How Would the Cuban Government React to Mass Protests?

How Would the Cuban Government React to Mass Protests?
October 3, 2013
Dariela Aquique

HAVANA TIMES — All Cuban news reports about demonstrations, strikes,
rallies and other types of civil protests in different countries always
make a point of emphasizing the police or military repression that these
movements invariably encounter.

It is true that these types of protests are commonly repressed – the
institutions in power will always seek to contain the masses in one form
or another.

The fact of the matter is that those in power don't like protests,
criticisms or any kind of declaration they haven't called for or
sponsored (and this holds for the entire world, even for countries which
call themselves democratic).

In Cuba, save for occasional and isolated protests organized by the
Ladies in White or this or that minor commotion kicked up by the
opposition (demonstrations that, incidentally, are always repressed by
supposed "civilians"), such events are next to inexistent.

We hear no news about some form of organized social initiative in
protest or against something (outside of State-sanctioned circles, that is).

I've always asked myself: how would Cuban authorities react to a massive
event of this nature?

I wonder if it would involve the use of riot squads, tear gas, pepper
spray, rubber bullets and other instruments which our media invoke to
strongly criticize the governments that repress their civilian
populations during such demonstrations.

Will such methods be used against Cuban citizens one day? Who'd have
thought it, as people say. I believe that, if they felt threatened in a
major way, they would strike back at civilians in the same way other
governments do.

Early this morning, a friend told me that, in a number of schools and
mainly the University of Oriente, a group of individuals distributed a
number of CDs and DVDs with subversive content.

All employees at these institutions were immediately alerted in order to
prevent these materials from being viewed on the computers and to tackle
any other subversive activity within the schools.

Again, I wonder:

What measures could they take against a student or worker who has
received these materials?

Will they go to every student and employee to take the disks away from them?

Will those who watch these materials in a computer at school be
expelled? If they were to protest, would they be met with repression?
What kind?

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