed an embargo on Cuba in retaliation (Levinson & Knight, 2016).
A Need for Cultural Preservation
Initially, the Castro regime did not focus on the preservation of historic buildings. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union, many of Havana’s buildings required attention, due to their age as well as the city becoming Cuba’s “gateway to the world” (Scarpaci 725). Thus, Habaguanex was created out of necessity to oversee the revitalization of the many crumbling buildings. As they were not receiving adequate funding from the tight coffers of the socialist government, Habaguanex turned to international sources. Interested in keeping alive the histories of previous colonial power, Spanish firms (among others) agreed to support their revitalization efforts.
Within the context of a global economy, monetary interventions into a rapidly modernizing and urbanizing state affect the decisions of local governments regarding where funding should go. Research has shown that funding has aimed revitalization efforts towards a gentrification of certain parts of Old Havana, inserting Spanish fountains and fancy squares, while shanty towns and poor infrastructure continue to exist in residential areas.
Restoration: Only A Façade
A focus on restoration and modernization of historic buildings and the gains they bring to tourism has ignored the development of residential areas, which has resulted in the growth of slums as well as social and racial inequalities. Due to the government’s limited investment in residential areas, residents have taken the initiative to build their own dwellings, sometimes without public authorization. In Havana, one-third of the dwelling units have been self-built, mostly located steps away from the buildings currently being revitalized. In the government’s effort to restore historic buildings, a façade has been constructed, primarily for the city’s foreign visitors, but the dilapidated infrastructure behind those façades is hard to ignore.