La Habana Magazine February 2016

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editorial
Although these bikes were built in America, long they have a Cuban soul.
–Abel Pez
Welcome to the February 2016 Issue of La Habana magazine, which has taken over where What’s On
La Habana—the definitive cultural and travel guide to Havana—left off. This month we suggest you
get on your bike and ride, literally with the rest of the Harley crew for the 5th International Harley
Davidson Rally, which will take place from February 5 to 7 in Varadero.
Cuban Harleys, mi Amor, is the title of a fabulous new photography book of Cuba’s Harlistas by
Conner Gorry, Max Cucchi and Jens Fuge. Thanks to all three for generously letting us borrow for this
month’s issue, which features several extracts from the book as well as Conner’s first ride with her
“Big New Dysfunctional Harley Family” and photos from Max Cucchi, who has spent years capturing
some of the contradictions [of Cuba] through the Cubans who, despite ongoing scarcity of parts, have
managed to keep their bikes on the road.
Keeping to the Biking theme, we swap the Harley for a BMW F650s with Christopher Baker as he
covers considerably more distance on a high-end tour around the eastern part of the island from
Bayamo to Santiago de Cuba. Truth be told, Chris still has a soft spot for Harleys and if four of the
bikes on the first Yankee motorcycle groups since the Revolution tour around Cuba end up being
Harley’s—what can you do?
Just in case we forget to remind you, the Habanos Cigar Festival kicks off, somewhat inconveniently
[for our publishing deadlines], on February 29th this year, so by the time of our next issue the star-
studded event will be in full sway. If you have the cash, do what you can to get a ticket to the gala
dinner—it promises to be a lavish affair (as it should be for 700 dollars!). Let’s see who beats Paris and
Naomi in the glamour stakes this year.
Elsewhere, spare a thought for the poor Caribbean sun seekers and snowbirds who came to Cuba
during the wettest January on record. Cuba has managed the impossible and made Britain seem
hospitable this time of year (well, almost). Definitely, time for El Nino to pack his bags back over to
the other side of the Pacific.
And finally, we wish you a Very Happy Valentine’s Day, 2016. Share the love but don’t get caught!
Abrazos! The LaHabana.com Team
About our new look
In January we introduced our new logo, look and feel. If you look closely, you’ll see it’s not a huge departure from
the original Cuba Absolutely logo. Rather we’re staying close to our roots, whilst we position ourselves for an
expansion into the digital realm with LaHabana.com. We will continue to expand our monthly themes while
maintaining the popular “What’s On” section as an integral part of the Magazine. In the coming months we will
bring online weekly updates on what to see and do in…La Habana. Please send us your feedback and comments.
Photo by Ana Lorena

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Havana Listings
Harley-Davidson in Cuba: Then, Now, Forever p8
Meeting some famous Harlistas p13
My big, new dysfunctional Harley family p23
A New Edition of the Cuban Harley Davidson Biker
“Convention” in Varadero p26
The Rise, Fall and Survival of Harley Davidsons p29
Harley-Davidson Mechanics p32
On the road from Bayamo to Santiago de Cuba p34
Chasing Che: Motorcycling through Cuba p36
With Sir Terence Conran at the Festival del Habano p40
Cuban cigar bands: another expression of fantasy p42
Che: a face and its language p44
Valentine’s Day in Cuba p47
Visual Arts p49 — Photography p51 — Dance p52 —
Music p53 — Theatre p61 — For Kids p62
Features - Restaurants - Bars & Clubs - Live Music -
Hotels - Private Accommodation p70
Havana Guide
Cuban
Harleys,
mi amor
february 2016
Motorcycling
through Cuba
2016 Habanos Cigar
Festival Preview
Other
Photo by Ana Lorena

Cuba's Digital Destinationlahabana
This opulent photography book illustrates some of those contradictions through Harlistas, those
Cubans who ride American Harley Davidson motorcycles despite the economy of scarcity which
predominates on the island. For almost 60 years when it was impossible to buy spare parts, these
bikers kept their Harleys on the road – they are ingenious, totally on their own, and full of tricks.
“Although these bikes were built in America,
long they have a Cuban soul”
–Abel Pez

Harley-DavidsoninCuba:
Then,Now,Forever
ExtractfromtheBookCubanHarleys,MiAmor
ByMaxCucchi,ConnerGorry&JensFuge
http://cuba.backroad-diaries.de/english/
by Conner Gorry
photos courtsey Max Cucchi

New love, the birth of a child, a hard-fought goal
reached: There are experiences in life that awaken
dormant memories and drive the desire to make
new ones. Such rarified moments are nothing
short of harmonic convergence, when nostalgia,
hope, and history meld into possibility.
Anyone who has walked Havana Vieja’s cobblestone
streets or snaked around La Farola, Cuba’s most
famous road, has born witness to this convergence.
The same can be said for anyone who has pulled
out of a hill-hugging curve and thundered down
the open road on a Harley-Davidson. The freedom
and power are extrasensory – a liberation of mind
and spirit provided by precision mechanics and
timeless design.
Where Cuba and Harleys come together is more
than harmonic convergence – it’s unparalleled
alchemy.
Like many game-changing innovations, the first
Harley-Davidson prototype was built at home – by
Arthur Davidson and brothers Walter and William
S. Harley in 1903. Within four years, they founded
the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, a name
which has come to symbolize American spirit
and ingenuity. Links between the United States
and Cuba in the early 20th century were among
the strongest and most fluid in the two countries
complex history. Not surprisingly, within a decade
of the companys founding, Harley-Davidsons
could be seen cruising the Cuban streets.
Harley history in Cuba has been lived and written
by many people the length and breadth of the
island, with the largest concentration of the so-
called Harlistas in Havana, Matanzas and Santa
Clara.
From1917onthefirstHarley-motorcyclesandparts
went on sale at the historic Harris Brothers store
in Havana Vieja as well by Pujol Soler in Santiago de
Cuba. Unfortunately, the bike business wasn’t kind
to both of the dealers, who sold their franchise to
the Bretos’, a family of motorcycle dealers from
Santiago de Cuba; legends were poised to be born,
history was in the making.
The name Bretos, and in particular that of
patriarch José Luis Bretos, himself a Harley-rider,
has become synonymous with Harley-Davidson in
Cuba. The family dealership, located at San Lázaro
#314, became the islands hub for Harley-culture
and almost all the antique bikes rode in Cuba
today originated from this showroom. According
to dealership records, Bretos, the sole distributor
on the island, sold some 500 Harleys in the 1940s
and 50s alone. What’s more, a few veteran riders
still kicking around were friends and clients of the
Bretos’.

A savvy businessman with considerable resources,
Bretos struck a sweet deal with the police and
armed forces to supply them with motorcycles –
a sales strategy also implemented in the United
States at the time. As a result, the Harley-star was
ascending fast, on both sides of the Straits. Bretos
combined popular promotional events including
cross-country rallies and races, with aggressive
marketing of new models rolling out of the HD
factory in Wisconsin like the FL Hydra Glide with
Panhead motor, to lucrative effect.
This was considered the Harley-hey day, when
Cubans with the means upgraded to faster, more
comfortable bikes – like the ones featuring the
spring-action Buddy Seat – as soon as they became
available. Silvio Jesús del Fresno of Matanzas
remembers his father, Benigno González, who got
his first bike (a Baby Harley) at age 18, buying a new
Harley almost every year from José Luis Bretos.
Matanzas was a Harley-hot spot throughout the
1940s and 50s, when aficionados like González,
Victor Ashman, Cheíto Puig and other young
Matanceros would go on regular rallies and road
trips, sometimes even traveling to the United
States to convene with their northern brethren.
“My father rode his Harley the length and breadth
of Cuba”, says Silvio. “I’ll never forget the day a
friend brought a Harley to the house and put it in
front of him after he was too old to ride. I watched
the tears stream down his face. It was very moving.”
By the 1950s, Harleys were all the rage in Cuba,
largely thanks to Bretos, his team of talented
mechanics, and the feats of the Team Acrobática
– a daredevil group of police officers who criss-
crossed the island performing death-defying
tricks on their hogs. Historians estimate there
were over 150 Harleys in Havana alone at this time.
Fleets of Baby Harley-Super 10s and Hydra Glides
could be seen plying the streets delivering goods
and groceries to customers or dropping off the
latest Hollywood movie reels at local cinemas.
New riders meanwhile, favored the GE Servi-
Car for its smoother, quieter ride provided by
innovative two-cylinder Mellow Tone technology.
In 1951, Harley-Davidson manufactured 6 000
of its 74FL models. Harley-riders the world over
– including in Cuba – bought these moderately-
priced motorcycles in droves. Luis Bretos
capitalized on HD’s popularity, further honing his
successful marketing strategy and improving the
efficient delivery of his bikes to customers across
the island. He organized rallies from Pinar del Río
to Holguín and Harleys were popular features of
Havanas annual Carnival parades. But the party
was about to come to a crashing halt …
When the Revolution triumphed in 1959 and
the USA imposed an economic blockade, Cuba’s
Harley-dealership closed. Parts and resources for
maintaining the bikes dried up and Harlistas across
the island suffered. So began a new era for Cuban
Harley-riders, who harbored the same passion for
their bikes, despite the new conditions.
The Cuban Government reacted in its very own way
and dispersed all Harleys from the streets which
had been operated by the Police by then. It may
be the most sad chapter in Cuban Harleyhistory
when a hole was dug right in middle of the baseball
field of the Boniato prison near Santiago in which
all the completely operable bikes were pushed

by a bulldozer. The vintage bikes still rest there
under a cover of concrete. The old Harlistas are
sure that this sacrilege would not have happened
if at that time the popular revolutionary leader
Camillo Cienfuegos would still have been alive.
The Comandante who shortly before that had
had an accident is said to have purchased the last
new Harley in Cuba and used to be himself an
enthusiastic biker.
Harlistas on the island overcame the lack of parts
and kept their bikes on the road by adapting and
inventing. But not all were willing or able and
many traded in their Harleys for other, inferior
bikes that were easier to maintain. These were
sad, distressing times and you’ll still hear people
say “I had a Harley, but exchanged it for a Vejovina”
– a heart-wrenching phrase for any Harlista within
earshot.
A culture of invention and innovation grew among a
cadre of cunning mechanics – many of whom you’ll
read about in these pages, including the legendary
José Lorenzo (Pepe Milésima) – who adapted parts
from other cars and motorcycles and fashioned
tools from scratch. This mechanical brilliance and
creativity is still exhibited every day in garages
and workshops across Cuba and is why close to
100 Harleys from before 1960, including the two
oldest – from 1936 and 1937 – still cruise the Cuban
streets. The camaraderie forged by the difficulties

