User:Havana '59

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 * Havana '59 – Paintings and graphics of George H. Rothacker 

Mission:
Havana '59 is an artistic crusade to portray a city “stuck” in time, both magnificent and disenchanting, and to bring it into focus for all to see through paintings, graphics, and products.
 *  History: 
 *  History: 

The largest of the Caribbean islands, Cuba, was sighted by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage of discovery in 1492, and claimed the for Spain that same year. Except for having been held by the British in 1762, the country remained predominately under Spanish rule into the 20th century.

The country came into international focus in 1898, when stories prompted by U.S. newspaper owners such leapt to the conclusion that the explosion of the armored cruiser, the Maine, which was protecting U.S. interests during a Cuban revolt against Spain that same year, was caused by the Spanish. The U.S. became involved in the conflict, though the cause and responsibility for the explosion were never clear, and later viewed as a result of an on-ship accident. The slogan “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain,” and opinions fueled by the press, precipitated events that began the Spanish-American War. The U.S. invaded Cuba, and on December 10, 1898 the U.S. and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris, recognizing Cuban independence. The Cubans never received their independence, however. Instead, following the exit of Spanish troops from the island later that month, the government was handed to the U.S. on January 1, 1899.

In 1902, the United States finally handed over control to the Cuban government. In 1940, Fulgencia Batista, a former army sergeant and revolutionary, won the 1940 election for President. Batista’s reign was ended in 1944 by the election of a populist physician, Dr. Ramon Grau San Martin, who inherited the economic boom from increased sugar prices during World War II. Grau inaugurated a program of public works and school construction, Social Security benefits were increased, and economic development and agricultural production were encouraged. But increased prosperity brought increased corruption. Nepotism flourished, and the country was also steadily gaining a reputation as a base for organized crime. The country became a “naughty” tourist destination for those who could enjoy gambling, drugs, and sexual freedom, along with magnificent ocean views and natural wonders of the island. In 1952, Batista ran once again for President, and though expected to get a small minority of votes, seized power in a bloodless coup ahead of the election. Despite Batista’s intent for personal profit from his position, the country flourished during his regime, and, according to the International Labor Organization, the average industrial salary in Cuba was the world’s highest by 1958, and Cuba has become one of the five most developed countries in Latin America. Cuba had more movie theatres than New York, had the 8th number of radio stations in the world, and according to the United Nations, Cuba had one of the highest number of doctors per Capita in the world, and the third lowest mortality.

But middle class Cubans, who dreamed of enjoying the fruits of the American economy, and not that of Latin America, became increasingly frustrated with the gap between financial success in their country and that of the U.S. There were large income disparities that were reported by some to be the "result of the privileges enjoyed by Cuba’s unionized workers, obtained in large measure at “the cost of the unemployed and peasants.”

Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba increased economic regulation which led to declining investments, and during the 1950s, many graduates could not find jobs and the gross domestic product grew at only 1%. A early as 1953, Fidel Castro, a young lawyer from a rich family, started a crusade to depose Batista’s government, and with a small army led an attack on the Moncando Barracks near Santiago. The attack failed and Castro was captured, tried and convicted, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released in 1956 by the Batista government when amnesty was given to political prisoners. Casro went into exile in Mexico where he met a socialist “freedom fighter” Ernesto “Che” Guevera. Together they organized a successful guerilla campaign, the 26th of July Movement, with the goal of overthrowing Batista back in Cuba. The middle classes which had become disillusioned with Batista and the unemployment that came about during his regime, helped fuel U.S. imposed trade restrictions on Batista’s administration, resulting in the U.S sending an envoy to Cuba with the mission of persuading Batista to leave the country voluntarily. On January 1, 1959, exactly 60 years after Cuba was given its independence from Spain, Batista fled, and Castro took over.

Within 7 days, President Eisenhower sent a new ambassador to Cuba, to help keep the country within the “the U.S. sphere of influence.” Despite favored reaction by many Cuban citizens and influential Batista opponents towards the U.S. intervention, Castro was repulsed by U.S. domination and paternalism, and its connections with the corruption that had been condoned by the U.S. His answer was, “Americans are going to pay dearly for what they are doing. When the war is over, I’ll start a much longer and bigger war of my own.” The U.S. responded with aggressive campaigns against the Castro regime that lead to the U.S. 1962 embargo against Cuba. In April, 2009, President Barrack Obama expressed his intention to relax the existing travel restrictions making it once again legal for Americans to travel to Cuba. My wife, two friends and I visited Havana in November of 2009. Our intention in the trip, was to create a series of paintings of the city, documenting its decaying beauty from a personal perspective. From what we could ascertain, the people where hopeful for their government to relax its policies, and the U.S. government to remove the embargo that has lasted nearly 50 years.

Even today in this country, there is still much anger in the U.S. felt by Cubans and their families who were forced to leave their farms, businesses and country after the revolution. It would most likely be difficult for change to evolve quickly that would enable for this “prodigal son” of the U.S. to once more embrace and be embraced by its much larger neighbor only 90 miles away.

Havana ’59 is not a political statement. It is an artistic crusade to portray a city “stuck” in time, both magnificent and disenchanting, and to bring it into focus for all to see.| Example
 * Providing products related to the cars, architecture, history and people of the island nation, Cuba.
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