Cuba and Sport Climbing
Cuba is a colourful country, but there are strict rules and regulations in the urban areas, national parks and climbing communities. Ironically (or not) they say that the very first climber in Cuba was Fidel Castro. In the 1950s, Castro supposedly said, “The revolution was the work of climbers and cavers.” No one really knows what he meant by that, but the local climbers take pride in the fact that Castro was on their side. Two Cuban climbers, Aníbal Fernández and Armando Menocal, were the first to discover Cuba’s climbing potential. It wasn’t until 1999 that the f irst foreign climbers, Craig Luebben and his partners, adventured into the country to explore the limestone karst. Since 1999, Cuba’s climbing areas have been extensively developed.
Hundreds of routes were established through the effort of local and foreign climbers alike. In 2003, Cuban authorities heard of the development and started harassing the local climbers. The authorities decided that climbing wasn’t authorized and not an appropriate activity for their people. They demanded that a permit be required to climb. When the Cuban climbers asked where they could pick up a permit to access the areas, they were told that the permit was unavailable. Why? Because climbing hadn’t been authorized. It’s a convoluted scenario. Foreign climbers, on the other hand, were free to climb and develop in the area.
In 2012, climbing was unofficially banned in Cuba and the authorities closed almost all access to the mountains in western Cuba. Not only was climbing banned, but activities like hiking, biking, caving and bird-watching were not allowed. This was and still seems to be, a verbal law. There has never been a written decree and the scopes of the penalties are unknown. Ironically, the verbal law doesn’t stop the government from publicizing Cuban climbers – there are ads that promote the sport for tourism and for kids programs in local schools. Hard to understand isn’t it? So, while all the political mumbo-jumbo goes on in the background, what are the climbers doing? The climbers are climbing. They have been patient and have figured out the Cuban Rangers’ routines. The locals have been able to keep the sport alive to this day.