Strange Institutions

Strange Institutions / Fernando Damaso
Posted on April 9, 2013

All professional associations in Cuba – those that claim to represent
attorneys, architects, economists, artists, journalists and
craftspeople, among others, as well as those made up of women, students,
farm workers, laborers and others – which purport to the world to be
NGOs, are in reality governmental organizations. They are organized,
directed, financed and controlled by the state. Rather than defending
the interests of their members, they really serve as straightjackets,
forcing them to behave within established political and ideological
boundaries. Anyone who dares to go beyond or to ignore them in the
belief that he has some degree of independence is immediately called to
account. If this does not achieve the desired result, the person can be
dishonorably expelled from the association, which then makes him into a
social pariah and, if he is a professional, leaves him without the right
to legally practice his profession.

There is a group of people, a majority, who belong to these
associations. As one might expect, they strictly comply with all the
"commandments" in order to be able to work, study, travel, enjoy some
advantages and receive official recognition. Another, less numerous
group attempts to operate on the inside with some degree of independence
by adopting contrary positions - the official one sometimes; more
liberal ones less often – trying "to be on good terms with both God and
the devil." There is also a group of rebels who do not belong to either
of these two. These individuals lack legal support and must act
independently and at their own risk, without the possibility of access
to the governmental platforms.

These organizations do not engage in controversial actions. They are
really peaceful backwaters with the normal rivalries and hindrances
characteristic of each sector. However, when someone – be it either an
individual or a group – dares to act independently and with a certain
degree of bravery by calling something into question, these
organizations – headed by its most orthodox members – become courts of
inquisition, drafting and publishing accords, communiques, declarations
and letters with many "voluntary" signatures. The violator of the
sacrosanct commandments is then incinerated in a bonfire of the most
extreme intolerance. Examples of this practice abound and are quite
well-known in every organization.

In these cases the outrage, which is political, ideological and directed
from above, has nothing to do with the actual feelings of his or her
colleagues. Unfortunately, these attitudes are widespread and the
institutions as such are incapable of defending the interests of their
members. Instead, they serve as prosecutors responding to "the boss's
orders." The consequences are disqualifications, personal insults, acts
of repudiation and other unpleasantries directed from on high at the
allegedly guilty parties, chosen as the propitious victims of the moment
based on the interests of the authorities, who are the ones really in
control.

6 April 2013

http://translatingcuba.com/strange-institutions-fernando-damaso/