On the margins

HAVANA – On the margin is the absurd. They are the hundreds of Cuban professionals who persist in practicing the profession they studied and worked for. It’s the career they love, in spite of everything. In this case, everything is that nonsense, the indolence of those who insist on pushing them out. It is also the pain of knowing that they tire of it, and then finally leave because there is only one life — and a whole big world before us.

The primary madness is that in this space and time, where only the horizon remains and is attached to the external edges of the country, this margin exists. And that it be inhabited, mostly, by persons who have not abandoned an Island that for more than four decades has had a negative balance when it comes to migration (minus-21,564 persons in 2018). These are persons who have chosen to live here, with all the wear and tear an economic crisis produces. And yet, that margin exists.  

On that margin exists the profession one loves and studied for, but that falls outside accepted government institutions, and therefore on the margins of the law. It applies to almost all cases. Most self-employed trades were blessed. They are allowed to obtain licenses and therefore pay taxes and be recognized by society — be it an accountant, an artist, a programmer, and even a shoe repair person, a locksmith or an artisan. But that’s not the case for an architect, designer, journalist, communicator, a lawyer …

These other young people have been pushed into the chronic absence of legitimacy, caught in that circumstance in which the old norms did not evolve at the same pace as this new time in Cuba. By dodging the still low wages of the state sector and with the aspiration to get involved in more attractive projects, many have crossed this margin, where the right to live with decency while practicing one’s profession is dangerously underestimated.

Absurd is the place where it is considered a utopian achievement for a person to practice one’s profession. This is the case for more than a few. 

Many of these people want to pay taxes, declare an income and wish to do so but can’t because the authorities don’t approve what they’re doing. For example, it’s a simple as opening a bank account in a Cuban bank and having to state that the cash being deposited is the product of remittances, or the gift of a relative, because there is no way to justify it as personal income.

On the margin, it is absurd that some do not have the right to social security, because in Cuba it is all based on formal employment, or self-employed activity that has been legitimized. And it does not deal with a few Cuban pesos a month, but the social recognition for a lifetime of work. Old age pensions, for example, which have recently seen an increase, still do not cover expenses for the elderly. But at least they have a pension. Many young Cuban professionals, if they stay on the Island, will never see that.  

Since these professionals are not recognized by the government, some hired by entities and / or natural persons, they simply fall into another black hole. But it’s not just the contracts. It also means surviving at the expense of the law of survival of the fittest, or in this case, the one with the most money. It is late payments for work done, or simply not paid at all, with no legal recourse to demand the agreed upon payment — based on one’s word.

These young people thought things were changing when, in 2011, self-employment was allowed again. And now these new paths fall back on the same lack of options.

It is absurd to see young friends and colleagues looking for work in the state sector — where you don’t work very hard “but you have internet” — in order to pay the rent. Eating is another story, probably another job. This is insane: looking for work one really does not want, but there is no way to pay the irrational price of internet access, for example – be it mobile data or Wi-Fi in parks, often in offices. It is even crazy to expect at least 400 Cuban pesos a month in an insecure, unstable, deregulated and cruel, self-employed labor market.

It is nonsensical to think that a government institutions that lack momentum, new ideas, and the will to work hard, reject young professionals because they once participated in an international event that was not seen well by the country’s authorities. Or that they expel these same persons because they have decided to self-manage their betterment abroad. As if they will be brainwashed in a matter of weeks. They have chosen this negative path instead of opening doors to them in these institutions that can’t even offer a salary that doesn’t cover monthly expenses, aside from the fact of the poor working conditions and a burdensome bureaucracy. These expulsions have occurred in front of a government official who admits “it is not fair.” At the same time he/she can’t and won’t dare do otherwise.

It is knowing that it can all happen again when they knock on another door. It’s like an infinite and sad loop.

The crossfire is also on the margins. An audacious or bold step taken can turn these professionals into allies of the empire, mercenaries from Miami (or Matanzas). In that unprecedented place there is very little space for dissent, dialogue and transparency. And they therefore end up in no man’s land, because on the outside they are nothing more than “communists” and on the Island they are the disgruntled who only answer to the money that tries to destabilize Cuba.

Some of these young people are also not allowed to leave the country. They discover that there is a file on them they had no idea existed. Some are even called in by the police in order to discuss the opinions they have been sharing and expressing in personal profiles on social media. It is that absurd, truly anti-Cuban lack of protection.

These persons then begin to think that it is not a bad idea after all to leave for a while, oxygenate themselves elsewhere, perhaps work or study in another country, and later return. They have that naive idea that they will return. Even when they know that once elsewhere, in another situation, all absurdities are magnified and solidified because they become cold, making it harder to return.

And so on, in that infinite and sad loop.

The absurd, in short, is that the country’s margins become so wide, and that so much human fiber is ground, that the exceptions end up being the rule. May we live backwards.