A Visit by State Security

A Visit by State Security
ROGELIO FABIO HURTADO | La Habana | 15 de Diciembre de 2016 - 16:38 CET.

This Monday a young State Security agent showed up at my house. He said
his name was Antoine, like the character from Los 400 golpes by
Truffaut. I put his presence down to my recent article published in
DIARIO DE CUBA and, above all, the comment suggesting that I might end
up paying for it.

Then I sat down in front of him, prepared for our discussion. He said
that we were going to talk cordially, that they were going to take an
interest in our needs. His tone was convincing. I was dealing with a
"good cop."

I complained about never receiving a political response to my proposals.
He said that that was why he was there, so that I could present my
arguments. I replied that he was a police officer. He reiterated his
willingness to listen to me. He said that he had read some of my
articles in Primavera Digital andthat, although he did not agree with my
opinions, I did not lie.

To sum up my demands, I told him that they should officially recognize a
respect for civil and political rights and be willing to hear different
views about Cuban issues. In this way the Government could take
advantage of the current juncture to adopt a new stance.

Appearing at my house, like every Monday, was my friend and colleague
"Mackandal", who spoke excitedly during our dialogue, about the subject
of racial discrimination. The young man, a very fair mulatto, said that
he had never suffered it. "Or you didn´t realize it," answered Macka.

Maintaining his cordial tone, he talked a little more and took his
leave, announcing that he would be back. I told him that I was almost
always there.

As he left, my colleague concluded that that his visit meant that they
were going to legalize the independent press.

I, on the other hand, was really concerned. It had been years since they
had paid me a visit, I could not figure out the reasons for this one,
and I was unable to detect the threatening undertones normally
characterizing them. I found my friend Mackandal's deduction desirable,
but hasty.

As the sun set, I decided to prepare a series of articles entitled
"Observations from the sidelines" to set forth my views in detail and
transmit them to the Government through their messenger Antoine. The
first of them will be about the currently obsolete nature of the
dictatorship of the proletariat.

I took some notes on this, but when I got up today I decided to write
about Antoine's visit first, lest this be a Golpe 401, like Guillermo
Cabrera Infante would have thought.

Source: A Visit by State Security | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1481816328_27457.html