Russian Power in Cuba Turned to Nostalgia. Now Even That's Fading
Dec 23, 2014 8:13 PM GMT+0400
Guitarist Rey Fernandez is stomping time with his feet in the smoky Havana bar ToBARish, a pun on the Russian word for comrade. His jazz quartet is playing the theme song of the 1969 Soviet cartoon The Bremen Musicians to the smiles of Cubans and clapping English and Dutch tourists.
“This is the music all Cubans grew up with,” Fernandez said. “These cultural ties will always unite us with Russia.”
Just months after President Vladimir Putinerased $32 billion in Cuban debt, Russia’s ties with the Caribbean island are coming under increasing strain as the ruble collapses and President Barack Obamare-establishes diplomatic ties and eases a five-decade embargo. With its economic and military might in the region a distant memory, Russian musical acts like Fernandez may become a novelty in a country facing the prospect of a flood of U.S. tourists and dollars.
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