Sex Tourism in Cuba: A Tale of Survival - University of Arizona

Sex Tourism in Cuba: A Tale of Survival
Copyright 2007-2008, Hyo-mi Kim. All Rights Reserved. For copyright permissions,
contact the author directly or Professor Amar Gupta (gupta@eller.arizona.edu) at the
University of Arizona

Hyo Mi Kim
Dr. Gupta
November 30, 2008
ENTR 589
Sex Tourism in Cuba: A Tale of Survival
Cuba is famous for its beautiful beaches, jazz music, and enthusiastic dance, a
tropical island with diverse cultures and races. The other side of coin is that people do not
know about a tourism industry in Cuba that is thriving, sex tourism. In fact, since the
breakdown of Soviet Union, sex tourism in Cuba has been the fastest growing sector for
more than a decade. This paper will analyze the history of sex tourism in Cuba in three
periods: pre-revolution, during the revolution, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Also, the paper will include a discussion of the driving forces behind the sex tourism
industry including political, social, and economic factors and the Cuban government’s
prevention measures against prostitution. The status quo of current sex tourism in Cuba
will be thoroughly analyzed; however, this paper does not cover child sex or homosexual
prostitution. The focus of the paper will be heterosexual prostitution. Lastly, it will
include the potential of sex tourism in Cuba in the future since the new administration of
Barack Obama proposes lifting restriction on travel and the sending remittances to Cuba
by Cuban Americans. With the elimination of all restrictions on travel to Cuba for United
States citizens as well as easing the embargo on Cuba that is almost 50 years old, the
impact of these policies will be tremendous on the overall Cuban tourism industry,
especially the sex tourism sector.
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Overview
History of sex tourism in Cuba
Pre-revolution Era
Before Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959, Cuba was mostly a male dominated
society. Apparently, men were the dominant figures who were the bread winners and
providers for families, and they had better access to education, politics, and employment.
Women’s roles were limited to the domestic: the submissive wife, nurturing mother, and
well-behaved daughter. On the other hand, prior to the revolution prostitution took place
in Havana when young women migrated from rural areas to Havana in order to find
employment (Trumbull, 2001, p.357). Sex workers were considered victims of
imperialism with a second citizen social status (Clancy, 2002, p.64). The Cuban
government has estimated that as many as 100,000 prostitutes were in the country
(Trumbull, 2001, p.357). Supply can not exist without demand. Every year, hundreds of
thousands of travelers and businessmen came to Cuba for illicit sex and gamble.
During the Revolution
After Fidel Castro achieved his victory of the revolution, he declared that in a
socialist society nobody needed to sell their body for money. The rhetoric of revolution
guaranteed to Cuban women safeguards against foreigners and prostitution (Clancy, 2002,
p.64). Women were liberated and attained equal opportunity through the socialist
revolution. The Cuban government strived to incorporate women into society and the
work force, and women were viewed as valuable assets who would increase production
levels as well as enhance the economy. Women had the same access to education and
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employment as men. These promises were sustained by $ 4 billion in annual Soviet
subsidies, and Cubans could make ends meet and there was no need to participate in
prostitution (Trumbull, 2001, p.356). The government invested the subsidies to boost
educational levels and the healthcare system. As a whole, the sex business became an
unnecessary sector of the society and diminished in the years before the collapse of the
Soviet Union.
After the Collapse of the Soviet Union
The breakdown of the Soviet Union entirely changed the stable economic
conditions in Cuba. In 1991, the subsidies vanished with the collapse of the Soviet Union
and so did trading partnerships with Eastern European countries (Trumbull, 2001, p.358).
