On New Year’s Day 1959, Cuba woke up to a new reality.
By then, the island had established itself as a tourism hot spot and cosmopolitan travel destination, thanks to its entertainment, hospitality, and proximity to the US.
Before dictator Fulgencio Batista fled Havana and revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro transformed the country into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere, Cuba’s social and economic fabric had already begun fraying.
The glamour of Havana hospitality masked political repression, corruption, and sharp divides between the capital and vulnerable rural communities.
Today, Cubans on the island struggle with shortages…
