A stunning poster welcomes visitors of the Casa Particular Mercedes. Its design in the style of the most genuine socialist realism, with a gigantic image of a guerrilla leader Ernesto Guevara, invites to visit Santa Clara. Those who want to learn first-hand about the history of Cuba after the triumph of Revolution established by Fidel Castro in 1959, must come to this house and talk with Tomás Rodríguez Durán, the patriarch of this family business recognized as one of the best in the city by the site TripAdvisor. Those who want to understand the ongoing changes occurring on the largest Caribbean island, definitely should visit the home of Tomás and Mercedes.

Tomás fought against the government of Fulgencio Batista in the 1950s and after the triumph on January 1st of 1959, he entered the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), where he served for more than three decades. In 1989 he fulfilled internationalist mission in the Republic of Angola and a year later he was granted the rank of colonel of The Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT).

In 2004 he put aside a military career and set up his own business. Soulidays visited his rental home in the city of Santa Clara, in central Cuba, to talk to him about the ongoing changes that are taken place in his beloved land.

“I decided to set up my private business due to financial reasons. I retired with a salary that, after the Special Period, which was a result of the collapse of the socialist camp, wasn’t sufficient even to buy loaves of bread for 4 pesos each. We were living in a time of strict government surveillance and then I made that decision. It was a tough decision, but I would not change it. Nevertheless, I remained the same in the way I think and act”.