obtain parts and technology. Similarly, the movie
“Cuban Harlistas” introduced audiences around
the world to Harley-culture on the island; more
aid began arriving, like the Metzeler tires from
Italy brought by MC-Travel. Then “HD Around the
World” appeared, spreading the word and passion
of Cuban Harlistas even further. As a result of all
this exposure, Harley-Davidson rentals became
available in Cuba in 2011 and many bikers from far
and wide have visited Cuba in cultural exchanges.
The next era of Harley-Davidson in Cuba began
in 2004: Ever since then some Harlistas and other
Riders meet once a year in Varadero in order to
party together. 2012 this was professionalized
and the First International Harley-Rally (Havana –
Varadero) had a great press feedback.
No matter what comes next for Cuban Harlistas,
they are now known and respected worldwide
for their steadfast dedication to restoring and
preserving their Harleys and to preserve the spirit
that unites them.
Like Cuba itself, there’s something undeniably
unique and alluring about a Harley-Davidson. Says
Cheíto Puig, at 104, the islands oldest surviving
Harlista: “There are a lot of motorcycles in the
world. But none are as well constructed, sexy, or
desirable as a Harley-Davidson.” We couldn’t agree
more.
of Harley-ownership on the island, combined with
riders’ dedication to the brand, have created the
vibrant family of Harlistas Cubanos in existence
today.
A veritable renaissance of Harley-culture is
underway in Cuba, coalescing around clubs like
the at the time being ten local chapters of the Latin
American Motorcycle Association (LAMA) and
annual events including the Varadero Harley-Rally.
Likewise, the Day of the Fallen Biker, a Fathers
Day tradition where Cuban bikers caravan from
the Malecón to the Colón Cemetery in Havana to
pay tribute to bygone bikers and lay flowers at the
tomb of Pepe Milésima, is a popular annual event.
Journalists started taking an interest and writing
articles about Cuban Harley-culture. Little
by little, motorcycle magazines and manuals
started trickling in, augmenting Cuban Harlistas’
mechanical knowledge and informing them about
biker culture elsewhere. Some international
support began arriving as other Harlistas around
the world learned of their Cuban brethren; though
small, it was symbolic and provided hope.
In 2006, MC-Travel (Denmark) arrived in Cuba
with riders and their bikes – the first Harleys to
arrive in Cuba since 1962. This was a huge leap
forward, not only for the cultural exchanges
between foreigners and Cubans it provided, but
also the channels it opened for Cuban Harlistas to

Meeting
some
famous
Harlistas
David Blanco is one of Cuba’s most famous artists.
He’s at home on stage, as well as astride his Harley.
Since he was a child, he has loved Rock ’n’ Roll and
Harley-Davidson. One day when his brother saw
a bike for sale in the house of an acquaintance, he
bought it, making a dream come true.
I changed the color, the saddle and the handlebars,
transforming it into chopper-style. That was more
my style. Except for this, everything is original. It
even has the old generator. The feeling riding this
old bike is just great. For me, Harley is the horse of
Rock ’n’ Roll. When it breaks down, it affects me; it
pisses me off. Despite the permanent lack of spare
parts, it’s funny whenever we find parts in some
Russian car that we can use to fix the Harley. And
it’s great to see them running afterwards without
problems. Even if I could have a brand new Harley,
I wouldn’t; I would keep my old bike instead,
because I love it.
David has become one of the most popular
ambassadors of Harley culture in Cuba. This is
due to his faithful attendance at the annual Harley
Rally in Varadero, where he always holds a concert
and because he features his old bike in some of his
videos. This is proof of his passion, lifestyle and
the way he thinks.
I like the solidarity among bikers, this opens your
mind, in the same way the country is starting to
open itself. I try to do the same thing with my
music: to agitate for open-mindedness.
DavidBlanco
ExtractfromtheBookCubanHarleys,MiAmor
ByMaxCucchi,ConnerGorry&JensFuge
http://cuba.backroad-diaries.de/english/
Photo by Ana Lorena

SergioMoralesEsquivel
Ribbons of piquant blue smoke envelop Sergio Morales as he smokes another uncut Cuban cigarette in
his Havana garage. His face, deeply etched from years of hard work and play makes plain that he is one
of Cuba’s elder Harley statesmen. Indeed, the Harley Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has a plaque
recognizing his dedication to, and passion for, the American-made motorcycles; Sergio is the only
Cuban to have received such an honor, along with his wife Miriam, also named on the plaque. In Cuba,
reverence for Sergio’s mechanical prowess and first-hand knowledge of Harley history on the island
is unsurpassed. Like many of the older generation of riders, he learned working beside the magisterial
Harlista Pepe Milésima.
I bought my first Harley-Davidson in 1972—it was cheap. No one wanted them back then. That year I met
Pepe Milésima when he took a job at the Toledo Sugar Mill where I was working. It was a weird coincidence:
I had just bought my bike and one day my co-workers were talking about the new guy who showed on a
beautiful red hog. I went to see what the fuss was about and there it was: a gorgeous, super clean white
Knucklehead with red trim. From that moment, Pepe and I were friends, working together every day and
fixing Harleys at his house.
So many of us learned from Pepe—Lázaro, Villaba, Osvaldo and Salmerón. Pepe was the old timer who
helped young guys like us, just coming up. He taught us and shared his ideas. He didn’t charge anyone for
his work. He did it to help other Harlistas. That was Pepe Milésima.
Sadness besets Sergio as he talks about his friend and mentor who died in 1991. He lights another
cigarette and tells of selling his first bike and helping Pepe repair five others before upgrading to his
own Knucklehead—the same bike he rides today with Miriam on the back. A veritable depository of
Cuban Harley lore, Sergio knows perhaps better than anyone the difficulties bikers on the island faced
in the old days.
Times were hard: gas was scarce, but luckily, Harleys run on anything. We used to mix gas and alcohol and
sometimes kerosene—anything we could find! We were forced to make lots of adaptations to our bikes, but
we did it with gusto, anything to keep our Harleys running!
We made our own parts—pistons and rings, bolts, everything. Sometimes we adapted parts from other bikes
like Gaz-51s and Moto Guzzis. I remember one time I got a flat outside Pijirigua, a small town 75 km west
of Havana. The tire was from a Soviet anti-air cannon; that’s what we could get our hands on and so that’s
what we used! There was no garage around; there wasn’t even a gas station, so we took off the tire and
stuffed it with grass. We packed it in until it couldn’t take anymore and made our way home on that grass-
filled tire. Nowadays there are flat-fixers everywhere and you can just hop from one to another adding air
until you’re home…
Photo by courtsey Max Cucchi

Times in Cuba have changed dramatically—today there are not only gas stations with air everywhere,
but also different motorcycles available. Plus, parts are easier to find for the ubiquitous Suzuki and Jawa
bikes, making one wonder: why doesn’t he change allegiances; wouldn’t one of these other bikes be a
hell of a lot easier?
Harley’s are the most obedient motorcycles. You can introduce any practical adaptation and Harleys
respond; a Harley also won’t strand you by the side of the road—even if it’s only working on one cylinder, it
will get you home. But it’s more than that. Harleys have an unparalleled elegance. Wherever you go kids,
adults—everyone—stops to admire their magnificent beauty and majesty. Each and every one of us is proud
to be a Harley owner.
A walking encyclopedia of Harley history and restoration, Sergio Morales dreams of the day when
there’s a Harley dealership in Havana—a place where enthusiasts can test drive these majestic machines,
exchanging opinions and experiences. In short, he dreams of the next generations of Harlistas carrying
on the tradition started by Pepe Milésima. A co-founder of the Cuba chapter of the Latin American
Motorcycle Association and its first President, Sergio also dreams of cruising by that dealership on a
1947 Flathead.
Photo by Y. del Monte

Ernesto
Guevara
March
—full of passion and love for the old bikes. He loves
fixing bikes more than his job as a lawyer and so
he tries to earn his money as a mechanic instead
as a lawyer.
He rides his bike every day. He takes the bike to work, to shop, to meet his friends or to take his daughter
to school. And in case the old lady has one of her booboos she’s fixed by the side of the road until she
starts and rides again. No problem!
Ernesto also loves to ride with his friends. Every now and then they make trips to the mountains around
Pinar del Río where they also spend the weekend. Ernesto has also traveled abroad, where he’s had the
opportunity to experience the feeling that connects Harley riders around the globe. At last, he followed
in the footsteps of his father, taking a motorcycle trip across Argentina, partially following the route the
young “Che” had taken on his Norton in 1952.
Adriana
Domínguez
León
—something she encourages by example as she
roars down the highway on her 1945 Harley.
I’m the adventurous type and have been into
motorcycles since I was a teenager. I loved the
freedom they represented and hung around with
a group of friends who rode Russian bikes—Jupiter
and Minsk, mostly. In 2003, my husband Fernando
bought a Harley and I rode on the back—not a good
place for me! I was always fighting with him about
how he drove and we were always bickering. In
2004, he gave me the 750cc ’45 pictured here for my birthday. It takes coordination, balance, and skill to
drive an antique Harley—it’s not easy—but I prefer them to the modern bikes.
I drive pretty cautiously, but it’s such a rush, gives me such a sense of freedom, to ride fast on these loud,
powerful bikes that never fail to turn heads when they pass. There’s no mistaking the sound of a Harley-
Davidson! I prefer highway riding because Harleys are built for speed and I like to drive fast. Havana’s
streets, with all the potholes and traffic, are hostile to motorcycles, which is another reason I prefer taking
to the open road.
At first there were a lot of doubts about a woman driving a Harley here. Some of the resistance came from
other riders who felt their position as kings of the HD world was threatened by a female rider. But I don’t
care what other people think and over time I earned respect from my friends and other riders who celebrate
my dedication to Harleys. Cuban women who want to ride often come to me for counsel, wondering how
heavy they are and how hard they are to drive. That’s a positive sign.
My feeling is we need to recapture the feeling of solidarity among all kinds of bikers in Cuba. There have
been a lot of divisions and difficulties over the years, but I think we all have to support one another and
help each other out.

Francisco
Brizuela
Montejo(Paco)
—itwasincredibleandemotional,thatteamofHarley
trick riders. Also, my neighbor was a motorcycle cop
who rode a Harley, which had something to do with
it.
I got my first bike—a BSA— when I was 24. In 1979, I finally realized my dream of owning a Harley when
I bought a 1200cc from 1950. I bought a chassis and a muffler and repaired, restored, and customized
that bike myself. In just three months, we were rolling and since then, this bike has been my only mode of
transportation. It takes me wherever I want to go and never leaves me stranded by the side of the road.
God willing, I’ll be a Harlista until the end.
Hector
Cabrera
Martínez
When you hear the sound of an engine amidst
tomatoes, bananas, sweet potatoes and garlic, it’s
not necessarily a tractor. And although farmer
Hector toils the whole day in the fields in Santo
Domingo (not far from Santa Clara), he swaps the
tractor for his 1951 Panhead when the bug bites
and goes on a cruise just for fun. The times when the Harley transported he and his daughter every
week to the hospital in order to cure her from a dangerous illness are thankfully over.
For two years we rode the 220 kilometers to Havana every week in order to save the life of my daughter.
Now she has come through the whole thing and now I love the bike all the more. And although I was very
poor at that time and many people wanted to buy my bike, I never gave away my Harley. I always dreamt
of this bike and even now when I s go on a cruise, it’s like a dream for me.
For a long time he had been dreaming of owning a Harley; in addition to working in the fields, he had to
sell garlic by the side of the road before he had enough money to buy it. His neighbor, a beekeeper, sold
the bike to him which, after almost 25 years, still fascinates him with its power and its sound.

