“The golden years of Cuba’s tourism”

David (Che) Sarzo has been a tourism worker since 2010, driving or guiding tourists in classic American cars. He benefited from Obama’s opening with Cuba, which brought about a boom in the industry.

“Those were the golden years for Cuba’s tourism,” said Sarzo. “The whole city benefited. The country’s economy grew.”

But when Trump and Biden’s reversed Obama’s policies and increased sanctions, it became hard for Sarzo to get a fare. He is expecting things to get even worse. “

Right now, all of Cuba is in fear of Trump’s return to office,” he said.

This story is part of the series “Obama’s opening with Cuba: Ten years later.”

TRANSCRIPT

“Those were the golden years for Cuba's tourism. Tourism tripled or quadrupled. That really benefited me. The whole city benefited,” says David (Che) Sarzo, a taxi driver and guide of classic American cars in Havana for over a decade. 

“Hi! My name is David. I invite you to take the best tour on classic American cars in all of Havana. If you come to Havana and you don’t take a tour in one of these cars, you didn’t come to Havana. If you want to travel back in time, come with us. You don’t want to miss it!,” he says. 

“Let’s do it. You’ll see now what American muscle looks like. This is a 1957 Ford Fairlane. It still has its original V8 engine. It only gets three or four kilometers per liter. It’s a dragon. It’s incredible to see these cars still running. They’re museums on wheels. I started driving them around 2010. I’ve inherited them through family. But I’ve never bought one myself. This is my brother Maikel,” says Maikel leaning over the open car. 

Obama’s opening led to a boom in U.S. travel to Cuba. Thousands of U.S. citizens came to Cuba every week by plane or cruise ship. 

“Those were the golden years for this business,” he explains. “Back then, I always had clients. Every week we had five or six cruise ships. You can imagine how crowded Havana was. Classic American cars, that’s what’s marketed to the foreigner about Cuba, a city stuck in time. Many Europeans also wanted to come because they thought Cuba would become like the rest of the world, filled with McDonald’s. That tripled or quadrupled the number of tourists. That really benefited me. The more tourists, the more I worked. The whole city benefited. The country’s economy grew. It benefited everyday Cubans, the people.”

“When Obama left office and Trump came in, tourism decreased, especially U.S. tourism. Trump banned cruise ships. That affected everyone. From the drivers of these types of cars to the peanut vendors. Trump accomplished what he wanted with all his sanctions against Cuba. I say that because he left office years ago and we are still affected by his sanctions. He made everything worse politically. And then covid hit. It was a debacle,” he says. 

“Biden was more of the same. He was there, but he didn’t do anything. Trump’s policies stayed in place,” he says. 

“Right now, all of Cuba is in fear of Trump’s return to office. Because he already said he will increase sanctions against Cuba. Those policies don’t affect the Cuban government, they affect the people. I wish something would change, that Obama’s policies would have continued, that relations were more open, that the distance between the countries was shortened, not geographically, but between the people. But in my experience, and based on what I’m seeing, thing are just going to get worse. And in the end, the people are the ones who suffer the most,” he says.