Public Works Delegation to Cuba Larry W. Frevert, P.E., PWLF Senior Consultant, TREKK Design Group, Kansas City, Missouri APWA Past President Public Works Delegation Leader to Cuba PWA has had a cooperative agreement since 2008 with People to People International. This agreement serves to promote international understanding and exchange of public works practices and technologies through sponsorship of international travel by a public works delegation. Previously, four international public works delegations have traveled to China (two delegations), India and Russia. From November 15-23, 2013, a delegation of 11 (eight public works professionals and three guests) traveled to Cuba, meeting with Cuban professionals working in the field of public works and becoming immersed in the culture of Cuba (Photo 1 on page 40). These citizen ambassador/ delegates were: •
Brian Barnes, Charlotte County, FL
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Kris Bonar, Mesa, AZ (Guest)
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Mike Bonar, Mesa, AZ
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Arthur Brooks, Phoenix, AZ
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Rebecca Brooks, Phoenix, AZ (Guest)
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Katherine Claeys, Seattle, WA
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Carol Frevert, Kansas City, MO (Guest)
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Larry Frevert, Kansas City, MO (Delegation Leader)
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APWA Reporter
February 2014
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Steve Nichols, Tacoma, WA
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Kimberly Robinett, Westwood, KS
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Trent Robinett, Westwood, KS
Departing from Miami International Airport on Saturday morning, November 15, it took us about 45 minutes to fly to Cuba, landing at Havana International Airport. Arriving just in time to go to lunch, imagine our pleasure when we learned our first lunch venue in Cuba was in a building that had originally been a public works official’s mansion. Located at the mouth of the Almendares River where it enters the Straits of Florida, the 1830 Restaurant was a wonderful introduction to Cuba. There we were introduced to the wonderful Cuban custom of serving a mojito before meals. This “Cuban highball” is a sweet combination of white rum, sugar cane juice, sparkling water and mint, and we came to expect and enjoy them before each meal. Later in the week, we’d enjoy daiquiris at Earnest Hemingway’s favorite bar, the El Floridita. We were surprised to learn that Cubans do not care for spicy food. While we enjoyed a variety of beef, pork, chicken and seafood dishes, the food was not even as spicy as you often find in the United States. That first afternoon, we had a brief bus tour of Havana before retiring to our hotel, the Quinta Avenida Hotel in Miramar, to unpack and rest (Photo 2 on page 40). During our bus tour, we traveled along the Malecón.
The official name of the Malecón is the Avenida de Maceo named after a Cuban Army General from the nineteenth century. It is a broad esplanade, seawall and roadway on and by which we traveled many times during our time in Cuba and offered us a wonderful view of the National Hotel, people gathering along the seawall, the Straits of Florida and the entry to Havana Harbor. The National Hotel, which opened in 1930, was the site that the American Mafia had chosen for a potential gaming casino, envisioning it as the “Las Vegas” of the Caribbean. That idea ended with the 1959 Revolution which Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos helped to lead and which turned the country to communist rule. Also during our bus tour, we saw the American Interest Section, formerly the U.S. Embassy, which was abandoned by the U.S. during the latter stages of the Eisenhower Administration and not reopened until the Carter Administration. Although it does not have full embassy status, it is jointly operated by U.S. and Switzerland personnel. On Sunday, we spent the day learning about the Cuban culture and much of their history, including a visit to the Church of Regla. Regla is a seaport town on the eastern edge of Havana and was a very important location during the Revolution. Several Regla residents, loyal to the Revolution forces, were publicly killed by followers of the Batista dictatorship.