Until well into the 21st Century, most foreign visitors to Cuba spent their time in the Havana area.

Far to the East is a different Cuba, one of immense historical and cultural importance to the nation.

The best place to begin a visit is in the old city of Santiago in Cuba.

Funding for In the Americas with David Yetman was provided by Agnese Haury ♪ Funding for In the Americas with David Yetman was also provided by the Guilford Fund.

♪ ♪ In the Americas with David Yetman theme Santiago is the second largest city in all of Cuba.

Havana is on the northwestern side... of the island and faces the Atlantic.

Santiago has a long and convoluted history.

Five hundred years ago, it was already built... when Hernan Cortez invaded Mexico.

There's a French influence, there is a Spanish influence and there is even an American influence.

But the most important influences that you see in Santiago today... are the racial background that ithas.

There are Creoles, there are African Cubans and there are people of Spanish ancestry plus a number of other Europeans were involved.

And you can see that difference everywhere you go, especially out on the streets.

(spanish) Santiago de Cuba has always been oriented towards the Caribbean... while Havana's orientation has always been towards... Europe and the United States.

Slave plantations appeared around Santiago... in the 16th century and expanded quickly.

And the descendants of that population... compose a large proportionof the population... of Santiago de Cuba.

We have a more pronounced African heritage... here than in other regions of the country.

You see it in popular culture, in census data and in street life.

We also have a French influence.

For the first half of the 19th century, was particularly influential and helped distinguish the Santiago culture... from those of Havana and other Cuban cities.

The Spaniards colonized the island of Hispaniola ... before they settled in Cuba.

When they arrived here in 1510, they had already conquered Hispaniola... where Santo Domingo and Haiti are now.

And there they had already inflicted... terrible violence on the native peoples.

In their quest for gold, which was the basic... economic objective of the conquest and colonization of Hispaniola, they destroyed the indigenous population.

Soon after arriving here, they began... importing slaves from Africa to replace the Indians they had wiped out.

Historians surmise that by the 1520s, barely a couple of years after the foundation of the Villa de Santiago, the first 300 Black Africans were brought directly from Africa.

I always learn more about Latin American cultures... when I travel with my friend and Latin American expert, Bill Beezly.. That's remarkable It is.

You realize the island has 11 million people.

Which is half the population of Mexico City.

That's right.

That's right.

And they are expecting when the U.S. releases... its stranglehold embargo that tourists, particularly from the U.S. are going to... really come in great numbers, in the millions.

And it's going to be a major challenge, What do we do with all these tourists?

We see all these stores that have a little bit of consumer goods.

There's going to be more and more so this is an economy, a socialistic economy that's figuring out how they are going to... phase in being part of the rest of the world.

But I'm sure that there are going to be various solutions... of some kind of a complicated socialist and privatized economy, not capitalist but privatized.

That's right.

It's already here.

We talk to people about their jobs and virtually all of them, one way or another, work for the state and that's something to be proud of here.

That's something they're delighted about.

And there are places that are not state-run... so that they're privatized, but they're but they are still very closely regulated and I think that that leads to a society... that's not asymmetrical in income and wealth the way it is in many other countries.

If there is any one image thatrepresents Cuba, maybe even internationally, for the last fifty years, it's old men sitting in the plaza playing dominos... hour after hour after hour.

And here they are after so many years... and probably will be so many years in the future, passing the time with friends, enjoying each other happy as can be: the very simple game.

♪ Every foreign visitor to Cuba has a mandatory stop, early in a shop or bar that sells rum.

It's ironic that with the tyranny of sugar in history of Cuba, it is now renowned in the world for producing the best rum.

These are five of the best rums in the world right here.

Santiago de Cuba produces rum that is wonderful, it's smooth, it's dark and Cubans prefer it like this: neat, no ice and the dark rum.

Mixing it up is what tourists do in restaurants.

Now, well, we're not tourists by any means... We are not.

Salud!

That's dangerously good.

For centuries, Santiago de Cuba was protected... from invaders by a huge fort.

Getting there from the city gives us an introduction to... Cuban transportation and it is very different.

Driving around in one of Cuba's vintage cars... is..is like a time warp.

They don't drive the cars because they love old cars but because the U.S. embargo made it virtually impossible... to get new cars or even parts for the old.

So they have to make their own.

So the air conditioning in this, uh, 53 plymouth, it's a great year, consists of a fan that is mounted on the dashboard.

The windshield is pretty much original.

The engine has been replacedwith a Japanese diesel.

But otherwise it's pretty much the way it was.

And we see these old cars everywhere.

