Why I Left Cuba, My Life in Costa Rica
By Jancel Moreno
HAVANA TIMES — I received a message on Facebook, it was from a Cuban in exile in San Jose, Costa Rica, who was asking me to give him an interview so that the world could know a little bit about his life and what he claims was his life in Cuba.
The following interview belongs to Lester Sosa Gattorno, a 37 year old Cuban who is now living in Costa Rica.
HT: Describe what your life was like in Cuba.
LSG: My childhood was beautiful, because when you’re that age you don’t have the maturity to understand certain things like the political and social landscape of the country. When you’re a child you don’t notice so many things, and let me tell you that at school we were told that the Pope was evil, that he fed the opium of religion to the masses, and that religion was a form of counter-revolution.
As I grew physically and intellectually, in the advent of my teenage years, there was a great awakening in me and great joy. I began to see things for what they really were, a hunger and thirst of insatiable faith. I began to practice my Catholic faith more regularly, I was an activist at my church but I was always a member of Christian groups and movements and evangelism programs.
I remember that we went out with the Catechism of the Catholic Church under our arm, going from house to house and sharing what the Catechism said with my neighbors. That’s when everything became bleak. I began to receive threats at my school, I was a boarding student at the Jesus Menendez IPUEC in Santa Clara, Villa Clara.
And it was all because I was a practicing Catholic. They threatened to expel me from the institution and warned that I would never be a member of the UJC (The Young Communist League), to which I responded that I would be always loyal to my convictions and my faith, I’m not going to reject Christ and nobody can take my faith from where it is deeply rooted in me. At the end of the day, I wasn’t interested in belonging to the UJC anyhow, and if they were going to expel me, what could I do? Just pack up my things and go home.
I believe that my calmness and conviction didn’t give them the courage they needed to commit such evil deeds against me, although they did tell me that as long as I didn’t practice or incite anything within the institution, everything would be fine, in spite of me being a victim of persecution, persecuted by my classmates who were in fact UJC members.
HT: What motivated you to leave the Island?
LSG: I remember that the first time I was given the opportunity to emigrate abroad, my answer to my parents was DON’T EVEN DREAM OF ME LEAVING CUBA! If I was conscious of anything at the time it was that my answer wasn’t founded on ideological reasons, because I wasn’t a follower or party member of this absurd ideology. My answer at that time was emphasized, more than anything else, because of the simple fact that I didn’t want to be separated from what I most loved in this world and that is my family, especially being separated from my grandmother, who rest in peace, I owe a part of my upbringing and the values I hold today as a man and a professional to, as well as from my parents who sacrificed so much to take us out of our poverty and give my brother and I a future.
Reasons later motivated me to change my mind and be in favor of my parents’ idea to go in search for a better future for us in an unknown land, taking on a culture that has the same language as our own, but a different idiosyncracy.
I fled Cuba because I was running from political and religious persecution which I was a victim of back in 1996-1997. I left because I got tired, like thousands of Cubans, of having so many basic needs unmet because of great shortages back then, I got tired of being blackmailed and that my own brothers who were members of the Party or Government treated us, their brothers, like garbage, in exchange for bonuses. I don’t know who was more miserable, us or them, who still sell their dignity for a few cents. However, I left more because I saw that in Cuba, our youth no matter how much they study or learn, don’t have a decent future guaranteed.
HT: How did you manage to leave?
LSG: We had an aunt, who in the 1980s when there was a mass exodus of Cubans, had the opportunity to emigrate to Costa Rica, at the time looking for a way to get to the United States. They settled here in Costa Rica and thanks to them and under the governments from 1990-1998, which I believe were led by Rafael Angel Calderon Fourier and Jose Maria Figueres Ferrer, the way was opened up for Cubans to request that their relatives on the island come to Costa Rica for family reunification, which were the kind of visas that the government of this country was handing out back then, as well as tourist visas provided that there was somebody who could take on the social burden of who they were inviting.
It was then that we could immigrate to Costa Rica, through my aunt. It was a long and exhausting process that I could maybe share with you at another time, and it was like this because of the Cuban government, which put more and more obstacles in the way. They kept asking for more and more documents and each individual document was becoming more and more expensive. We had to pay for them, as if everything they stole or took away from us the moment we left our beloved Homeland wasn’t enough.
