Cuba deserves ‘a better opposition’

HAVANA – Almost at the end of his term, in one of his last interviews as president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa reflected on what he lacked during his presidency, what he missed, what he wanted to have that would have helped him govern better and more attentive to the needs of his people. His words were, and I quote from memory: “We deserved a better opposition.”

Now that Cuba’s euphoria over its new president is subsiding — Díaz-Canel has been at the helm of the Island’s government for six months — it would be worthwhile to stop and really think about it, take it seriously, and give the new president this gift so that a decade down the line, after a most probable 10 years of governing after two terms, he does not complain like Correa did. 

The truth is that, personally, I do not know how much the opposition Correa lacked, but in Cuba a better opposition has been lacking for a long time. And this would be a good time to unleash it. Not an opposition of a dime a dozen, nor the circus of the multiparty system that only turns out to be more than the many heads of the same hydra. No. I’m talking about an opposition that takes the bull by the horns and stops you in your track if you become sloppy and / or try to sweep any shoddiness under the carpet.

Right now Article 60 of the pending new constitution points in that direction when it “recognizes freedom of the press.” That, for now, is hard to believe when you consider that our press is no more than the newspapers that circulate on the island, four pages thick and all attached to the Communist Party or to the government, both the same thing.

Therefore allow me the luxury of dreaming of a news cooperative, a newspaper that is not a spokesperson for any official institution, but of the people who walk the everyday streets. A newspaper that doesn’t serve to speak from the top down, but quite the contrary, so that those below speak to each other and in its pages tells those who want to read — including those above — what they think, what they want, what pains them, what bothers them. 

Then the press freedom allowed would be in black and white, and at the same time we would know if what the constitution recognizes is a living thing or dead in the water.

Because currently, the press, the one we have now, is going through a bad season, especially in reference to what the president has stated. Every television newscast, three times a day, every day, every week and every month, begins with three different but identical reports about what Díaz-Canel has done on that day, and then two others where the protagonist is one of his vice presidents. In these, they are always complying with their duties, maybe overachieving… But as for information, they inform very little — if at all.

But the task, still a tough job for our press, is not exclusive to it. And not everything has to be in writing. You need not put any more stumbling blocks along the way, but instead be attentive, by everyone or by some, in our press, but also in the social networks where anyone is allowed to express themselves, allowing the wheels to turn, to not be stopped at a whim, and that whatever the appropriate pace, we move forward. This should then be noticeable, not only in news reports, but in people’s lives, in the word of mouth, in their happiness, in their pocketbooks and in their dreams.

Because governing is a piece of cake when everyone applauds and smiles at you. I would like the Cuban president, Díaz-Canel or whomever it might be, to govern by winning the approval of the majority, day to day. That every initiative, every law, every change proposed, had to be explained in detail to the people, convincing us and risking the disapproval or suspension of such things. In other words, that he or she must govern, for example, like a Nicolás Maduro does every day in Venezuela — explaining everything softly and step by step.

And that he or she explain things not solely to the Parliament or the Council of Ministers, but to us, the people, for whom he or she works and governs in favor of what is ours. For it is the people who pay their salary — whatever that may be (hopefully the president’s salary is worth something, and he or she is able to make a living from it). 

And it would be good, otherwise useless, a responsible opposition, an objective counterpart, aware of its importance and the need for its counterweight in the search for balance in social functioning. An opposition that takes seriously the civic task of not taking its eye nor its foot from those who govern, and won’t allow them to forget what they sometimes do: they don’t own the country, they are simply its servants.

That would be a good gift for the president: a worthwhile opposition. I like the idea. Sign me up.