Adventures on the road in a Cuban taxi colectivo

“Cuba is broken,” Gloria says. “Familias’ broken. How will our children take care of us in our old age when they live in America or Europe? We were so hopeful with Obama. Now we are uncertain. I am very frightened.”

My taxi is late. I’m headed to Vinales, land of tobacco, Cuban cigars, coffee beans, banana trees and limestone mountains. Gloria, my host in Havana, and I take the opportunity to visit while we wait sitting on her patio in the warm Cuban sun.

She tells me how frightened she is for her outspoken daughter who lives in Florida. Her daughter is contemptuous of recent elections in Amer...