Luis Felipe Rojas, Translator: Raul G.
This article was written by Luis Felipe Rojas for 'Diario de Cuba'. It
has been re-posted on this blog:
In regards to the year which has just begun, it is evident that the
directions of the Cuban government are like forked transit lines. With
more desires to give orders to its members than to implement any sort of
political economy, on January 28th they will hold the First National
Conference of the Communist Party (PCC).
Towards the end of March the General-President will receive the Vatican
authorities, rosary and timbrel at hand. And during the middle of the
year he will once again be in the limelight, with our without the
fulfillment of promises. Cuba will once again see how dreams and
demands dissipate.
On a tour which was expected to come sooner or later, the Castro
leadership has gone up against itself. Against the inflated staffs,
administrative corruption, and economic inefficiency. The three whips
of Cuban society have been exposed in numerous public meetings: the
communist congress and the ordinary session of the National Assembly.
We would have to see if the Cuban technocrats are willing to change
their mentality and cast away their furies against the same projects as
always. While the historic direction holds tight to the old art of
snapping orders and marching, thousands of Cubans try to improve their
lives selling what they themselves cultivate, carrying out service jobs
or applying their talents to new technologies.
However, enthusiasms aside, the penalization of difference still weighs
heavy over the heads of the majority of Cubans, as well as the rake
against free association and the establishment of unions, and laws like
Social Dangerousness which seem to belong in the Middle Ages.
Without being able to defend their most basic rights, the Cuban
citizenry, since the beginning of the millennium, has been trapped in
the delicacies of capitalism and civilization which has been placed
before them. They produce foreign currency, which they cannot freely
enjoy. They substitute imports with medical services which they can
rarely enjoy and, on top of that, they carry the weight of errors
committed by the senile leadership.
The more moderate forces among the rulers (which are not always visible)
opt for a change of tactics and for a reasonable strategy which would
favor the betterment of the citizen. A consensus of the majority of
workers has demonstrated the weariness produced by slogans and
inefficiency of promises.
The criticisms of Raul Castro and the dissidents of the government are
going to crash against the accommodated tendency of the bureaucrats.
Attempting to impregnate from stamps of eternal solidarity with Cubans,
the maximum leadership deprives them of health services which are
obliged to serve their third-world contemporaries.
At this point, many are asking themselves about the relationship between
the statistic offered by Cuba of 4.9 children who have died per each
thousand born alive, and the fact of not publishing the statistics of
the budget cuts in the public health sector. Will this statistic be
upheld despite the cuts? As for the popular sophism of 'tossing the
house out through the window', there is also the fact that there are
many necessities, due to a weakened system of primary attention.
Upon being asked if he was a militant (of the Communist Party, of
course), a well known professor for the University of Oriente responded,
"No, I am the culprit". The joke has transcended university property
and illustrates the disillusion of that 'minority' (in the words of
Rafael Rojas) which, in regards to political strength, has transmuted to
another social ill.
Translated by Raul G.
9 January 2011
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