Letting the Steam Out of the Kettle

Letting the Steam Out of the Kettle / Rebeca Monzo
Rebeca Monzo, Translator: Unstated

This summer has been marked not only by a disquieting heat, which has
extended uncharacteristically into these first days of October, but also
by shortages in the market in general, and grocery and other stores in
particular.

At the same time instability has been gradually increasing, fed by the
prolonged silence on the health of the country's former leader and the
excessive caution and slow implementation of the well-publicized reforms
announced by the current president.

Ever increasing desertions of professionals are occurring in health
caremissions in some ALBA countries.* The same is happening among
athletes who compete overseas. The endless lines—made up of people of
all ages, most of whom are young—to be found at the embassy gates of
Spain, Mexico and the United States, to name but a few countries, are an
eloquent testimony to the current situation in the country.

All of a sudden we awoke today to the news that, after January 13, 2013,
a new emigration law will take effect that will do away with the
required letter of invitation and the well-known exit visa (known as the
"white card"). Aside from the fact that the law will require not
eventhree months to take effect, it is significant that this has already
been announced by the newspaper Granma.

Will this end up being a smokescreen, created to serve as a distraction
from all the previously mentioned issues, or is it perhaps intended
relieve a little of the pressure building up in the political kettle,
which seems to be near the bursting point?

Based on how it is moving forward, this crippled emigration measure will
not be the same for all citizens. There will be exceptions. In fact it
already presents some problems. Even so, it has raised hopes and
expectations in the entire population, including those who have no
dreams of being able to travel someday.

It is like a poor hen, who has been plucked in the middle of winter,
being offered a few feathers by the very people who plucked her.

Translator's note: ALBA is the Spanish acronym for Bolivarian Alliance
for the Peoples of Our America,an international organization made up of
socialist and social democratic countries of Latin America including
Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Venezuela.

October 16 2012

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