Luis Felipe Rojas, Translator: Raul G.
The mother waits in the hospital lobby. Outside, it is very cold- very
unusual considering the accustomed high temperatures which whip through
the Cuban East. The young man is barely 22 years old, he jumped in to
separate two of his friends in a street brawl, and when the police
arrived they began to hit them with sticks and kick them. He suffered
the worst part. One of his friends went to get me because they had
convinced him to give me all the details. The mother shut down all sorts
of dialogues in order to protect him. It was pointless for me to explain
his rights to him. My arguments that he should denounce the events were
not worth anything. She would return home, 'either way in this country
nothing works…get out of here, don't bother me anymore', she told me.
Just three days ago, I was publicly approached by an Honorary Official
(OH) of State Security. His intention was to have me stay in my house.
That way, he would save many hours which he would otherwise be chasing
me. Since I responded to him by citing my citizen rights, he whipped out
his blue-lettered ID tag to threaten- not me- but the passer-bys.
Despite the heated discussion and his boasting that he would call a
police vehicle, no one responded, no one moved. When I said- in a loud
voice- that the streets belong to the people and not the
revolutionaries, no one echoed the phrase. It's true that I did not
suffer a repudiation this time, but the people are just absorbed by
their bags of food and I suppose they do not have time for these
trifles, right?
Institutions such as the Fiscal Military, the three kinds of tribunals
(municipal, provincial, and national) and, time and time again, the
offices of Citizen Attention dodge the complaints against functionaries
of the order and only in counted occasions- after violations are very
evident- does the Counter Intelligence do something. These obsolete
organisms have, in part, helped everyday people put on their own
censors. Since no one defends their rights, then they mistrust
everything, they fall into the generalized apathy and end up giving in
to their very own henchmen. Only after seeing the gloomy face of the
television presenter announcing, in yet another trick, some other
dismissal, are people able to see that Cuban public institutions are
also there to watch for some things, for the interests of some citizens
and so that some rights be respected.
Translated by Raul G.
6 February 2011
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