‘To live in Havana’, Graham Greene once wrote, ‘was to live in a factory that turned out human beauty on a conveyor belt.’ To work as Cockburn does, as an underfed Grub Street hack, is to work in an industry that turns out pointless emails on a conveyor belt.
Every now and then though a real diamond rolls out of the coal chute. On Friday The New Republic invited its readers on a Caribbean jaunt – to Raúl Castro’s Cuba. Under the heading ‘Discover Cuba and Support the Cuban People’ the email read:
‘While Trump petulantly restricts travel to Cuba, The New Republic invites you to discover the culture, society and politics of the island, and most of all bolster the people of Cuba when they need it most.’
The people of Cuba – or at least the military caudillo and his thugs who keep people of Cuba garrisoned – have, incidentally, been busy ‘bolstering‘ the Maduro government in Venezuela.
Our tour guides continue:
‘Under the “Support for the Cuban People” category of legal travel, our March 2020 trip will be hosted by Professor Charles Bittner and lead you through the cobblestone streets to historic landmarks, traditional restaurants, independent art studios and museums, and discussions with social and political thought leaders.’
