American Flags Popping Up in Cuba on Everything but a Pole
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Version 0 of 1. HAVANA — The diplomatic thaw between the United States and Cuba has been accompanied by an unexpected outburst of flag-waving here — of the American flag. The Stars and Stripes has been spotted on apartment buildings and bicycle taxis. It splays across T-shirts and bandannas. On tight spandex pants, its pattern swirls around many a leg. Even a few car air fresheners bear its likeness (with a vanilla scent). “I am seeing things in Cuba I thought I would never see,” said one middle-age man, ogling a young woman’s nearly painted-on flag pants. The woman, who declined to give her name, wary of talking about the symbol of a nation still at odds with Cuba on many issues, said the pants were a gift from a friend who knew how much she enjoyed American pop culture. “It’s just fashion,” she said, rushing to make something clear in a country where any overt opposition to the government can bring scrutiny, or worse: “It isn’t a statement.” Of course, there is one place the flag is not yet popping up: in front of the American diplomatic outpost here, known as the “interests section,” which used to be the embassy until relations between the countries broke in 1961. After announcing in December that they intended to move toward restoring diplomatic ties, Washington and Havana are still talking about when and how to reopen embassies. At a regional summit meeting last weekend in Panama, President Obama and President Raúl Castro held the first sit-down meeting between leaders of the countries since the Cuban Revolution. (The meeting happened without the presence of their flags.) Diplomats on both sides have said that when the time comes, they expect to fly their flags at their diplomatic missions. Workers in recent weeks have refurbished the American flagpole outside the interests section, on the main seafront boulevard, in anticipation of Old Glory’s waving there for the first time in more than five decades. Yet no matter what the diplomats are doing, the fact that so many people are wearing their feelings literally on their sleeves shows how Cubans never lost their love for Americana, despite a contentious trade embargo and years of political hostility. In recent years, Cuba has gone through other waves of foreign flag-mania; the Union Jack seemed to gain favor in fashion around the 2012 London Olympics, and items decorated with the American flag had sprouted now and then over the years. But trend watchers here contend that American flag clothing has been proliferating, to the consternation of some in the government. An article last year on Cubadebate.com, a government news site, spoke disapprovingly of the displays as a form of cultural imperialism. “It pains me to see a Cuban wrapped in an American flag,” a commenter on the article said. “My mind doesn’t accept it.” Though considered by many a symbol of freedom, the flag-themed attire may also carry a whiff of contraband. Customers say that a lot of the garments are imported on the sly from Florida or Panama and that such clothing is not allowed to be resold, even under Cuba’s accelerated push toward entrepreneurship. So it seems a lot of people like these have flag-loving friends and relatives overseas: a car mechanic with an “I Love USA” T-shirt; a 1950s car with an American flag sticker on a lonely highway outside Havana; a young boy with flag-themed shorts walking on a quiet side street hours outside Havana; a teenage girl at a produce market — adorned neck to toe with Old Glory. “You like it?” asked Eugenia Rodriguez, 24, wearing an American-flag-themed T-shirt on a stroll here but vague on where it had come from. “You can get them around here.” Some dissidents have said they believe the flag attire is a cry for change, but ordinary Cubans have long remained friendly to American visitors and closely follow American pop culture and sports. Many are quick to discuss their shared love of baseball and to pass around the latest American television shows and movies on USB and hard drives. “Many Cubans are excited about the potential economic and social benefits that renewed U.S.-Cuban relations could bring,” said Marc D. Perry, an anthropologist at Tulane University who studies Cuban social trends. “This is Cuba’s current popular zeitgeist, if you will, and these cultural expressions reflect this.” The burst of flag sightings, a fleeting fashion statement or not, would probably have been less extensive while Fidel Castro, 88, was in charge. From the 1950s revolution to a recent letter deploring American sanctions on several Venezuelan officials, he has had a far more antagonistic relationship with the United States, and the only kind of flag-waving the United States inspired was masses of Cuban flags brandished at protest marches against “the empire.” But those demonstrations have faded since Raúl took over when Fidel fell ill in 2006, and a stand of flagpoles that Cuba put up years ago next to the interests section to block American government propaganda on the building is now only occasionally emblazoned with Cuban flags. As for the clothing, its origins are murky, like many things that materialize and disappear here with little explanation. A number of people wearing flag apparel said it had become more widespread in the past year. The choosy head to private “shops” hidden in houses and apartments, where many of the latest fashions — or knockoffs — are readily obtainable. Prices vary widely, with some flag items costing more than $15, which is steep in a country where the average monthly state salary is $20. Many people receive financial support from relatives abroad, and the sprouting entrepreneurship has given others a source of disposable income. The popularity of American flags appears to be, at least partly, a nod toward what many Cubans see as a welcome warming of relations and even a mutual embrace. “It is the way our countries are now,” said Elisabet, a shopkeeper wearing American-flag-themed pants in Trinidad, which like many cities and towns on the tourist circuit has had a significant increase in visitors from the United States under relaxed travel restrictions. “Friendly.” |