Cuba's youths not as willing to carry on nation's ideology

Nov. 12, 2006, 1:06AM
Cuba's youths not as willing to carry on nation's ideology
They're eager for creature comforts, less thrilled about communism, and
may fuel change

By VANESSA ARRINGTON

HAVANA - Cuba says Fidel Castro's revolution will last forever.

But the aging cadre of leaders who devoted their lives to building a
communist utopia on this Caribbean island eventually must turn things
over to new generations — and Cuba's young people don't seem to share
their revolutionary zeal.

There is a profound disconnect between the world of this younger
generation and the ideology they see in state media. After 47 years of
rule by Castro, many youths say that they are tired of politics and that
the official rhetoric doesn't match their reality.

They dream of less propaganda and more material comforts.

"We really hope things get better — it can't be like this forever,"
Israel Cuesta, 24, said of the country's economic situation.

Whether the handful of leaders filling in for the ailing 80-year-old
Castro can surmount this apathy is among many questions facing Cuba.

Many young Cubans certainly embrace the current system, actively
participating in the Communist Youth Union and responding to efforts by
the government to nurture a new generation of leaders.

But others resist the formula. Free speech limits are among their sore
points. Restricted Internet access generally is available only through
government centers and universities, and Cubans risk fines and
confiscation of equipment if they wire up illegal satellite dishes to
watch MTV or CNN.

"I feel blind and manipulated," said a 30-year-old who would identify
himself only as Luis for fear of losing his job at a state-run art
institute.

Cuba's focus on social equality and autonomy from the U.S. remains
genuinely popular among youths. They appreciate the safety net that
prevents most Cubans from going hungry or becoming homeless, as well as
a sociable environment where strangers constantly interact and help each
other. And they've inherited their parents' and grandparents' deep pride
in being Cuban.

But what they want most seems to be change.

"I want more technology, to be somewhere that feels more advanced," said
Tony, a 20-year-old music producer with long, gelled hair and a black
leather bracelet with studs.

Like many young Cubans, he wouldn't reveal his last name, fearing
retribution for speaking candidly. "I want to open my mind," he said.

While the elderly generation equates Castro's revolution with
opportunity, younger people feel they lack options — and can't see how
they will be able to make enough money to live well.

Younger Cubans can go to college for free, get full health-care coverage
and listen to world-class music concerts at tiny cost. But they also
have little chance of renting or buying their own apartments, getting a
car, or making more than $15 a month.

Cuesta, a dishwasher at a fancy Havana tourist hotel, vividly remembers
the dramatic poverty of the island's "special period" in the 1990s, when
the collapse of the Soviet Union and end to its subsidies plunged Cuba
into economic crisis.

Bicycles replaced cars, and Cubans became increasingly skinny as
gasoline and food started to disappear. Salaries lost their value
overnight. Power blackouts up to 16 hours a day were common.

"There was nothing," Cuesta said. "A lot of people just started falling
apart financially. They were no longer the same."

The period translated into a "frustration of expectations" for Cuba's
young people, said Damian Fernandez, a Cuban-American who heads the
Cuban Research Institute at Miami's Florida International University.
"The economic shortage, and that closure of opportunity, have clearly
scarred this generation."

Those fleeing reflect Cuba's generational split — 28 percent of the
2,150 Cubans repatriated in 2005 after being intercepted at sea were
younger than 25, and the majority were between 25 and 45, according to
the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. Just 6 percent were older than 45.

"We all want to go to La Yuma," said 15-year-old Eduardo, using Cuban
slang for the U.S. "It's better there," he said, citing everything from
higher pay to more amusement parks.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4328074.html