As a result, the citizens of Cuba suffered a great deal of hardship: lack of basic
commodities (soaps, gas, food, medicines, clothes, electricity, appliances, furniture etc.)
and the country’s GDP plummeted precipitously. In 1991, the economy plunged by 25%,
and worse yet, another 14.8% in 1993 (Clancy, 2002, p.78). The majority of Cuban trade,
more than 80%, had been with the communist bloc (Eastern Europe, East Germany, and
the Soviet Union) (Clancy, 2002, p.78). The Cuban government was not able to either
provide all essential items for Cubans or invest money on infrastructure. All of industries
in Cuba are state owned, and thus the disappearance of the Soviet subsidies shrank public
expenditure, leading to high unemployment rates and a low real wage level. Under the
circumstances, Cubans were forced to search for ways to overcome this turmoil and
economic pandemonium in order to survive. The reemergence of prostitution was an
obvious byproduct of the economic crisis, and prostitution was an effective means of
survival for women who had to feed their families and make a living.
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Re-emergence of Prostitution
The breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991 drove Cuba into a catastrophic
economic crisis. The Cuban government had to initiate structural reforms to survive
without the Soviet Union’s financial support or with trading partners from Eastern
European countries. First of all, Cuba needed foreign direct and indirect investment, and
tourism was one of main industries that the government had planned to use to revive the
economy. Secondly, the Cuban government legalized U.S. dollar possession. This policy
created a “dual economy” in Cuba, and ordinary people pursued dollars more than ever to
sell or purchase domestic commodities illegally in the thriving black market, the place in
Cuba where only dollars are accepted. Possessing dollars was more meaningful than ever
and it was means of survival since Cubans could not live on rations from the state. The
amount of food rations last for only two weeks in a month or less because Cuba’s
agricultural industry does not produce enough food for Cubans to feed themselves and
the U.S. blockade makes importing food complicated and expensive (Karsseboom, 2003).
Cubans have affirmed, “In Cuba, if you do not have dollars, you do not have anything”
(Karsseboom, 2003). Thirdly, self-employment was also liberalized in some fields
(before structural reform all industries were run by the state). Engaging in the tourism
industry (doormen, bartenders, taxi drivers, waiters etc.) was a tempting and inevitable
alternative to earn dollars and, especially for women, prostitution was a promising way to
procure those dollars.
Naturally, these structural reforms stirred and molded rapid change in the tourist
industry. Hotels, night clubs, bars and restaurants were constructed to lure tourists from
all over the world. Thanks to deregulation of self-employment, Cubans could work in
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different sectors to provide services for tourists: transportation, stores, restaurants,
apartment rental, and so forth. Most importantly, the legalization of dollar possession
facilitated the spending of more money in Cuba by foreign tourists. The tourism industry
has proliferated incredibly; tourism has increased 18.6% every year since 1995 (Trumbull,
2001, p.358). Between 1988 and 2000, the number of foreign tourists rose from 300.000
to 1.85 million (Clancy, 2002, p.77).
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean
(ECLAC), tourism employs 81,000 workers directly and simultaneously, and creates a
multiplier effect that generates 2.7 employments for every direct job created (Trumbull,
2001, p.358). The tourism sector drew in approximately $2.0 billion in 1998, and Cuba
anticipates 6-7 million foreign tourists to visit the island and spend $10 billion by 2010
(Trumbull, 2001, p.358). As the tourism industry expands, sex tourism swells as well.
The numbers do not include American tourists due to the U.S. trade embargo that forbids
visits to Cuba. Undoubtedly, if the new administration lifts the restrictions on Cuba and
allows travel, millions of American tourists will flood into Cuba, contributing billions of
additional dollars to the Cuban economy.
Sex tourism is not a new phenomenon; throughout history it has continued to exist.
For centuries sex tourism and tourism have been inseparable around the globe. Cuba is
not an exception when it comes to sex tourism. Thousands of men visit or travel to Cuba
to have sex with Cuban girls and most of them are Europeans, especially from Italy and
Spain. According to ECLAC, 58% of tourists are male 25-60 years old, twice the number
of female tourists of the same age group (Trumbull, 2001, p.359). Obviously, a
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substantial number of male tourists engage in sex tourism in Cuba, and thus the
proliferation of the tourism industry is partially attributed to sex tourism.