Antonio
Miniet
Hernández
—a division of the police force which performed
hair-raising tricks and dangerous maneuvers of
derring—do for Cubans across the island until the
Team was disbanded in 1968. Recalling those days,
Miniet’s face, etched by life’s road map, lights up,
his eyes dancing with the memories.
I started riding motorcycles when I was 17, I rode Triumphs and other English bikes, but when I joined the
police force, I rode a Harley-Davidson for the first time. From that moment I never wanted to ride anything
else. I bought old parts and piece by piece rebuilt my first Harley—a beautiful bike from 1952. My second bike
was my first bride. It was from 1957 and absolutely gorgeous—so gorgeous, that the head of the Ministry
of the Interior offered me a car in exchange! I was a motorcycle mechanic with the police and knew those
Harleys inside and out.
When I was 25, I helped establish the Acrobatic Team. There a had been a smaller, more casual team before
which did simple tricks and moves, but in 1959 a team of acrobats came from the United States to perform.
They had some fantastic numbers and we started to think about forming our own team to do dazzling,
dangerous tricks. We performed all over the country, in carnivals, at state functions, and in small towns—
some where no one had ever seen a motorcycle before, let alone riders jumping through hoops of fire or a
pyramid of ten men on two bikes. There were 45 of us on the team, with a repertoire of 23 tricks.
We did some very difficult, risky things. I remember one time we were performing “The Ladder” for a high-
level delegation headed by Fidel. I’d done this trick a million times—a 10-foot ladder is strapped to the bike,
I put it in gear and let her roll at about 35 km per hour, climbed to the top of the ladder and rode along,
arms opened wide. That day, I was atop the ladder passing the grandstand and saluted Fidel. But when I
went to grab the ladder, I don’t know what happened … I couldn’t find a hold and toppled off. The motorcycle
sped headlong, crashing into the crowd. No one died, but I was rushed to the hospital. When my mom saw
the accident on the news, she had a heart attack and was rushed to the same hospital where we recovered
side-by-side. The doctor told me to cease and desist with these acrobatics because while they may not kill
me, they would definitely kill my mother. That was the last time we performed “The Ladder.”
Photos by courtsey Max Cucchi

Another number we called the “Suicide Trick.” I raced at high speed towards a phalanx of motorcycles in
a V formation that would ever so slowly open as I approached. I broke a couple of ribs the last time we did
that one.
We had some real crowd pleasers, like our record-breaking “Pyramid.” We’d use old school cruise control,
putting the bike in gear with the throttle open so it would roll along solo. Then we’d pile as many men as we
could on that bike in a pyramid. Our piece-de-resistance was a pyramid with four bikes at the base and 18
men on top. It’s one of my proudest memories.
Cuban police rode Harley-Davidsons until 1968. I suggested the force switch to Moto Guzzis once Harleys
became impractical due to the US embargo. I remember test driving one of the Italian bikes with the
Minister of the Interior. As he rode around the Plaza de la Revolución, he shouted: “but this isn’t even close
to a Harley!!”
I was a daredevil. I played with Harleys; I raced and jumped and made up tricks. Harleys are the Cadillac
of motorcycles. They’re the hardest working and most beautiful. I miss riding. I wish I had a Harley here to
ride right now.
Miniet and 20 or so other former members of the Police’s Acrobatic Team still meet a couple of times a
year in Havana to pore over photos of their feats and relive the good old days.

Ronmel
Calzadilla
As a boy, Ronmel was regularly sent to the baker;
his mother never knew when he would return.
Because the little boy not only bought bread, but
used to watch a man who worked on his Harley-
Davidson there. And he did not leave until the
man had finished his job and took off. His mother
scolded him, no doubt, but he was infected.
It took another 18 years until he owned his own Harley. He disassembled the bike completely in order
to get to know it. He could do this because he had interrupted his medical studies in order to become a
mechanic—it was more of his world.
I learned everything from a Harley repair manual. In Cuba we call it mata burros—“Kill the Donkey.” This
means you cease to be an ignorant donkey by studying the appropriate literature.
He became a member of LAMA (and later became President of the Holguín chapter) and made new
friends. Ronmel is enthusiastic about the trips they take together and says that they love when something
breaks during the ride so that he can repair it. He explains how you can repair a flat tire with a little bit
of fuel and an old cylinder head and that they miss it when nothing happens to the antique bikes. During
his life he has owned 31 motorcycles and 34 cars but his Harley is, and remains, something unique.
Hearing a Harley engine makes me shiver. Over and over again. You get a feeling for the engine but also
the engine has to get a feeling for you. You can feel it, touch it, kiss it—like a woman. It's in your blood and
nobody can take it away from you. A dictionary doesn’t have enough words to explain that. We’ve got a
saying: Take my car, my house, my wife—but not my Harley.

JavierJesúsFernándezLópez
Javier lives in the countryside near Camagüey. His face is framed by a mighty beard, his hands never
stop gesticulating and are restless when he talks about his life and his Harley. Javier is a hunter, farmer,
English teacher, philosopher, mechanic and Harlista. He cites the national poet José Martí: “The small
river rising from the mountain range is what I prefer instead of the sea”, and he transfers this philosophy
to his life with Harley-Davidson.
I like the originality of the Harley, rather than the business and show. That’s why I would prefer riding into
the woods instead of to Varadero because I don‘t like the fuss they make about it. I also don‘t need pictures
on the wall—Harley is deep inside me.
He also doesn‘t like pictures of his many trips through the country—he doesn‘t need them. One day he
rode with his brother Omar to Havana in order to visit the famous Pepe Milésima. Their Harleys were
in a pitiful condition which caused the other bikers to make fun of them, nicknaming them the “little
hicks.”
When we’re on a trip we always have that bad feeling: When is something going to break? How far will we
get today? That‘s why I never was able to enjoy riding—it was a mixture of joy and concern. On the other
hand, you’re always remain engaged. When you ride a BMW nothing happens. When you arrive with a
Harley the dogs bark at you, the horses run away and the kids hide.
Since he was a student who did not have enough money, his family helped him out when he bought
his first Harley. Now, he owns five of these old bikes and of course, they don‘t all work—due to lack of
money. So Javier fixes the machines here and there and as a consequence there is always something
to do. As of this writing, he is assembling a cross country truck—his latest project. He has been waiting
for a permit for seven years, which annoys him a lot, of course. But again he answers by citing Martí:
“Humans must suffer. And in the case that he has no real problems, he creates them.”

LuisEnriqueGonzálezSáez
Right in the heart of Havana, in a villa which is located in the venerable Vedado neighborhood, there
you will find one of the biggest collections of antique Harleys in Cuba. The owner, the energetic Luis
Enrique, is one of the ingenious mechanics who assembled Harleys during the country’s very lean years,
when everything possible was used to fix or reconstruct the beloved Harleys. This was instrumental in
keeping the Cuban Harlistas spirit alive.
We used valves from a Russian Kamas-Truck. Cylinders from a Russian Gas 69-Off-Road-Vehicle would
also fit, albeit with slight modifications. Exhaust pipes were built from old transformer parts. Roller-
chains for the propulsion system could easily be assembled from old drive chains which we got from a
shut down Coca-Cola factory. And because 15-inch tires were the only tires we could get, Harley wheels
where adapted to the respective size. Scarcity is the mother of invention.
His favorite bike is a 1946 Knucklehead. He owns it only because the previous owner's family disregarded
his wish to be buried with it when he died. So Luis bought it and has enjoyed riding that bike ever since.
He met his father very late. But he learned that his father had been a mechanic, too. In so doing, he
understood why he was so familiar with these bikes from the beginning.
When I ride my Harley I feel like the king of the world. You can feel so much … it’s just indescribable.
Harley-Davidson offers me a lot of possibilities. I’ve met so many people who were full of enthusiasm
and positive energy, I went to Europe—this changed my life. It is a pity that the number of Harley owners
decreases year by year. I hope that our culture stays alive.

My big, new dysfunctional Harley family
by Conner Gorry, photos by Ana Lorena and Alex Mene
I sometimes muse on how similar Havana (my
adopted city) is to New York (my birth city): the
garbage and grit; taxi drivers with higher degrees;
the self-contained neighborhoods – it all feels very
familiar. Another characteristic both cities share
is they teem with subcultures worthy of an urban
anthropologist. Poets and punks, gym rats and
drunks, shylocks, gamblers, sluts and thieves: here,
like there, we’ve got the full spectrum of human
passions, vice and interest crashing together like
waves on the Malecón.
This past weekend, I was thrust into one of Cuba’s
most prismatic and emblematic subcultures and
scenes: I rode along on the country’s first Harley
rally, when over 50 riders made their way to
Varadero on pre-1960 bikes from as far as Pinar del
Río and Camagüey for three days in hog heaven.
As you may imagine, my muse was working
overtime in this new and captivating environment,
populated by cool people with their own language
and subtext. Since everything I know about biker
culture I learned from Easy Rider and Altamont, I
was keen to experience the 1ro Encuentro Nacional
de Harlistas Cubanos firsthand.
And I wasn’t disappointed. Al contrario: I was
inspired and surprised. Because although as a
group these folks cultivate and maintain an identity
wholly dedicated to, nay obsessed with, Harley
Davidson, they remain, al fondo, 100% Cubano.
If you know Cuba from the inside, you know this
subculture phenomenon – be it goth, gay, or black
– hasn’t always fit in well or properly with the
macro unity concept that is the glue for us here
in one of the world’s last bastions of socialism. Of
course, when there’s USAID or other sovereignty-
compromising dollars in the middle, peor todavía.
Worse still with reason since I believe all human
relations should be driven by mutual respect,
regardless if it’s in the realm of sex, economics,
culture or politics. In short: you don’t tell me how
to live, work or play and I’ll return the favor.
What was even more striking still was that on
the whole, these Cuban bikers are more closely
connected to their global counterparts and
importantly, their US brethren, than any other
community I’ve encountered here. As a group,
they speak (almost) as much English as the slickest
jineteros and what’s more, the main biker groups
here – LAMA and Harlistas Cubanos – have foreign
membership, long timers like me who live here and
love bikes. And the mix works seamlessly because
beyond the bikes, gear, and foreign presence, what
grounds and unites these folks is their Cubanía,
with all the idiosyncrasies good and bad that
implies.
Even before we rumbled out of Guanabacoa
towards Varadero, the gossip was flying. And
believe me: these Harley folks are more chismoso
than a kitchenful of bored housewives. I learned all
about Antonio’s marital strife; the petty divisions
and squabbles among different riders and groups;
and how Vladimir got his hog and Oscar lost
his. Thanks to the gossip mill, I was privy to the
anonymous alcoholic’s struggles and how much
Fulano paid for the silicon tits and ass of his funny,
sexy, back seat Betty. The grapevine was heavy
with juicy fruit, but what impressed me the most
was the handful of folks who didn’t gossip. Those
are the ones to ponder further, I figure – above
all because I abhor gossip as an entirely negative
pursuit. With the anti-chismosos, I’d found my
people.

