Why Isn’t the Dissident Movement Relevant to the Average Cuban

Why Isn't the Dissident Movement Relevant to the Average Cuban
Posted on July 28, 2013

My neighbors think exactly the same way as many in the opposition. They
are as unhappy with the government of the Castro brothers as any
dissident. Many a night I have to listen to loud complaints and
criticisms leveled against the regime of General Raúl Castro.

The causes for this disgust are numerous. They vary from the cost of
putting food on the table, low wages and the absurdity of having two
currencies to sky-high prices for basic commodities and corruption at
every level.

At least people have not taken to the street to protest as in Brazil. In
Cuba the escape valve is the living room of your house, where people
never tire of grumbling and bemoaning their bad luck.

When workers are asked why they do not form independent trade unions or
housewives are asked why they do not bang their pots and pans in the
street to complain about overpricing, they look at you as if to say, "Do
you think I am stupid?" Invariably the response is almost always, "I'm
not going to play the hero," or "If others do it, I will too."

"Why don't you join an opposition group," I ask. No one admits to being
afraid; they prefer to say they do not want to put their families at
risk. Others claim they do not trust dissidents. Or that no one from the
opposition has approached them with a proposal.

This is an interesting point. It is odd that in no neighborhood of
Havana — I should mention I happen to live in the capital — can anyone
find a dissident, especially since most of the opposition suffers from
the same shortages as the average citizen. Actually, they suffer even
more if you consider they are often harassed by the special services.

In my opinion the opposition has not figured out how to take advantage
of this obvious discontent to attract followers. They live in their own
world — one of discussions, meetings, debates among themselves and now
trips overseas. Their initiatives are unknown inside Cuba. The average
Cuban is not even aware of what they do.

Meanwhile, the inefficient public transport system continues to be a
popular source of discontent. People complain about the poor quality of
bread. Trash cans overflow with garbage yet trucks do not come by to
pick it up. And every night broken water pipes turn the city's streets
into rivers.

I do not believe that official journalists — steadfast defenders of the
regime — are unaware that their neighbors are irritated by the
qualitative decline in public education or by the professional
incompetence of many doctors.

Eight out of ten people with whom I speak on the street do not support
the Castro regime, but the opposition has not figured out a way to
capitalize on this anger. It is more concerned with promoting its agenda
overseas.

By harassing them, infiltrating their ranks with secret agents and
sowing divisions, State Security has made dissidents' work difficult.
The official media has never given them a platform to make their
viewpoints known. Nor will it. This can only be done through hard work.

The business of an opposition party is to recruit members. I believe it
would not be too difficult for the opposition to find people willing to
listen in parks and on the street, or while waiting in line and at bus
stops. Dissidents would have to do community outreach, focusing more on
the problems of a neighborhood and its residents, their natural allies.

Certainly, enlisting a skeptical people is not an easy task. Politics
are not fashionable and many of those feeling outraged also view the
opposition as "a band of moochers and opportunists."

This is the message the government has been putting out for years.
Undoing this image will be difficult and the behavior of certain
dissidents hardly helps matters. Some join the opposition in order to
gain political refugee status and move to the United States.

This vagabond dissident movement has no shortage of people who battle
the regime with their ideas but remain bookish narcissists. The problem
is that political initiatives have validity only if they are group
endeavors, not individual ones.

Among certain dissidents there is also a disturbing tendency to believe
that the initiatives of others do not count. They use the same weapons
as the government; you are either with them or against them.

False accusations and condemnations are used frequently. If someone does
not share another's opinions, the first impulse is often to say that
"this guy is an agent of state security" without providing any evidence.

It is the fastest way to brand an adversary but no one comes out of it
looking good. When dissidents fight among themselves, only the regime
benefits.

The opposition simulates a catwalk of vanities. I am sorry to say this
but every time I attend an event or have a conversation with some of
them, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

If up until now they have not been relevant to the average Cuban, the
fault is in part theirs. The future of Cuba should take precedence over
egos and garnering the spotlight. Tactics should be changed. The Creole
autocracy meanwhile does its thing, mapping out its strategies and
trying to colonize the opposition.

My neighbors want a change of government as well as systemic change.
They have grown up in an ideological insane asylum which is not capable
of providing a glass of milk for the breakfast table or producing a
decent pair of shoes. They do not trust the Castro brothers.

Or the dissidents. The Cuban opposition has done very little to win them
over.

Iván García

Photo: One of the many lines Cubans form every day. From the blog by
Tania Quintero.

23 July 2013

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