HT: What did you feel when you reached a new country?
LSG: It was a shock, it was a gathering of emotions, between the sadness I felt for having left my family behind, as I had to leave at just 16 years old and make the journey alone, given the fact that my parents weren’t given an exit permit from Cuba, a story which is also worth telling another time so as to reveal the hurdles and dirty tricks of a government which calls itself “uncorrupt”, but is in fact more so than any other government that calls itself capitalist.
I also felt joy, because I felt like a free man from the moment I stopped seeing land through the plane window and all I could see was the Caribbean sea and its immensity from the air. I also felt frustration as the days went by, like I told you before, even if we speak the same language, every people in Latin America have their own dialect, their own idiosyncrasy and it was a great cultural shock for me in the beginning.
Because since God doesn’t abandon anybody, and this time he didn’t make an exception for me, I found a friend here, my Parish Priest who years before was a missionary at the parish church I used to go to when I lived in Cuba. He supported me a lot in my adaptation process to the cultural and social aspects here.
The beginning is difficult for every emigre, because you have to start all over in a different place, which is like being reborn, the only difference being that you are already an adult and so you have the skills and development to look for a source of income for your household. Moreover, in Costa Rica, we received a lot of support from several people who aren’t from our family. The Costa Rican people have large hearts and a generosity which offered us a helping hand and gave us a lot of support, both in morale as well as financially.
HT: How are you getting on in the “absurd and feared” world of Capitalism?
LSG: Honestly, the term “feared” world of Capitalism is something which socialists and communists in Cuba use to frighten the Cuban people, to manipulate their minds and make them believe that their absurd ideology is better, and here I want to stress this point and give a comparison.
In Cuba, if you don’t work, you can’t buy food which, according to what the government sells to international opinion, is given to Cubans per month, is given, listen up properly, “the government gives Cubans per month,”, when we know full well that we have to buy this food that enters in the rations booklet and half of the time, the basic food items aren’t complete because of shortages.
In the absurd and feared world of Capitalism, if you don’t work, you can’t buy the basic foods just like in Cuba, the only difference being that here basic products are never in shortage. I had the opportunity to study in a public school here where education is of a very high quality, I studied Science and Literature at high school, I studied a university degree, I got a job in what I had studied for five years and it was a well-paid job.
Not like in Cuba where you study, you get a university degree and a professional doesn’t earn more than 12 to 20 USD a month, which isn’t even enough to put food on the table half of the time and is definitely not enough to buy clothes or go out with your family.
In the absurd world of Capitalism, I had the opportunity to have my own company, which I could have never dreamed of in Cuba because of political persecution and a government in power which doesn’t allow private property to exist, in spite of them telling us they do, but with thousands of restrictions subjugating Cubans with high tariffs that only favor the State and not the people, like in our beloved country.
Here we have the opportunity to live with basic commodities which everybody longs to have at home, access to Healthcare and Education which aren’t necessarily private, but a social security system which in the majority of cases, is like the one in Cuba. Only here, employees contribute a compulsory percentage of their salary to social security in order to receive high quality medical services such as medicines without the need to pay extra for these services, more than the 9% they contribute from their salary per month anyway.
In summary, I have nothing to be envious of in socialism or communism that the feared and absurd world of Capitalism can’t give me in the same conditions, the only difference being that here I am free and I have access to what I want thanks to my hard work, in Cuba I would I be screwed, because I wouldn’t have access to even 3/4 of what I can access here.
HT: How many years has it been since you left?
LSG: Exactly 20 years, I’m a Costa Rican citizen and I feel a part of this beautiful country, but I have never lost the Cuban essence, this “divine spark” as I call it which defines me as a Cuban, my dialect which identifies me wherever I go and this cheerful and generous personality and impetus to help others who identify us, this flair for speaking, in short, lots of things that identify me as a pure-blood Cuban.
HT: What do you want for your Island?
LSG: I think a change in our country, that Cuba opens itself up to the world and that the world opens up to it too. Pope John Paul II said on his visit to Cuba in 1998, that there should be freedom in all respects, that Cuban youth have a future without the need to seek out other lands where they can develop themselves, and a source of transformation. I want a more prosperous country like it used to be in the past, and only Cubans are able to bring about this change, whether that’s Cubans on the island or those of us who are in exile. I long for a free Cuba, free from the ideological burden that has enslaved the nation for over 5 decades. I long for a people who are no longer living in extreme poverty, a people who can put their ability to come out on top to the test and make our country what it was before: the pearl of the Antilles.
