turning a leaf

Habana 3/22 -- It has been an evening for contemplation here in Havana, as the island confronts what seems to be growing concern over the health of President Fidel Castro, as well as Cuba’s political future. The streets are unusually quiet, although laughter and music still emanate quietly from clubs and restaurants in the old city, reflecting the new-found popularity of these balmy shores among winter-weary northern Europeans.

For now the music plays on. But for how long?

I was reminded how pervasive the influence of Fidel Castro’s reign has been over dinner. (Lamb stew with a sofrito base and maduros, if you’re really interested.) My dinner companion was Jorge Milian, whose family has been growing quality tobacco for generations in Vuelta Abajo. Jorge is an intelligent young man, not enthusiastically political, but a loyal socialist.

We are not special, Jorge told me. We are a simple people, but Castro has made it possible for us to be part of a special country. I have inherited the land from my father and I do what we have always done here -- grow tobacco. All I want to do is grow good tobacco the traditional way, creating the best quality possible, just like my father did, and his father and his father before him, Jorge said.

The Milian story is part of the remarkable resurgence of the Cuban economy after the end of Soviet financial assistance nearly 15 years ago. Cuba weathered a tough economic storm and emerged resilient. Today, the gross domestic product is growing by 6-7 percent. Exports of sugar, nickel and cigars are robust. Cuba is rapidly reclaiming its role as the premier manufacturer of quality cigars, with about 170 million quality smokes exported last year.

The island’s primary export market, surprisingly, is neither in Latin America nor its former communist partners. The number one trade partner is the Netherlands, where the Dutch savor Punch panatelas at 30 Euros a smoke, with no embargo to prevent them from lighting up.

Jorge met recently with an American trade delegation, led by former Kentucky congressman Scotty Baesler, who has stated that increased trade could do wonders for farm communities in the Southeast as well as Cuba itself.

As Jorge sees it, the Castro regime has made tremendous strides the past ten years in modernizing the Cuban economy. Without direct cooperation with tobacco industry consultants in the U.S. and Europe, embargoes and travel restrictions notwithstanding, the Cuban industry would never have survived. That cooperation resulted, among other things, in the development of a mold resistant strain of broadleaf tobacco that retains the legendary sweet, mellow flavor of a classic Cuban. Those seeds, Cuba2000, have kept Jorge and his family in business.

I asked Jorge if he thought Cuba was ready for a change in leadership. “We have relied on Fidel Castro for so much,” he said. “Is there anyone who can take his place? I don’t know. Already my mother is crying,” he added.

havana hombre