Buildings are not freshly painted... because of the U.S. Embargo, they could not import paint and, nor the raw materials to make the paint.

So we, we see people doing what they had to get by.

It was tough times for quite a while.

But Cubans have this resiliency to continue to thrive.

The most astonishing thing in my experience so far, is the degree to which Cubans are literate and articulate, probably more than any other country I've been in.

Their level of literacy is higher than that of my own country.

As I sort of see driving through this countryside ... as if back in the fifties, with a people none of whom are wealthy but none of whom are poor, is an experience you have to see to understand what's going on.

This will change as the U.S. relaxes... the stranglehold it's had over the Cuban economy.

And for many Cubans, it will be better but it will certainly change.

(marching) (Spanish) Welcome to the balcony of The Queen, reconstructed in the year 1962 when... the restoration of the castle began.

Over here, you can see the bay, the gateway to beautiful Santiago de Cuba and the Sierra de Maestra and beyond it, the Caribbean Sea.

This fort was built to defend the city from attacks from pirates.

It features two styles of construction: the Renaissance for its facade and medieval style for its adaptation to the site.

We have a chapel where the Spaniards... performed their religious activities... and the last Christian rites were offered to prisoners about to be executed at the fort.

The naval battle in 1898 during the Spanish-Cuban North American war... took place right here.

Nearly four centuries earlier, the first 300 black slaves arrive from the colony, from Haiti.

Various additional events took place in this bay... of such significance that on the 6th of December 1997 the fort was declared a World Heritage Site and comes under the recognition of UNESCO.

This last room shows the history of the naval battle in... Santiago Bay onJuly 3, 1898 between the... Spanish and North American Fleets, a battle that ended Spanish rule on our island.

The Spanish losses were 323 dead, 151 injured and 1,920 prisoners of war.

While the North Americans suffered only one casualty.

After this catastrophe for Spain that happened right here... in the Santiago Bay.

This fort was occupied by the North Americans... and they stayed here until 1904.

Years later they handed it over to... the Cuban military who then left it.

It laid in ruins until the 1960s when the restoration began.

The Spaniards spent 70 years building this fort and it is massive.

They must have felt that it was worth the investment, which had to have been enormous.

Well, they built forts here, in Havana and in Cartagena.

In Colombia, right.

In Colombia, they had the world's richest empire... that had to be protected from pirates or the English or the French... or the Danes or the Dutch.

It's often that they were the same thing.

They must have thought this place is worth defending... and I'm in agreement with that.

(Spanish) This city was the capital of Cuba until... the beginning of the 17th century Then it became the capital of the province called Oriente.

So, from the political and economic standpoint, Santiago de Cuba has assumed an important... role in the history of Cuba.

Today, it is the second most important city in the country: politically, economically and even religiously.

We have the distinct fortune to be the home █ to the sanctuary... of the Virgen de la Caridad el Cobre.

At this moment, Santiago is the spiritual capital.

The chapel sits on a hill about a half hour's drive from the city.

♪ Cuba is a secular country, officially, but that doesn't mean they don't have the shrines.

The shrine is called El Cobre, dedicated to the Virgin of Charity, it's ancient story.

But this place is more than just a religious sanctuary.

It is a place of sort of spiritual recognition for all Cubans, whether or not they're believers.

And they have come here from all over the country.

(Spanish) Anywhere there is a Cuban, there is a connection with the cult of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre.

It isn't just a coincidence that the Virgin of Charity... is the patroness of Cuba.

It is natural that El Cobre would be the location... of Cuba's patron saint because the location of copper... here combined with the distinct historical melding of ethnic... and cultural forces, a sort of natural laboratory.

The Virgin of Charity of Cobre, although she has a Hispanic origin, combines African and aboriginal elements as well.

So the legend, the myth, told by the appearance of the image... floating above the waters of Nipe Bay contains... both African and aboriginal themes.

As the legend, has it, themiracle of the appearance... of the Virgin of Charity in 1612 was the result of three fishermen... out at sea caught in a sudden squall.

They prayed for divine intervention.

And suddenly, a little piece of wood floated by... with this image right here on it.

The seas calmed.

The sailors looked at the image, turned over the board and it said: "I am the Virgin of Charity.

She is the most powerful symbol in Cuba.

It's more than religion.

Yeah, it goes way beyond that.

Everyday life in Cuba, she's involved Like the flag, the shield- it's a representation.

It's an image that immediately reminds us of Cuba.

One of the distinctions that El Cobre has, it has been visited by three popes, almost unlike anywhere else in the world.

