CUBA'S YOUTH: THE NEW OPPOSITION

CUBA'S YOUTH: THE NEW OPPOSITION
2009-09-17. Focus on Cuba, An Information Service of the Cuba Transition
Project Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies University of
Miami, Issue 113, September 17, 2009
Andy S. Gomez*

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- Since the start of the Cuban Revolution,
Fidel Castro and his government have transformed Cuba's educational
system into an indoctrinating tool to program Cuba's youth to accept and
promote Marxist ideology.

Every student begins his school day by reciting in his school courtyard
"Pioneros por el comunismo, seremos como el 'Che'." ("Pioneers for
communism-we will be like 'Che'").

However, the ideological ties of the youth are weak, to say the least;
they have only a distorted version of what "El Che" actually represents.
They also consider Fidel Castro to be a symbol of the past, not
representative of their generation. There is a huge gap between the
Cuban youth and the "Generation of the Revolution." The older generation
insists on remaining in the past and uses the revolution as an excuse to
empower themselves and survive the rigors of everyday life in Cuba.

About 2.2 million out of 11.2 million Cubans on the island today were
born after 1991. They have no real perspective of the true purpose of
the Revolution and very little knowledge of Cuba's long history and
culture, since most of Cuba's history books focus on 1959 and beyond.

People that live under totalitarian regimes survive within a "culture of
fear." They have developed a set of values and attitudes that define
their daily behavior in order to meet their own wants and needs which
are not compatible with the restrictions imposed by the state; the Cuban
people are no exception.

Since 2002, we at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at
the University of Miami, have interviewed and surveyed hundreds of
recently arrived Cubans, in addition to communicating regularly with
Cuban youth groups on the island, in an effort to better understand
their values and attitudes as a consequence of living in a totalitarian
state.

To better comprehend their patterns of psychological and social
behavior, we used C.C. Hughes' methodology (1993) which defines culture
as (1) A socially transmitted system of ideas (2) that shapes and
describes experiences, (3) gives names to surrounding realities, (4) is
saved by members of a particular group, and (5) coordinates and
determines behavior. We followed many of these individuals for a six
month period and found that many began to adopt new values and attitudes
that are expected in a free civil society.

Today, the values imposed by the totalitarian regime of the Castro
brothers are being challenged by a new opposition—Cuba's youth. To them
the values of the Revolution are not relevant; they have started to
contradict the purpose and principles of the current socialist system.
Cuba's youth are an opposition that wants "change," even if that change
is not fully defined. Most want their basic needs to be met such as
better housing, more food, jobs, etc. They all want hope for the future,
freedom and the right to pursue their own happiness.

Even though some of the youth have become apathetic or distrustful of
politics, many do want to play a role in shaping Cuba's future
government. Yet, the space provided by the current government is very
limited and controlled. Some of these youngsters have been expelled from
universities or fired from their jobs simply for questioning the Cuban
government's policies and practices.

The biggest challenge for Cuba's youth, and anyone else on the island,
will be to figure out how to psychologically transform their values and
attitudes in order to develop and sustain a democratic society in the
future.

We have learned many lessons from Central and Eastern European countries
that have gone from a totalitarian regime to a more "democratic" system.
Their outcomes have been mixed—it is not easy; it takes time, tolerance,
compromise and a willingness to learn from the past to build a better
future.

Finally, one last essential challenge will be how to keep the young in
Cuba. Their patience is running out, understandably so. In interviews
recently conducted with young people on the island, it's clear that
there is some hope that once Fidel Castro is dead, General Raul Castro
could very well introduce new reforms; these reforms may be too late and
deal mostly with the current economic crisis. In the eyes of Cuba's
youth, Raul Castro will try to preserve the failed ideology of the
Revolution.

For them, this is unacceptable. The Cuban youth's demands go much beyond
what Raul Castro is willing to give. The frustrations amongst Cuba's
youth remain deep and the reality of the everyday struggle for freedom
persists. How much longer can the system survive?

*Dr. Andy S. Gomez is Associate Provost, University of Miami; Senior
Fellow, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies and Nonresident
Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.
He was assisted in this article by Vanessa Lopez, Research Associate at
ICCAS, and Giselle Recarey-Delgado, UM student.

CUBA'S YOUTH: THE NEW OPPOSITION - Misceláneas de Cuba (17 September 2009)
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/article.asp?artID=22912