It is a valuable setting since it allows a chance to dialogue with activists and social movements from all over the world, though their struggles and perspectives are not very well known within the state-centric and liberal matrixes that dominate Cuban society and common sense here.
I share the demands of the demonstrators for participative democracy and their criticisms of the dominant politics. However, I want to sound some alarms that I find necessary not only as a result of the current conjuncture, but also to favor a new radically sustainable agenda on the left.
I promised this post to several friends who wanted me to speak about the Spanish demonstrations, now known as “Movimiento 15 M.”
With the sad news revolving around the painter Pedro Pablo and his project, I wonder if it will be possible for us to abandon — for the sake of the true autonomy of the Cuban intellectual arena — turf wars, mutual envy and silent accomplices.
I don’t understand why they raised special slogans during the march (for example freedom for the Cuban Five and in support for the country’s leaders).
I don’t question the authenticity of the interviewees or their testimonies, but what did indeed catch my attention was the interviewer’s seemingly negligible interest in presenting the more complex picture of our situation.
The pursuit of the intolerance of critical thought deserves a response, be it emanating from Budapest or Manama, Jerusalem or Beijing, Havana or Miami.
The recent events in North Africa and the Middle East have destroyed several myths of academia and global politics, thus sowing doubt and fear in all species of opinion makers, movers and shakers. This has also generated interpretations — more or less daring and substantial ones — on this side of the Atlantic including Cuba.
As a result of the changes now underway in Cuba, several people have written me to share their views regarding the impact they are experiencing — or foresee suffering — in their daily lives.
The end of my stay in Nicaragua couldn’t have been any better. Invited by friends of the Nicaraguan “Another World is Possible” social movement, I was part of the Central American Climatic Court.