Individual Initiatives in Cuba’s Cultural Sector: A Thorny and Urgent Issue

Ernesto Perez Chang

HAVANA TIMES — Small-scale editing and publishing work is not among the self-employment initiatives the Cuban State has authorized. No similar or related work can be done on a self-employed basis.

Writers and editors depend on the State, but the latter does not guarantee a steady income or the possibility of freely undertaking any individual initiative (like a journal, for instance, or a space for open debate).

Cuba’s publishing sector is no longer capable of reflecting the country’s intellectual reality in a dynamic and up-to-date fashion. The reduced publication plans, the industry’s shortcomings, the volumes of materials printed for the educational sector, the precarious financial situation of book publishers and the different value judgments that surround the sector – from aesthetic to ideological criteria – do not paint a rich or promising picture of our arts. Nor is such a panorama portrayed sincerely, much less to outsiders. This invisible reality has absolutely nothing to do with what gets published under the auspices of the Cuban Book Institute and other institutions.

Existing publications aren’t exactly promising either: each is the mirror image of the other, indistinguishable, devoid of personality, a genuine disaster which does not even meet the basic requirement of a cultural journal, that of being a unique voice in a chorus of different voices.

If the government has authorized foreign investment in other sectors, if several commercial spheres have been lifted off the ground with the help of foreign capital, of Cubans who have established themselves in Miami or Madrid, then, why are individual cultural initiatives prohibited?

Not even digital alternatives (web pages, blogs, e-zines and others) are authorized as a means of promoting individual efforts. The majority of these, when not set up and maintained illegally, are abandoned or ruined because of the masked ways in which the authors try to avoid the distrustful, inquisitive and dangerous gaze of officialdom.

These prohibitions do not stem exclusively from a lack of technical infrastructure. Those who are in control do not trust individual initiatives divorced from official policies – they even fear and combat them like they would their worst enemies. The suspicion with which authorities monitor projects – even those produced within State companies themselves – reach heights bordering on paranoia.

At a time when the island’s publishing houses are beginning to question how profitable many of their publications are, individual initiatives should be considered, particularly if it is true that the State hopes to guarantee the freedom to fully develop our culture, unfettered by any filiations or ideological control.

The country would not face any risks on accepting the development of multiple cultural projects, be it so that individuals can express themselves, help develop culture or earn an income without having to depend on the State to do so.

If the government has authorized foreign investment in other sectors, if several commercial spheres have been lifted off the ground with the help of foreign capital, of Cubans who have established themselves in Miami or Madrid, then, why are individual cultural initiatives prohibited?

If it has been acknowledged that our publishing houses are heading towards a crisis that could have very serious repercussions on the development and circulation of the country’s literature, why is the exploration of individual alternatives restricted? Why is the issue avoided during discussions in official spaces?

Why is the exploration of individual alternatives restricted? Why is the issue avoided during discussions in official spaces?

This is not a paternalistic attitude but a form of strict and unjustified control. Limiting the sphere of action of Cuban intellectuals to the ambit of the State could be interpreted as a kind of ultimatum: “if you don’t like it, pack your bags and publish abroad.” That should not and cannot be the solution.

Developing a true and free literature is impossible if everything written must be scrutinized by institutions. When I speak of literature, I am thinking of individuals expressing themselves as they wish, wrestling with power, questioning authority, cornering each of the different statutes that govern culture, with or without specific commitments, as they prefer, from a position of genuine individuality.

Journals and opinion and debate groups are the ones that have taken culture to new heights through debates and questioning in the course of Cuban history. At times, such initiatives were born of personal sacrifices and hardships, and were impelled by a single aim, the most laudable there is: to exalt the nation out of one’s free will alone.