On Different Sides

On Different Sides / Fernando Damaso
Posted on May 6, 2014

For some time the official discourse in Cuba has gone one way and the
lives of Cubans have gone another. The agreements and guidelines are a
part of the first, constantly referred to by the authorities as if they
were part of some holy book of binding obligations, and the struggle for
survival is now part of the second.

On May 1st the combative people will make the earth tremble with their
massive parades. It's already known how many will participate in each
municipality and province and the thousands from each union in the
capital. It's a pity that these figures of binding obligations– 35,000
in Construction, 40,000 in Education, Science and Sports, 80,000 in
Industry, etc.–don't match, with exactitude, the production of sugar,
milk, meat, food, vegetables and other products.

Without any doubt, it is easier to organize the circus than to ensure
the bread.

On the banners held high no demands to the government will appear,
despite the disastrous economic situation and the pitiful salaries and
pensions. The "union leaders" will ensure this and many, the dreamers,
will believe we are living in the best of worlds and enjoy the best of
governments. Perhaps the authorities also believe it, as they are
accustomed to the enjoyment of absolute power for more than 56 years.

However, we all know how they work and how participation in these mass
mobilizations is ensured. We don't forget that they also existed in the
former socialist countries, led by the former Soviet Union and how, at a
democratic stroke, they disappeared.

The reality, palpable every day on the street, in the workplaces and
schools and homes, reflects the complete opposite. The unbelievers are
increasingly more, and it is not only the young people who speak, whose
objective is to study so as to take off at the first opportunity or to
participate in some mission abroad, to get some cash and improve their
economic situation and that of their families or just to leave; but also
adults and the elderly, convinced that they were shortchanged of their
lives, demanding from them present sacrifices and hardships with the
promise of a better future, which dissipated between slogans and
speeches, rallies and mass parades.

28 April 2014

Source: "On Different Sides / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/on-different-sides-fernando-damaso/