A Cultural Primer

Tourist Apartheid & Jineterismo

One of the most disconcerting aspects of contemporary Cuba is the government's creation of exclusive "foreigner-only" tourism zones where Cuban nationals aren't welcome. Effectively, there are two Cubas, a reality that reeks of something akin to tourism apartheid, as many observers have noted. One Cuba is the gritty and sometimes grim country where things don't always work and consumer goods are hard to come by. The other Cuba is tailor-made for tourists at beach resorts and tourist-friendly draws like Habana Vieja. There, in ultra-modern hotels and restaurants that feature imported products and English-speaking waiters, ordinary Cubans aren't allowed to set foot. At all-inclusive beach resort destinations like Cayo Santa Maria and Cayo Coco, the line drawn between the foreigners and nationals is a literal one: a guarded border checkpoint beyond which unauthorized Cubans cannot pass. Foreigners need nothing more than a passport for access to the finest beaches, the best coastal resort hotels, and a selection of restaurants and foods that are beyond the imagination of average Cubans. In resort areas like those, the only Cubans guests see are the ones wearing uniforms -- the staff.

On rare occasions, Cubans are given merit vacations as part of a state incentive program and allowed to vacation for a very nominal rate at one of the lesser, Cuban-owned hotels in a beach resort such as Playa Santa Lucía or Cayo Coco. The irony -- that achieving beyond your programmed goals and working hard to advance the socialist nation may win a Cuban worker the right to vacation on Cuban soil where only foreigners are permitted -- can't be lost on anyone.

The unequal relationship between hosts and guests is present in other forms, too. A troubling divide has developed in Cuban society, between those who have legitimate access to hard currency, either through family members who send remittances from abroad, or jobs in foreign businesses or tourism that provide tips or wages in dollars, euros, or CUCs, and those have no way to earn them. Most Cubans have to invent ways to get their hands on hard currency. The presence of foreign tourists from Europe and North America and dependence on the hard currency they bring have produced an uncomfortable situation in which many Cubans are reduced to hustling for hard currency, since state salaries paid in pesos are woefully inadequate and dollars, euros, or CUCs are necessary for a wide spectrum of goods and services. The word for "hustler," jinetero (literally, jockey) is a ubiquitous noun in the Cuban vocabulary; female escorts, or hookers, are often called jineteras or, more prosaically, chicas (girls).

Hustling foreigners is merely an extension of the scrambling that for so long has been a way of life in Cuba. Improvising on a daily basis and depending upon the support networks of families and friends is largely the only way to get by, and Cubans gladly extend the practice to visitors. People everywhere are willing to help out in a pinch. If you need a place to stay, a place to eat, a ride somewhere -- anything can be arranged at a moment's notice.

Hustling is most pervasive where tourists are most common: Havana (especially Habana Vieja) and Santiago de Cuba, which has some of the most persistent jineteros on the island. Tourists on the street are met with a barrage of friendly sounding but pestering questions, all delivered with the aim of selling something: "Hey man! Where you fron? You wan paladar? You wan cigar? Chica?" Most small-time hustlers on the streets are innocuous enough, but their constant mantras can become tiresome and, worse, prompt unfair suspicions of the motives of all Cubans. The good news is that most hustlers are rather easily waved off with either a well-directed glare or a simple, polite, "No, gracias." While it's easy to put your guard up, it would be unfortunate if visitors allowed some two-bit hustling to deflect all overtures from locals. The Cuban people are warm, naturally gregarious, and keenly interested in speaking with foreigners. To an uncommon degree, a highlight of visiting Cuba is interacting with Cubans and sharing the realities of your respective lives -- the best way to penetrate decades of disinformation campaigns.

Jineteras are a regrettable constant of tourism in Cuba. Middle-aged men from Italy, Spain, Germany, and other countries are conspicuously accompanied by much younger, and much more attractive short-term girlfriends, usually mulattas and Afro-Cubans. Some are professional prostitutes, with chulos (pimps) and a simple work-for-hire approach. But many more are merely young women (many with dependent children) and, alarmingly, girls looking for temporary companionship with a foreign male as a way to get by, an admission ticket to the other Cuba they wouldn't ordinarily see: a chance to visit a decent restaurant or a nightclub.

