Cuba and the Prophets of Fear

Cuba and the Prophets of Fear
April 2, 2015
Fernando Ravsberg*

HAVANA TIMES — Relations between Cuba and the United States are entering
a new and more complex stage. It began with current peace negotiations,
which still haven't managed to secure a complete ceasefire. Havana
continues to publicly condemn the "empire" and Washington is still
imposing sanctions on those who have business dealings with the island.

Despite all this, the two countries are moving towards more civilized
forms of confrontation. We are seeing the creation of a different stage,
where most differences can be settled in the field of ideas and
politics, in the minds and hearts of Cubans.

Some are afraid, because they have become accustomed to trench warfare
and lack the skills needed for debate. Extremists at both ends are
indeed concerned, feeling they could be deprived of their leading roles.

Their resistance to current changes is a pure survival instinct: after
so many years of staging nothing but monologues, they are incapable of
communicating with someone who refutes what they say. They may have
learned how to give out orders, but they are incapable of persuading
Cubans at either end of the Strait of Florida.

Some have become experts in harassing artists who visit Miami,
threatening the more moderate émigrés, controlling the press, pocketing
the greater part of the money taken in by dissidents and winning
elections draped in the Cuban flag.

The others still nurture the "city-under-siege" mentality, defend
unanimity in all things political and encourage a one-idea system,
considering any dissenting opinion treachery. In order not to "play into
the enemy's hands," they silence the press and nip all debate at the bud.

Some Cuban-American politicians and dissidents on the island consider
Obama a traitor for taking these first steps towards rapprochement with
Cuba. They feel their game is coming to an end and conspire to boycott
negotiations from within Congress.

There is no shortage of fear on the island: the government's most
extremist sector warns people again and again about the dangers inherent
to this new context. Rather than seek the national unity they like to
proclaim so much, however, they work only to divide Cubans.

They deploy their cyberspace "hacks" to discredit some for the sin of
being Catholic, others for having emigrated and revolutionaries for
being "naïve." They want to sow fear in people, accusing those who think
differently of being the empire's fifth column.

For a small country, being the good neighbor of an economic and cultural
power as immense as the United States will never be free from danger,
but the Cuban government has accepted the challenge and appears to be
convinced about Cuba's ability to handle the risks.

At any rate, it has no other choice. Average Cubans will not likely
accept staying in the trenches just because some extremists are afraid
to confront their adversaries in the field of ideas.

Relations with the United States also involve new opportunities.
Overcome their fear of reprisals, many countries and institutions are
now beginning to do business with Cuba. These new dealings could bring
the wellbeing that Cubans deserve, after so many decades of sacrifice.

The new generations are not as receptive to ideological speeches as were
the old. They expect concrete results in society and visible improvement
to their lives. They were born with access to free healthcare, education
and culture, but they also long for greater prosperity at the individual
level.

Extremists fear such longings and believe they are the only ones that
can save Cuba from the "candor" of Cubans. They regard themselves as the
top vanguard of the struggle and even aim to expel from the Party those
who have a different mindset.

A nation, however, is the sum total of the feelings of all citizens and
it is impossible to develop it by imposing the criteria of an
"enlightened" minority on the rest. They tried something similar with
the Santeria religion and its traditions survived in the hearts and
basements of people.

If Cuba leaves the definition of who is a patriot and who is a traitor
in the hands of society's most extremist members, the nation will lose
many of its most talented people, and this will weaken its social,
political and cultural potential, at a time when it needs it the most.

Source: Cuba and the Prophets of Fear - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=110392