Haroldo Dilla

More than a month ago, in the first half of March, two Cuba-related events took place. This would hardly be news – Cuba-related events take place every single month somewhere in the Western world – were it not for the fact that the two of them shared the same political objective.

At the beginning of March, the renowned Cuban scholar Carmelo Mesa Lago was invited to attend an interesting intellectual gathering in Cuba. The organizers had planned to pay tribute to Mesa Lago, now 80, and to launch his latest book about the Cuban economy in the era of Raul Castro.

In a discussion on a loyal opposition, one must begin by pointing out the main obstacle to its existence in Cuba is the persistence, in power, of a narcissistic political elite that is deaf to all appeals and considers itself the very embodiment of the nation’s history and future.

I am often criticized for reading Cuba’s official daily, Granma. I continue to do it, however, because I feel it is worthwhile. Here’s an example: a report on a recent incident on the coast of Santa Lucia, in Cayo Jutia, a 2.5 mile stretch of pristine, paradisiacal beaches.

The Cuban government continues to regard its émigrés as debris that has broken off from the nation’s edifice and seeks to squeeze out as much surplus value from them as it can through remittances and consular services.

When looking at Raul Castro’s “reform process”, you get the sense that it is slow and limited. At times, however, one cannot help but feel it is advancing in the direction that Cuba’s political elite wants it to, be it because this elite seeks to preserve stability in the short term (the only term most people can lay their bets on) or because they want to guarantee the prosperity of their families in the long run.

The liberalization of the automobile market – just like the previous liberalization of the housing, hotel, cellular phone and other markets – isn’t aimed at the general population which remains at the margins, without social mobility and excluded from the hard currency consumer market.

Chile’s economy is characterized by levels of inequality greater than those found in Cuba, whose problem (for the time being) isn’t inequality but forms of stagnation and mediocrity that are stifling the social energies of the population.

A few days ago, I came across an article about inter-provincial bus trips in Cuba and some things that happen. The thread of the argument was nothing other than the monstrous behavior shown by a passenger during a trip from the province of Las Tunas to another part of the country.