Conner Gorry is one of the most insightful writers about Cuba. Author of Here is Havana blog (http://
hereishavana.com/), she is also the founder of Cuba Libro, an ethically- and socially-responsible business
and the only English-language bookstore and café on the island.
What also struck me as totally Cubano was the
fury for everything with the Harley Davidson
logo. I know brand loyalty is common to riders
the world over, but Cubans can go overboard like
nobody’s business – especially when it comes to
logos and bling. And this was no different: there
were boots, belts, shirts, jackets and vests, jewelry,
headbands, bandanas, flags, stickers, and business
cards all emblazoned with the Harley label. Boy,
did I ever look out of place with my Hawaii-kine
style, particularly when everyone was throwing
devil horns and I’m waving the shaka. But while I
may have looked out of place, not for a moment
did I feel out of place – another sign you’re hanging
with Cubans.
If you know this place and manage well in Spanish,
you know that there is no one who can make and
appreciate a good joke like Cubans – especially
when the joke’s on you. And these bikers are
tremendous jokers – jodedores constantly dando
cuero. No one is spared, least of all me, and these
Harlistas ribbed me good-naturedly at every
opportunity: about how I leaned into curves
(not that well, apparently; ¡que pena!); about my
addiction to roasted pork; and my penchant for
hopping on the back of anyone’s motorcycle,
anytime. I’m sure they have words in biker parlance
for promiscuous back seat bitches like I was this
weekend, but in my case, it ended with a forged
love note that had everyone busting a gut. But at
least I fared better than another foreigner who had
his gold chain vicked by a muchacha ‘fren’ giving
him a massage; he never heard the end of it.
But what most drove home the Cubanía for
me was that bedrock Cuban principle driving
relations on-island and off which these folks have
in spades: what matters above all else is family.
Blood, extended, new and departed. And it wasn’t
only the adorable kids along for the ride (many
in mini Harley gear), but how you know your
back is covered when someone falls ill or that
someone will lend a hand when you need a new
part, mechanic, or lover and an ear when you’re
down. As a group, the Harlistas Cubanos function
as one big, complicated – dysfunctional at times,
but happy all the same – family. United by their
love for their bikes, the road, and their patria.

ANewEditionoftheCuban
HarleyDavidson
“Convention”
inVaraderoBiker
We could say that within the Cuban context, our
Cuban Harley Davidson bikers, or “harlistas” as we
call them, have managed to become a fairly well-
recognized social group. I think this has a lot to do
with the extraordinary passion they bestow upon
every one of their bikes.
On February 5th, 6th and 7th in 2016 they will
be getting together again in Varadero, Matanzas,
during the Fifth National and International Harley
Davidson Rally. The encounter has the special
feature of not having been organized by any one
specific bike club and so anyone who owns a
Harley in Cuba or any other country may take part
as well as owners of other makes of motorbikes.
We were very fortunate to be able to chat with
Abel Pez, harlista and one of the promoters of the
get-together in the Varadero resort area.
Abel tells us that the event will especially be a party
for Harley owners. Its prime aim is to provide an
opportunity for them to energize each other so
that they continue looking after these bikes in the
condition they are, making sure they are working
well and looking fantastic. It seems that some of
these bikes arrived in Cuba before their owners’
parents were born. There are models from the
1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s; the oldest bike dates back
to 1932 or 1933. Many of them are still being used
as basic transportation for their owners, taking
them to work and looking after daily business.
That’s why they are valuable not only for their age
and rarity, but because they continue being useful.
Hopes are that the event will be an enjoyable
weekend, bringing together those legendary bikes
with both Varadero tourists and residents. The
bikes will be moving in from the afternoon of Friday,
February 5th and that same evening there will be
informal get-togethers at local night spots. During
the day of Saturday the 6th the bikes can be seen
at Varadero Park taking part in various shows that
will surely be the highlight of the weekend such as
the slowest bike, putting the straw in the bottle,
“hot dogging,” an obstacle course and the fastest
start. Prizes will also be awarded for the oldest
bike, the best restoration, the bike that drove the
farthest to get to Varadero and the peoples’ choice
bike.
Also, on Saturday the 6th, a book written by
Max Cucchi, Conner Gory and Jens Fuge will be
presented, compiling historical Harley photos
with articles that will be sure to impress and
satisfy the curiosity of many Harley fans. In the
afternoon, concerts will feature artists such as
David Blanco, Isis Flores, To mezclao, Ozamo and
Adrián Belazain.
In the morning of Sunday the 7th of February, the
event will move to Cardenas Park in the nearby city
of the same name to visit its interesting historical
photos by Ana Lorena
Alex Mene

museum. The Park will be the site for the official
event photograph. Lunch will be served at a farm
in Santa Marta, the property of a harlista friend
who has made it available for the get-together.
Itisobviousthattheentirestructureoftheweekend
rests on a firm cultural foundation. Abel explains
to us that harlistas consider those bikes to be part
of Cuba’s heritage: they are part of the Island’s
culture. He says that basically those bikes became
old in the 1980s, and when it became difficult
to find spare parts, bike owners and mechanics
resorted to adaptations that they manufactured
themselves. For example, they transformed
alternators, added dynamos from buses, adapted
coils, bearings, tires and headlights, replacing the
original worn-out parts with Soviet-made spare
parts coming from Ural motorbikes. Cuban lathe
operators fabricated many needed parts on their
lathes just to fill the demands of these adaptations.
It’s the “inventive” Cuban spirit of these mechanics
that makes these machines Cuban as well as the
fact that these vehicles have played an important
role in many people’s lives, belonging to successive
generations. Some were used by the Cuban police
and they’ve been treated like family members with
their stories being closely interwoven into the
fabric of Cuban families. For sure they are part of
Cuba’s national heritage.
Abel Pez is not the only biker who admits that
driving a Harley is akin to feeling a sense of
freedom. You seem to be flying through the air
that hits your face. He also tells us that travelling in
groups on the highways creates great camaraderie,
with the sound of the motors making the trip more
pleasurable. Riding any motorbike is an exciting
experience and nowadays, since it has become
more possible to import the Harley parts specially
manufactured for the old bikes, an added element
of safety has been added to the deep-rooted Cuban
passion for biking.

The5thInternationalHarleyDavidsonRally
Fifth National & International Harley Davidson Concentration
http://www.harlistascubanosrally.com
Cuban Harlistas (www.harlistascubanosrally.com), in coordination with the provincial authorities of
Matanzas, is organizing the Fifth International Harley Davidson Concentration in Cuba, which will take
place from February 5-7, 2016 in Varadero, Matanzas. You are invited to participate in the encounter
which will include the following programmed activities.
Program 2016
Friday, Departure for Varadero. Accommodation. Music show in the evening.
Saturday, Accreditation at Varadero Park. Concentration at Varadero Park. Exhibition and traditional
competitions. Cuban Harlistas is pleased to accept donations of toys destined to ill and
orphaned children. Toys/games will be collected in Varadero during the meet and distributed
to worthy organizations/institutions after the event. Concert with guest singers and rock
bands in the evening.
Sunday, Official photo shoot (for accredited participants only). Farewell lunch (by invitation only)
Details & Contacts
As with past events, this concentration is not organized by any specific motorcycle club, and all Harley
Davidson owners in Cuba and abroad who wish to participate are invited, regardless of the club they
belong to or the colors they wear. Motorcyclists riding other brands of bikes are also welcome to
participate.
The Registration Fee for visitors is $30 CUC per person and includes 1 event, t-shirt and farewell
lunch.
February 5-7, 2016,
Varadero, Cuba
Abel Pez
Weekdays: (53) 7-866-2559
Cell phone: (53) 5264-4546
Email: abel@harlistascubanosrally.com
Lázaro Brotón
Cellular phone: (53) 5-311-9192
Email: lazaro.hd.cuba@gmail.com
Max Cucchi
Email: maxcucchi60@gmail.com
To coordinate accreditation, accommodation and transportation please contact:

TheRise,FallandSurvivalof
HarleyDavidsons
by Boris Leonardo Caro

The first Harley Davidsons made their way to
Cuba around 1917 during WW I. It was a sort of
premonition of the arduous road they were to
travel along in the twentieth century in order
to survive competition, diplomatic crises and
economic hardships.
The Harris brothers, original proprietors of the
store still in existence beside the Bacardi Building
in Habana Vieja, brought those already well-
known American motorcycles to the Island. Even
though they organized races and exhibitions to
stimulate business, the power of those English
motors forced them to abandon the enterprise.
AcleverSantiagodeCubabusinessmanbythename
of José Luis Bretos came along and saved Harley
Davidson bikes from disappearing from Cuban
roadways. Bretos soon obtained a contract with
the Havana police force and later it was extended
by President Gerardo Machado to the rest of
the national police force in the 1920s. Thereby
Harley Davidson became the official supplier
for motorcycles to the forces of law and order.
But it was not just the policemen who were using
them in the first half of the twentieth century. The
first woman to drive a motorbike in Cuba, actress
and singer María de los Ángeles Santana, could
be seen up and down the Malecon on a Harley
Davidson in the 1940s much to the amazement of
scandalized Havana high society.
But everything changed in 1959, or rather one year
later, when the United States imposed a brutal
economic and commercial blockade on Cuba, one
that is still in place. No more “Made in the USA”
products were to enter Cuba and that included
spare parts for Harley Davidson bikes.
The icy winds of the Cold War opened Cuba’s
door to products coming from Eastern Europe.
We now had tractors from Byelorussia, Bulgarian
stewed fruit, Hungarian buses and motorcycles
from Czechoslovakia, Russia and East Germany.