HT: What would you change in Cuba for you to want to go back?
LSG: Mainly the ideology that has sunk the country into poverty for the last 5 decades. I would open Cuba’s borders to the world and I would seek for the world to open its borders to Cuba; that they stop seeing it as a stronghold of communism, but instead as a sister nation; that they get to know our essence, the Cuban people’s human warmth; that they stop seeing us as a sexual paradise in all regards.
I would find a way to give Cubans more opportunities to develop themselves both on a professional and personal level.
I would find sources of investment that create more jobs for the Cuban population giving Cuban youth and Cubans in general, a better and more dignified future.
I would integrate it into the global economic and social model so that Cuba gets to know the world and the world gets to know Cuba.
HT: Compare your life before and after leaving the island.
LSG: Here, we have to take into account points of view, when I left I was only 16 years old, I had very little knowledge of the world and what living abroad in the world outside of my country would imply. I grew up with the idea that had been instilled in me that Cuba was the world and the world was Cuba. Even so, I can say that my experiences as a teenager were very harsh, no matter how much the government says the contrary to the rest of the world, I am living proof of these lies.
I have worked ever since I was 9 years old, selling avocados on the street, tamales at bus stops, candies and lollipops at baseball games, lemons during the holidays and collecting leftovers to feed the pig that was killed in December at home.
I did all of this while studying, in my free time or during my holidays. I know what going to the fields is and going on a train at 4 AM in the morning with a backpack full of rice to sell in the city by the pound in order to get by as the money we had wasn’t even enough to put food on the table. The rationed wasn’t enough to eat the entire month and you had to go out and buy on the black market where everything was a lot more expensive. I sold tilapia, made polyester brooms to save some money and put clothes on my back, that was my life in Cuba where the Castros say that children live happily.
Leaving Cuba opened up my eyes even more and I realized that capitalism is the same thing, the only difference being that here it’s easier to get a get a hold of things and they are much cheaper. I worked and studied the same but I had money to pay for my studies and eat, I had money to buy clothes, here I work for a fair wage and not a miserable salary which doesn’t get me by at all. Here, I can cover my basic needs and give myself the luxuries I want.
Here, I am free and I don’t need to sell on the street in secret, or sacrifice my free time to work to cover my basic needs or some small desire. Here, I am the owner of my own business and I have the opportunity to bless other people by giving them work so they can put food on their tables. This is my life outside of Cuba.
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Note: I would like to thank you for the opportunity to present this brief summary of my life and my path as an emigre outside of the frontiers of my own country. I have left out many anecdotes so as not to make this interview too long.
Thank you for the wonderful work you are doing and thank you, especially, for taking me into account, I know that many people like me value the great risk you put yourselves at in by doing this and we value the amazing work you are doing. I send you, a big and sincere hug from San Jose, Costa Rica.
Great article, thanks Jancel , you’ve generated quite a discussion.
Was St. Kitts one of the 51 countries? As you ought to recall Kennedy Earle Clarke, Moses Patterson is black, my wife is black, so don’t as a black person try to use the race card! It won’t work.
Without speaking for Moses, I can agree with you that I am anti-Castro, and anti-socialism. Your use of the term “anti-working class” demonstrates 19th century thinking. Are plumbers and electricians “working class”? One interesting statistic in 1981 was that the largest single group of Yacht owners in Victoria Harbour (B.C. Canada) were plumbers!
You have parroted well-worn falsehoods and exaggerations about capitalism and the US. Your comments prove that teaching someone to read is not enough. They must also be taught to think for themselves.
So you have decided Kennedy Earle Clarke contrary to your ridiculous rant about Circles Robinson and the Havana Times, to swallow your morality and pride and return to berating the USA.
Let me remind yoo again in the words of a black American Richard Wright of what he found when he joined the Communist Party.
“An hour’s listening disclosed the fanatical intolerance of minds sealed against new ideas, new facts, new feelings, new attitudes, new hints at ways to live. They denounced books they had never read, people they had never known, ideas they could never understand, and doctrines they could not pronounce. Communism instead of making them leap forward with fire in their hearts…had frozen them at an even lower level of ignorance than had been theirs before they met Communism.”