Cuban society is marked by sexual permissiveness and, though prostitution is illegal, a relaxed, laissez-faire attitude toward jineteras and foreign tourists. Casas particulares in many provinces are legally permitted to register chicas as the guests of their foreign clients. In the few municipalities that have ordinances forbidding such intercultural dalliances, casa owners complain that they are unfairly singled out and losing money because they are unable to rent out rooms to their most habitual clients. The shameless selling of sex may very well shock and repulse some visitors to the island. For Cuban tourism, it's a large and ongoing problem, no matter how blasé Cubans may appear to be. Foreign men on the prowl are a dollar-earning component of tourism not just for the girls but for the state, and the Cuban government, which touts itself as an exceptional promoter of social justice, can be seen as complicit in the systematic abuse of its young women. Equally damaging for the state, the current situation harkens back to the rampant prostitution sex shows of pre-revolutionary days.

Cuban Music

Perhaps no other nation -- certainly no other nation of its size -- is as spectacularly endowed musically as is Cuba. The seductive sounds of richly percussive Cuban music are, in many people's minds, Cuba's greatest export. In the late 1990s, a series of records and a documentary film brought a group of aging Cuban musicians to the world's attention. The unexpected popularity abroad of the Buena Vista Social Club and its individual artists -- Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, Rubén González, Eliades Ochoa, and Omara Portuondo -- made traditional Cuban sounds very much in demand throughout Cuba and internationally. Buena Vista and company, though, is only the latest round of Cuban music to circle the globe, echoing the earlier mambo and cha-cha-chá crazes that took the United States and Europe by storm in the 1950s.

Within Cuba, music is a daily presence across the island, from rural areas and dusty provincial towns to the capital. It seeps out of cafes and casas de la trova in the midafternoon and thunders out of dance halls as the sun rises over the Malecón. The musical diet is a dizzying menu of styles with uncommon appeal, so emphatically tropical that you can almost hear the humidity in the vocals, chords, and percussion.

Cuba's musical heritage, an onomatopoeic stew of salsa, rumba, mambo, son, danzón, and cha-cha-chá, stems from the country's rich mix of African, Spanish, French, and Haitian cultures. The roots of contemporary Cuban popular music lie in the 19th century's combination of African drums and rhythms along with Spanish guitar and melody. Most forms of Cuban music feature Latin stringed instruments, African bongos, congas, and claves (wooden percussion sticks), and auxiliary instruments such as maracas and guiros.

The heartbeat of Cuban music is the clave, which refers to a distinctive rhythm and the instrument used to play it. While the actual instrument is not necessarily played in every song, all Cuban rhythms are built up from the simple concept of the clave. There is an incredibly sophisticated theory surrounding this five-note beat -- but in a nutshell, it's a repetitive, two-bar pattern with two slight variations: the son clave, which is the basis of folkloric and popular styles like son, son montuno, and mambo; and the rumba clave, which is the basis of folkloric and religious styles with a more distinctly syncopated and African flavor, especially the percussion-and-vocal music known as rumba.

The perennial form of Cuban traditional music is son (literally, "sound"; pronounced sohn), a style of popular dance music that originated in the eastern, poorer half of the country known as El Oriente in the early 1900s. Though it was born of miscegenation, son's development in the 20th century encountered very little of the cross-fertilization of genres that normally takes place. Son thus remains a profoundly traditional and pure indigenous style of music. African rhythm instruments (most notably the bongos and maracas) combine with the Cuban tres, a small, high-pitched guitar featuring three sets of double strings. Giants of son include Trio Matamoros, Ignacio Pineiro, and Sexteto Habanero, while current stars playing traditional son include La Vieja Trova Santiaguera and the individuals who formed the Buena Vista Social Club. The percussive swing of son can be heard in many newer forms of Cuban music; it forms one of the lynchpins of modern salsa.

Son Montuno, which is closely related to son, is important for its conscious fusion of several formerly unconnected elements. Developed by blind tres-player Arsenio Rodríguez, son montuno incorporated the conga drum into popular music for the first time, and assigned the repetitive tres arpeggios known as montunos to the piano. This style sounds a bit like a more relaxed version of cha-cha-chá.

Rumba is some of the most intensely African music in Cuba, an outgrowth of Afro-Cuban religion and slave music. Based on percussion and voice, it features call-and-response in both African languages and Cuban Spanish. There are three primary variations: yambú, which is the slowest; guaguancó, with a relaxed mid-tempo feel; and columbia, which is the most frenetic. Rumba is prominently featured in Carnaval celebrations in Santiago de Cuba; perhaps the best-known rumba group in Cuba, now in its third generation, is the legendary Muñequitos de Matanzas.

