Once returned to Havana the two journalists decided that they had the makings of a good story, which did not scoop the end of the Castro regime, but it was a story that had the potential of making sensational copy back in Europe, if their suspicions turned out to be true. First there was Kavanagh the runaway financier. Then there was a banker who seemed bent on creating a megalomaniac multi-billion dollar dream for Fidel Castro, in the old leaders last desperate bid to leave a monument to his revolution. And finally, there was a sinister South American businessman, Ortega, whose links to the Russian Mafiya and the Colombian drug cartels seemed to compromise certain highflying Irish businessmen.
A visit Cayo Saetia would give them first hand information as to whether Castlemain’s project really existed. After checking out the means of transport they decided to travel by road, renting a car from Havacars, an agency conveniently located in the shopping arcade of the Sevilla Hotel.
The map of Cuba indicated the nearest town to Cayo Saetia as Holguin, about 750 kilometres to the east of Havana on the north coast of the island. It would take them a couple of days driving to reach Holguin and another two days to check out Cayo Saetia. For the return they could drive back visiting the southern coast and visit the town of Trinidad.
Their plan, which was within the brief of their BCN reportage, to visit the sites of interest, and at the same time, gave them the possibility to further investigate their story.
Ennis, via his satellite link, asked Juliette, in Paris, to collect as much information as possible on Castlemain’s project, then to check on Kavanagh and his possible links to Ortega. It would help them to piece together the story.
They planned to follow the motorway from Havana to Santa Clara where according to the map it terminated, they would then continue their route on the main single lane roads.
They calculated on a night in Ciego de Avila, approximately just over half way, with the motorway they should make good time the first day and would arrive in Holguin the afternoon of the following day.
Carvin drove the rental car, a Daewo Cielo, it seemed to be in good condition and more important the air-conditioning worked. The Cuban motorway was a surprise. After leaving Havana the road was almost deserted. Each of the few vehicles they saw seemed to obey a different set of rules. The preferred place for Cubans to repair one of their frequent breakdowns appeared to be the fast lane and as a result they had to concentrate on the road to avoid unexpected surprises.
Nevertheless they made good time; the road was monotonous, bordered by sugarcane plantations and on the horizon low mountains as they approached Santa Clara. It was known as the gateway to the east. They decided to stop there for a quick lunch in the city centre, at the Libre Hotel on the main square. The hotel had been the head quarters of Che Guevara in 1958, the marks of shrapnel still remained on the hotel facade after the battle that took place when the revolutionaries seized the city.
Paul took the obligatory photos of the Che Mausoleo, where the remains of the legendary hero were laid to rest in 1997. It would almost certainly be more revered than that of Castro’s last resting place in the centuries to come.
After Jatabonica the road became slower, encumbered by everything from Cuban cowboys on their horses to buffalo drawn carts. They reached Ciego de Avila in the late afternoon, where most of the traffic appeared to be horse drawn. They checked into the Hotel Santiago-Habana, a simple not very notable establishment, but at least it was in the centre of the town compared to the Soviet style monstrosity that they had spotted a couple of miles outside of it.
Once in his room Ennis linked up his satellite communication line and downloaded the information that Juliette had been able to gather on the Cayo Saetia project and Ortega. There was nothing new on Kavanagh.
John Ennis read from their guide book that Cayo Saetia was a small island, 42 square kilometres, a game reserve, a kind of safari park, where tourists could take a trip to see the animals in Cuban ex-army Jeeps, or, on horse back. It appeared that the approach to the island was by a tortuous road full of potholes that followed the coast of the Bahia de Nipe, on one side, and the Sierra del Cristal on the other. It needed almost three hours by car from Holguin passing through Mayari and Nicaro, two small industrial towns. An alternative but equally bad route existed via Antilla, on the west side of the bay.
It all sounded interesting, but the question was could they visit the site, if it existed, and could they collect any useful information.
Holguin was the fourth largest city in Cuba, with a population of a quarter of a million. It could not be described as a tourist centre, but rather an industrial town, situated in the middle of an important sugar-producing region. They were booked into the Hotel Pernik, a large uninteresting hotel on the Plaza de la Revolucion, in the Lenin District, which had been described as Moscow with palm trees.
In the hotel Paul, with his excellent Spanish, quickly struck up conversation, that was to say his usual friendly banter, with the waitresses and the house keeping staff. With the help of a couple of bottles of French perfume, he had brought for such purposes, and a few dollars, he was quickly guided to one of the housekeepers who could help them.
Her brother lived in Antilla, a small port on the Bahia de Nipe. She told him that a construction site with a camp existed on the island. There was a road on a strip of land that crossed the narrow stretch of water that separated the island from the mainland. A road ten kilometres long then led to the construction site. It could also be reached by boat from El Ramon on the Punta Manglarito or from Nicaro on the south side.
From the hotel travel agency they booked a visit to Cayo Saetia with a guide who would accompany them. The next day they set out in their rented car in the direction of Nicaro. The road was as bad as they had been informed and in a little over two hours they arrived at the quay where they took the boat across to the island.
Their guide Rafael told them that the construction had commenced almost two years earlier. It was no state secret, just another tourist complex as he described it, without any particular interest except for its size. It was a small city. A harbour had been built on the bay side to facilitate the importation of the construction equipment and materials, all of which came in by sea either from Havana or directly from overseas.
The island tours were designed for the visitors to observe the imported wild life, zebras, antelopes, ostriches and other animals. The two reporters were transported in an ex-army jeep and it took quite some persuasion and a few dollars to convince the driver to show them the construction site, for the simple reason he could not believe they were not interested in the animals and the splendid scenery of the forested island, dotted with hills and small unspoilt coves tucked into the thirty foot high cliffs that ran along the sea shore.
The Ciscap site was spread over some hundred or more hectares that undulated with the natural contours of the land. There were roads and houses under construction that appeared to be designed like those of a typical Spanish colonial city. There was a main square, flanked on one side by an astonishing 17th century style cathedral under construction and on the other by a vast colonial administrative palacio.
Everywhere, vehicles, construction equipment, men and materials moved in a buzz of activity that they had not seen since their arrival in the country.
It was exactly as Juliette had informed them, a complete new town, a replica of a city in the style of Trinidad de Cuba, a green field Spanish colonial city.
Castlemain had been completely open with them. To all appearances there nothing doubtful, it was a kind of theme park and what was wrong with that, they had asked themselves doubting their earlier suspicions.
Was Castlemain linked to Ortega, or on the contrary was there a conflict of interests between the two men? It was evident from what they had seen that the city had the full support of the Cuban authorities and a project on such a large scale could not have avoided the approval of El Jefe.
Perhaps they reasoned, Ortega represented the interests of an emerg
ing opposition group, if so whom. Their knowledge of Cuban politics was extremely limited.
Chapter 45
A Visit to Paris
Offshore Islands Page 44