Frequently celebrated abroad for its alleged commitment to preserving bio-diversity, the Cuban government’s actual history of environmental-policy-making-by-whim or simple resource extraction for sale to undisclosed foreign buyers without public accountability is little known. For peasants in affected areas, memories of such history run deep. That history includes Fidel Castro’s massively destructive decision to introduce an invasive species of Asian catfish (locally called la claria) into Pinar del Río’s river system after his 1973 visit to Vietnam. Then Fidel’s goal was to find a protein substitute for the millions of head of cattle that the government nationalized in the early 1960s but then failed to maintain as a food source. While the catfish proved tough and unpalatable, they also consumed virtually all native fish in their path, particularly the once abundant trout of the region. Desperate for cash, the Cuban government also practiced clear-cutting of ancient forests as this photograph, taken of the Sierra de los Órganos on the road to Pinar del Río, shows. I documented these phenomena at the insistence of dozens of peasants and family members in December 1996. I had tried to photograph the predatory catfish but local informants sent agents to confiscate my film reels at my uncle’s house. (I nearly lost my camera too!)
