CUBA
The internal causes of a tragedy
BY OSCAR ESPINOSA CHEPE
HAVANA -- Once again, Cuban families are plunged in grief after losing
loved ones in a violent and bloody deed. At the same time, mothers and
fathers suffer the anguish of not knowing what fate has in store for
their children who have committed deplorable acts.
In late April, three army recruits, posted to a military base near
Havana, deserted. They carried two AK-47 rifles and left behind the body
of a guard who tried to prevent their desertion.
On May 3, two of those recruits commandeered a bus, held the passengers
hostage and boarded an airplane at Jose Martí Airport in Havana with the
intention of leaving the country. The incident ended with the capture of
the recruits and the death of one of the hostages, a lieutenant colonel
who, according to reports, tried to foil the hijacking.
Deformed by the system
This lamentable incident, staged by these three young men in military
service, was a repetition of another incident that occurred last
December at the Manguito base in Santiago de Cuba, which also took the
lives of military men.
It should be noted that these acts were committed by young Cubans who
were formed -- perhaps deformed -- within the existing system. All were
members of the armed forces, perhaps the most solid and best disciplined
institution in Cuban society.
This demonstrates that the crisis of hopelessness that has scourged the
country for years not only persists but also grows dangerously,
particularly among the youth, and pervades social life, including
institutions that until recently had displayed more solidity and
discipline than any others.
Unfortunately, the conclusions derived by the authorities from this and
other grim events are expressed in tired slogans that blame external
factors as the causes for these tragedies.
In reality, the detonating factors are eminently domestic, propitiated
by an economic, political and social system that has been bankrupt for a
long time. This has negatively affected every aspect of national life,
most particularly the moral and spiritual values of the Cuban people,
becoming a never-ending source of frustration and hopelessness.
Official immobility
Months ago, when a provisional government emerged after the sudden
illness of President Fidel Castro, many people thought that reforms
would be instituted to improve the living standards of the population.
However, 10 months have gone by without any evidence of the hoped-for
changes. One might even say that the difficulties and suffering have
increased as a result of the official immobility, the product of an
accumulation of problems over many years.
Meanwhile, justifications are issued, and the mania of blaming other
countries for our difficulties persists -- when our troubles are the
consequence of internal and unjustifiable migratory regulations that in
no way ease the legal and safe departure of the people who are eager to
leave.
Now the government uses the Cuban Adjustment Act, established by the
United States many years ago, to try to explain this new drama that has
moved society. We might ask the authorities: Why do hundreds of young
Cubans line up daily outside the embassies of Spain, Italy, France and
other countries here with the intention of leaving even though those
nations don't have a Cuban adjustment act?
The explanation for the reprehensible illegal departures that endanger
so many lives and for these violent acts can be found only in the
disruption in which Cuban society has lived for a long time because of a
system that paralyzes and reverses the nation's development.
The conclusion we can derive from this sad event is the urgent need for
a process of reforms that will raise the living standards of Cubans and
restore their confidence in the future. If this were done -- with the
undeniable human potential at hand -- the positive results would be
quickly seen, preventing the tragedies that periodically strike our
families.
This process would facilitate national reconciliation and help to
dissipate the hatred that, for almost five decades, has poisoned our
hearts. It would be a mechanism of unity for those of us who live on the
island and those who live abroad -- the unity of all Cubans far beyond
ideology.
The reform process would lead to victory for all, the reconstruction of
the country and the creation of a future of prosperity that the new
generations have a right to receive.
Oscar Espinosa Chepe is an economist and independent journalist in Cuba.
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