Squatting Isn’t a Crime

Dmitri Prieto

HAVANA TIMES — Cuban TV surprised me again, this time with a report on Spain. It was about people there who sometimes have to commit a crime: the illegal occupation of dwellings.

In that country some splendid buildings are constructed, but they sit empty. These are apartments that are yet to be sold. There’s a crisis.

Members of the organization “Unxs sin-casa” occupy these structures.

In its report, the television repeats that they’re committing a crime.

Are they really committing a crime?

My friend Tato Quiñones has a perfect phrase for this. He says, “It’s not legal, but it’s legitimate.”

A nineteenth century Cuban priest — Felix Varela (who incidentally was elected a deputy before the Spanish Courts and had to flee after being sentenced to death for advocating the overthrow of the King) — came up with an even stronger phrase: “An unjust law is not a law.”

With their televised rigidity, does someone want to make us seem even more like the Spanish government?