The other Cuba
By Harold Cárdenas Lema
From the blog La Joven Cuba (The Young Cuba)
HAVANA – What would a change in Cuba’s political system be like? What would the arrival of the capitalist model to our reality be like? How many benefits and hindrances could that represent for Cubans? To what degree are the road we have charted and our numerous daily sacrifices convenient?
In the case of a radical change in the system, many factors would have to be considered. I’ll mention just some.
For sure, we’d benefit from the technological development, would have great architectural works to be proud of, would have Internet access in airports and international sports events of greater importance.
Even so, the skyscrapers would be the privilege of a few. As to the airports, it would be ironic to see a very pleased Eliécer Ávila* watching the many international flights but – like any farm boy before the Revolution – being unable to get on a plane. Someday, I’d like to ask the UCI boy if he’s defending the privileges of the elites or our right to leave and reenter our country freely, something with which I identify most emphatically.
We’d have an army of professionals formed inside the Revolution but – because training has no ideology – they would serve just as equally in a capitalist society. That’s another curious irony that we cannot ignore; it’s an element that gives us a certain advantage with respect to other nations in the region.
But we must be clear: thereafter, the university would not be for everyone and a “Daddy’s boy” would not study in the same school as a farm worker from Las Tunas.
We’d have the possibility to vote directly for the president, an idea I’ve always liked, but the candidates would have to pass through a series of “filters” much more diabolical than the current ones, which would turn them into representatives of the minorities, never of the people.
In the other Cuba, we’d run the risk of surrendering our home to a Yankee who claims a right to it, even though he hasn’t stepped on this soil for more than half a century. We’d have better highways, no doubt, but at night the danger would be greater on the streets, violence and drugs would be part of our reality and would not be limited to small sectors, as they are at present.
These are the little things that we Cubans are not aware of because we take for granted many of our current achievements and generally worry about what we still need to do. But the Devil is in the details, isn’t it?
In the other Cuba, we’d be obedient workers, no more. The State would not worry about the people’s educational level or the people’s political commitment, not at all. The more the masses turn away from politics, the better; an attitude of laissez-faire prevails worldwide, and Cuba would be the last country to join the party.
If someone asks me which Cuba I choose, I answer without hesitation: neither. Neither the one they promise from the north, nor the one I have now. I’d be crazy to accept the Yankees’ prescription or resign myself to the reality that exists at present. I want the Cuba that we can be.
Those who think that only two options exist forget something. The Cuban people will not give back what they have achieved and fought to preserve for 50 years and will not put up with the same for much longer. They have to reach new goals.
May there soon be an immigration reform that will allow me to leave and reenter my homeland in a natural manner; may the Cubans’ participation in political and social affairs be more real and less formal; may the State not remain silent on a subject as sensitive as fiberoptics communications and may the press not be an accomplice to the State.
The day that we understand that all this is more socialism, that all this is called common sense, that on these “details” hinge our future and credibility, the day that we understand all this, we’ll be more revolutionary.
The time to “defend the accomplishments of the Revolution” is over. No, no, no, this is the time to achieve new results and benefits for the people. We’re no longer retrenching or regrouping to preserve what we have gained. Right now, if we don’t change fast, those gains will go down the tube and so will the Cuban people.
If we don’t choose the third option soon, the other Cuba I’m talking about will become reality – and, honestly, we can be better than that.
* Eliécer Ávila is the young man who questioned National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcón at the University of Computer Sciences (UCI) in 2008 on the mechanics of government and computer access.