Pope John Paul was here, Pope Benedict was here, and Pope Francis has been here.

Three popes coming to visit this sanctuary in secular Cuba.

This section of the shrine is dedicated to prayers, special prayers but even if you're not a believer, you can come here and you can light a candle or whatever you want to leave on here, and it will connect you somehow with that ancient spirit... of El Cobre of the Virgin of Charity.

You don't have to be a believer.

If it's one thing that this particular shrine specializes in, it's a blessing for athletes.

So, we find here, not only baseball athletes coming but there's a wrestler, there's probably a soccer player, there are all kinds of special dispensations and cures... that athletes will get more blessings if you come here and this is proof of their popularity.

(violin playing) (violin playing) We are lucky enough to be at a rehearsal... in the Dolores theater in downtown Santiago.

Here the musicians study in more or less classical tradition.

And their production is more related to... that classic than it is to the ancient cultural roots.

So it's a great combination.

♪ So, downtown Santiago, kind of hidden away, is this center of music.

Original music from here and it's quite a place.

It's coming from all sides.

This is like the French Quarter in New Orleans.

... should be here.

La Casa de la Trova?

The word is that in 2000, Paul McCartney flew in his private jet, just to come here and this is the place he came to learn about Son.

He came here, he listened to music, got ideas and flew out.

♪ (Spanish) The son is a complex mix of different genres of our music, most of all from the rural music from the countryside of Cuba.

♪ It is one of the richest, most beautiful components... of Cuban music.

It's also one of the most traditional themes, the one Cubans have best preserved in their musical tradition.

It is also one of the best-known genres of Cuban music, one that is still incorporated in music around the world.

♪ It is one of the most important... cultural contributions of our city.

El Son , it originated here in Santiago de Cuba.

Cuban music is characterized more than anything else, by its rhythm.

So let me explain it like this.

The son in the main key it is played like this: (percussion instrument beat) It's called the 2x4 rhythm or in two by four time.

♪ (percussion beat and singing) ♪ (percussion beat and singing) ♪ (percussion beat and singing) ♪ (percussion beat and singing) ♪ If the son is deeply African in its origins, If the son is deeply African in its origins, the tumba francesa reveals a much more European influence.

Well hidden inside a humble building in the depths of the city, this is a very different cultural expression, but still in a form that is distinctly Cuban.

♪ (singing and African Drums) ♪ (singing and African Drums) (spanish) The French tumba is in reality a Cuban phenomenon... that originated in the coffee plantations of the French landowners.

The slaves watched how the French danced in their samba parties.

They began to imitate the French... and when they celebrated their holidays at the end of the year, the slaves danced the style of the Versailles court.

♪ The tradition is maintained as we Cubans say by blood and fire, but we work hard to maintain the fiesta... so that the tradition won't be lost.

The landowners arrived from France... and passed through Santo Domingo, then through Haiti.

They picked up more slaves, adding to those they already had from Africa and other countries.

Finally, they arrived in Cuba where labor was more available.

And they settled and founded coffee plantations, field crops, and orchards of cacao, here.

And slavery expanded.

After slavery ended, some of the French... went back to their country.

Others stayed on, but had to survive without slave labor.

By that time, blacks had learned the French customs of the dances.

♪ The Madame slave owners handed down the dresses that they didn't want... anymore to the house slaves.

There were house slaves and field slaves at that time.

The house slaves worked inside and dressed with elegance.

As we all know, slaves were punished, they were whipped.

They were laid across tree trunks, whipped.

So the only way they could make fun of the... masters was through dance.

It features the Cuban flag, which has the three colors with the lone star, but it also has the colors derived... from the French flag: red and white.

This is where the name Tumba Francesa comes from.

♪ Tumba music is French because they... considered themselves French as well.

Long live the French Tumba.

Long live the Tumba Francaise.

♪ In much of the Americas, the ancient roots of cultures have disappeared... or are in the process of fading into history.

Cubans are making a special effort to... ensure that they do not disappear.

♪ Join us next time in the americas with me David Yetman The Mexican state of Chiapas is strongly Indian and traditional.

It's geologically complex and home to a staggering array of plants and animals.

But, it's the people who make it different, breathtakingly so.

♪ ♪ Funding for In the Americas with David Yetman was provided by Agnese Haury Funding for In the Americas with David Yetman was also provided by the Guilford Fund.

Copies of this and other episodes of In the Americas with David Yetman are available from the Southwest Center to order call 1-800-937-8632 Please mention the episode number and program title Please be sure to visit us at intheamericas.com or at intheamericas.org