Speculations

Speculations / Fernando Dámaso
Fernando Dámaso, Translator: Unstated

The truth about the accident in which Payá Sardinas died has been the
subject of various speculations. The source of these is absolutely the
responsibility of the Cuban authorities who, from the very beginning,
tried to play down the importance of it, presenting it as a simple
traffic accident, one more of the many that occur in the country,
forgetting that, because of who the main victim was, it would be
important, both inside and outside Cuba. Used to avoiding political
opponents, under the absurd view that, as long as they don't talk about
them they don"t exist, were wrong again: definitely, they are experts at
tripping over the stones.

The first thing I noticed was, precisely, the brief information about
the event that appeared on page 6 of the newspaper Granma on Monday,
July 23, as if it would pass unnoticed in a country where the death of
any citizen politically close to the regime is trumpeted in the
headlines, with a grief-filled farewell, the funeral, the special wreath
and even what speaker is appointed, depending on the origin and
importance of the person: artist, athlete, scientific, historical, and
so on.

The second was the planned repression at the exit of the parish of St.
Saviour of the World, in the Cerro neighborhood (where Payá lived), to
prevent the procession from marching on foot to the nearby Colon
Cemetery. Despite this, the funeral was crowded, which is verifiable in
the photos posted on the Internet, absent, as is usual, from the
official media.

Thirdly, the exhaustive official report, with testimony from
eyewitnesses and experts with years of experience, trying to prove that
the path was correctly marked, and that full responsibility lay with the
driver (the Spanish citizen Carromero, injured in the accident ), for
not paying attention, speeding and not maneuvering the danger properly,
violating several articles of the brand new Highway Safety Code, because
of which he will be prosecuted under Cuban law.

Fourthly, the controlled press conference of the Swedish citizen Aron
Modig (also injured in the accident), presented on the Roundtable TV
program on the Cubavision Channel, in which, instead of focusing on
clarifying the accident, they tried to give it a political connotation,
seeking to demonstrate that both the deceased and the injured were
conducting destabilizing activities against the government, with
possible legal implications for foreign nationals and, incidentally, to
throw some discredit on the figure of Payá.

Yesterday the same television channel broadcast material on Carromero,
and today appearing in the newspaper Juventud Rebelde was a commissioned
article talking about violations of traffic laws committed by him in
Spain. It seems that the chosen scapegoat for the new telenovela — the
soap opera — broadcast in the same style as that of Alan Gross, is
Carromero.

It makes sense: he belongs to and is a leader of the People's Party
youth organization, which currently governs in Spain, which is not close
to the Cuban government. As usual, the authorities seek to punish him as
an example, in order to keep it as a bargaining chip to use now or at
any other appropriate time. My friend Cheo, who is always up-to-date,
said to me: it was served to them on a silver platter.

It is true that the times are not the same, although some people do not
think this is the case, nor are the characters so alike, but they are
quite similar. There should be at least a little more than political
pragmatism when dealing with the case and the overreaction and desire to
always play the role of the eternal victim and reap the maximum gain —
on the part of the authorities — should be left aside.

However, these missteps by the authorities, caused by the syndrome of
secrecy (criticized from the platform but applied in practice), and
their political blindness that prevents them from seeing the changing
reality of the country, are intended to obviate or accommodate their
survival needs, instead of giving them greater credibility.

August 4 2012

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