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The Latin World: What Do Cubans Really Want?

By Eduardo Stanley, New America Media, Translated by Elena Shore

BARCELONA - Aug 08, 2006 - Just hours after news broke that Fidel Castro was undergoing surgery Aug. 1, opposition forces in the United States began speculating about what they thought should become of Cuba's political and social future.

No one seems concerned about what the 11 million Cubans that live on the island think. The Bush administration announced its support for a "political transition" that would benefit the United States and criticized the Cuban dissidents who were asking Washington not to intervene. The body is still warm but the vultures are already sharpening their teeth.

The exiled Cuban community in Miami finally sees an opportunity to return to the island and take back control. But they may not be welcome. "I'm afraid these people will take over," says Pablo, a Cuban working in northern Spain, who asked that his real name not be used. "They have a lot of hate, a lot of resentment. You never know. I am going to go back and I have a family."

The majority of Cubans interviewed in Barcelona spoke on condition of anonymity. "This is very common," says Xitlali Hernández, 30, a psychologist who has lived outside Cuba for 10 years but frequently travels to visit her family. "Although things ultimately have changed in Cuba, people are afraid to speak."

Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro has governed the island. "He's the pillar of the system," says Hernandez, who adds that Cubans are still afraid that Washington and the exiled Cuban community of Miami could use violence.

"Many people are worried because they live on property that was confiscated after the Revolution. What will happen if the old landowners come back to power?"

If the "pillar of the system" does not return to govern, or if he dies, will Cuba change? And in what direction? Many seem to base their opinions on ideology, without knowing the reality of the country and its people.

"Cubans have been lobbying for changes for a while," Pablo, a married father of two, says in an animated voice. "What we want is to improve our personal economy. We'd also like to vacation in Cancún."

For this worker, Cuba's progress is noteworthy compared to many rich countries. For example, education and health care in Cuba rank among the highest in the world. "I heard the American government says that if there is a change, it will help by sending food and medicine. That's ridiculous," says Pablo. "What Cuba needs is investment of capital, not charity!"

The ghost of the fall of the Soviet Union, at the beginning of the 90s, is still present, continues Pablo. "If capitalism returns, the same thing that happened to Russia will happen to us, where a handful of millionaires rule and people go on the same as, or worse off than, before. We need a social balance."

Thousands of Cuban families depend on the remittances of relatives who live abroad, says Hernandez. They get food and basic necessities but it's not enough. She adds that the positive achievements of the Revolution should not disappear.

"Education is something very evident, and I'm not talking about formal education, about degrees. I'm talking about that higher level of understanding and communication that the Cuban people have that you don't see in other societies like Spain." Cubans, she adds, also have a collective notion of solidarity and equality.

However, these successes are in danger, according to Hernandez, if the current economic situation continues, because it facilitates corruption, theft and fraud. "That is what should change: the bureaucracy and corruption," she says.

With the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba lost an important economic ally and the government opened its doors to certain foreign investors, especially in the tourist industry, that did not benefit the population. This is apparently one of the contradictions that the government must resolve. Cubans, meanwhile, are pushing to accelerate these changes.

In an article in the Aug. 8 edition of the Spanish newspaper El País, based in Madrid, Cuban opposition leader Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo calls for greater democratization and improvement of the economy – but without intervention from the United States.

"Yes, we want changes, but we want to decide them ourselves, those of us who live in Cuba," adds Pablo. "Do you remember when Fidel and Fox (the president of Mexico) got into a confrontation? Fox said some harsh things about Castro, but at least he stood up and said them himself. By contrast, in Miami, about four or five people are talking; the rest of them are just repeating."