Cuba, a Dark Future with Gray Stitching By Peregrino Perez HAVANA TIMES March 10, 2018
HAVANA TIMES – This past week I met a couple of friends and the conversations I had with them left me with a very sour taste on the palate.
One of them with around 60 years, an honest man, hard worker, leader in his community, member of the Cuban Communist Party, etc. The other, young also with high civic and ethical values, studied at the military preuniversity, popularly known as “Camilitos”. His university studies were also conducted in a military academy and he was part of the ranks of the Communist Youth.
Both expressed their regret over the current Cuban situation, not only for the daily shortages but for the lack of perspective. Their identification with the political left and the Revolution doesn’t cloud their judgment when it comes to assessing the context in which we live, rather survive.
It has been installed in the minds of most Cubans that the problems we suffer are insurmountable, especially due to the lack of serious management by the government. Lowering the price of goods at the farmer’s markets is not enough; there you can barely buy a part of your basic needs. Most of the products (clothing, personal hygiene, electrical appliances and many food items) must be purchased in the government stores where the prices are excessively high.
Salaries should be multiplied by ten. Unfortunately that is not the priority of the decision makers; they put more emphasis on diminishing the income of the self-employed. Make us all equal, equally poor.
I have carefully read the texts here in Havana Times of Repatriado, especially where he expresses that it is unfair that those who show our disagreements are described as stateless, worms, etc.
It is not just about seeing the stains of the system, but the lights are becoming dimmer. Criticizing and exposing the problems that affect us is essential to raise awareness of the need to solve them as soon as possible. The real and profound Cuba has nothing to do with what is shown in the official media.
Those who make decisions in Cuba are planted in their posts since decades ago. The current elections are pure theater. Until the direct and democratic vote is possible, our leaders will not be forced to take significant measures that improve the quality of life of the people. Meanwhile, they will continue to focus their efforts on social control, consolidating their power. Much has been said about making decision-making horizontal, but from “saying to doing, is a long stretch”.
With the coming to power of Raul Castro, some of us thought that his economic pragmatism would be a boost to the country’s economy in the direction of China and Vietnam. Finally, salaries would no longer be a mere stipend. Ten years later we feel once more deceived.
Disenchantment is the feeling that prevails in most Cubans, especially those with high values ??such as the friends with whom I ran into.
Cuba has become a country of “fighters”, where honest people no longer have a place. Talking about the inverted pyramid produces fatigue and regret. This anomaly has become something natural.
The lack of projection has pushed many Cubans into exile. It doesn’t matter that the United States closed the “dry feet and wet feet” law. There will always be a destination to go to. Before Ecuador, now Chile and Uruguay. A place to escape from this absurd and gray reality.
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