Government Building sights in Havana
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A
Us Interests Office
Set up in 1977 during a brief thaw in Cuban-American relations under President Jimmy Carter, the US Interests Office remains a huge source of controversy between the two countries, with the Cubans accusing its US neighbor of sponsoring all kinds of political dissent across the island from behind its heavily guarded doors. Surrounded by billboards displaying hysterical graffiti that liken George W Bush to Adolf Hitler, the building is the site of some of the worst tit-for-tat finger wagging on the island. Facing the office on the Malecón is the Plaza Tribuna Anti-Imperialista, built during the Elián González affair to host major in-your-face protests (earning it the local…
reviewed
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B
Capitolio Nacional
The incomparable Capitolio Nacional is Havana’s most ambitious and grandiose building, constructed after the ‘Dance of the Millions’ had gifted the Cuban government a seemingly bottomless treasure box of sugar money. Similar to the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, but (marginally) taller and much richer in detail, the work was initiated by Cuba’s US-backed dictator Gerardo Machado in 1926 and took 5000 workers three years, two months and 20 days to build at a cost of US$17 million. Formerly it was the seat of the Cuban Congress but, since 1959, it has housed the Cuban Academy of Sciences and the National Library of Science and Technology.
reviewed
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C
Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba
A long, uninspiring concrete structure that glowers from behind the Martí memorial, the modern HQ of the Cuban government doesn’t match the architectural splendor of the Capitolio or the Presidential Palace. This is where the affairs of the Cuban government are sorted out and where the elusive Fidel maintains an office. Not surprisingly, it’s strictly out of bounds for foreigners (and most Cubans, for that matter).
reviewed
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D
Palacio de las Convenciones
Also known as the Havana Convention Center, the Palacio de las Convenciones is one of Cuba’s most dramatic modern buildings. Built for the Nonaligned Conference in 1979, the four interconnecting halls contain a state-of-the-art auditorium with 2101 seats and 11 smaller halls. The 589-member National Assembly meets here twice a year and the complex hosts more than 50,000 conference attendees annually.
reviewed
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E
Russian Embassy
The Stalinist obelisk that dominates the skyline halfway down Av Quinta is the Russian Embassy.
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