Danzón, which evolved from the contradanza performed by Haitian and French immigrants in the late 19th century, is a European dance hall style played by orquestas. Boleros are slow-paced romantic ballads, while trovas are ballads that have been performed since colonial days. The nueva trova is a style of acoustic, politically motivated music that arose after the Revolution and coincident with nueva canción throughout Latin America. The biggest stars of nueva trova, still hugely popular throughout the Spanish-speaking world, are Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés. Newer proponents to look for include Santiago Feliú, Amaury Pérez, and Carlos Verela. Cuban jazz, incorporating sophisticated Afro-Cuban elements, is much prized in international jazz circles. Two of the genre's big names are the pianists Chucho Valdés and Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

The origins of mambo are hotly debated. Some argue that brothers Orestes and Israel "Cachao" Lopez invented the style when they incorporated African influences into the danzón, while others are convinced that flutist Arcaño pioneered the genre. Regardless, there is no question that bandleader Perez Prado first popularized mambo when he made it the focus of his sound.

Songo's rhythms were largely the brainchild of drummer "Changuito" (José Luis Quintana) and bassist Juan Formell, who fused the funky grooves of Motown's James Jamerson with a traditional style known as charanga. The innovations of Los Van Van led directly to timba, the rowdiest style to date. This heavily amplified dance music displays a mature knowledge of jazz, hip hop and funk, and folkloric Afro-Cuban styles. Leading groups include NG La Banda, Bamboleo, Charanga Habanera, and Klimax.

Singer Beny Moré has to be mentioned as the most emblematic voice of Cuba. This beloved hero mastered practically every style Cuban music, but is perhaps best remembered for his treatments of son, son montuno, and boleros. Any CD collection of Moré provides a crash course on the music of Cuba.

You can and will hear live music anywhere you go in Cuba, but the best places for authentic traditional son and more modern styles are Havana, Trinidad, Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, and Baracoa. The last three possess the best Casas de la Trova in the country, spots thick with sultry air, slowly rotating ceiling fans, and grinning octogenarians plunking away on weathered guitars and stand-up basses. Cubans seem only too happy to share the dance floor with tentative foreigners.

Cuban Music in the United States -- Cuba's musical impact in America didn't begin with the Buena Vista Social Club. It seems that Cuban music is re-discovered by nearly every generation in the U.S. Afro-Cuban influences have been discerned by musicologists in the music of New Orleans (most notably in the "second line" parade beat), but it first swept the U.S. in 1931, when Don Azpiazu's version of "El Manicero" ("The Peanut Vendor") became a hit. This tune, which has been recorded countless times, spawned a minor craze for the "exotic" rhythms of Cuba, and the percussive parade music of Carnaval soon led to the popularity of the conga rhythm (albeit in an extremely diluted form). But the next major impact of authentic Cuban music was largely the work of Mario Bauzá, a classically trained arranger and clarinetist. Bauzá arrived in New York in the 1930s and was soon in heavy demand as a sideman. So great were his musical gifts that when a Cuban group needed a trumpet player able to play authentic styles, Bauzá mastered the instrument in a matter of days. He served for many years as musical director for jazz drummer Chick Webb, and in that capacity helped discover Ella Fitzgerald. While working with Cab Calloway, Bauzá urged his boss to hire Dizzy Gillespie.

But the real impact of Mario Bauzá came when he was hired by brother-in-law Frank Grillo (better known as "Machito") as musical director for his new band. Bauzá insisted that their band be called the "Afro-Cubans," clearly stressing the roots of the music. He combined traditional Cuban rhythms with all the tricks of the trade he learned as a jazz musician, such as complicated chord progressions, dense harmonies, and daring solos. The success of this band quickly spawned a host of other mambo groups in New York, most notably those led by Puerto Ricans Tito Puente and Tito Rodríguez. Puente was not only a great showman and solid percussionist, but also a Juilliard-trained composer and pianist who demanded the highest musical standards in his band. His friendly rival, the golden-voiced Tito Rodríguez, also trained at Juilliard and held his groups to equally exacting standards.

Throughout the 1950s, mambo and its slower offshoot cha-cha-chá were inescapable. New York clubs like the Palladium were packed to the gills and populated with stars (Brando and Duvall were regulars, and became pro-caliber dancers along the way). "I Love Lucy" of course featured the exploits of fictional bandleader Ricky Ricardo; while Desi Arnaz always took a more sanitized approach to the music, songs such as "Babalu" hinted at the real roots (Babalú-Ayé is part of the Santería pantheon of orishás).

