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A Cuba green Chevrolet on a
street of Trinidad is something that is impossible to miss if
you visit this city; and not only because this car is present
all over Cuba. The imagine sends you back in time, in the period
when the embargo didn’t exist. The commercial and cultural
presence of US on the island was very strong before the Cuba’s
revolution. The cars` influx stopped just after this revolution.
Because of the embargoes the new cars were almost impossible to
be imported and because of the economic situation of the
communism the power of buying was limited. So the Cubans had to
keep the old cars that have been helping them for years. This is
why to see a classic green Chevrolet on many streets of Cuba is
such a usual thing. In Havana, for example, anyone can meet the
old mixed with the new. The skyline is punctuated with buildings
that hold modern offices, but there are also residential towers
like in the East of Europe, in a deteriorated shape. Some of the
old cars are rusted or with no fresh paint and they can be seen
along with the shinier and newer models. The motorcycles and the
carts share the same road. The American old cars of Cuba are
called ‘bartavia’, ‘yank tank’, ‘cacharro’ or ‘maquina’. The
wonderful automobiles are preserved and considered a national
treasure by the entire country; the circumstances and the
history contributed to this situation like nowhere else in the
world. Before the USA embargo there were around 150.000 classic
cars in Cuba but after the embargo the international trade
became almost impossible. This is why the classic cars that
exist in Cuba now are old but very well cared of and really
loved. |
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