The legendary reserve of multinational piracy in the colonial era, the city of Baracoa remained unconnected to the rest of the island except by boat for most of the last century. This small island’s proximity to multiple shores in the Bay of Nipe and Baracoa itself once made it an ideal location for residents who operated private fisheries before the government took over the industry in the early 1960s. The inability to buy and replace sails, motors, or even their own small ships over the years due to Communist state controls over both the sale of such products and their availability changed the conditions of life even further. As several Cubans commented while I photographed the island, what looks like a great place to live can actually be a trap. July 2016.
