Cuba is Cuba

Created by: Martha Garzon
When: 11 am Saturday, March 20, 2004
Where: HCC Ybor Performing Arts Theater

Jorge Luis talks about his life
Still from "Cuba is Cuba"
by Martha Garzon

An experimental documentary, "Cuba is Cuba" is about the life of a young Cuban immigrant. During the interview, 26-year-old Jorge Luis talks about his life in Cuba, his decision to leave, and his incredible and complex journey to the US.

The video reflects the problems many Latin American people face in their own countries and their desperate search for a better life, which brings them to the United States.

“Cuba is Cuba” is an educational and touching story, which explains some of the reasons why Latinos will soon be the largest minority population in the United States.

Garzon, an immigrant herself, left her native Colombia more than three years ago because of political reasons. Escaping from the violence and the ongoing civil war, she arrived to the United States in a quest of a new life.

Inspired by her beliefs of artist as social commentator, “Cuba is Cuba”, investigates political, economical and social problems in Cuba.

In the documentary, Jorge Luis explains how people get paid less than 6 dollars only once a month, and how that money can only last for two or three days. He also tells how in his country one is only allowed to eat a pound of beef once a year.

Garzon does not limit her video to a personal interview. Jorge Luis’s story is supported and illustrated with historical footage, which is dispersed throughout the video in an experimental fashion, in an attempt to explain how and why Cuba became what it is now.

From the Artist

"The role of the American government, the dictator Fulgencio Batista, the comandante Fidel Castro, the loss of Soviet support, and “El Bloqueo” has transformed the island into a prison for thousand of people that try to escape from it every day."

"Some of them, called “the balseros”, get together in groups and make their own boats by hand. Others wait for days in the ocean for high speed boats, risking their life. The luckiest ones, like Jorge Luis, have to spend more than three months and travel to more than 4 countries to arrive by plane to Mexico and then cross the border to the US."