Dumping on Those Trapped in Cuba
HAVANA TIMES – Nowadays, lots of people who have been living outside of Cuba for years are criticizing the poor devils that are trapped on the island and are sick and tired of hardship, slogans and “small talk” here and there, tired of sweating, cycling, hanging off buses, of 32 degrees Celsius with 99% humidity and mosquitoes, without air conditioning, a mango milkshake, a chilled Coca Cola, or a fan.
They criticize those who have had it with putting up with the old dinosaurs that rule them on the island and promises from the opportunists who have been saving them for 63 years, from their GMCs on the other side of the Florida Strait.
They criticize Cubans who are completely and utterly tired of eating minced “meat” made from animal substitutes, alien hamburgers, luncheon meat with ringworm, drinking an infusion of ground split chickpeas, drinking water and sugar, chispa de tren and low quality high proof alcohol. Of not finding a decent beef steak, a proper steak, a steak that ruminates, moos, and is so fresh that you can milk it in the morning before you eat it pounded with garlic, lemon and onion that you bought from the corner store and not having to jump through hoops after hours of cycling with a bag under your arm.
The Cubans who are up to their eyebrows of walking and walking and not finding anything to buy, tired of a two-page newspaper, of state-led companies that overdo it with regulations, of being hungry, of hardship and the capitalist exploitation, according to a teacher of Marxist philosophy and Channel 6, of being children of Marti, Maceo, Maximo Gomez, Camilo and Che.
The Cubans who can’t take anymore of paying with the constant loss of illusions, with lost dreams, projects, future plans, the need to believe that one day, something (even if there is a remote chance and very unlikely) will happen in their lives and they’ll have hot water in the morning, the smell of toothpaste in bathrooms, shampoo in baths, perfume on dressers, the smell of coffee with proper milk in the morning, bread with butter and jam, clean clothes washed in the washing machine with non-bio detergent, shop windows won’t cry because of blackouts and they will no longer be subjected to the unbearable solitude of one pair of shoes and blue jeans set aside in the corner, and the ostracism of their moldy dresses.
There are people today criticizing these poor devils because they want to wear a pair of trendy shoes, want to check the Internet and feel like they are swimming – not surfing – through the global orbit, speculating with a bill in their front pocket in front of a girl who would normally only be for foreigners’ pleasure.
There are people who criticize them for not protesting against the FAR, MININT, G2, and are instead enjoying the crumbs that this halo, scrap, shred of fantasy that we are living the only kind of freedom we’ve been pushed into, the denial of education and values, contempt for ethics, the stench of morals, so we can have perpetual bliss and never-ending mistrust.
There are people who condemn them for not doing what nobody did in the 60-something years of the lobotomy of the Cuban collective consciousness.
They criticize them as if they didn’t dream about living abroad, about a supermarket, an airport in front of a variety of colors, smells, brands and prices. As if none of us ever gave our relatives who travel or live abroad our pant and shoe size so they don’t forget to bring us jeans and footwear with a label that clearly isn’t Bulgarian or Russian. As if we hadn’t taken a photo with the analog camera of the first steak, the first car, the first new outfit, which is more representative of Freedom than all the white doves, bugles, broken chains and bayonets raised with every anthem and shield. Subjected to the scrutiny of time, they are only able to walk to the automatic doors of the nearest mall, craving a giant glass of Cherry Coke Zero… light on the Ice. Light like the airborne flight and twisted beak of the scavenger.
It is sad to see all of the hardship. We need to abandon the capitalist/socialist polarization and be open to the good parts of both to serve the people. That is the real priority. It would also help if the US would stop overt and covert efforts at regime change, do something useful in support of the people.