American motors and Soviet spare parts
Anything that might work to fix a Harley or one
of its British rivals the Nortons, Triumphs or
BSAs, would be put to work: car wheels from
Czech Skoda cars or a chassis from a Soviet Ural
motorbike. Without the least bit of prejudice or
conflict of ideologies, spare parts manufactured in
the Socialist bloc and those coming from American
and British industries worked hand in hand on the
highways of Cuba. It was as if the Cold War had
ended, thanks to the ingenious workmanship of a
handful of Cuban mechanics.
There were some heroes in this saga. One of
the most beloved was José Lorenzo Milésima,
known as Pepe. This man who had studied to be a
mechanic in the US became famous for the rigor of
his repair work and for his willingness to pass on
to the younger generation his wealth of expertise
learned during long years of innovations.
When he died in June of 1990, his “harlista” buddies
declared Fathers’ Day as the Day of the Absent
Motorbike Rider. Every year a caravan of bikers
pays the Father of Cuban Motorcycling tribute at
the Colon Cemetery.
Conservation Myths and Realities
One popular legend among Cuban bikers states
that around one hundred Harley Davidsons were
buried somewhere after the fall of the dictator
Fulgencia Batista in 1959. Just like the Crusaders
searched for the Holy Grail, bikers dream about
that fabulous burial ground.
But beyond any myths, Cuba has become a living
museum for classic motorcycles. Elsewhere these
would be treasured heirlooms for collectors. Along
Havana streets you can still see dozens of these
creations that were salvaged by a handful of loyal
bikers. And people no longer look at their leather
jackets with mistrust.
It’s not the American Way of Life or the Russian
Way of Life that breathes life into those motorbike
romantics. It is the Cuban Way of Life, a distinctive
style that uses imagination and resistance as fuel
for a way of life.

Harley-Davidson Mechanics
by Ricardo Alberto Pérez
Being a Harley-Davidson mechanic in Cuba is
something like being a mechanic for almendrones,
those old American cars from the mid-twentieth
century. When you talk to some of these men
you realize how it is possible that those wheeled
treasures are still in motion and fascinating both
Cubans and foreigners visiting our Island.
Mayito Machado is a Harley owner and mechanic.
The two bikes he has owned were both bought
when they were not functioning. The first one was
a 1947 vintage, which he swears to us was delivered
to him in pieces in a couple of baskets. With much
patience and inventiveness, he managed to bring it
back to life. During the process, he had to cook up
several innovations, such as replacing part of the
crankshaft with similar parts coming from a Soviet
truck. He tells us that after putting it together, he
has never had to fix it again.
His second bike was rather special since it was
a 1942 Harley that had been part of the US Army
war surplus after WW II. At the end of the war, the
Americans sold off a lot of these vehicles and some
got to Cuba, trucks and motorbikes included. This
particular Harley was distinguished by having the
letter “W” (for war) in its serial number and it is
more valuable than most because it was specially
reinforced for the work it was destined to do.
In order to repair this motorcycle, he says that
he bought a barrel of spare parts wholesale
from which he selected what he finally needed.
He particularly had to weave some magic with
the transmission and he adapted rubber from
a Soviet artillery cannon for the job. Again, this
combination of elements coming from different
societies and cultures becomes a curiosity and a
strange paradox.
Machado says that in Cuba most of the old car and
motorcycle owners end up becoming mechanics.
He sees himself as a natural mechanic because
ever since he was very young he was always fixing
things with his father. Later on he graduated as a
mechanical engineer.
Photo courtsey Max Cucchi
Photo by Y. del Monte

Cuban mechanics tend to talk about the enormous
number of tools and machinery that is available in
the country, specifically lathes. They all agree that
the lathe and the clever men who operate them
have been their best allies because they have had
the amazing ability to fabricate the spare parts that
are not available in Cuba and to create veritable
miracles when they replace certain accessories.
They also value bodywork experts, painters and
upholsterers. Everything comes together in a
typically Cuban way and the wheels just keep on
rolling.
There are some veritable legends among these
mechanics. For example there is Noel Maqueira
who is an artist able to take any bike apart and
then reconstruct it according to his own vision. He
has the help of his entire family in this fascinating
process.
You can find such mechanics all over Havana
and its environs. Some of these locations are
very picturesque and have become essential
ingredients in the Harley passion. Mechanics such
as Sergio Morales never give up in their quest. This
man spends his days repairing motorbikes in the
Luyanó neighborhood, just as José Sobrino does in
Arroyo Naranjo and Luis Enrique in El Vedado.
Sergio Morales has been involved with Harleys
since the 1980s and he dedicates his time to
repairing and restoring motorbikes. He tells us that
he has learned a lot of the necessary secrets from
the legendary Havana mechanic Pepe Milésima.
Sergio has owned three Harleys. He has travelled
several times to the US invited by Harley-Davidson
and has visited their factory. His name, as well as
that of his wife, Miriam Hernández, appears on a
plaque in Milwaukee’s Harley-Davidson Museum.
He is one of those people who believe that those
bikes which we are so proud of in Cuba can no
longer be considered to be American. Because of
all the energy and transformations bestowed on
them here, they belong more to us that to anyone
else.
Even though nowadays it is difficult—if not
outright impossible—to obtain original spare parts
as times gone by, our mechanics never give up and
continue to amaze us with their innate capacity
for invention, which seems to be a quintessential
feature among Cubans, in all fields.
Photo courtsey Max Cucchi

On the road from Bayamo to Santiago de Cuba
text and photos Christopher Baker
I liked the panache of touring Cuba by motorcycle.
I saw myself as a latter-day Che Guevara, whose
own motorcycle journey would have been the
adventure of a lifetime had he not met Fidel.
The bike would turn my own travels into an
adventure. And nowhere in Cuba serves up
adventure as much as the Sierra Maestra, the
rugged mountain range in the south of the
island from where Che and Fidel launched their
Revolution in earnest in 1956. The Circuito Sur
highway, which wraps around the Sierra Maestra,
delivers adventure in spades—a perfect tropical
cocktail of adrenalin charged curves, rugged
terrain, and superlative vistas.
The trip begins in earnest west of Bayamo, capital
of Cuba’s south-eastern Granma province, where
the traffic thins down to a few tractors and
wooden carts pulled by sturdy oxen, dropping long
stalks of sugarcane as they go. Snowy white egrets
lift off from the Day-Glo cane fields studded by
royal palms rising like silver-sheathed Corinthian
columns. Then I pass a Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe,
gleaming as brightly in the sunlight as the day in
1952 when it rolled off the factory floor in Detroit.
Time itself seems to have stopped on the carretera
midway between Bayamo and Veguitas.
At the small town of Yara I detour south and climb
into the Sierra Maestra via a switchback so twisty
it makes me feel dizzy. The bike and I cant as one,
arcing gracefully through the curves of serried
ranges and forbidding valleys. Ideal guerrilla
territory. Every other turn offers a heart-stopping
drop-off, with spectacular vistas over plains
resembling a Spanish mantilla. I pause to breathe
in the mountain air and listen to the agreeable
silence broken only by birdsong and the buzz of
myriad insects.
Christopher P. Baker is a
professional travel journalist,
lecturer, and tour leader. His
more than 25 books include
Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling
Through Castro’s Cuba (National
Geographic), winner of two national
book awards. He contributes
to CNN and has written and
photographed for publications
as diverse as Elle, Motorcyclist,
National Geographic Traveler, and
Newsweek.

On the coastal plains south of the port city
of Manzanillo, the sugarcane fields have been
burned for the zafra (the sugar harvest), and field
hands—macheteros—in tattered linens and straw
sombreros are slashing at the charred stalks with
blunt-nosed machetes. Hot, dirty work. They look
as if they themselves have been put to the torch.
Black smoke rises in twirling tornadoes, eddying
up from fires that taint the idyll with the sickly
sweet stench of molasses.
South of Manzanillo I feel deliriously light-hearted
as I cruise down the empty road with the mountains
on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other.
I’m riding with a heightened sense of awareness,
so attuned to the BMW and my surroundings—the
smells, the sun’s rays, the warm wind caressing my
skin—that I’m not even thinking.
Beyond Sevilla the road wends down through a
narrow ravine, spilling me onto the coastal plains
that run along the southern base of the Sierra
Maestra. On the long straight, I move into top
gear and open the throttle wide. I cook down the
highway, the bike purring sexily as it eats up the
hardtop in a sensuous intertwining of glorious
harmonics and warm, perfumed air.
The landscape changes abruptly. I pass goats
munching in stony pastures studded with cactus.
There’s not a store or cafe for miles and it’s a relief
to break for a late lunch at the Marea del Portillo
beach resort, where hotels stud a vast bay beneath
cloud-draped mountains.
My map shows the route along the coast as a
dirt track as far as Chivírico, just east of Santiago
de Cuba, a distance of about 80 miles. The “en
duro” course begins a few miles east of Marea del
Portillo. I run at the water’s edge lined with wild,
windswept beaches. Then the trail claws its way
over great headlands and hangs suspended in air
before cascading steeply to the next valley. In
places the angles seem impossible. But the BMW
seems not to notice. Amazingly, I pass a five-
decades old Chrysler New Yorker chugging uphill
in the other direction, impervious to the mountain
terrain.
Beyond the Río Macío, marking the boundary with
Santiago de Cuba province, I pick up the hardtop
again. Copper-colored cliffs loom massively out of
the teal-blue sea. Cuba’s highest peaks lie within
fingertip distance. The light is fading as I round
a final bend and see the wan lights of Santiago
de Cuba in the distance. A rubicund radiance
mantles the mountains. Slanting sunlight splashes
Santiago’s rooftops with fiery vermilion. Then the
sublime conflagration is extinguished, leaving
only a memory of the enchantment of the Cuban
landscape at sunset. As I pull up to my hotel and
haul my motorcycle onto the side stand, I grin
broadly and sigh with satisfaction, knowing that I
could never have got so close to so much beauty
inside a car.

