Trading With The Enemy

Oblivious to national borders, pigeons have long carried messages between Havana and Key West, the southernmost city in the continental United States. A well-trained pigeon can make the 100-mile journey in roughly four hours. A sailboat takes 24. People have used pigeons as messengers from the dawn of civilization in Sumer. The U.S. military used homing birds through the Vietnam War. But in the age of drones, a feather-and-bone messenger seems outdated, particularly when the U.S. government spends millions of dollars on surveillance blimps that drift over the Florida Straits looking for illicit traffic.

Despite a trade embargo and the Trading with the Enemy Act (which the United States only applies to Cuba), Havana and Key West have always had a close relationship. Their cultures have been shaped by a history of transporting illicit cargo, dating back to the rumrunners of the Prohibition era. They’re like sister cities, despite the barricade aimed at separating them.

Trading With The Enemy is a 2 minute film documenting pigeons transporting Cubn cigars from Havana to Key West...