TIME STOPPED FOR CUBA IN 1959

A documentary film shot September, 1997, by Olga Shalygin and Cliff Orloff

 

Time stopped for Cuba in 1959...

with the U.S. embargo and an economic system that doesn’t work...

 

people learn to make do with limited resources,

crowded living conditions, spare parts made by hand

 

a shortage of food products in an agricultural nation...

poor distribution, storage and packaging...

means that people rarely eat meat and fresh produce

 

but they make do with what they can get

improvising to deal with the realities of life

mostly with good cheer

 

city buses are operated using trucks in the cities

lack of gasoline outside the cities means that public transportation is fueled by horses... and it works

 

time stopped for Cuba in 1959 but the music goes on

 

ordinary Cubans shop in their local bodegas with their ration cards and moneda nacional pesos, when goods are even available, and that is rare... while others, who have dollars, can shop in the dollar only stores that are a central part of Cuba’s dual economy... worthless pesos and hard currency dollars

 

almost everyone is poor by material standards, yet rich in spirit

especially in the countryside...  they have hope and they have music