The last men in Havana: Indonesian exiles in Cuba

A small group of Indonesians exiled from Suharto's New Order regime settled in Cuba from the early 1970s onwards. This paper, based on interviews, explores the circumstances of their arrival in Cuba, their experiences in Cuban society, the nature of their continuing ties with Indonesia and their attitudes to Cuba. The end of the New Order regime in Indonesia in 1998, which led to the re-establishment of full diplomatic ties between the two countries and a successful campaign to win back Indonesian citizenship, created a new situation for the exiles. This paper further examines how the notion of homeland and sense of identity have altered over the course of decades spent abroad.