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By Kieran Murray
HAVANA, Jan 18
(Reuters) - Sitting in a rickety deck chair on a dusty Havana street, Amado
Garcia has a simple explanation for Pope John Paul's historic visit to communist
Cuba this week.
It also happens to be the city's hottest joke.
"He is coming because we Cubans are the world's strongest believers --
after living with Fidel Castro for so many years, they have us believing dried
peas are coffee beans, dirty water is soda and soya is meat,'' said the
64-year-old Garcia, drawing giggles from two friends as they sat chatting on a
sidewalk near Havana's cathedral on Saturday.
Then, as an afterthought, he added a new punchline that had them roaring
with laughter. "We have so much faith we even think things will get better
after he leaves.''
Cubans have for long excelled at finding humor in the country's economic
woes and political isolation, so it is no surprise that uncertainty about the
impact of the Pope's five-day visit has spawned a new batch of jokes.
"What else are you going to do? You go through good times, you go
through bad times, but you have to enjoy yourself. If we took everything to
heart, we'd all be dead,'' said Miriam Irgoyen, who was also taking it easy on
Saturday, sitting in the cool entrance to one of Havana's decaying tenement
blocks.
At least one private meeting between the Pope and Cuba's Marxist leader
Fidel Castro -- two aging world figures who are legendary symbols of the
conflict between Communism and religion -- and a series of four open-air masses
around the country have raised speculation that the Pontiff might push for
profound changes to Cuba's one-party system.
But there is little or no tension here as government workers spruce up
historic buildings and the routes to be taken by the Pope during his stay.
Although many Cubans would like to see religious, economic and political
restrictions eased, others are simply looking forward to the excitement of a big
event or the chance to earn a few U.S. dollars from an army of foreign
journalists swarming round the country.
Pedro Baccardi used to be a manager at a government food distribution agency
but left the job three years ago after Castro scrapped laws forbidding Cubans
from holding foreign currency. He now sells carved wooden plaques, wall hangings
and cigar boxes at a small stand outside the cathedral.
Sitting at the front of his stand this week are two plaques with the image
of Pope John Paul, a testament to both Baccardi's Catholic credentials and
entrepreneurial spirit.
But, to play it safe, two other plaques showing revolutionary Ernesto "Che''
Guevara are placed next to those of the Pope. Baccardi noted the irony of his
layout but had no qualms about it. "I don't mind where I put them, as long
as they sell,'' he said.
Other stall owners are touting photographs of Castro and the Pope shaking
hands during their first meeting, at the Vatican in 1996. Elsewhere, posters of
the Pope are pinned on windows and the living room walls of private homes,
proclaiming him the "messenger of truth and hope.''
But the Pope comes in a distant second behind Che Guevara. Photos,
paintings, carvings and sketches of the charismatic Argentine-born revolutionary
are plastered all over Old Havana.
Baccardi said he has always been a firm Catholic, even in the years when
Castro's government and its supporters spurned anyone who followed any religion,
and he plans to go to the Pope's open-air mass in Havana next Sunday.
But he said he would reserve judgment on the impact of the Pope's trip until
later in the year. "The important thing is to see what happens after he has
left.''
Other Cubans are less serious about their religion and some interviewed this
weekend appeared to know very little about the Pope.
"We are Catholics only when we are sick or we need help. Then we'll go
to church, but we might also go to a spiritualist or have someone read our
cards,'' said Marisel Rocha.
Nonetheless, she said she wouldn't miss the Pope's open-air mass for
anything. "Oh no, I'm going. He is a great figure in the world and I don't
want people telling me about it. I want to live it myself, have something to
talk about when I'm old.'' REUTERS
14:22 01-18-98 |