The period of history in Russia which you so applaud, was that of Stalin. His achievements are well recorded and as one of your fellow Americans Robert Conquest wrote:
“Despots who revelled in killing and torture are to be found in various periods of history, and among them Stalin occupies a very high place. But, as his instructions on torture may again remind us, he ruled not only by terror but also by falsification. For the purpose of the torture was to extract false confessions. Nor was this done only in cases where the accused were to be tried in public as great political spectacles, but equally to those shot in secret.
All this was contained or concentrated, in an insatiable drive for power.”
Maybe Kennedy Earle Clarke, you should reflect upon the public trial personally conducted by Fidel Castro Ruz against Huber Matos.
Maybe Kennedy Earle Clarke you should reflect upon why it is that those who are ‘guests’ at Villa Mariska only emerge having confessed.
Maybe Kennedy Earle Clarke you can justify when referiring to “little children” the lowering of the minimum age for execution following the Russian revolution to twelve years of age.
Maybe Kennedy Earle Clarke you should consider the documented 3,615 executions by firing squad and the 1,253 extra judicial killings in Cuba during the rule of Fidel Castro and his recorded view expressed during the Matos trial.
“This is revolutionary terror.”
Fidel Castro like Stalin was motivated by that insatiable lust for Power. Yes he only had a small country over which to enforce his will, making him a relative pip-squeak compared with Stalin, but that instaiable thirst for power and control was identical
Is this a reflection of the hopes and wishes of the: “Creator of all mankind.” to whom you refer?
One factual comment. food rationing in Britain only ended SIX years after the end of the Second World War, when the socialist were defeated and Winston Churchill was elected. Readers can judge that for themselves!
Let’s now return to Cuba, where food rationing is still in place and unlikely to end as long as ‘Socialismo’ is in power and controlling every aspect of society.
Those of us who live in the capitalist world and who love and enjoy freedom are privileged. There will always be the Moaning Minnies who envy others or who having swallowed the 19th century writings of Karl Marx and failed to regurgitate them, will seek to impose their beliefs upon others – whilst skulking under the protection of the free capitalist societies where they are allowed to express their views without fear of imprisonment as practiced by communist regimes.
So, why the name HAVANA TIMES? I can now see clearly why no one knows of your existence, for you are right winged and anti- working class, anti- Castro, anti- Socialism, perhaps anti- black as well. No wonder the Carlyle Mac. Duffs and the Moses Pattersons find your media a useful means to vent their propaganda. I would be just as hypocritical as both of them, if I did not commend you for replying to my inquiries about your existence in Cuba, your printing of my criticisms of both brothers, even though you withdraw certain harsh criticisms of the USA when I forward them.
I now realize that you have to protect your means of survival. No hard feelings whatsoever. You know who I am and I know who you are: This should not hinder us from co-existing in peace and harmony with each other. We can both adopt the Charter Of the United Nations which was signed in San Francisco on 26th June 1945 by 51 countries and came into force on 24th October the same year. I conclude with this Quotation, “To look for the best in others and smile when they make mistakes. To count them as friends and brothers, will show we have got what it takes.To master the art of living, find peace in place of strife. This is but the gift of giving and this is the joy of life:” Anon. End of Quotation! .
Thanks for the open confession my brother for, open confession is very good for the soul. You claim that capitalism has lifted so many people out of poverty. How come the majority of the people who live under a capitalist system are still illiterate? What about the people in Latin America? What about the natives of Africa the richest continent on the planet, the most exploited continent and its people, the most backward? What about the citizens of Asia,
Look at the squalor they live in? What about the great rich USA the bastion of capitalism where people are illiterare, where the ordinary people cannot access good medical attention, where people search the garbage cans for food, where, in the dead of winter. citizens of this great empire roam the streets in search of warmth,food and shelter? Why is it brother Moses, that a Socialist Government concentrates its efforts in eliminating illiteracy, disease, homelessness?
