Blog: Visit Cuba, but don’t try to work there

There’s a lot to be excited about when visiting Cuba… until you try to start working, that is. Then it gets weird quickly.

Aaron Thomas on location in Cuba Source: SBS

Despite the changes, getting there from my New York base is still not easy. Getting on a flight from America involves obscure charter companies, signing a contract and filling out declarations for the State Department.

The Cuban authorities impose a punitive exchange rate on the US dollar, so it’s wise to exchange into some other hard currency before you leave.

My trip to the bank in New York was going well until it turned out they didn’t have enough Euros on hand, and I said “What about pounds instead? It doesn’t have to be Euros, I’m going to Cuba.”

The bank teller stopped dead. “I’m sorry sir, I can’t complete your transaction. We’re not allowed by law to conduct financial transactions if we have reason to suspect the money will be going to Cuba.” So much for that.

Then there’s the check-in at Miami International Airport. It’s easy to find the Havana-bound flight queues. They’re the long lines of people who look like they’re moving house.

I’ve never seen so much check-in luggage at an airport. Piles of it. Mountains even.  Up to and including mountain bikes and giant flat-screen TVs.

Even with the excess baggage charges it’s worth it though because these are goods that simply can’t be bought in Cuba even if you have the hard currency. So the only way to get them is if your Cuban-American relatives fly them over.

For once all my cases of camera gear amounted to the smallest luggage in the line.

Once I arrived there to film Cuba’s Key Change for Dateline, everything seemed easy enough at first.

The people are warm and friendly, and while the decades of socialist dictatorship may not be to everyone’s taste, it does mean I saw none of the desperate poverty and chronic illness that plague most developing countries.

But once you start working here you soon confront the inefficiencies and bureaucratism that make Cuba so sclerotic.

Getting anything done generally involves talking to a government agency about it first. And in person. Mobile phone service is patchy and it’s hard to catch people at their landlines.

So it’s often a matter of simply going to an agency and waiting patiently to see your contact. And there are government agencies for almost everything it seems… even a Rap Agency.

Of course the Rap Agency is only interested in steering you towards the artists who are either neutral or pro-government. They profess not to know about dissident artists.

When I went ahead and visited a performer not on their approved list, the offer of an interview with the head of the Rap Agency evaporated without explanation.

Source: SBS

And even when you’ve followed all the official protocols, Cuba can still throw up unanticipated hurdles.

We requested an interview with a foreign policy expert through the government’s foreign press centre. The academic kindly agreed, and his superiors granted approval. All good, you might think.

But when we met him on the edge of campus for the interview, he seemed genuinely surprised to discover I’d expected to conduct it in his office.

That would apparently require a whole different set of permissions from the university which there was now no time to arrange.

So where else can we interview him? Not on the street, it’s too noisy. What about my hotel room? Once again my local fixer is warning me off, but I try.

Sure enough as we approach the hotel elevators we’re stopped by hotel security. No Cuban guests allowed in the hotel rooms.

It’s a government-approved interview with a Cuban academic, yet somehow the country’s preoccupation with approvals, bureaucracy and control makes it nearly impossible to execute.

Source: SBS

So I would encourage anyone thinking of visiting Cuba to do it, and enjoy it.  There’s a lot to like.

But whatever you do, don’t try to work there. And one more thing… no need to hurry to book. Cuba’s not going to change as quickly as you might think.

See Aaron’s full story, Cuba’s Key Change: