Routine and the Past Star in this 26th of July

Routine and the Past Star in this 26th of July / 14ymedio, Ignacio Varona
Posted on July 27, 2014

14yMEDIO, Ignacio Varona, Camaguy, 26 July 2014 – Very early this
Saturday many of us observed a new event for the 26th of July. The
strict codes of ritual demanded that the commemoration of the 61st
anniversary of the assault on the Moncana Barracks in Santiago de Cuba
and of the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Barracks in Bayamo, be celebrated
this year with moderate pomp. If the "important" anniversaries are
commemorated in style, in Santiago de Cuba or Havana, the intermediate
ones happen in provinces with fewer resources.

The choice of the newly created province of Artemisa to host the main
event, obeys the fulfillment of this liturgy. Also an experiment has
been developing in it to streamline the administrative functions which
it has taken on because the Port of Mariel megaproject is in its territory.

In the era in which Fidel Castro had the capacity to stand for four to
six hours in front of a microphone, those events were anticipated as
time to summarize accomplishments and to announce the news. In 1989, in
one of his long speeches he warned of the possible disappearance of the
Soviet Union. The last great surprise on the 26th of July was the day in
1993 that the Commander in Chief announced the dollarization of the
Cuban economy. Since then, especially after 2007, his brother Raul has
had very little to promise and has delegated the speech on several
occasions to Mr. José Ramón Machado Ventura, second secretary of the
Communist Party.

This time the opportunity was given to Ramiro Valdes who, besides being
a native of Artemisa, is a member of the Politburo, vice president of
the Councils of State and Ministers, Hero of the Republic of Cuba, and
the only survivor of the Moncada attack who holds high positions in the
party and the government with Raul Castro. It's enough to know the name
of the main orator, the hypothesis of a "half-baked" 26th of July was
confirmed. Plus the fact that there were no festivals in Havana on the
eve of the event, no commemorations in every neighborhood, not even the
typical soup that was served on other occasions. Routine has ended up
destroying all the excitement around the event.

A speech without surprises or charm, larded with slogans without any
news, revelations of critiques

Ramiro Valdez read a speech—badly, of course—based exclusively in the
past. He repeated the thesis of the calamitous yesterday that won't
return and declared that in his "vocabulary, the word 'defeat' is
erased." A speech without surprises or charm, larded with slogans
without any news, revelations of critiques. The man who once called for
"taming the wild pony of technologies," dedicated today to a new
diatribe against them, asserting that "the new technologies are used as
an element of subversion."

After the ceremony, when the official announcer for national television
said that the cameras and microphones were returning to the central
studios in the capital, most of the audience immediately returned to
their provincces, while the rest of the citizens, TV viewers or not,
regretted that this Day of National Rebellion had fallen on a Saturday,
so that one of the few opportunities for a holiday was lost.

26 July 2014

Source: Routine and the Past Star in this 26th of July / 14ymedio,
Ignacio Varona | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/routine-and-the-past-star-in-this-26th-of-july-14ymedio-ignacio-varona/