The USA gained its Independence from Great Britain in 1774-2017. Why is it that rampant poverty still exists there? The Russian Revolution of 1917 eliminated illiteracy, emancipated little children (yes! Little children) from the pits and mines where the capitalists had them working to create wealth for a few people and sent them to school. The Russian Revolution of 1917 gave women the right to work in any profession and receive equal pay as their male counterparts. Is this a reality in the capitalist countries up and until today?
Brother Moses, the Capitalist system has introduced SLAVERY, DEGRADATION,POVERTY, HOMELESSNESS, HOPELESSNESS,INDIGNITY, RACISM, THE KLU KLUX KLAN! When you educate a man, you open his eyes; you cannot fool him any more; you cannot suppress him, oppress him, exploit him. Socialist Governments eliminate illiteracy from the remotest corners of their country and introduce health services to those people in the remotest areas, for they are people created by the Creator of all mankind!:
I hope Circles will allow me to briefly respond to this comment of Carlyle, despite it being off topic, as it is necessary to correct some things.
I urge everyone to watch Ken Loach’s masterful film “The Spirit of ’45” which details the many successes of Atlee’s Labour Government and the immense popularity of its policies.
Carlyle is wrong to say that the nationalization of railways and road transport were failures. In fact the reverse is true, the privatization of the railways is widely viewed by all those who use them as a complete disaster, whilst nationalization is viewed as one of the triumphs of Atlee. Prior to the nationalisation, the railways were a complete mess, both in terms of efficiency and in terms of service. Railways are a so called “natural monopoly” and having them split between private hands is crippling to their operation. I am trying to be brief, so I urge people to research this for themselves, and the concept of “natural monopoly”.
As far as rationing goes, this was a necessary policy at the end of the war, which any government would have had to implement.
I won’t comment on identity cards, other than to observe that this policy is still practiced in many countries including most of the EU countries.
Once again, I hope Circles will print this, as Carlyle is really doing a disservice to Cuban’s and others reading here with some of his characterisation of history.
I responded Circles to the reference by Moses Patterson to:
“Canadian “socialism” ”
Moses in turn had responded to Stephen Boka who in responding to a previous comment by Moses, introduced:
“universal healthcare under what you call a socialist system.”
As one who pays Canadian taxes, I was defending Canada from being described as socialist.
It is somewhat obvious from numerous comments that many – perhaps most Americans who contribute to Havana Times have little if any knowledge of the social programmes of other countries.
Methinks that a little enlightenment is necessary as there is much reference in Havana Times to health care in Cuba – which is based upon the original UK programme.
We have seen references by contributors to average ages at death – compared with the US, average rates of survival at birth – compared with the US and so on. But there is a wider world out there.
There are numerous references to Karl Marx who never visited Cuba, but wrote: “Das Kapital” when resident in London England – where he is also buried.
Please try to stick with the topic.
Canadians have never elected a socialist (New Democratic Party) government.
The reality is that in 1948 the Labour Government (Socialist) UK introduced the first national health service in the world. It was a good idea and was copied by many other countries with the approval of their electorates – of various political persuasions. Canada was one of those countries and the US is one of the few capitalist countries which rejected such programmes.
One of the interesting facets of medical services in the US is that although not covering millions of its citizens, a massive 17.1% of the GDP is spent on medical services as compared with 10.3% in Canada. Somebody is making a lot of money, but that is the choice of Americans.
I have endeavored in vain, to think of any other good idea introduced by the Labour Government of Clement Attlee in the UK, but could provide a list of its failures. For example:
Nationalization of the railways
Nationalization of road transport
Bread rationing
Potato rationing
The carrying of identity cards
Canadian “socialism” is a far cry from the socialism foisted upon upon the Cuban people in Cuba. I should have been more specific. Thanks for pointing out the difference.
I’m Canadian and always thought I was relatively prosperous, happy and enjoyed universal healthcare under what you call a socialist system. Thank you for informing me otherwise.
The above is hopefully the final contribution from Kennedy Earle Clarke. He has claimed in the past to be a Republican – in the Trump(f) mode.
Clarke’s reference to the hospital that endeavored to aid his return to sanity was undoubtedly the Clinica Cira Garcia in Havana. Maradona the Argentinian football player also attended Cuba in an endevour to be cured of his drug addiction.
Clarke went to Cuba hoping to get cured on the cheap. Obviously the treatment failed.