There are a few distinctive characteristics of contemporary prostitution in Cuba.
Firstly, unlike Thailand, Cambodia, Haiti, and Eastern Europe, there is virtually no
network of brothels and pimps, organized systems involving a third party. Most
prostitutes in Cuba work voluntarily, independently, and individually and work part-time
without involving any organizations or groups. Simply put, they are not sex slaves who
are kidnapped, abused emotionally and physically, or sold through human traffic. Nobody
forces them into prostitution or to work under harsh and oppressive conditions as in third
world countries.
Secondly, Cuba has taken pride in its excellent educational system and has a
literacy rate of 99.8%, second highest in the world (United Nation Human Development
Index 2007/2008, p.236; CIA Factbook Literacy Rate) (See Figure 1). In fact, most
Cuban prostitutes are educated and also multi-lingual because the state not only funds
education for all citizens, including university education, but women have equal access
and equal rights to pursue high education as do men. Even Fidel Castro has stated that
“Cuba has the cleanest and most educated prostitutes in the world” (Trumbull, 2001,
p.358).
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Figure 1 Source: United Nation Human Development Report 2007/2008 and CIA
Factbook, Literacy Rate (age 15 and over can read and write)
World Country Literacy Rate
Rank
%
2 Cuba 99.8
18 France 99.0
18 Spain 99.0
18 United Kingdom 99.0
65 Chile 95.7
70 Portugal 93.8
83 Mexico 91.6
96 Brazil 88.6
102 Dominican Rep. 87
104 Bolivia 86.7
154 Haiti 54.8
Another interesting perspective on prostitutes in Cuba is they are not drug addicts
or alcoholics. Some of them engage in prostitution to finance their studies or to work in a
chosen profession. Also, some women work in the sex industry to sustain a certain life
style; prostitutes have access to luxurious and glamorous clubs, bars, restaurants and
clothes that are not available for local people, but only for foreign tourists. The Cuban
laws forbid locals utilizing tourist designated areas such as high class and top-end clubs,
bars, hotels, and restaurants. Only foreign tourists, who are privileged, have the right to
use these places. Natives are not allowed to enter these places unless they are
accompanying tourists or work there.
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Factor 1: Economic Necessity
Needless to say, economic need is the principal driving force in the comeback of
prostitution in Cuba. The majority of sex workers view prostitution as only a means to
make a living. Most sex workers work in the industry in order to make ends meet
families; participating based solely upon economic need. A substantial number of women
migrants from the countryside turn to prostitution, since they are not able to work legally
in the city due to internal migration laws that prohibit them from obtaining urban
employment (Trumbull, 2001, p.359). Another reason that women choose to enter
prostitution is to finance their work or studies. Professional women workers participate in
prostitution part time in a quest for additional income. Cuba is known for dreadfully low
wages: doctors, professors, and lawyers are paid approximately $25 per month or less.
The level of salary is astonishingly low in Cuba; according to the San Francisco
Chronicle, salary of Cuban doctors is only $15 per month (Juan Forero 2007). The
overall average monthly salary is approximately $12 (Trumbull, 2001, p.360). Yet those
figures do not reflect the purchasing power of Cubans because state services provide
many essentials: basic foodstuffs, health care, child care, education, and often housing
(Clancy, 2002, p.79).
Notwithstanding, such state support has not been nearly enough for average
Cubans to live on and the situation has worsened due to the economic crisis after the
collapse of the Soviet Union. Overnight, basic necessities such as cooking oil, meat,
detergents, gas, shoes, and gasoline became luxury items. Cuban female workers had to
find an alternative to support themselves and their families. Professionals who have
received university education and advanced degrees still need to find supplementary
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sources of income. Some of them abandon their jobs to acquire a self-employed license
or otherwise work in the tourism industry as doormen, concierges, maids, taxi drivers,
waiters, bartenders, and prostitutes. In reality, prostitution is a lucrative business in Cuba
relative to other sources. The regular rate for a prostitute is $25-$40 per night and in the
fancy and luxurious clubs or bars the rate is $80-$100 (Trumbull, 2001, p.361).