Chasing Che: Motorcycling through Cuba
The first Yankee motorcycle groups since the Revolution tour around Cuba
text and photos Christopher Baker
Twenty years have passed since I first rode
my R100GS to the Bay of Pigs during a three-
month-long, 7,000-mile exploration of Cuba as
a professional journalist. Eighteen years spent
dreaming of leading the first U.S. group motorcycle
tours of the island.
Finally… I’m so stoked, I can’t suppress my glee any
longer
“Weeeeeheeee!”
As the group files in one by one, I direct the
participants to park their Beemers and Harleys
outside the Bay of Pigs Museum and line up
beneath the wings of a British-made Sea Fury
that saw action defending Cuba against the CIA-
sponsored invasion, in April 1961, by a Cuban-
American exile army. Then I ride my F800GS into
the midst of the group and have a museum guide
shoot a photo for posterity beside a giant billboard
that reads: “PLAYA GIRÓN [Cuba’s term for the Bay
of Pigs]. THE FIRST ROUT OF U.S. IMPERIALISM
IN LATIN AMERICA.”
“Congratulations!” I exclaim. “You’ve just made
history. You’re the first yanqui motorcycle group to
explore Cuba end-to-end since the U.S. embargo
was enacted in 1960.”
Only 90 miles separate Key West from Havana, yet
in many ways the Florida Straits is the widest moat
in the world. Not least, Uncle Sam bars U.S. citizens
from solo travel to Cuba (exemptions exist for
Cuban-Americans, journalists, and humanitarian
and religious travel, etc.). Fortunately, in January
2011, President Obama inched the door open
by creating a new license category permitting
any U.S. citizen to legally travel to Cuba for
educational cultural exchanges run by companies
and institutions that could now apply for such a
mandate.
In 1995, I contacted Skip Mascorro, founder of
Texas-based tour company MotoDiscovery, for
advice on planning my journey. We stayed in
touch. Last year he asked me to draft a license
application and sample itinerary. Bingo! In January
2013, 14 eager motorcyclists flew south from Miami
to participate in a 14-day all-Cuba program under
a special license issued in April 2012 by the U.S.
Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC), which oversees all regulations
related to travel and trade with Cuba.
SincetheP2P("people-to-people")licenseprohibits
recreation and “tourism,” our motorcycles were
used for the purpose of transportation between
our requisite P2P exchanges. Those slice-of-life
engagements with Cubans—from tobacco farmers

to harlistas, owners of pre-revolutionary Harleys—
guaranteed a richly rewarding immersion with
Cuba's profound history and culture as we rode a
2,000-mile counter-clockwise circuit from Havana
to Baracoa, at the eastern tip of the island.
Time-worn Baracoa was founded in 1511 as Cuba’s
first city. Cusped within a bay spreadeagled
beneath a huge flat-topped formation surrounded
by rainforest, it resembled a mini Macondo, the
surreal setting for Gabriel García Márquez's novel
One Hundred Years of Solitude. (Socialism and
sensuality. Secret police and sexy showgirls. Cuba
is nothing if not surreal.)
Arriving at Baracoa was its own adventure as we
roared up La Farola, the steep mountain highway
(completed since the Revolution) with nerve-
wracking bends that switchback up and over the
Sierra Cristal via the valley of the Río Yumurí.
With its bridges cantilevered magically from the
mountainside, La Farola struck me as a marvelous
piece of engineering. Beyond the summit the
world fell away as the road spiraled down to
Baracoa, hovering on the distant horizon beneath
a brooding twilit fusion of valley and molten sky.
Cuba is the flattest isle of the Greater Antilles.
Our route was mostly level; the roads well-
paved. West from Baracoa, however, the shoreline
highway whittled down to an unpaved scrambler
trail—a real roller-coaster—pitted with potholes
brimming with a bouillabaisse of blood-red mud
accumulated after recent rains. This 40-km-long
enduro section added a welcome and adventurous
challenge sandwiched between two full weeks
of non-technical riding. I rode the trail standing
up as I hauled along in third gear. I’m normally a
1200GSA rider. By comparison, the F800 seemed
so incredibly light and responsive—a bike tailored
for touring Cuba.
Since shipping a motorcycle across the Florida
Straits is virtually impossible, our bikes—a
combination of BMW F650s and F800s, plus four
Harley-Davidsons—were supplied by a Danish
company, Motorcycle Tours Cuba, that has been
offering two-wheel tours for Europeans since
2009 (U.S. citizens are barred from participating).
The company also supplied a support van to carry
our gear.
Wherever we stopped, Cuban males coalesced to
give us high fives and marvel at the exotic Beemers.
“Phew!... hombre!” they exclaimed. “What marque
is this? How big is the engine?” And, inevitably,
“How fast does it go?” You’d have thought we’d
landed in flying saucers.
Prior to the Revolution, Harleys were standard
issue for Cuba’s police and the military. Then Cuba
spun off into Soviet orbit. No more Harleys were
imported, thanks to the U.S. embargo (Cubans call
it el bloqueo, the blockade) that still hangs like
an axe over Cuba. Thereafter, Soviet bloc Urals,
MZs and Jawas flooded Cuba during four decades.
Keeping them going is a testament to Cuban
resourcefulness, ingenuity, and indefatigable
optimism in the face of shortages and other
difficulties we can barely imagine.
“El cubano inventa,” said Luís Enrique Gonzáles
Saenz, President of Cuba’s harlista club, explaining
how Havana’s proudly fanatical owners of antique
Harleys go to extreme (even absurd) lengths to
keep their hogs running. We began our tour at
Luis’ workshop adjoining his home in Havana’s
once tony Vedado neighborhood. “What we can’t
fix or cannibalize from other motos or cars we
make ourselves,” explained Luis, who co-guided
with me throughout the tour. “We tailor pistons
and virtually any other part you can think of right
here. Hecho en Cuba, chico!”
The visitor’s first reaction is of being caught in a
1950s time warp. Cars from the Eisenhower era are
everywhere: Chrome-laden DeSotos. Corpulent
Buicks. Stylish Plymouth Furies. And other relics of
Mafia-era ostentation putter along beside modern
Japanese taxis, sober Russian-made Ladas, and
dour 650cc Urals with sidecars. It’s hard to stay
focused on the road as we head out of town along
the Malecón boulevard sinuously fronting Havana’s
shoreline.

and ox-drawn ploughs tilling the palm-studded
land. Then Trinidad comes into view. Founded
by conquistador Diego Velázques in 1514, this
cobbled colonial town—a UNESCO World Heritage
Site—has sidestepped the currents of time. We
slip uphill through maze-like cobbled streets that
echo to the clip-clop of hooves. ‘Horse-whisperer’
Julio Muñoz even brings his horse inside his 18th-
century colonial home to demonstrate ‘New Age’
equine techniques with which he hopes to change
Cuba’s macho cowboy culture.
Our route is a magical mystery tour of such
fascinating people-to-people encounters: A visit
to a rural clinic to learn about Cuba’s community
health system… a santería religious ceremony…
a family-run marble-sculpting cooperative.
In Guantánamo, we even pick up a tránsito
(motorcycle cop) escort through the Cuban
military zone and over La Farola to Baracoa. The
taciturn Policia Nacional Revolucionario trio on
their undersized Yamaha Viragos eventually thaw
as Luis and I coax them to spill the beans about
tránsito training.
“The enemy shall not pass our frontier!” screams
a billboard outside Guantánamo. (Others reading
“Patriotism or Death!” and “Long live socialism!”
leave us no doubt that we’re in a Communist
nation. Che Guevara’s visage is everywhere, too,
alongside that of Fidel.) Yet everywhere we go,
we’re feted. It seems a strange juxtaposition.
I ride sweep at the rear. Luis Enrique rides lead.
The Doobie Brothers’ ‘Taking it to the Streets’
surges from the speakers of his blood-red Street
Glide as we hit the Autopista Nacional, Cuba’s
only freeway, and crank up to 120 kph, heading
east. The concrete eight-laner runs through open
countryside flat as a carpenter’s level. We have
it virtually to ourselves save for the occasional
yanqui jalopy, Soviet tractors, and creaky wooden
carts pulled by oxen, dropping long stalks of cane
as they go. I’m thrilled to be back in the saddle,
retracing my journey through a country I’ve grown
to know well and love dearly. Enraptured, I cook
down the highway, the F800 purring sexily as it
eats up the hardtop in a sensuous intertwining of
glorious harmonics and warm, perfumed air.
After 142 km we turn south for the Bay of Pigs and
arrive at the climactic spot where socialism and
capitalism squared off in 1961. Cuban families and
Canadian package tourists slathered with suntan
oil splash about in the shallows. It’s difficult with
the sun beating down on a beach as silvery as
mountain snow to imagine that blood and bullets
had mingled with the sand and the surf here five
decades before.
Further east we stop to get ‘Sugar 101’ from
macheteros—sugarcane harvesters—in coarse
work clothes and straw hats, slashing at the tall
cane with short blunt-nosed machetes. Hard, dirty
work. We pass thatched homesteads—bohios—

Rousing anti-imperialist murals offset by three
generations of Cubans—most well-nourished,
well-shod and clothed, and beaming benignly—
sending reassuring waves to us Yanks. It seems so
innately Cuban: The considerate expression of a
people uncommonly gracious and generous to a
fault.
And sensual too.
Music is the pulsing undercurrent of Cuban life.
Troubadorsserenadeusateverymealstop,causing
‘Junior’ (our support van driver) and Enedys (our
local guide assigned to us by Cuba's Havanatur
tour agency) to get up and dance, a little closer
than groin to groin. I’m amazed the birth rate isn’t
higher. We can learn from the Cuban instinct for
gaiety; the fun-loving way they turn adversity on
its ear.
Arriving for a final night in Havana, Luis and I
surprise the group by arranging for a ride to dinner
at Le Chansonnier—a superb paladar (private
restaurant)—in a fleet of '50s classic convertibles.
Then on to the Tropicana, the world-famous
cabaret now in its eighth decade of Vegas-style
stiletto-heeled paganism.
Sure, as far as adventure motorcycling goes this
was tame. But just 90 miles from the malls and
McDonalds of Florida, we’d journeyed to the soul of
a haunting realm full of eccentricity, eroticism, and
enigma. Socialism and sensuality. Twenty years
after I first attended, the open-air extravaganza
had lost none of its erotic.
Christopher P. Baker is a professional travel writer, photographer, and tour leader. His six books
about Cuba include MI MOTO FIDEL: MOTORCYCLING THROUGH CASTRO'S CUBA (National
Geographic Adventure Press), winner of two national book awards.
http://christopherpbaker.com/mi-moto-fidel

