Trump Won’t Hear Them, but Raul Isn’t Listening Either
By Antonio Recio
HAVANA TIMES — On June 20th, the national board of the Junior and Senior High School Students Federation (FEEM) gave its opinion about Mr. Donald Trump’s announcement a few days earlier.
This is what the letter sent by the national board of this organization said:…The Junior and Senior High School Students Federation, representing over 300,000 members that are studying at this level in the country, and as a legitimate organization within our civic society, firmly condemns the US president’s statements, as well as the measures being contemplated in the directive known as the “National Security Presidential Memorandum on Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba”…
The organization also stated in this document that the measures announced by the new US president are harmful to both the US and Cuban people, by reversing the rapprochement process between both countries.
… our organization supports the Revolutionary Government’s statement, demanding respect for the sovereignty of our country and for them not to interfere in our country’s domestic affairs…
All of this took place in each and every one of the junior and senior high schools across the country, really early in the morning before classes had even started.
I was present at the event which took place at one located in Vedado, along with a Cuban TV IT systems team, and I had the chance to see some of the young people present and their impressions, who preferred to remain anonymous. These people (the FEEM) are always doing the same thing, a great deal of lies for fun which Trump won’t even hear them, and Raul listening either – I don’t really care about Trump, at the end of the day, Obama also did things and my life continued to be the same, doing the same thing and with the same problems.
The statements that I could pick up on reveal the general lack of interest young Cubans who make up the ranks of the organization, none of those interviewed agreed with the document that was sent generally-speaking and they even understood it to be “more bla-bla-bla,” they use to refer to something that doesn’t interest them).
I was a leader in the FEEM during the 2014-2015 academic year, and I can assure you that not even the student “leaders” themselves agreed with what they had been sent to read in front of their group, as the theater we have to put on to read such things that we don’t believe in and that we have to do so as not to be labeled and sanctioned for having “ideological problems”, is really embarrassing.
I don’t mean to show you the students’ agreement or rejection of Donald Trump’s words, no, my objective is more direct than that: to highlight something that affects us more than these two political standpoints, that is to say, the Cuban youth’s lack of interest and faith they have in our “social” organizations.
It seems that hypocrisy continues to taint each and every one of “civil society’s” organizations and it doesn’t look like it will lessen, what it takes and continues to take from us everyday are the young people who have less and less aspirations of joining these organizations’ ranks.
Trump only said he was going to change 2 things, 1st was that under the “People to People” exchange visitors have to be in a group and not travel individually (2 or more are considered a group) and 2nd was the U.S. citizens going to Cuba can not do business with Cuban Government run businesses (which would benefit privately owned businesses.)
Other than insulting the Cuban government during his speech, he didn’t make any substantial changes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and yet he was being applauded by the audience as if he was changing everything.
What is everyone getting so bent out of shape for??????????????
Not a fan of mojitos.
Delusional or otherwise.
Castro Sycophants?
Yet more verbal abuse huh??
Unlike your ‘non sycophant’ self, I can see a good and a bad side to the current state of affairs in Cuba.
For example there are approximately 150 million children suffering from malnutrition on this planet.
According to UNICEF Cuba has precisely zero child malnutrition.
You consistently wish to dish out insults on this forum to those who express opinions that differ to those of your own.
If I wished to stoop to that level, I would refer to you as a mere ‘lackey’ of a system that produces millions of starving children throughout the world.
But I choose to refrain from doing that as I don’t wish to stoop to your sullen, and base level.
The self evident problem Olgasintamales for the Castro syncophants is that they do not understand the privilege of the freedom and liberty which they enjoy in the capitalist world, but which they believe ought to be denied for Cubans.
Theirs is a double standard!
No doubt Bruno Rodriguez Parilles having made his statement went out for a good meal in one of the better restaurants in Vienna – or maybe even stayed in Sachar’s Hotel to eat the famous Sachar torte. Nothing quite like sampling the good life that the capitalist world has to offer. But all those overseas visits and high living are beginning to tell and Bruno will have to join Marino Murillo and subscribe to Weight Watchers.
Bruno reflects the Cuban regime policies – one life for the PCC rich and another for the mass of Cuban poor.
I lived in Cuba when the old URSS used to send 5 billions dollars a year the same amount that the USA sent with the plan Marshals to reconstruct Europe after WWII. I never dreamed with casinos, or Batista, when Castro took power I was 10 years old, but I dreamt of Freedom and democracy. But I wish I had what you drinking. Delusional mojitos?
Sorry, but no one cares what school kids have to say.
Agree with you Edward.
Nothing to do with either democracy in the USA or the so called promotion of democracy in Cuba.
It’s just the traditional sordid casino game of trying to appease a bunch of sad old right wing cranky losers in southern FLA.
The jackpot has always been A Fistfull of Florida Electoral College Votes.
The actual reality behind these announcements is just a watering down of President Obama’s policies (which were basically an acknowledgement that these Cold War issues belong to a previous century and that the page needs to be turned).
Obviously this was played out to the assembled rabble in Miami with as much fanfare as possible because trump is in dire need of some TV footage showing him to be popular to offset the fact that his continued presidency is being questioned.
I would have thought that, in this day and age, the majority of the people of the USA know relatively little of Cuba and are no longer primed, as previously, to see Cuba as the big bogeyman.
In fact surveys, as you rightly point out, suggest that there is scant support for these pernicious 20th century policies.
But all this leaves us with the following question:
Are these cranks in Miami really still able to exert so much influence over the vote in Florida to make them worth courting to such an extent?
One thing is for sure:
Once Mother Nature calls these old timers and Bay of Pigs losers to their resting places, the page will finally be turned for good.
Then Cuba can deal with its own sh*t for better or for worse.
Cuba has a brilliant future? Really? After years of record-breaking outmigration, moribund economic results, increasing apathy among young people, crumbling infrastructure, the loss of their Venezuelan sugardaddy, you deduce a “brilliant future”? Doubling up on the Castro Kool-aid again Edward?
Antonio, let’s start with this. The truth is that the majority of Americans and Cubans want an end to the embargo and a normalization of relations. As the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, stated last week in Vienna: “The new [Trump] measures are not at all democratic. According to recent U.S. surveys, 73% of U.S. citizens, 63% of Cuban residents, and 62% of Republicans support the lifting of the blockade – curious that: 62% of Republicans. The normalization of bilateral ties is favored by 75%, three quarters, of U.S. citizens; 69% of Cuban residents, and 62% of Republicans.” The “Cuban youth’s lack of interest,” Antonio, is understandable. What can they do when our “elected” President continues to embarrass the American people by attacking the Cuban people. Mr. Rodrigues is absolutely correct. Trump’s announcement on Cuba “was a grotesque Cold War-era spectacle, made before a small audience, composed of old henchmen and thieves of the Batista dictatorship, mercenaries from the Playa Girón [Bay of Pigs] brigade, terrorists, demagogues and “lackeys.” Just follow the money, much of it stolen from Cuba. Cuidate! Cuba has a brilliant future!
The Castros have lied for more than 58 years. The safe bet is that they are going to continue to lie. Using children to lie and promote propaganda is nothing new.