They’ll Return (volverán)
Nonardo Perea
HAVANA TIMES — Just like fashion is always been recycled and trends that were hot in the ‘70s and ‘80s are coming back nowadays, I guess that everything returns in our lives.
Remember when the young boy Elian was rescued from the clutches of Imperialism, when the five Cuban prisoners who were spying in the US came back, when Cuba and the US resumed their diplomatic relations after many many decades of being enemies? And just like that, with the ebb and flow of time, things that we’ve been missing from the ‘90s are returning once again: the sweet and unforgettable blackouts.
Yesterday, I found out that there will be a number of blackouts in Eastern Havana and some parts of the Marianao municipality were already being affected with blackouts lasting for several hours. And it looks like this time blackouts are coming back even stronger, because I guess the flow of Venezuelan oil has begun to decline due to Venezuela’s own problems.
And let me speculate a little here, I sense that certain food items will also disappear again, like chicken, for instance, which has become so popular at the moment because, recently, it’s what we find the most of in state-owned stores, and it’s what people are eating the most.
In short, this is the country where for every three steps we take forward, we go back five. And just when you think things will get better in the future, we go back to the past. And that’s really beautiful, because if we look at it closely, and we’re romantic and shit-eaters about it, we should keep in mind the fact that remembering is a way to relive those moments.
And what’s even more beautiful, is if we are able to live these moments like they were happening for the first time. At the end of the day, I’m one of those people who says that everything that happens to us Cubans is our own fault because we’re apathetic and because we let them continue to step on our tails in a thousand different ways while they suffocate us and we don’t do a damn thing. And that’s what makes us who we are: little sheep which haven’t evolved.
Terry, firstly, I know you speak of what you believe. I too know the President of the CDR on our block indeed we converse daily being on friendly terms. But ask whether or not your President puts in an annual report upon every resident upon his/her (your) block?
That report goes to MININT and a computerized record is maintained of every citizen.
The current CDR is now nothing like the CDR of old… more like the Lion’s Club today… all they do is organize parades and fiestas in the barrios… and help to arbitrate disputes between neighbors. Get with the times. My Cuban family openly talk politics with the President of the CDR in their barrio all the time… with no fear of reprisals. Some discussions get quite heated too. No hay problema.
At best it is ignorance. But for anyone who has spent more than a few weeks at a time in Cuba in Varadero and Trinidad, it must be fully erect cowardice.
So true Moses! Fidel Castro first used fear as a weapon when he announced on January 21st, 1959 that:
“Besides the number of henchmen we are going to execute will not be more than four hundred.”
At the trial of Huber Matos in October 1959, Fidel Castro admitted:
“This is revolutionary terror.”
The introduction of the CDR by Fidel Castro on September 28th, 1960 included him announcing that its purpose was:
“A collective system of revolutionary vigilance so that everybody knows who lives on every block, what they do on every block….in what activities are they involved and with whom they meet.”
Fear and installation of it as a method of exerting power and control has been a tool of the Castro regime virtually since its inception. Cubans under the age of about 62 can only remember with fear. The threat of using knowledge gleaned from their children, to incarcerate is another part of that deliberate policy of fear – and that policy is undeniable for it is recorded!
But, one can read in these pages, contributors who admire and support such policy being applied to Cubans, but avoid seeking it for themselves. Is that cowardice or merely ignorance of reality?
Warhol P writes “And that’s what makes us who we are: little sheep which haven’t evolved.” An earlier post of a few days ago explains it best. Cuban fear is palpable and distinct. The false bravado that a first time tourist senses in the strut of a Cuban woman on the boulevard is just a cover for the fear that she feels that even the little that she has will be taken away.