From our Bureau of 21st Century Neocolonialism with some assistance from our Bureau of Culinary Imperialism
Disgusted by the food served in Cuban hotels, some Russians have ensured the creation of a new restaurant in the eastern city of Bayamo that will serve nothing but Russian food. See slideshow above. The Russian consul who attended the grand opening is the rotund lady in the first photo.
According to a Cuban web site, the restaurant is state-run, the property of Castro, Inc.. But Diario the Cuba says the restaurant is a MIPYME (a business run by a self-employed Cuban entrepreneur).
Most successful MIPYME enterprises are “owned” and run by Castro, Inc. oligarchs who funnel a substantial portion of their profits back to Castro, Inc.. Oleg Zamora, the Cuban”owner” of this Russian restaurant spewed impressive amounts of Castro-babble during the opening ceremony of his establishment.
Regardless of who really owns it, the restaurant is the first Russian-themed in Cuba. Who will eat there? Most Cubans won’t be able to afford it. Tourists can afford it, for sure. Apparently, according to the Russian consul, there is a small community of Russians in Bayamo. What are they doing there? Hmmmmm. . . .
The opening of this restaurant coincides with the announcement that Russia will start exporting food to Cuba. Goodbye frijoles negros, hello borscht.
Loosely translated from Diario de Cuba:
A Russian-themed restaurant named Plaza Roja (Red Square) opened its doors this weekend in the city of Bayamo, Granma. According to Oleg Zamora, owner of MIPYME Sublimagen, they are responsible for this business that he assured is “the only one of its kind in Cuba.”
The restaurant’s Facebook page wrote a few hours ago that it “opened its doors for Bayamo residents and visitors” to the city and that they will be offering “some Russian and Cuban dishes.”
“To those who have Russophobia, to those who do not believe in the friendly relations between Cuba and Russia, to those who believe that this relationship of brotherhood and respect is not beneficial, we urge you to listen to the words of our President Miguel Díaz- Canel. These are moments to unite, to explain, to work for the common good,” Oleg Zamora wrote on Facebook a few days ago, following an interview offered by the ruler Díaz-Canel to the official Russia Times in Spanish.
On Facebook, Zamora thanked all “those who in one way or another supported us in this beautiful and important goal.” He also thanked the first secretary of the Communist Party in Bayamo and the president of the Municipal Assembly “for their vision, dedication and confidence” in the project. Among many others, he also thanked the “hero of the Republic of Cuba Fernando Gonzalez Llort” (one of the “Cuban Five” spies freed by U.S. President Obama), making clear his affinity with the Cuban regime and its rulers.
In the photographs of the site that the owners of this business shared on social networks, you can see the allegorical setting of Russian culture and waiters wearing typical costumes from that country.
The Russian consul in Cuba, Nana M. Mgeladze, highlighted last December when she visited Bayamo that there is a small community of people of Russian origin in that city, although the culinary habits of that country are little known to most Cubans.
“It’s something unique, we don’t have a place like this in any other city in Cuba. I hope it will be a cafe, a restaurant, where not only Russian citizens can come, but also citizens from other countries who studied in Russia and can come here to enjoy food and remember their stories of their life in Russia,” the Russian diplomat told local radio at the time.
continue reading HERE in Spanish
Great, more official prostitution and associated degradation. Lovely. Just the thing to turn Cuba around.