In the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse, many of the most far-fetched examples of Fidel Castro’s “policy-making-by-whim” became both the stuff of legend and taboo. As the country approached a political and economic abyss, few dared recollect how greatly Fidel Castro had squandered material resources once unquestioningly supplied by the Soviets. This was especially true as virtually all such resources disappeared from public use. Among these, perhaps the most important was cement. In the 1980s, thousands of family dwellings collapsed annually after enduring decades of state neglect and the Communist Party’s legal monopoly on access to the distribution of building materials. Yet it was precisely in this decade that Fidel Castro suddenly declared the need to build a tunnel system under Havana for the self-defense of civilians against an allegedly impending United States bomb attack. Mobilized to build the tunnels were special contingents of Communist militants under the flag of famous historic Communists like Blas Roca along with the best workers in construction. Once broadcast as a heroic feat and quickly forgotten as a political embarrassment, the tunnels themselves ultimately served no purpose—other than to signify the autocracy which Fidel Castro’s rule had become. They were also the butt of jokes since the most visible (near the University of Havana) became “tunnels of love”, sites for trysting and romance rather than sanctuaries from a supposedly inevitable imperial war. Lillian Guerra Collection, Special Collections, University of Florida.