The interviews that Trumbull conducted in Cuba mirror the reality of the Cuban
prostitution industry; two Cuban mulatta (biracial mixture of black and white) girls said
they study in the day time and work in streets at night (Trumbull, 2001, p.360). On
average, these prostitutes charge $25-$70 per night, and hence, if they sleep with one
customer every month, they can earn twice the monthly salary of a nurse in a hospital.
They mentioned that the salary they received as a nurse is not nearly enough to make a
living.
Factor 2: Development of Technology-Internet
The Cuban government publicly denies that there is a huge prostitution industry in
Cuba. Moreover, the government acknowledges the success of tourism in Cuba is driven
entirely by developed infrastructures and services for tourists. Fidel Castro proclaimed,
“Sex tourism will never be permitted, nor drugs nor anything of that. This is healthy
tourism, and that is what we want; it is what we promote because we know that today
tourists are worried about their safety and we have conditions to offer them that security”
(Karsseboom, 2003). Yet numerous websites (ex. www.WorldSexGuide.org) promote
prostitution in Cuba and exchange information such as prices and the good spots to find
prostitutes, the particular bars, clubs, streets, and restaurants (Trumbull, 2001, p.359).
Furthermore, tour operators recruit and promote sex tourism through advertisements in
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adult magazines and through direct mail or email solicitations with personal referrals
from former sex tourists (Karsseboom, 2003).
Sex tourists recommend Cuba as a paradise of sexual tourism. The websites
facilitate sharing or offering of detailed experiences, anecdotes, and stories that guide
foreign tourists to take advantage of sex tourism in Cuba, including how to rent private
rooms or houses because Cuban laws prohibit Cubans from visiting foreigners in hotel
rooms, and thus sex tourists need to rent rooms or houses outside of hotels since they are
not able to invite any Cuban to their own rooms in the hotels. The internet websites have
been heavily promoting sex tourism, accelerating the growth rate of the sex industry in
Cuba.
Why do tourists choose Cuba for sex tourism?
Cuba has several advantages that entice tourists for sex tourism and above all for
Europeans who are the majority of tourists in Cuba. Spanish, Italian, Germany, English,
and Canadian male tourists come to Cuba to take advantage of the affordable price of
prostitutes. In 1999, sex tourists could spend about $10 for a sexual encounter and if they
wanted a sex worker’s company throughout the evening for dinner and a disco or a bar
that would be only $30-$40 (Wonders, 2001, p.563). During the date the women provide
caring attention with a friendly attitude. While the sex tourists stay in Cuba, they can
enjoy these kinds of high class privileges which they are not able to have in their home
countries due to high costs that only a limited number of top echelon high society males
can pay for. Additionally, tourists know that it is safer to buy sexual services, since
paying for sex in Cuba incurs less risk of being arrested, penalized or fined by authorities
compared to in their countries (Karsseboom, 2003).
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However, this is not the whole picture of why Cuba is becoming famous for sex
tourism in the first world. Some sex tourists are not just looking for girls for sex in Cuba.
They expect companionship or friendship from women with whom they can have dates,
engage in interesting conversation, go to discos to dance, and have dinner or travel
together with them in Cuba. The Cuban women play the roles of tour guide, bedmate,
girlfriend, playmate, companion or dancing partner (Wonders, 2001, p.563). Cuban
prostitutes are well-educated and multi-lingual with many having professional careers
unlike prostitutes in Africa, Eastern Europe, or South East Asia. The tourists expect to be
“pseudo boyfriends” or significant others, and they do not want to be treated as clients or
customers (Wonders, 2001, p.563). One Italian sex tourist and also an American stated
that Cuban women are caring and friendly. Cuban prostitutes do not behave like
professional hookers who just want money and calculate everything. They want to be
your friend and spend more time with you; they care about you and whatever you want to
do, not just sex (Wonders, 2001, p.563).