As mambo was gaining popularity in New York, a parallel trend was developing. Latin Jazz featured many of the elements of mambo, but with a firm focus on the incendiary solos of Be-Bop. Mario Bauzá instructed Dizzy Gillespie in the intricacies of Cuban rhythmic theory, and Dizzy became interested in combining this foundation with Be-Bop. When Bauzá introduced Dizzy to Cuban conga legend Chano Pozo, all the elements were in place. Pozo's tune "Manteca," co-penned by Gillespie and Gil Fuller, became a smash hit in 1947. Pozo, known for his fiery temper, was tragically gunned down in Harlem by another Cuban tough.

In a way, mambo is still popular today, though known as salsa. This genre, mainly developed in New York City by Puerto Rican immigrants, is explicitly premised upon the rhythms of Cuba. Pianos still play tres-inspired figures; the percussion section is comprised of three distinctly Cuban instruments (congas, bongos, and timbales); basses still play the syncopated tumbao pattern used in son; and the two-bar clave rhythm is the seed from which all these components grow. Salsa is, as Celia Cruz once said, all Cuban rhythms joined together.

Afro-Cuban Percussion Instruments -- Tumbadoras Generally known outside of Cuba as congas, these tall, conical drums are typically played by seated musicians. Three similar-looking tumbadoras are employed in rumba music: tumba, the largest and lowest in pitch; quinto, the smallest and highest in pitch, which solos and interacts with the dancers; and conga or segundo, which falls in the middle in terms of size and pitch. In a contemporary mambo or salsa group, two or three tumbadoras are simultaneously played by a single musician. By varying the shape and position of their hands, congueros (conga players) are able to elicit an impressive variety of sounds from each drum. Famous proponents include Chano Pozo, Mongo Santamaría, and Tata Güines.

Timbales These two metal drums, about the size of snare drums and mounted on a single stand, are known as macho (smaller and higher in pitch) and hembra (larger and lower in pitch). The primary rhythms are most commonly played on the sides of the drums (in mambo, a syncopated pattern called cáscara, or "shell," is played) and various figures on cowbells mounted to the timbales. This instrument evolved from classical music's tympani, and was first used in danzón. Without doubt the most famous timbalero was actually the Harlem-born Puerto Rican, Tito Puente, although there are numerous Cubans with greater facility than "El Rey." Most Cuban timbaleros since Changuito have expanded their setups to include the typical components of the American drum set.

Bongos Although associated with spaced-out beatnik poets, the bongos are a very serious instrument in Cuba, particularly in son. Bongos consist of two wooden drums -- also known as macho and hembra -- that are joined in the center of each shell. The basic rhythm is martillo ("hammer"), which places the heaviest accent on the fourth beat of each bar. This pattern is broken up by improvisational riffs known as repiques. The bongocero is responsible for playing a handheld cowbell called campana; this is employed during musical climaxes, such as the coro, in which vocalists sing repetitive backgrounds, and instrumental solos.

Maracas Typically made of rawhide cylinders filled with seeds or beads of some sort, and attached to short wooden handles, maracas are usually played by background singers. They are used in many styles of music, but are vital to son.

Guiro This handheld instrument is simply a hollowed-out gourd. A thin stick is dragged along grooves that have been carved into the side, yielding a distinctive tone. Guiros are also played by background singers. Although used in many folkloric and popular styles, its sound is most emblematic in cha-cha-chá.

Chekeré A large, circular gourd surrounded by beads fixed onto net-like strings, this simple instrument yields a surprising variety of sounds, which are produced by shaking and striking the chekeré. It is most often used in explicitly African folkloric and religious genres, but it has also made its way into popular styles.

Claves Comprised of two thick cylinders of wood, usually about 7" long, this instrument plays a relentlessly repetitive and syncopated pattern. More than an instrument, la clave is in a sense the paradigm behind all Afro-Cuban music. The particular variation (rumba clave or son clave) and the "direction" of the clave (meaning which bar of the two-bar pattern is played first) determine what the other instruments can and cannot do; it even determines what the more attuned dancers do. It's a fascinating topic that has yielded academic papers and years of intensive study by musicians. If you have an opportunity, ask a friendly Cubano or Cubana to try to explain it while music is being played.

