Cuba’s 14,000 VIP Repatriates

By Martin Guevara

HAVANA TIMES — The news about the 14,000 repatriates in Cuba is deceitful, it carries a trap for off-guard bears in disguise, don’t let yourselves be fooled by the regime’s propaganda.

Indeed, 14,000 Cubans were “repatriated”, despite me not knowing of another example where natives of a country need to ask for permission to be able to be repatriated and regain citizenship in the country they were born in.

The truth is that these 14,000 haven’t come back to enjoy the kindness of socialism, they escaped from that; rather their return is the complete opposite, they have returned to be the pioneers of capitalism. Mind you, always with the permission and behind the leaders who have already assumed positions where large sums of money are handled by foreign companies and the emerging national business sector.

Cuba will gradually mimic alternative transition models to capitalism which already exist, the Chinese model most likely, the Vietnamese, and in the end it might even be the Russian model when the PCC (Communist Party of Cuba) has to be dissolved, leaving the age-old repressors in charge of the new changes.

In any of these projects, it’s a given that people don’t dispute those in power or question their decisions. The ideological politics, be it in the hands of one Party or an airtight oligarchy will continue in some way or another, but allowing some economic progress, some financial happiness.

Relatives of the leaders and these leaders themselves are the better placed as intermediaries in the channel of the bulk of money that large companies move and will move to the island. They are and will be the majority of the managers and/or businessmen in medium and large scale ventures.

The most logical and likely thing to happen is that these “repatriates” will place themselves directly behind these privileged intermediaries to establish small and medium-sized businesses, with the funds they accumulated in their jobs, commercial or financial activities during their years abroad.

The vast majority of repatriates are thinking about investing to be able to enjoy capitalism in their own land the moment that it starts to gain greater presence. They aren’t returning to take advantage of the failed Communism’s kindness.

These emigrants not only lack political ethics and ideological morale, but they will lean against the tree that gives the most shade, like capitalists do in the rest of the world ever since bartering gave way to pelf as currency.