Although Santiago is Cuba’s second-largest city, few foreigners venture because flights are few and unreliable while driving east from Havana requires taking Cuba’s 1920s-era national highway, a two-lane and often twelve-hour commitment. Yet the visual landscapes of the region are varied and spectacular. The city is also eminently walkable. Taken after the port and waterfront of Santiago’s renovation, these photos reveal a floating 1950s dockside diner that was nationalized decades ago and is managed by the Cuban government, as well as an impressive Chinese shipping vessel, evidence of the state’s trade with its Communist partner as well as many joint ventures with foreign investors, regardless of state ideology. (July 2016)