I don’t have the slightest doubt that Kennedy Ezarle Clarke went to Cuba for medical attention.the mental confusion is somewhat obvious, but apparently the Cuban treatment failed.
If Kennedy Earle Clarke, you had bothered to read the heading of Havana Times, you would have noticed that on the right hand side is a section headed ‘About us’. If you had read that, you would have avoided your idiotic comments and saved considering the cost of a CubaTaxi.
However, your contribution reveals just how little you know and understand about Cuba. Many of the discussions on these pages have mentioned the fact that only Castro regime publications are permitted in Cuba. Have you not understood? Do you really think that the communist regime that you so admire would permit Havana Times and the views of its contributors to be distributed from Cuba?
I for one don’t doubt your existence for fools are a dime a dozen and you fit in.
There are those of us who are concerned about the conditions under which Cubans exist as a consequence of the repression, censorship, and constant endeavors of the Castro regime. the Havana Times provides opportunity for us – and those who support ‘Socialismo’ to express our views.
One can only hope that having released your phlegm upon the head of Circles Robinson, you will cease any further communication with Havana Times and thus relieve other readers from being subjected to any further nonsense from you pen.
As ‘George’ always ends his contributions: “Thank you” – and hopefully GOODBYE!
I am a proud capitalist, let there be no doubt. To be sure, capitalism has rescued far more people from the ravages of poverty than socialism has or ever will. In theory, socialism has its merits. But in the real world, it is a failed economic and political system. I was born after the onset of the Castro dictatorship but I fervently oppose dictatorships of any kind, including the Batista regime which preceded Castro tyranny. Cuban literacy rates are self-reported statistics. The accuracy of these numbers lacks credibility. Nonetheless, there is no question that the Castros made tremendous headway in teaching more Cubans to read. By the way, the image of a room full of Castro sycophants standing in a circle singing Kumbaya just makes me laugh.
Kennedy, we have no office. I edit the site from Nicaragua out of my home and all of our communications with the writers and photographers in Cuba is be email. So if being an 8+ year online publication is a fake, so be it. I have nothing to prove to you. Best wishes with your health issues.
As per usual Moses: Every one knows that you are anti-socialism, because you believe that only a few privilege folks should enjoy the fruits of the land I attended the May Day Parade this year and you are telling me that all those who marched and shouted are people who are subdued? The USA supported that brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista who kept his people subdued. It is quite apparent that you supported Batista as well. Now, brother Moses, if Batista brutally subdued his people under the capitalist system, could the Castro brothers use that same system if they wanted to bring about meaningful change to their people?Totally impossible; in two years (1959-1961), the United Nations declared Cuba completely free of illiteracy. *In those 2 years, over seven million representing 70% of a population of 11 million, were taught to read and write. What a feat? Not even in the Bastion of Capitalism The USA,is there total illiteracy. Free education from kindergarten to University! I met citizens from the USA in the hospital where I was a patient and I was shown a place where students from the USA were in the country studying to become doctors. I attended a conference on May 2nd where peoples from all over the world showed solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. The conference ended with the singing of Guantanamaro! What a gathering of people? One of the Cuban Five who is the President of ICAP gave an outstanding address which demanded a standing ovation. The United Nations Charter has provided the Cuban People with the right to choose the path of their economic development. The USA chose the Capitalist pathway. Cuba has chosen the Socialist Pathway, what is the fuss all about? How many are still illiterate the world over under the capitalist system? How many people in the USA still live under degradingly inhumane conditions (1774-2017)?
Dear Havana Times, I made my fourth visit top that beautiful country and its very kind and helpful inhabitants for medical attention on the 25th March until the 13th May this year. As usual, I made inquiries as to your where about so that I could visit your office and be interviewed, but no one seems to be aware of your existence. Where in Cuba is your office? I am supposed to be revisiting and would surely like to visit your office to present myself in person along with my personal views about the country and its people. Could you kindly facilitate me by publishing your address and contact number? I will be prepared to pay a taxi to bring me to you. It is quite strange that nobody at all knows of your existence? Can you please rectify this by providing the necessary information that I have requested from you? Failure to provide such information will show you up as a fake! Are you for real? Prove it!
Honest and revealing interview. An excellent example of a Cuban who is critical of the Castro-style socialist government but very much proud of his Cuban nationality.