Additionally, the low incidence of HIV/AIDS in Cuba is quite appealing to
Europeans, since Western European countries are concerned with the growing rate of
HIV/AIDS worldwide. Cuba has the lowest incidence of HIV in the Western Hemisphere,
which is a 0.1% adult prevalence rate in comparison to Haiti’s 2.02% and the Dominican
Republic’s 1.07% (See Figure 2) (CIA World Fackbook). Unequivocally, Cuba is the
safest country regarding HIV/AIDS among Caribbean nations. Every single pregnant
woman receives an HIV test. Remarkably, 96% of the total population of Cuba had been
tested for AIDS by 1994. While other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have
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struggled with the AIDS epidemic, Cuba maintains that it is undamaged (Trumbull, 2001,
p.369). Tourists are aware of the fact that it is safer for them to have sex with prostitutes
in Cuba rather than prostitutes in Eastern Europe or other Caribbean countries such as
Haiti or the Dominican Republic. Besides, sex education is mandatory in the 6 th or 7 th
grade and condoms are widely available, frequently for free in clinics.
Figure 2 Source: CIA World Factbook, HIV/AIDS Prevalence
*Higher # = Lower Incidence
Country People living
with AIDS
Ranked by
HIV/AIDS
population*
HIV/AIDS
adult
prevalence
rate (%)
Date of
Population
Data
Cuba 3,300 125 0.1 2003 est.
Haiti 120,000 045 2.02 2008 est.
Dominican Rep. 88,000 051 1.07 2003 est.
France 120,000 044 0.4 2003 est.
Spain 140,000 042 0.7 2003 est.
Italy 140,000 039 0.5 2001 est.
United States 984,155 010 0.6 2007 est.
Brazil 660,00 015 0.4 2003 est.
Mexico 160,000 035 0.3 2003 est.
South Africa 5,700,000 001 18.01 2008 est.
Curiously, most of female prostitutes are non-white, blacks or mulattas (biracial
mixture of black and white). This phenomenon has nothing to with racial discrimination
or lower economic or social status in the society. It is purely due to higher demand for
women of color rather than white women (Trumbull, 2001, p.361). In other words, many
European males have sexual fantasies or fetishes fixed on black females or those of
mixed race. Cuba has a substantially high number of blacks, mulattas, and those of and
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mixed race with African descent, and this factor creates an ideal environment for sex
tourists, combining a number of stereotypes: hot Latina and sexually untamed African
women or mulattas (Wonders, 2001, p.563). European male tourists have stated that they
highly desire girls that they cannot sex usually have sexual relations with as black women
are rare in their countries in Western Europe and in Canada. The belief that having sex
with black women or mulattas will be more exciting, primitive, and uninhibited lures
more sex tourists into Cuba (Trumbull, 2001, p.361).
Government Policy on Sex Tourism
The Cuban government publicly and openly condemns the prostitution industry
and claims to want to eradicate it. The government denounces the prostitute as a “social
parasite” (Trumbull, 2001, p.365). Prostitution is not regarded as a form of self-
employment, and, moreover, prostitutes do not pay taxes to the state. Since, prostitution
is not organized and the prostitutes work individually, it is difficult for the government to
eliminate its roots. What the government might be seen as most concerned with is a
negative image of socialism and that it is dysfunctional in Cuba. Prostitution is one of the
indicators that socialism and the influence of socialist values have diminished. Socialism
condemns the exploitation of people in the capitalist world and prostitution is a form of
exploitation that socialists have always ferociously criticized. The government is not
willing to admit the failure of the revolution or the socialist system.
