Many Voters Will Not Vote for Me

"Many Voters Will Not Vote for Me" / Cubanet, Orlando Freire Santana
Posted on April 17, 2015

"Some do not know me well, some are prisoners of fear." Interview with
opposition member Hildebrando Chaviano, candidate for delegate to the
People's Power.
Cubanet.org, Orlando Freire Santana, Havana, 15 April 2015 – Independent
journalist Hildebrando Chaviano is one of the opposition candidates
nominated by districts in the capital with a view towards the midterm
elections to be held this coming April 19. In order to learn of the most
recent events surrounding his nomination, we visited him in his
apartment on the 28th floor of the Focsa building in the El Vedado
neighborhood.

Q: Have you noticed any change recently in your neighbors' treatment of you?

A: "I can tell you yes, indeed. But a change for the better. Neighbors
approach me and greet me cordially. Even those who have never had a
close relationship with me, now I notice they are friendlier.

"However, the neighbors from the building are one thing, and another is
the workers of the State establishments located here in Focsa. Many of
them, due to the extent of their working hours — especially those in the
food business – will vote at this polling station on the 19th. And
certainly, I am aware that they have distanced themselves from me. I am
convinced that they have been told categorically that they may not vote
for me.

"Even recently there occurred a telling event. Some reporters from the
German television station Deutsche Welle visited me. When they were
leaving we came to the building's reception area where they wanted to
take some pictures of me. The receptionist, very startled, left the
place, because according to her own words, 'Not for anything in the
world could I appear in those photographs.'"

Q: What has been the popular reaction to the exposure of your
biographical data, full of insults for being a "counter-revolutionary?"

A: "My perception, basically through conversations with my neighbors, is
that this time the biographies have been more widely read than in prior
elections. They have even told me that they have seen passersby, who
have nothing to do with this polling station, stopped in front of the
photos and biographies.

"Most of the neighbors are convinced that the insults placed in my
biography are revenge by the authorities for a nomination that they did
not expect."

Q: Do you believe that voters are ready to support an opposition candidate?
"It is undeniable that there are many voters who are not going to vote
for me. I am not referring to neighbors from my building but to people
in the rest of the district. Some because they do not know me well, and
others are prisoners of fear. Among the latter ideas are entertained
like 'what if there is a hidden camera that films the voting,' 'what if
each ballot has a password that identifies the voter'… Nevertheless, it
is no less certain that people want something different, and many see me
as a brave person who has decided to confront the machinery of power."

Q: Do you believe that an opposition delegate can adequately carry out
his work in the midst of the bureaucratic structures of the People's Power?

A: "I think so, as long as you have a program of action. Because, look,
here almost all the delegates that enter office do it without a defined
program, and therefore they become simple 'errand boys' between their
voters and the municipal governments. Under those conditions, obviously,
they end up swallowed by the governmental bureaucracy, and they also
lose the trust of the voters.
"I appreciate that my trips abroad have given me insights about
initiatives that could be implemented at the community level.

Q: What message do you send to Cuban voters a few days before the election?

A: "The voters must lose the fear of voting for an opposition candidate.
They should be convinced that it is possible to vote for a candidate who
does not represent the interests of the government. Because even in the
hypothetical – and almost impossible – case of finding out the identity
of the voters, it would not be possible to repress so many people
simultaneously."

Translated by MLK

Source: "Many Voters Will Not Vote for Me" / Cubanet, Orlando Freire
Santana | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/many-voters-will-not-vote-for-me-cubanet-orlando-freire-santana/