The New Country comes by mail
By Aurelio Pedroso
In Havana, a group of dissidents has just issued a proposal to create a new group, this one called “The Charter of the New Country.”
The birth of this peculiar document took place recently in an apartment overlooking 23rd Avenue and proceeded without incident, except for a moment when the loud sound of sirens was heard on the well-traveled boulevard. Some attendees were startled, but it wasn’t police cars on a mission. It was just fire fighters celebrating National Fire Prevention Day who by happenstance stopped their truck a few seconds in front of the building and sounded their sirens to open up a lane for the vehicle.
I’ve lost count of the overwhelming number of parties, associations, federations, labor centrals or trade guilds that have been formed by the opposition, but it could reach 200.
Some of them have only two members: the president and the vice president. God knows which of the two is the G-2 agent, because what our dissident movement has is an extraordinary facility to admit all kinds of moles.
That’s not the only important attribute. Then there’s the very native obsession everyone has with being a chief. The big problem with unity among Cubans dates back to José Martí, whose death in combat 115 years ago is celebrated this month, on the 19th.
Ever since, it has been impossible for any three Cubans to devise a plan or strategy without each one of them wanting to be the leader – so he doesn’t have to work too much.
This can be seen on occasion in construction work on the street. Two men are working, ramming a power drill into the pavement, and five are issuing orders or instructions. That’s the way we are. Shall we continue to be like that?
For now, I don’t see much future for The Charter, although I do acknowledge that the country needs in-depth remodeling in all aspects. The Charter will have the same fate as the Varela Project, although the republic’s Constitution could help the promoters in their task.
The signers of the Charter – so far, about 100 persons living on the island and in the United States – propose a “Basic Basket” consisting of radical changes in alimentary security, a thorough review of property rights, and the ratification of pacts signed by the authorities at the United Nations.
Among the signers are journalists, writers, lawyers, farmers, physicians, architects, historians and painters. Even a forest ranger and a retired mariner.
Actually, considering the notorious inefficiency of our postal service, where a letter from Havana takes one month or two to reach Santiago de Cuba, The Charter of the New Country will be stuck in some post office somewhere, even though it says things that are quite worthwhile, if we’re talking about the future of the island.
