Candito was born in a house in Santos Súarez and has lived there for the entirety of his life. It is a very run down area with lots of people living in very small spaces. In the book it tells us how Candito owns more rooms than usual as his brother is in jail, his parents are dead and an old neighbour gave him his property when he died. So although Candito lives in the more poverty-stricken area of town he is one of the better off. 

Candito appears to have money to spare to buy coffee and other commodities. For being a humble shoe-maker this is an unusual luxury. We, therefore, know he is involved in illegal activities. Even the fact that he has proper rum, not cheap stuff which the majority of the population have to drink. The book explains how Candito is not used to ‘innocent’ police visits, yet he still owns all his property and is out of jail. Clearly, his illegal activities are only petty crimes. Due to the lifestyle that he leads, he knows information about people on the streets and the illegal activities that go on. This information is what Conde needs. 

Canditos problem is that he is loyal to both Conde who he has known him since youth and the reputation he holds on the street. He is torn between both, we know this because Candito confronts Conde say what he is doing by helping Conde and informing on his fellow criminals is against the code of ethics on the street, Honour among thieves. ‘sabes que lo que yo estoy haciendo no se hace. Esto no es juego.’ 

The area of town which Conde lives in is more high end than Candito but still run down. The book describes the graffiti on the walls ‘aquella calle mal pintada y sucia en la que faltaban’.(pg 84) Conde is very much a part of the community, in the book he greets all his neighbours passing by. Normally police officers are isolated characters as the community is wary of them. 

We know that Conde is from the same background as Candito ‘Tú eres de la calle,’ (pg 82) yet he is in a better situation than most due to his job as a policeman. However, throughout the film and the book we know that this is not his true passion in life.  If he lived in Cuba at a different time he would have wanted to be a writer. ‘Conde, no te hubieras metido a policía y hubieras sido escritor’. So although Conde's job requires him to be hard and abide by the law, due to the relationships he has with the people around him and the life all Cuban people must lead at this time, you realise that he actually just wants the best for his friends and community

‘el ropero no era común no corriente.’
This raises to question where Lissette got the money in order to afford these clothes. 

-  << como si hubieran un terremoto>>

-  << el acto de respirar se hizo un ejercicio consciente y doloroso>>

-  << los effectos del apocalíptico vendaval:las calles vacías, las puertas cerradas, los arboles vencidos>>

Political backdrop in 1989 Cuba
1.  30 years since Cuban revolution of 1959

- The socialist program that followed sought to redesign the Cuban state.

- Reforms included: gender + race equality, re-nationalization of business + land, free education + healthcare for all.

2.  Cuban interventions in Africa during 1970s-80s 

- During the Cold War, Castro’s Cuba had a large part to play in the peaceful transition from Apartheid in South Africa, in the independence of Namibia, and in the war of independence in Angola (where ‘Flaco’ fought).

- Nelson Mandela: “We come here with a sense of the great debt that is owed the people of Cuba. What other country can point to a record of greater selflessness than Cuba has displayed in its relations to Africa?” (1991).

- This altruistic cooperation was an example of how the Cuban revolutionary vision was carried out.

3.  Fall of Berlin Wall in 1989

- The USSR fell along with the Berlin Wall and in the months that followed, the dissipation of the Soviet Bloc lead to economic crisis in Cuba.

- As the Communist state had lost its main economic partner, Cuba had to move towards the capitalist principles of markets, tourism and investment in order to survive.

- The ‘special period’ that was ushered in became one of austerity, so much so that a ‘tarjeta de racionamiento’ had to be introduced
- The scene in the Vientos de la Habana film where Candito asks his girlfriend to buy coffee at the shop and she returns empty handed, is an example of the shortages at the time.

- In 1991, the US Dollar became legal tender in Havana, again emphasizing the Americanization that had been taking place.
- Interestingly, nowadays it is the use of two currencies, one for locals (CUPs) and one for tourists (CUCs) that causes problems. As the convertible currency used in tourism is worth roughly 25 times that of the Cuban peso, it has created serious economic imbalances.

