Striving to convince young people of the 'blessings' of Castroism

Striving to convince young people of the 'blessings' of Castroism
ORLANDO FREIRE SANTANA | La Habana | 1 de Febrero de 2017 - 10:26 CET.

We have recently borne witness to a kind of government offensive seeing
to convince young people of the blessings of the political system
prevailing on the Island. The regime is apparently in a hurry to ensure
successors to the historic generation.

The crux of this offensive hinges on the efforts of Popular Power bodies
- particularly its National Assembly- which are presented by the
official propaganda as guarantors of socialist democracy.

In this context a group of deputies from the National Assembly met with
students from the Law Department at the University of Havana, and also
with students from the Vladimir Ilich Lenin Vocational Preuniversity
Exact Sciences Institute.

The representatives, among other points, insisted that the young people
appreciate the difference between Cuban deputies and those from other
nations; stressed the foundations of the single party system; explained
the negative effects that a return to the capitalist political system
and its model of democracy would have in Cuba; and endorsed study of the
Cuban Constitution as part of the curriculum.

It is difficult to imagine anyone acting honestly and defending these
positions, and even more difficult to conceive of someone else accepting
them. Because to understand the difference, perhaps the fundamental one,
between the types of parliamentary deputies, all one must do is watch
some footage of them on TV. In it the votes are unanimous, as nobody
dares to defy the decisions, which have been previously made by the
regime's higher-ups, who are on hand in the assembly. In other nations,
in contrast, deputies legislate freely, and votes are close, after
heated debates.

With respect to the "refusal" to return to the capitalist model of
democracy, Castroism continues to confuse country and party, as
indicated by Archbishop Pedro Meurice in 1998, upon John Paul II's
visit. Of course, it is not in the interest of the Communist Party to
compete with other political forces, nor is the alternation in power
brought about by true democracy.

With regards to the principles that allegedly sustain the single party
system, not much is necessary to demonstrate their hollowness. If they
invoke Martí's creation of the Cuban Revolutionary Party - as they are
prone to doing - a simple reading of the group's charter reveals that
the Apostle conceived of the organization only as an instrument to wage
war against the Spanish colonialism, not as a party to perpetually
tyrannize society.

The aforementioned governmental offensive is being combined with the
creation of a Parliamentary Classroom in the Capitol, to be the next
site of the National Assembly of Popular Power.

This forum will feature three modalities: circles of interest for fifth
and sixth grade students, classes for schools located in the community -
initially encompassing the municipalities of Central and Old Havana –
and talks directed at college students and workers from institutions
near the Capitol.

Those targeted by this Parliamentary Classroom will be the deputies of
the National Assembly and other intellectuals identified with the
Government. And, of course, the content and tone will be very similar to
that characterizing the events in which these Parliamentary deputies met
with university students from the Law Department, and the students at
the Lenin School.

Nevertheless, the evident reality is that, in the end, none of these
attempts at indoctrination are succeeding. They would have to lock all
those young people in empty, windowless towers to keep them from finding
out what is going on beyond our borders. And, much to the chagrin of the
leaders on the Island, this kind if isolation is virtually impossible in
these revolutionary times of easy access to information via computer.

Source: Striving to convince young people of the 'blessings' of
Castroism | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1485941204_28581.html