Belonging to Groups Like Neurotics Anonymous in Cuba
HAVANA TIMES – I participate in a Neurotics Anonymous group through WhatsApp. It has to be through WhatsApp because, as far as I know, these in-person groups do not exist in Cuba. I’ve heard that there used to be one in Havana and another in Matanzas in the early 2000s, started by Uruguayan medical students. But once they graduated and returned to their countries, those Neurotics Anonymous groups disappeared.
Like these groups—and Alcoholics Anonymous—many others exist in the world. I could mention CoDa, Al-Anon, Sex Addicts, Men-or-Women-Only Addicts, among others. In Cuba, only Alcoholics Anonymous groups exist.
But I was in for a big surprise when a fellow sufferer (that’s how we refer to the participants in Neurotics Anonymous groups) shared the following information: the AA fellowship arrived in Cuba through our neighboring country, Mexico. But the Cuban government did not want to grant authorization for them to operate on the island. So AA members from Mexico had to speak directly with the Cuban government and explain that it wasn’t political work, nor economic, nor even cultural; it was a program dedicated to mental health for people suffering specifically from alcoholism. In other words, it was the Mexicans who convinced the Cuban State to allow AA to open on the Island.
When my fellow sufferer shared that “curiosity” with me, saying, “Lien, look how interesting,” once again I was stunned. I didn’t say it out loud, but every cell in my body felt it: being kidnapped. Living under a dictatorship is like being born to a father who is a rapist, an abuser, indifferent, and who doesn’t allow you to grow—that’s how I perceive it. You can play with the neighbor’s daughter if the abusive-rapist-indifferent father happens to like the neighbor. You can step out of the house for a little while to stretch your legs if the abusive-rapist-indifferent father thinks that’s appropriate at that moment. Growing up and making decisions offends his “manhood,” his “virility,” his “honor” (control, power).
Frankly, when you go through these experiences, they hurt. And when you become conscious of them, they hurt even more. And when you finally turn into (or are turned into) the Kafka cockroach—with everything that entails, such as constantly wanting to die, for example—that’s when it becomes impossible to side with totalitarian systems that dedicate themselves to turning human beings into that. And I get the impression (sadly it’s more than just an impression, it’s a reality) that Cuba has more than enough examples of the kind of anti-human government it is. That’s how I see it.
Fortunately, we have AA groups in Cuba since 1994. Although there are records indicating that the first groups on the Island were from 1983. The other groups, as far as I know, do not exist. I’m led to think that the country itself must change before these kinds of groups can arrive and share their knowledge here, where thinking differently is illegal and even a crime. It’s extremely difficult to have many paths for facing the challenges of existence. Hopefully this will change—and if it’s not too much to ask, I hope that it changes soon.