People restless as Cuba digs in
By Miami Herald Staff Report
cuba@MiamiHerald.com
HAVANA -- Throngs of people who gathered in front of the government
headquarters for the annual May Day celebration sent a clear
orchestrated message Friday: The Cuban government isn't planning to go
away anytime soon.
Cuban leader Raúl Castro, in a guayabera and straw hat, did not speak --
he let the event do the talking for him. The unspoken message was that
no matter the hype about increased talks with Washington, the
hemisphere's last communist government has no immediate plans for change.
''Let us raise our flags and voices so that -- from one pole to the
other on this planet, from one continent to another -- the unwavering
decision of these extraordinary and combative people to build socialism
under the direction of the Communist Party of Cuba, of Raúl and Fidel,
will resound,'' said Cuban government labor union leader Salvador
Valdés, the only official speaker at the International Worker's Day parade.
But as Valdés, other top officials and 2,000 international guests
assembled with tens of thousands of people at the Plaza of the
Revolution, a photo taken from the crowd roared perhaps even louder: A
beaming young woman in dark sunglasses went to the Cuban May Day parade
waving an enormous U.S. flag.
Cubans on the island, widely considered supporters of President Barack
Obama, applaud his recent decision to let U.S. residents visit and send
cash to relatives on the island as often as they wish.
Friday's May Day celebration took place amid weeks of speculation that
Washington and Havana could begin to bury their 50-year-old hatchet.
When Obama lifted long-standing restrictions that kept people from
visiting relatives on the island, he let Castro know that if he expected
more moves like that one, Cuba had to make the next move.
Both Castros have rejected that notion.
''Never should the adversary be under the illusion that Cuba will
surrender,'' former dictator Fidel Castro wrote in his regular newspaper
column, ''Reflections,'' published Friday.
''Today they are willing to forgive us if we resign ourselves to return
to the fold, as slaves who after experiencing freedom once again accept
the whip and the yoke,'' he said. `` . . . There are still some who
believe that peoples can be manipulated like puppets.''
At a meeting of non-aligned nations Wednesday in Havana, Raúl Castro
said Obama's move was too small.
''Cuba is not the one that needs to make gestures,'' he said. ``Cuba is
not the one that stops its country's businessmen from doing business
with ours. Cuba is not the one punishing financial transactions by U.S.
banks.''
Several Cubans interviewed in Havana said Friday's parade seemed out of
touch with the bitter daily reality of a country where the monthly wage
is about $20.
''The way things are, I don't think this is the right time,'' said
Yovanni, 28, a bicycle taxi driver. ``Those who need to work don't have
time for parades.''
The Cuban government reported that more than 2,000 people flew to Cuba
from 70 different nations to attend the event. Granma, the Communist
Party's newspaper, included more than a dozen articles on its web site
about the annual gathering, and featured photos of people like the
daughter of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto ''Che'' Guevara.
Internationally known Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez wrote in a web posting
last week that she planned to use the occasion to hold a nighttime
pot-banging rally to protest Cubans' inability to travel freely. The
protest, known as a cacerolazo, was scheduled for evening, but it was
not known Friday if it took place.
Polo, 60, traveled 400 miles from Las Tunas to Havana so people at work
would not be suspicious of him missing the government-promoted event.
Laborers are given the day off to attend but Polo was not enthusiastic.
''The revolution doesn't sing in your ear anymore,'' he said.
``Sometimes, I don't even have one peso to buy tobacco. The crisis has
spread to the whole world, but it has always been in Cuba.''
Leaning on a concrete wall covered with posters of Fidel and Che
Guevara, Polo said he hopes for better times. His words and gestures
contrasted with the nearby singing of a group of young men from the La
Corona cigar factory, who improvised ribald lyrics.
Unwilling to join them was Lázaro, 70, a psychologist who worked in
schools and universities as long as he could. He said that he no longer
has the faith or the energy to celebrate May Day.
''There was talk of changes, and so far -- nothing,'' he said. ``Under
those circumstances, it's hard to wait.''
Lázaro believes that a solution is attainable but that the obstacle is
''upstairs'' -- the government, where few officials accept the reality
of the times.
''It's as if everything were decomposing,'' Lázaro said, adding that the
hand of the authorities in Havana is not doing what it should.
''It has turned,'' he said, ``into a closed fist.''
This story was written by Miami Herald staff writer Frances Robles with
contributions from an El Nuevo Herald correspondent in Havana whose name
-- as well as the surnames of those interviewed -- were withheld because
the reporter lacked the journalists' visa required by the Cuban government.
People restless as Cuba digs in - Americas - MiamiHerald.com (3 May 2009)
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