With Sir Terence Conran at
the Festival del Habano
by Stephen Gibbs
Maybe someone was having a quiet joke. Perhaps it
was a coincidence. But for one reason or another,
Havana’s Karl Marx theatre was the setting for the
inaugural night of celebrations in honor of that
great capitalist prop, the hand-rolled cigar. The
visitors, more likely to be socialites than socialists,
come every year to rub shoulders with like-minded
aficionados. And smoke, almost continuously. With
many countries around the world now shunning
smokers, Cuba, which has not enforced its own
anti-smoking legislation, has become something
of a haven.
“We have been driven to special corners of the
world,” says Hong Kong based cigar distributor
David Tang. “Places where people still understand
that smoking is not a sin.”
Visitors to the festival spend much of the week
touring the factories where the objects of their
desires are rolled. For British designer and
restaurateur Sir Terence Conran, coming to Cuba
for the first time having smoked Cuban cigars
almost every day for the last 43 of his 75 years,
is like a pilgrimage. In the vast rolling room of H.
Upmann, the air thick with the aroma of tobacco
leaf, he recalls his first cigar.
“We opened the Habitat store in May 1964, and
someone suggested that the best way to celebrate
was with a Montecristo cigar.”
I ask him if he has ever considered giving up.
“No,” is his brusque reply. “Luckily I have a very
sensible doctor who smokes cigars himself.”
The festival is of course not just about smoking
cigars. It has a serious business side. Behind closed
doors, in the factories’ tasting rooms, retailers are
thinking of ways to defend their livelihoods against
anti-smoking legislation. They know that they will
probably end up selling fewer cigars. One strategy
is to go more upmarket.
The week ends with an extravagant $500 a head
final dinner, which this year was held in the
cavernous ExpoCuba, near Havana’s Parque Lenin.
Glancing around the several guests, it seemed
quite clear that there are plenty of cigar smokers
with plenty of money around the world. The dinner
ends with an auction of hand-crafted humidors.
The bids (which go towards Cuban health care)
soar into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This does not look like a business or a habit that is
dying out.
Photos courtsey of Habanos S.A.
XVIII Festival del Habano
Feb 29 – March 5, 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016
11am- 5pm Preliminary Habanosommelier
International Competition.
2pm Opening of the Trade Fair and
Habanos Gallery
Welcoming cocktail in tribute
to Hoyo de Monterrey Reserva
Cosecha 2012 (Antiguo Almacén de
la Madera y el Tabaco)
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
7am-5pm Visit to tobacco plantations in
Vuelta Abajo, Pinar del Río.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
9:30am-9:45am Opening of the International
Seminar
11am-12;15pm Master Class on cigar rolling
technique Totalmente a Mano
(Totally Handmade). Making of a
Double Figurado
2:15- 3:45pm Master lecture
4-5pm Alliance of Habanos
Thursday, March 3, 2016
9am-12pm Visit to Habanos factories
2:30- 3:30pm Master lecture
3:30- 4:30pm Master lecture. Contest to get the
longest ash
4:30 -5:30pm Habanos Moments (various venues)
Friday, March 4, 2016
9:30-10:30am The Final of the Habanosommelier
International Competition
11am-12pm Master lecture
12-1pm Closing of the Seminar and Trade
Fair. Awards ceremony
7:30pm Gala Evening dedicated to Cohiba
in its 50th Anniversary. Traditional
Humidor Auction (Pabexpo)
2016
Habanos Cigar Festival
Program
Palacio de las Convenciones
(unless otherwise stated)
Calle 146, e/ 11 y 13, Playa
9:45am-
10:30am
Master lecture
7:30pm
11am-12.15pm Master Class on cigar rolling
technique Totalmente a Mano
(Totally Handmade). How to make
a figurado
7:30pm The Roller Evening (El Laguito
Protocol Hall)
1pm Farewell lunch at El Bucán
Restaurant

Cuban cigar bands:
another expression of fantasy
by Ricardo Alberto Pérez, photos courtsey Habanos.SA
My father was the classic cigar smoker: he would
only light one up when he had enough time to
savor it uninterrupted. Ever since I was very young
I would follow him around hoping he would give
me the decorative bands on each one of his cigars.
And so I turned into an unwitting impromptu
collector even sharing bands I had collected with
my friends.
Over the years, many of my bands managed to
disappearwithoutmynoticing,butIhavecontinued
to appreciate the delicate originality of most of
those designs which identify and personalize the
cigars, adding another element to their seductive
power. After smelling the cigars and checking out
their textures, buyers will inevitably linger over
the image that will finally convince them to make
their purchase.
More than once I have heard connoisseurs describe
the quality of the bands as being historically on
a par with the superb quality of Cuban tobacco.
The phenomenon originated around 1850, when
the Cuban lithographic industry was being
energetically developed and some of the first
lithographs were used to decorate cigar boxes.
One can hear the expression of “the Golden Age of
cigar band production” being used to describe the
years up to the 1920s. This was when their quality
and beauty competed only with those that were 1955 Ramón Allones Aristocrat
produced in Mexico and the Philippines. And when
this industry was mechanized by the introduction
of offset printing cigar band quality declined.
Cuban cigar producers rely on the bands in their
war against constant imitations and forgeries.
For that reason, the best Cuban cigar bands have
the brand name incorporated somewhere in the
center or on the wings. They also include the word
HABANA (with a “b”) and sometimes CUBA.

Some Cuban cigar brands have a remarkable
number of different bands. Among these are
Partagas, Romeo y Julieta and José Gener. There
are collectors who have proudly amassed over one
thousand different Romeo y Julieta bands. Within
so much diversity, imaginations have obviously
been left to soar and people all over the world
have acquired a much greater appreciation of
Cuban creativity and talent in the cigar production
business.
The Cuban industry has a production line that
devotes itself to more popular and less expensive
cigars; these bands tend to be simpler, one color
and with very practical lettering and designs but
they nevertheless possess great charm. Among
these, the names El cacique, Los Cazadores, El
coloso and El crédito should be praised for their
lovely bands. Another interesting fact is that the
Cuban cigar industry is one of the few in the world
to use purely domestically produced bands.
The best of the thematic bands usually stress the
colors gold and red, but H. Hupmann for example
goes lighter on the gold and impresses collectors
with their complicated almost Baroque multi-
colored designs. There is a distinct preference for
regal, aristocratic symbols such as crowns, coats of
arms, lions and coins, but Cuban bands generally
emphasize sobriety and functionality, rather than
trying to overwhelm with embellishments that
lack content.
The most well-known Cuban cigar brand name is
Cohíba, and its history is closely associated with
the bands that have identified them since 1966. Of
their four lines Clásica, 1492, Maduro 5 and Cohíba
Behike, the latter is considered to be the most
exclusive. But all the lines have been rationally
transforming their bands and improving their
quality. Recently, we have news that the newest
productions have been using holographic printing
techniques and so there is one more reason to
continue being proud of those tiny masterpieces
that are such an important element for one of
Cuba’s greatest exports.
1970’s Romeo
y Julieta
Clemenceau
Diplomatic
Trinidad
1998 H. Upmann Magnum 46
Dunhill Cabinetta

Che:
a face and its language
by Ricardo Alberto Pérez
photos by Y. del Monte

For over fifty years the image of Che has never
failed to surprise us, never mind that it is so well-
known and could be criticized as being a bit over-
used. It doesn’t matter where you see it, whether
it is a tattoo on somebody’s skin, decorating an
article of clothing, painted on some city wall or
a poster in the room of a youngster, teenager or
dreamers anywhere in the world.
The most amazing thing about this never-ending
story nourished by the image of Che is its capacity
for renewal depending on the circumstances
that change along with our lives. The image of
Che undergoes all sorts of transformations, yet it
stands up to the erosion of time.
When we look at photographs depicting his
childhood and teenage years, we have before
us a mystery many years prior to his political
importance, symbolizing a countless number of
utopias. These snapshots from family albums
reveal his youthful empathy with camera lenses.
He was a thoroughly photogenic child.
Anyone familiar with Che’s story regards Alberto
Korda’s photo of March 5th, 1960 as a milestone. It
was taken at the mass funeral for the victims of the
sabotaged steamship La Coubre in Havana. The
intense feelings Che must have been feeling on
that occasion obviously played a significant role in
his expression, influencing that charismatic depth
in his gaze. Korda has stated that what impressed
him as Che stood on the improvised podium was
his black beret with its commander’s star. The
leather jacket he was wearing was zipped up to his
chin, the wind was blowing his long hair and his
eyes seemed to be fixed on some infinite horizon.
That photograph exploded onto the world and
became a universal icon after October 18, 1967, a
few days after it was learned that he had died in
Bolivia and after Fidel presided over a ceremony
in his honor in Revolution Square. Today, one of
the tall buildings that ring the square, now the
Ministry of the Interior has a linear version of
that photo, enlarged to monumental proportions,
covering one of the building’s entire side.

The images of Che that we see these days are the
product of a diversity of artistic interpretations.
The most amazing thing is that this Che seems
to inhabit the streets of Havana in a spontaneous
manner. Some depictions are crayon or charcoal
drawings on the walls in the older part of town.
There are other amateur renditions appearing at
the front doors of apartment buildings or in some
empty spaces at sports facilities or around farmers’
markets. And then there are also the images that
have been professionally turned out for and by
revolutionary propaganda.
The most novel form in which the image appears
today is being created by different sorts of graphic
artists. In recent years tattooing has grown in
popularity in Cuba and Korda’s image of the
guerrillero heroico is very popular with people
decorating their bodies. Many versions exist and
some of them are remarkably original, following a
free-wheeling sense of creativity.
Young people like wearing T-shirts decorated
with endless numbers of different photographs
of Che and I was surprised a few days ago to see
someone with the image actually woven into the
fabric. It really appears that this image is far from
disappearing anytime soon. At times, the image
itself is not even necessary and we can see only
the three letters of his name transmitting the
mythology that developed from his person. His
biographers loved to celebrate his undeniable
charisma as he smoked a good Cuban cigar, framed
by whimsically trailing ribbons of smoke.

Given the sexually-charged, erotic atmosphere
of Cuba on an average day, perhaps Valentine’s
Day is unnecessary, an excessive indulgence in
a country that needs little excuse for romantic
courtship at any time. Nonetheless, February
14 has assumed increasing prominence over
the years as the day when lovers need to be
packed away because girlfriends and wives
take center stage.
It was an ancient custom to worship the God of
Love—Eros for the Greeks, Cupid for the Romans—
to dedicate offerings and gifts, and to seek their
help in finding the perfect match. Although
commemorating St. Valentine’s Day has its source
in Anglo-Saxon tradition, the legend goes that
around the 3rd century, the priest Valentine of
Rome performed marriage ceremonies despite
the orders of Emperor Claudius that young
men remain single in order to expand his army,
believing that married men did not make for good
soldiers. Valentine defied Claudius and continued
to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.
When his actions were discovered, Claudius
ordered that he be taken prisoner and thrown in
jail. Further embellishment of the legend has it
that, while in prison, he fell in love with his jailer’s
daughter and sent the first “valentine” card himself,
appropriately signing it “From your Valentine,” an
expression that is still in use today.
In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be
celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle
of the 18th century, friends and lovers in all social
classes were exchanging small tokens of affection,
notes or cards known as valentines. This practice
began to expand to other countries, with their own
particular features. Valentine’s Day was adopted in
Latin American countries in the early 20th century,
and greeting cards became just as popular as in
the United States. According to Cuban patriot and
poet José Martí, who lived many years in New York,
these cards were made “of fine Bristol lined with
lace or trimmings…there are angels, lovers, wild
flower bouquets: lilies, daisies or sunflowers that
are in fashion now because they are the flowers of
the esthetes.”
In time, Valentine’s Day, or Lover’s Day, as it is
known in Cuba, has become Day of Love and
Friendship. This day is also chosen by many Cubans
to give their sweethearts their engagement rings.
Some even choose it as their wedding day. And,
on that special night, the Malecón fills with lovers
remembering the past and dreaming of the future.
February 14
Valentine’s
Day in Cuba
Photo by Alex Mene

Visual Arts
Contaminación
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Edificio de Arte Cubano
Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam
Opens
February 16
Base/Superestructura, which won
the artist Lázaro Saavedra the 2014
Visual Arts National Award.
photos by Alex Mene
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Edificio de Arte Cubano
Through
February 25
Altavoz contra la pared, retrospective of installations and sculptures by Esterio Segura.
Through
February 14
El eco del último disparo, focuses on the changes occurred in the artistic production between
the 19th and 20th centuries Curator Delia María López points out classical composition, the
representation of historic events and basic elements of academic art.
Through
June 1
Solo exhibition by Carlos Alberto García, who describes his work as abstract, highly influenced
by Expressionism.
Palacio del Segundo Cabo
Through
March 31
Bocetos de Zanelli para el Capitolio
Nacional. The exhibition includes
the 10 original sketches sculpted in
plaster by the Italian master Angelo
Zanelli in 1929, made especially for
the sculptures and main portico of
the Capitolio Building.
It includes the great statue of The
Republic; the two titans flanking
the steps, Work and Virtue; and
the seven friezes of the central
portico, allegorical to the march of
the Cuban people for freedom and
democracy.
Centro Cultural Fresa y Chocolate
February 12 to
March 13
Isla Negra-Isla Verde, a group
exhibition paying tribute to Pablo
Neruda.

