The US ambassador’s residence in Havana has a beautiful garden that steps down past a blue fountain to a hole in the hedge containing an eagle with spread wings. It’s a lovely place for a party.
The trouble is, given the current state of relations between Cuba and the US, cocktails have become a continuation of politics by other means. The embassy invites people who disagree with Cuba’s communist government, and Cuba’s interior ministry stops them from coming.
The eagle is pertinent. It once stood atop the monument to the USS Maine, a warship that blew up in Havana harbor in 1898, killing 266 sailors. It seems to have been a terrible accident, but the then-assistant navy secretary, Teddy Roosevelt, blamed Cuba’s then-colonial master, Spain.
“Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain” went the chant. Two months later, the US declared war. Roosevelt swept in as head of his Rough Riders, dislodging the Spanish from Cuba and stealing the thunder of the homegrown independence fighters who had been battling for decades to reach the cusp of victory. Relations, it’s fair to say, have been fraught since.
I was peering at the eagle at this year’s July 4 party when Mike Hammer, the current US ambassador, began a speech from the top of the steps. Listing some of those the Cuban authorities had detained, he said: “Ask yourselves why the regime is so afraid of our Cuban friends coming here to celebrate freedom in the United States. It’s because they realize their revolution has failed.”
In the crowd, diplomatic jaws paused mid-canapé. But it’s always been thus. The first soirée I attended – you’ll have to excuse me: the embassy gets furious if I call them “parties” – was election night in 2004. I arrived to be greeted by James Cason, head of what was then called the US Interests Section, and his Salvadoran wife Carmen, who was dressed in a red-and-white striped dress with a star-spangled scarf. An assistant offered a basket full of badges – Bush or Kerry – then scoffed when a colleague from the BBC said he had to remain impartial.
Depressed dissidents stood around, many of whom had spent time in Cuban jails, and would likely do so again. Going home probably meant recounting the night to someone from Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior with the angry attitude of an uninvited partner. I couldn’t fault their bravery, but the bash felt poor recompense.
The next time I dropped by, in 2006, relations had soured further. The US had started projecting quotes from the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. from the top of the imposing US offices on Havana’s famous corniche, the Malecón: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up.” That sort of thing.
Then came a year when July 4 was actually a party. In 2016, Obama’s détente was gripping the island. The gig even had sponsors such as Delta Airlines, Sonoma County Vintners and Airbnb. “No dissidents were stopped, and you didn’t have the completely obvious phalanx of state security outside,” said my friend Patrick.
The Cuban authorities have returned to their belief that the US is trying to stir up trouble
Of course, that atmosphere has now faded. The Cuban authorities have returned to their belief that the US is trying to stir up trouble. What makes them think that, it’s hard to fathom.
“Their time is running out,” Hammer declared in perfect Spanish, raising an ink-black drink. “This is a Cuba Libre made with Bacardi,” he yelled (Bacardi fled the island after the rise of Fidel). Then he chanted, three times, “Viva Cuba Libre!” He had a good-sized audience. This year it was a hot ticket, if in all the wrong ways. But the other nations’ diplomats started slipping away. “There are better ways to spend a Thursday night in Havana, even now,” said one.
But I enjoyed myself. The hotdogs were excellent. When I eventually headed for the exit, I found myself in the main house surrounded by famous Cuban Americans – Pitbull, Camila Cabello and a surprisingly small Marco Rubio. Each was a cardboard cutout.
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