I’ve always had an interest in Cuba and its contentious relationship the United States. The relatively small number of Cubans living in the United States has played a disproportionately large role in our foreign and domestic policy. Politicians are hypersensitive to their (Cuban-Americans) interests and that affects us all. The economic boycott of Cuba, which restricts our travel to that country, is one obvious example.
At the core of this issue is Fidel Castro’s 1959 victory over the repressive Fulgencio Batista government and the subsequent nationalization of businesses and property. Is US policy a matter of Cuban-Americans and American companies that did business in Cuba wanting their property and privileges back, or does Castro represent an evil worthy of the decades-long wrath of the United States? I traveled to Cuba in 2001 and again in 2012 attempting to learn as much as possible about Cuba's people and politics.
Although tourism and money from foreign investors are changing the face of Cuba, it is still an island, only 90 miles from Miami that is frozen in time. Its unique qualities have enticed me to visit, record and document this distinctive society.