Factoría Habana
Through
January 15
Signos. Arte e industria y viceversa, which has been conceived as an installation that brings
together objects, texts, artefacts, photos, ceramics, graphic works, video and printed
materials, aims at emphasizing creative experiences in which a balanced fusion between art,
design and industry, and elements of the urban and architectural environment takes place
through the works of Carlos José Alfonzo, Juan Carlos Alom, Félix Beltrán, Alberto J. Carol,
Gonzalo Córdoba, María Victoria Caignet, EMPROVA, Cirenaica Moreira, Miguel Díaz, Felipe
Dulzaides, Leandro Feal, Mario Gallardo, Mario García Joya (Mayito), Carmelo González,
Roberto Gottardi, Arturo Infante y Renier Quert, Nicolás Guillén Landrián, Roberto Matta,
Ernesto Oroza, Amelia Peláez, Manuel Piña, René Portocarrero, Idelfonso Ramos, Leyden
Rodríguez, Mariano Rodríguez, Humberto Solás y Héctor Veitía, Lesbia Vent Dumois, as well
as the projects Ediciones en Colores, TELARTE, Arte en la Fábrica, Arte en la Carretera and
Arte en el Muro.
Factoria Habana
Centro Hispano Americano de Cultura
Throughout
February
La Vasija 2015 is an exhibition of
vessels, tiles, panels and murals
presented in competition. They
praise the origins of ceramics,
whose origin lay in vessels, but
these contemporary artists give
them a whole new twist.
Arte Continua
Through
February 7
You + Me = Us is a group exhibit by
Loris Cecchini, Giovanni Ozzola,
Ornaghi & Prestirani, Alejandro
Campins, Elizabet Cerviño, Susana
Pilar Delahante, Carlos Garaicoa,
Reynier Leyva Novo and José
Yaque.
Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales
Through
February 11
Voight Kampff, by Yonlay Cabrera,
winner of the 2014 Estudio 21
Scholarship..
Through
February 15
nano is a small-format exhibition
with works by Chago Armada,
Ezequiel Suárez, Wilfredo Prieto,
Orestes Hernández and Adonis
Ferro.
Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño
Through
February 12
Quinésica is an exhibition of
paintings by Maisel López, known
for his portraits on walls and
façades.
Círculo de arte is an exhibition by
graduates from the University of
the Arts.

Fábrica de Arte Cubano
Opens
February 4
Elementos is an installation
by Equis Alfonso, who uses
new technologies to produce
sensations inspired by Nature´s
four elements.
Galería Galiano
Through
February 8
De la forma invariable, markedly
abstract landscapes by Roger
Toledo.
Galería Habana
Through
February 6
Exhibition by René Francisco.
Deeply introspective and
metaphorical exhibition of
drawings, paintings, sculptures
and installations that delve into
the creation, marketing and
socialization of art.
Galería Latinoamericana. Casa de las
Américas
Throughout
February
El mundo de Quino, with drawings
by Argentinian comic strip artist
Joaquín Lavado (Quino), creator of
the celebrated Mafalda.
Galería Galiano
Through
February 22
Proyecto Clandestina 99%, with
designs by Idania del Río.
Galería Carmen Montilla
Through 28
February
(re)visitaciones, by Diana Balboa,
seems to mark the beginning of
a new period in the life of this
artist, who uses maps in paintings,
printings and installations to
question today’s Cuba.
Opens
February 5
Hecho en Cuba—architecture and
furniture design.
Prometo no lastimarte esta vez, by
Yuri Obregón Batard, shows the
artist’s inner world.
Galería Artis 718
Through
March 4
Save mucho is a collection of works
by Carlos Quintana.
Galería Collage Habana
Through
February 26
Exhibition by Jorge Luis Santos,
who has approached landscape
painting as a way to express
himself.
Galería El Reino de este Mundo. Biblioteca
Nacional José Martí
Throughout
February
Mi mano derecha no sabe lo que
escribe mi mano izquierda, with
paintings, installations and objects
by minimalist Yornel Martínez.
Los intrépidos, with works by
acclaimed Cuban and Latin
American comic strip artists,
including Wilson, Zumbado,
Ajubel, Teijeiro, León Zapata,
Fernando Krahn, Fresquet, Conti
Oski, Beltrán, Tomy, Le Parc, Nuez,
Blanquito and Manuel.
Galería Orígenes
Throughout
February
Plus, group show by 23 prize-
winning Cuban artists, who
will exhibit paintings, collages,
sculptures…using various
techniques, mediums and
aesthetics which characterize
contemporary Cuban art.
Galería Villa Manuela
Through
February 25
Zootheby’s, exhibition by Reynerio
Tamayo.
Restaurante Fabio
Through
April 14
Entre signos pictóricos is an
exhibition by Carlos René Aguilera
and Alejandro Barreras.
Taller Experimental de Gráfica de La Habana
Through
February 10
Zoografía, group printmaking
exhibition.
Vitrina de Valonia
Through
February 20
Exhibition by Étienne Schréder.
Original drawings by the Belgian
comic strip artist, advisor and
cartoonist of the successful Blake
et Mortimer.

photography
Through February 21
Casa del ALBA Cultural
Through
February 21
Día del Teatro Cubano, with
photographs by Abel Carmenate,
Sonia Almaguer, Carolina Salgado,
Carlos Manuel Mera Rojas, Dilena
Cervantes, Marubenys Valdivia,
Gian Carlo Marzall, Adrián García
Núñez, Alejandro Espinoza Ferrer,
Adrián Arteaga Escalante, Enrique
González Santaballa, Sebastián
Wolligandt, Bernardo Acosta
Gutiérrez, Lourdes Guerra, Fidel
Mariano Vargas Moré, Jorge Pozo,
Jessica San Román, Joshua, William
Pérez and Ihosvany Plasencia.
Fototeca de Cuba
Casa Oswaldo Guayasamín
Opens
February 19
f/508, by Brazilian Bete Coutinho,
in which the concrete and the
abstract, reality and imagination,
reason and fantasy coexist.
Centro Hispano Americano de Cultura
Opens
February 25
ExhibitbyDominicanphotographer
Wilfredo García.
Retrato o Selfie, by Lisette Solórzano, goes from the conventional portrait to today’s, more dynamic selfie in an
Edificio de Arte Cubano. Museo Nacional de
Bellas Artes
Through
February 15
Moments of the Human
Condition by the well-known US
photographer Peter Turnley: his
photos have appeared 43 times
on the cover of Newsweek and he
has published seven books. The
show is organized in four sections:
Heart of America, A Love Letter to
Paris, In Times of War and Peace,
and Cuba ~ A Grace of Spirit.
Estudio Galería Los Oficios
Throughout
February
Hold Back, with photographs by
Paola Martínez and Iván Perera,
focuses on digital photography
and photography-installation.
Galería L
Throughout
February
Criminogénesis is an exhibition by
young artist IHOS Plasencia.
Galería Servando Cabrera Moreno
Throughout
February
Mar is an exhibition by Tomás
Inda, with digital photographs
printed on silver gelatin.
Museo Casa Natal de José Martí
Throughout
February
De Martí a Fidel, de Dos Ríos
al Moncada, Hasta la Victoria
Siempre. Julio Larramendi exhibits
photographs of monuments and
sites from all over Cuba related to
José Martí.

dance
Cabaret, reparaciones
imprevistas
Compañía Persona
Fábrica de Arte Cubano
February 5, 9:30pm
Improvisation show with Ensamble Interactivo de
La Habana, Andrés Pérez, Gabriela Burdsal, Luvyen
Mederos and Omar Pérez.
La magia de la danza
Ballet Nacional de Cuba
Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso
February 6, 12 & 13, 8:30pm; February 7 & 14, 5pm
A collection of great moments in 19th-century
choreography: Giselle, Beauty and the Beast, The
Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Don
Quixote and Swan Lake in adaptations that show
the respect and creativity the Cuban School of
Ballet has for tradition. They will also perform
Sinfonía de Gottschalk, which shows the essence
of Cuban ballet.
Innermost
Los Hijos del Director
Teatro Mella
February 5-7, 8:30pm
First public performance by this company, directed
by George Céspedes.
Ciudad de Guantanamo

Contemporary
Fusion
MUSIC
The contemporary fusion and electronic music
scene has expanded recently as new bars
and clubs have opened party promoters have
organized events in parks and public spaces.
Good live music venues include Bertolt Brecht
(Wed: Interactivo, Sunday: Déjá-vu) and El Sauce
(check out the Sunday afternoon Máquina de la
Melancolía) as well as the newly opened Fábrica
de Arte Cubano which has concerts most nights
Thursday through Sunday as well as impromptu
smaller performances inside.
Los Ángeles
Photo Alex Mene
In Havana’s burgeoning entertainment district
along First Avenue from the Karl Marx theatre to
the aquarium you are spoilt for choice with the
always popular Don Cangreco featuring good live
music (Kelvis Ochoas and David Torrens alternate
Fridays), Las Piedras (insanely busy from 3am) and
El Palio and Melem bar—both featuring different
singers and acts in smaller more intimate venues.
José María Vitier en
concierto
January 30, 8:30pm
Teatro Martí
Concert by pianist and composer José María
Vitier, whose style often combines the classical
and Cuban folk music styles. Some of his most
remarkable works are his compositions for the
Cuban film Fresa y Chocolate, and his Cuban mass.

La Habana Magazine February 2016

La Habana Magazine February 2016

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La Habana Magazine February 2016