HAVANA GRINDS

Skating through struggles

Almost every day, Carlos dreams of two things: landing new tricks and leaving his island. For him, the two are inseparable. Ever since he discovered skateboarding at the age of eight, it has become his obsession. Becoming Cuba’s best skater, he believes, will be his ticket to a better life—ideally in the United States.

In Havana, as in the rest of the world, skateboarding has been synonymous with counterculture since its emergence in the mid-1980s. But the island’s unique reality—shaped by six decades of Castro’s rule and an ongoing embargo—gives skating a distinctly Cuban character. Here, skaters dream not of sponsorship deals or global competitions, but simply of new shoes, of replacing their boards when they break without having to wait for visiting skaters or donations from abroad. In the city’s few skateparks, they practice under the watchful eye of the revolutionary vigilance committees.

Carlos honed his skills in an abandoned gym in Ciudad Libertad, repurposed into a clandestine skate spot. He grew up under the guidance of older skaters who have since left: El Che, a tattoo artist who immigrated to Mexico; Orlando Enrique, now in Sweden; Ariel Gomez, exiled in Chile.

Through the portrait of Carlos and his friends, we tell the story of a generation that dreams of escape in a country that has failed to deliver on its promises. For them, skating is more than a sport—it’s a way to pass the time, a brief sense of freedom as they wait for their own chance to leave.