A Troubling Harbinger of Cuba’s Future

A Troubling Harbinger of Cuba's Future / Juan Juan Almeida
Posted on August 14, 2014

It was all much easier when we did not have names for things and you
simply had to point with your finger. Back then, the difference between
"this" and "that" was merely a gesture. But with the advent of letters,
words, paragraphs and know-it-alls it is now more difficult to describe
with any precision what the future Cuban landscape will look like.

Throughout our history we have all wanted the same thing: a lasting
change that will bring about what is best for Cuba; a pluralistic,
diverse, democratic country brimming with happiness. It is worth
remembering that it was for this that young men fought one August 4 — on
a day like today but in 1955 — in a failed assault on the Presidential
Palace. But back to the topic at hand, if things continue as they are
now, this "yes but no" and "more of the same" will remain constant
features of national life. It is not simply a matter of trying to
express what we want but of achieving a better understanding of the way
to go about it.

When I set aside emotion and rely on reason, I am saddened to see that
the Cuban opposition — and I say this with all due respect — is inclined
to reject social reality in favor of literary fiction. Yes, they are
courageous people who risk their lives in the streets, but by pursuing
parallel agendas and defending personal initiatives, they make it hard
to believe they can coalesce into an alternative political force or
become a significant or successful social movement which, at this point
in time, could encourage unanimity.

This is not impossible but first they must acknowledge the overwhelming
need to come together and organize themselves. More than a union, they
must form a pact. Competing to demonstrate acquired leadership skills,
as they now do, is like swimming in a make-believe desert to feed one's
ego. While this may be laudable, it does nothing to help one's country.

Meanwhile, as time marches on, those on the island and those in exile
express conflicting opinions. The kings of prevarication who currently
make up Cuba's governing clique are looking like heirs-in-waiting.

All indications are that — barring a miracle or a cataclysm, which are
unlikely — Cubans will be presented with a souvenir: the imposition of a
governmental succession that transfers power from the current office
holders to their children, friends, in-laws, cousins and/or close
associates.

But it is not I who is saying this. Sir Isaac Newton himself expressed
it in his laws of motion and universal gravitation: "The apple does not
fall far from the tree." There are those who do not want to acknowledge
this because they are too invested in a funerary transition, or because
they spend their time being fascinated with themselves.

The heirs to power, the leading players, will almost certainly be family
members of current leaders who already hold strategic positions, party
officials who have amply demonstrated their loyalty, and military men
such as Raúl Rodríguez Lobaina, Lucio Juan Morales Abad and Onelio
Aguilera Bermúdez whose devotion was formed in the heat of battle in
places such as Angola, Ethiopia and Nicaragua.

They are the new Caesars, people who, like water, have the ability to go
around any obstacle and adapt to any circumstance. Their task will be to
restructure the country, guiding it towards "who knows what." They are
certainly willing to fight to stay in power and one day Cubans — worn
down by time and memory — will give in and agree to live in oblivion,
allowing victims and victimizers to coexist. One fortunate aspect of a
laboratory run by pirates is that, instead of eye patches and gold
chains, they sport embroidered guayaberas and treat "the Fatherland" as
their personal inheritance.

4 August 2014

Source: A Troubling Harbinger of Cuba's Future / Juan Juan Almeida |
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