Another apprehension that the government has is that Cuba is becoming a
notorious country for sex tourism such as Thailand. The government clearly states that
they want more tourists to visit Cuba; however, sex tourism is not what Cuba wants to be
famous for. Cuba wants to promote healthy tourism that attracts families, seniors, and
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honeymooners. Prostitution invokes a set of negative images: alcohol, pornography, sex
slaves, drugs, brothels, pimps, human trafficking, STDs, and HIV/AIDS. One example of
government action toward elimination of prostitution is that in 1996 the government
cracked down and raided prostitutes on Varadero beach (the most popular beach for
foreign tourists) (Trumbull, 2001, p.363). The authorities arrested 7,000 prostitutes along
Varadero beach and investigated them and the houses they used in the area (Clancy, 2002,
p.77). Now it is illegal to rent houses or rooms for Cubans and also if anybody rents a
house for prostitution the owner of the house will lose the house (Trumbull, 2001, p.364).
The government effectively eradicated prostitution in Varadero. In response, the tourism
industry dwindled in Varadero. In order to offset the loss of tourists, the government
developed several all-inclusive resorts to target families, honeymooners, retired couples,
and students. As a result, the tourism industry has rebounded in Varadero (Trumbull,
2001, p.364).
Conclusion
The tourism industry is a crucial sector that helps to maintain the economy afloat
and functioning. For Cuba, tourism was a salvation under a rapid development plan after
the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Social bloc followed by a harsh economic
crisis and shortage of essential supplies. Amidst economic chaos, tourism was a driving
force and motive to step out of the mire. On the other hand, the new Obama
administration is anticipated to gradually eliminate the nearly 50-year-old blockade
against Cuba, and trade between the two countries will blossom as well as American
tourists will rush in. In late 1960, President Eisenhower imposed economic sanctions
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against Cuba as a result of the success of the revolution (Wonders, 2001, p.560). Before
the embargo, 86% of the visitors came from the United States (Wonders, 2001, p.560).
These days approximately 3 million tourists come to Cuba annually (327,000 in
1990 and 2,319,000 in 2005 with the annual growth rate of tourism at 13.2%) (Fornieles
Sanchez, 2006); however, as soon as the restrictions against U.S. citizens traveling are
lifted, the number of visitors will be doubled or tripled or even quadrupled in a few years.
In response, sex tourism will inevitably, grow even larger. Sex tourism has been
appealing to foreign tourists, mostly European male visitors thanks to low cost,
radicalized stereotypes (regarding blacks and mulattas), low HIV/AIDS rates, exotic
beaches, and the tropical climate. Sex tourists are seeking an “unspoiled destination” and
Cuba will be the prime candidate for Americans, offering proximity to the U.S.
(especially from Miami), inexpensive short distance flights, and most of all, reasonable
cost. In 1991, Cuba ranked 23 rd in tourist destinations in the western hemisphere; in 2006
Cuba placed 8 th only behind the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico,
and the Dominican Republic (Fornieles Sanchez, 2006). The Cuban Minister of Tourism,
Manuel Marrero Cruz, has claimed that Cuba had experienced a proliferation of tourists,
with a 14% annual growth in the last fifteen years (Fornieles Sanchez, 2006). To facilitate
this influx Cuba offers ten international airports with 93 foreign and airlines (Fornieles
Sanchez, 2006).
If 6 million people visit Cuba annually, after the lifting of the travel prohibition
restrictions, among them 60% would be male visitors and at least 20% of tourists might
be involved in sex tourism and purchasing sex services costing at least $100 per visit.
Under this assumption, the sex tourism sector would generate a minimum of $72 million
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each year for the Cuban economy. Sex workers earn $40-$50 for providing one night of
sex with companionship, which is twice a Cuban university professor’s monthly salary
(Wonders, 2001, p.562). Today, an average Cuban needs to have approximately $100
each month to make ends meet in Havana, although if they live in a rural area, living
costs are relatively lower. Government salaries are at most one-fifth or one-sixth or even
one tenth of that $100 monthly amount (Karsseboom, 2003). If this phenomenon
continues, and the government is not able to raise the real wage levels of people and
subsidies behind basic service remain insufficient, sex tourism will continue to prosper
and flourish.
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