A Memory of Ordered and Unpermitted Demonstrations
HAVANA TIMES – On Friday, November 29, around 9:30 in the morning, there was a parade on Maceo Street in Holguin. It featured some schools for children with different abilities, the Cuban Association of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, the Red Cross, and other participants, including myself, as I joined those marching. I firmly believe in the imperative need to build an inclusive society. We are all too aware of the destructive consequences of exclusionary worlds.
Dictatorial regimes vividly demonstrate how catastrophic a totalitarian perspective can be among human beings. The culture of cruelty they create and the suffering of so many people within these kinds of societies are palpably evident.
For this reason, I joined this march. I was delighted by the messages displayed on their banners and T-shirts. They read: “Differences enrich us.” Another: “Each one shines in their own way.” Also: “I want, I can, I am capable.” And one that I particularly liked: “Together, building an inclusive society.”
The controversial aspect of this experience is that this event took place in a country where men and women can be imprisoned for expressing their thoughts if those thoughts dissent from the party line. Where your education or work can be thwarted (regardless of your merits, skills, or abilities, no matter how exceptional they are) if you do not align with the government’s ideology. In a state that tirelessly demonstrates daily that individuals are worth nothing outside the orbit defined by its own power.
In a country with such a system —totalitarian in nature— everything becomes suspect. Because of this, many of us who lived through this experience were struck by the same idea: this serves as a facade for the defense of tyranny in the eyes of the international public. To some extent, this cannot be denied. The schools are there, the social programs exist, and society is becoming more aware… but only as far as the government wants, only as far as the government allows. Only as far as it decides.
An unavoidable memory comes to mind when addressing this issue. In those years, I was studying at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Matanzas. It was the early 2000s. We were close friends with the Latin American medical students in that city. On one occasion, they wanted to organize a march for peace. A Uruguayan friend, the daughter of communists in her country, approached me and made a comment about it. It was a revelation that has stayed with me ever since.
She said: “They think they can march, even for the best of causes, and that they’ll be allowed to just like that? Do they really have that illusion? Don’t they realize that in this country, parades happen every day, but only under orders from the Commander? If he doesn’t authorize them, they don’t happen.”
And she was absolutely right. This reality existed then, exists today, and will continue to exist, simply because it is systemic. In dictatorships, everything operates according to their logic, their voice, their direction. In Cuba, this cult of the leader and the unyielding obedience of the rest has not changed. The formation of totalitarian ideologies persists.
It is imperative to change these kinds of systems, and therefore their governments, to achieve a truly inclusive society. Otherwise, we might sadly say that every attempt within such a system is just a smokescreen. Gaslighting. Manipulation.
But now it’s Advent. The first Sunday of December. By principle, we must feel hope and await with kindness and love the arrival of that manifestation of God among us, helping us improve more and more. It is not a time to cultivate pessimism. I thank God for this march, despite everything. And I trust that Cuban society —those who do not emigrate, whether because they cannot or do not want to— will build a truly inclusive world. A world where everyone can have a voice, a voice that is respected, heard, and a space for fulfillment. So that we can sincerely give thanks for life.