Santeria & Afro-Cuban Culture

Cuba's prominent African-influenced culture is one of the nation's defining characteristics. African culture brought by slaves and developed within the context of the Spanish colony has had a profound impact on religion, music, and indeed, virtually all of Cuban society.

One of the most salient aspects of Afro-Cuban culture is Santería (also called Regla de Ocha). Frequently misunderstood and misinterpreted as a religious cult or form of "voodoo," Santería is in fact a major syncretic and animistic religion that by most estimates has a greater following in Cuba than does Catholicism. Its practice is not restricted to Afro-Cubans or a certain socioeconomic class.

Santería has its roots in the Yoruba culture of West Africa and today is also practiced in varying forms and under various names in Puerto Rico, Haiti, Brazil, and other countries with large populations of descendants of African slaves. Practitioners of Santería worship a complex pantheon of deities, called orishás, each with a specific character as in classical Greek mythology. In Cuba, African slaves continued to practice their religion by melding it with the Catholicism of colonizers and slave owners: all the orishás had (and continue to have) a parallel Catholic saint, which allowed followers of Santería to mask their identity, and thus their true religion, from slave owners, who persecuted such native expressions of faith. The blurring of lines between Catholicism and Santería continues to this day, with many believers following a line of faith that essentially merges the two.

The orishás, believed to be the direct emissaries of God (Olofi), rule over every aspect of nature and life on earth. The faithful develop very personal relationships with individual orishás and look to them for both spiritual and material guidance. Followers use prayer, song, and ritualistic offerings (including occasional animal sacrifices) to communicate with orishás, though they most often need the assistance of a santero, or priest, to perform rituals that allow them to divine the orishás' instructions and plans for individuals. Altars or shrines are kept in many homes.

The different orishás are distinguished by colors and numbers; they also have distinct human characteristics, such as favorite foods and other items they prefer to receive as offerings. Across Cuba, one can see people wearing the colored beads of their chosen saint -- red and white for Changó, blue and white for Yemayá. Those undergoing initiation rites to become santeros dress head-to-toe in white.

Havana's Casa de Africa Museum, Obrapía 157, between San Ignacio and Mercaderes in Habana Vieja (tel. 7/861-5798), has exhibits on Santería for those interested in learning more. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm, Sunday from 9am to 1pm; admission is CUC$2. Through local contacts, Spanish-speaking visitors can sometimes arrange for a santero or babalao (high priest) to perform ritualistic divinations.

The Major Orishás -- Each orishá is associated with a range of attributes and characteristics, including Catholic saints, unique personalities, colors, numbers, days of the week, feast days, and even ceremonial rhythms. Each orishá has numerous manifestations that in turn have distinct characteristics. A sampling of the orishás and some of their attributes follows.

Eleggúa Represented by St. Antonio, Eleggúa is the keeper of all roads and doors. His colors are red and black, and his feast day is June 13. His day of the week is Monday, and his numbers are 3 and 21.

Yemayá The goddess of the sea is represented by la Virgen de Regla. The colors of Yemayá are blue and white. Her feast day is September 7. Her day is Saturday, and her number is 7.

Changó Represented by St. Bárbara, the god of war likes red and white. His feast is on December 4 (some followers of Santería find significance in the fact that legendary conguero Chano Pozo was murdered on the eve of St. Bárbara's feast, believing that he somehow provoked the displeasure of his orishá). Changó's day of the week is Friday. His numbers are 4 and 6.

Ochún The goddess of love and fertility is represented by la Virgen del Cobre. Her colors are green and yellow, and her feast is on September 8. Her day is Saturday, and her number is 5.

Obatalá Our Lady of Mercy represents the god of peace. His color is white, and his feast is September 24. Obatalá's day is Thursday, and his number is 8.

Babalú-Ayé Represented by St. Lazarus (the beggar mentioned in the Gospels, rather than the man Jesus raised from the dead), Babalú-Ayé is the god of illness and epidemics. His color is purple and his feast day is December 17. His days of the week are Friday and Wednesday, and his number is 17. The other orishá's hold him in such esteem that Babalú-Ayé is granted permission to possess any disciple, even if dedicated to a different orishá.

Orúnla St. Francis of Assissi represents the god of wisdom and divination. His colors are green and yellow, and his feast is on October 4. He is unique in that every day of the week is considered Orúnla's. His number is 16.