The Aftermath of Cuba’s Economy Minister Sacking Continues

By Francisco Acevedo

HAVANA TIMES – The dismissal of Alejandro Gil as Cuba’s Minister of at the beginning of February continues to stir controversy, and although a bit late compared to the buzz on social media, even the ineffable Con Filo program on government TV tackled the issue.

A counterrevolutionary is not only someone who goes against the Revolution, but also someone who, using their position, obtains privileges that the rest of their fellow citizens do not have and then flaunts them, using their influence for personal gain or that of their friends. Such individuals must be immediately denounced, pursued, and annihilated, the TV drivel said, almost in those exact words.

“Opportunism is an enemy of the Revolution and thrives in all places where there is no popular control. All those who, while speaking of Revolution, violate revolutionary morality are not only potential traitors to the Revolution itself, but also its worst detractors,” began this week’s broadcast.

So many truths in such a short time! But so many omissions at the same time, because all of that is evident in all the scum, as none of them live off their salary or under the conditions suffered by the rest of Cubans, and some even flaunt their luxuries, like the relatives of the high-ranking officials, practically all descendants of the Castros.

Obviously, the message does not apply to them; they remain untouchable. Gil was just the pretext to go after, the scapegoat of the moment.

They said that all this happens in places where there is no popular control, but what popular control when the only method that exists are the elections here they are a farce. Likewise, the established mechanisms for control (the Comptroller and Attorney General’s Offices, etc.), cannot even peek, for example, into the offices of GAESA, the company of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) that controls hotels, luxury houses, transportation, and event organization, among other things.

We’re off to a bad start there, and then there was the complaint about those who from abroad approached the issue critically, who even brought to light other elements such as Gil’s alleged links to the owner of a small business in Ciego de Ávila and to the American citizen who acted as a mule. They didn’t deny it, maybe not because they couldn’t, but because they didn’t want to. It doesn’t suit them because now the thing is to add fuel to the fire and destroy the fallen from grace.

The owner of the private business, Fernando Alban, is detained and things from his past as a repressor from the ranks of the University Student Federation (FEU) at the University of Camagüey are coming to light, just to give one detail.

Also, images of the recent visit to the island by the Gil’s sister, Maria Victoria, where she did everything but speak up as she had done from abroad. Apparently, in exchange for visiting her detained brother, she kept silent and will surely continue to do so because in an unusual social media post, she thanked the authorities for not bothering her.

When the news of the arrest came out, she was very harsh in her words and spoke of injustice and even dictatorship, but while she was here, nothing at all. It seemed like just another trip, in which she came, made a documentary according to her words, sang and danced as if nothing was wrong. It’s hard to understand that she said what she said from abroad and then comes and bows her head and bites her tongue. She even gave thanks for something that should be normal in any country because everyone is responsible for their own actions, not those of their family members.

According to Con Filo, justice will be served in this case, as in previous occasions, where the scapegoat paid, but they didn’t go further, to what everyone knows and they dare not say, because as the saying goes, you can play with the chain, but not with the monkey.

Since the time of Ochoa and up to the recent Festival of Santa María, the higher echelons have had links with recognized criminals wanted by justice in other countries, and nothing happens. Now perhaps Gil will be linked to Boris Arencibia, the Cuban businessman and music producer based in Miami who was recently arrested by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for alleged crimes of fraud and money laundering.

Can lessons in morality be given when the children and grandchildren of leaders live above the level of the population and also flaunt it with complete impunity? As they said in the show itself (obviously referring to the victim of the moment and not to the usual suspects), they are not up to the sacrifices made by the people. What they should be doing is denounce corruption at all levels and not stop with the last one fired.

“The corrupt endanger the Revolution,” they publicly acknowledged, but it is necessary to unmask them all because it is not fair to only go after the latest puppet. In the Cuban Government, there are quite a few more, and President Miguel Díaz-Canel, the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), and State Security know it.

Of course, some of them will never be seen on the National Television News of Cuba or the Round Table, and others will only be seen being tried if they try to play with the monkey.

It is also suspicious that Gil’s farewell was friendly and a week later everything changed. In a system that allocates most of its budget to monitor everyone, regardless of their position, it is hard to believe that this maneuver was made without the knowledge of others at this stage.

This continues to stir controversy, who knows until when.

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