SECONDARY SOURCE
- Belmont Freeman, the journalist who wrote a very informative article called Havana: History of the Present, wrote about friends who  live in the still “decidedly un-posh barrio” of Santos Suarez (where large parts of the novel/film are set). They believe that “Cuba is now stuck with the worst of capitalist inequality and socialist inefficiency” due to the way the state currently operates (2014).

Descriptions of Havana in Los vientos de cuaresma

The imagery of the police station and the treatment of Las Guardias Civiles in the film can be compared to the treatment of criminals in a typical prison. The scene in which food is put on a plate without choice gives an atmosphere of incarceration/hostility.

The police station derives constant negative connotations as it can be seen in the book as a constant place of scrutiny and interrogation. for example, the intense interrogation between Manolo conde and Caridad regarding Lisette’s drug possession 

—¿Lissette consumía drogas? —preguntó entonces el Conde dispuesto a aprovechar su superioridad. —No, no, ¿cómo van a pensar eso? —se rebeló la mujer, recuperando algo de su devastada seguridad—. No puede ser. Que tuviera varios novios o que fuera a fiestas o que un día se tomara unos tragos, eso sí, pero drogas no. – 

 

 The state of corruption in general in Cuba is shown by the lack of respect given by the people upon interaction with officers. While attempting to show authority, conde says ‘Soy Policía’, folding his arms in attempt to show power, to which Karinna responds —¿De la policía montada del Canadá o de Scotland Yard? Sí, y o lo sabía, tienes cara de mentiroso —dijo, se apoyó en los brazos cruzados del Conde y lo besó en la mejilla—. Adiós, policía. She shows little care towards condes position and what he has to say, and is completely unconvinced by his argument.

 

Corruption in Police Force Cuba is further shown in Padura’s contrast of good cop versus bad cop in relation to Manolo and Conde, while Manolo typically displays characteristics of detective whodoneit, basing his action off knowledge and intellect. Conde, on the other hand, is more cunning and uses his connections in order to get information without caring about the legality of his actions, commonly associated to . For example, Condes relation to Candito el Rojo, a known criminal, in order to gain intelligence of Pupy. 

—Pero eso no tiene que ver con el Pre. A lo mejor salió de otra parte. —Coño, Rojo, el policía soy y o, ¿no? —Pérate, socio, pérate. La cosa es así: a lo mejor el Pre no tiene que ver con eso. —El lío es que ella vive cerca de aquí, como a ocho cuadras, y Pupy fue novio de ella, pero parece que seguía cay éndole atrás. Y y o te digo: si la hierba se mueve en el barrio, puede llegar hasta la gente del Pre

 

In my opinion, the main strengths of the Padlet lie in its interactive nature. The ease of access that each member of my team had when contributing to our final project was fantastic. In terms of the content we covered, it was an effective way to grasp the salient themes of the novel without having to focus on every last detail. I particularly enjoyed learning about Havana and its history, including the revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959. In its ability to allow us to work as a team, the Padlet was flawless, it has to be said. On the flipside, my main concern is whether having focussed on one issue in particular has meant that I gained a deep understanding of the main themes of Los Vientos de Cuaresma. Is this down to a lack of attention to the other presentations on my part? Quite possibly. Yet, even with some of them being interesting, I still feel that if we covered more material ourselves we might obtain a more complete understanding. I understand that time limits are a constraint, but if the module was weighted 50/50 then this would possibly leave more time to cover Los Vientos.

For the most part I thought the padlet worked quite well. One issue we had was with the organisation of the padlet itself. Once one of us moved one post on the padlet, all the rest would rearrange themselves. This caused some difficulties in navigation during our presentation but we were able to work around this on the day. In my opinion, the split in assessment grade between the presentation and final essay would be more beneficial if it were more evenly distributed. This would work well to include all students, those strong in essay writing and those stronger in presentation work. Overall I had a lot of fun during this portion of the course.