CUBA: BEFORE EXCAVATING OPPORTUNITY, UNDERSTAND HER PAIN.

“Borrowed pain,” a term that Dan LeBatard coined in an important article written last week, is something I’ve dealt with my entire life. As the son of two parents that were exiled from Cuba, I’ve always felt their pain as if it were my own. Pain that hasn’t really subsided with time.

A week ago, Barack Obama became the first American President to touch ground in Cuba in over 90 years. He did so with the intention of re-establishing relations with the same regime that caused my family and thousands of others to flee their homeland. A regime built on lies, violence, and greed.

No one has felt lonelier than the Cuban exile has this week. Obama’s historical trip to Cuba has touched a wound that has not healed, yet no one else seems to care. Their voices drowned out by the idea that a 50+ year embargo will soon be lifted, and Americans will have a new playground to play in.

Brands are already foaming at the mouth at the thought of opening shop at another cruise port. In the past week:

• Airbnb opened Cuban listings to the world.

•Cruise giant Carnival announced that Cuban authorities will allow it to operate cruises to the country starting on May 1st (yes, THIS May). This will mark the first time in 50 years that cruise passengers will be able travel to Cuba from the United States.

•Starwood Hotels, with special permission from the U.S. Treasury Department, signed a deal to manage and market two properties in Havana and signed a letter of intent to operate a third. It will become the first US hotel company to sign a deal with Cuba since the 1959 revolution.

•Major League Baseball hosted an exhibition game in Havana between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban National team, a move many feel will lead to future games in Cuba, including ones involving two major league clubs.

All of that, AND THE EMBARGO HASN’T EVEN BEEN LIFTED!

It won’t be long before Starbucks opens multiple locations up and down El Malecon. I can already envision the influx of Americans walking around central Havana, smoking fake Cohiba’s, and ignorantly wearing t-shirts with the iconic Che Guevara face printed on them. (Before you idolize this “revolutionary,” please remember who he REALLY was: a ruthless mass-murderer who was responsible for the execution of thousands of men, women, and children who simply didn’t agree with the revolution’s politics.)

So why am I writing this? Well I grew up in Miami, a city immersed in Cuban culture. I was always exposed to the pain and suffering caused by the Castro regime. It wasn’t until I moved to Los Angeles that I realized that most people have no idea about Cuba’s history.

With that said, I feel a responsibility to spread truth at a time when the truth needs to be told. I’m sure agencies are getting inundated with requests from clients to “start thinking of campaigns surrounding Cuba.” And I get it, business is business. But do your homework beforehand. Remember the reasons for the embargo.

Photo on the left: My grandfather (left) working at his hardware store “Ferreteria La Llave” Photo on the right: What the hardware store currently looks like. It has not been occupied since the Cuban government seized the property during the revolution in 1959.

Remember the thousands of exiles forced to flee the country, many of whom went decades without seeing sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers.

My grandfather (center), always the life of the party, drinking straight out of the bottle. That is my grandmother that he has his arm around. They are surrounded by extended members of our family. A lot of the people in this photo stayed in Cuba after the revolution, while others fled (my grandparents included) for a better life. They would go several years without seeing each other.

My grandparents living it up in their heyday.

Read up on “Operation Peter Pan,” a program that ran from 1960 to 1962, which airlifted more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children to the U.S. to avoid potential indoctrination by, guess who, the same guys Obama shook hands with last week.

Children of Operation Peter Pan arrive in Miami after being sent away by their parents to avoid Marxist — Leninist indoctrination.

Remember the lives lost by those so desperate to leave those conditions, who jumped on boats made of wood panels and old tires in hopes of reaching American soil, so that they can enjoy the freedom that we enjoy every day.

Cuban “balseros” turn an old pick-up truck into a “boat” while fleeing Cuba.

MOST importantly, remember the people of Cuba who live there now. The ones who still get thrown in prison for not agreeing with the government’s politics. The ones who can’t vote for change. The ones who have an average salary of $22/month. The ones who are not free.

I often look at Cuba as an older woman full of rich history and culture. A woman that has endured hardship and pain, yet still manages to keep a smile on her face. One would never know her struggle if one did not get to know her story. She is strong, yet she is fragile. She is unconventionally beautiful on the outside, yet she is damaged on the inside. Her vibrant energy masks the suffering she’s dealt with for nearly 60 years. It would be a travesty to turn her into another empty Spring Break destination. She is more than that. Let’s treat her with the respect that she deserves.