President (and soon-to-be dictator) Gerardo Machado built El Capitolio in 1929 as part of a massive program of public works that temporarily addressed the chronic underemployment created by Cuba’s monocultural dependence on sugar. Although a clear neocolonial homage to the US Capitol, Cuba’s Capitolio also reflected citizens’ and Machado’s own alleged commitment to nationalism in the design of its opulent interior and slightly larger size. When Raúl Castro ordered its restoration in time for the National Assembly to pass a new Constitution drafted by the Communist Party in 2019, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin sent both the gold and the technical team that applied 24-karat gold foil to the 18-meter-tall statue of “Cuba Libre [Free Cuba]” that graces the entrance. The irony of all of this was lost on no-one—except perhaps, past and present dictators themselves!
