Sweet Deal

December 8, 2021

A 'revolutionary' uncle whom I love and admire once told me: “when you want an explanation, just follow the money route.”

At that time -some 6 or 7 years ago- I did not fully understand what he was trying to tell me. Today, after a little more clashes and a long journey, I realize that he was absolutely right. And although this applies to the entire globe, I would like to focus on that space of land where I was born: our Cuban Homeland.

Even without too many natural resources, our island has always been the center of attention for many. First the Spaniards used it as the main base for their fleet, then the Americans installed their sugar mills, coal bunkers, and casinos there. And it is certainly that being in the middle of the Caribbean -and less than 100 miles from the first world power- should be an absolute economic advantage. Unfortunately, this - and our eternal arrogance - have been our worst enemies.

Cuba is that pretty girl that everyone takes advantage of and who, in the long run, is just a mistreated lady that everyone feels sorry for. Bad decisions and that toxic attraction to "strong men" have led our country down tortuous paths, causing the flight of a large part of her children.

Fidel's entry into power in 1959 was a hope for many. He -who had been orthodox and not communist- promised a prosperous future for the island, a democracy with economic growth and social benefits. But nothing could be further from the truth.

His true intention -which some who knew him well could have foreseen- was to establish himself in power and be the new strong man in Cuba, forever and ever. Seeing that the US had no intention of supporting him in his sinister plan, he turned to his antagonistic enemy, the Soviet Union, to - with sufficient financial backing - implement his totalitarian regime, establish his propaganda system, and modernize his military industry and apparatus. repressive.

Imagine, for the USSR that was "on a silver platter", so Moscow opened the doors and incidentally used it to put pressure on the Americans with the missile crisis (in October), and thus get rid of the rockets that The US had in Turkey.

And with that master move (which, although he complained to Khrushchev, turned out perfectly) he made sure that no Western power would take action on the Cuban issue. Since that moment the Cuban people have been -basically- alone. But that was not all.

With the business fabric completely nationalized, political opponents shot, exiled or imprisoned, the USSR buying sugar at several times its price, it then set out to solidify the mechanisms of power, the true muscle of the system.

Megalomaniac plans and plans came, all failed. The lack of organization and above all corruption did not allow any project to come to fruition. Diversion of materials, tasks on a whim, newly opened buildings with leaks in the first week. Nothing worked.

But it didn't matter. There was the USSR to pay the piper, and if it wasn't enough, well, we always had, ta ta ta so… “the blockade”.

And I want to clarify something here, the US embargo sanctions those who trade with the Cuban government, not with the Cuban people. They could have - long ago - allowed small (and not so small) private Cuban companies to do business with North American companies, and collect taxes from them, as is the case all over the world. But no, giving up a small amount of power seems like a lot to them. As always, “to pa mi y na pa na nadie”.

When the socialist camp fell in the 90s, they did not hesitate to defraud entire families with the houses of gold and silver (exchanging gold for little mirrors), they legalized the dollar (the one for which so many people were imprisoned), and they filled Cuba with hotels to which the Cubans -from Cuba- could not enter (I saw this with my own eyes).

And so more than 60 years have passed in this agony. And nothing, nothing happens. Nobody cares. Europe knows that a free Cuba would open up to North American capital and would leave them in the countryside, without cheap winter vacations and hot little beaches - that's not counting the other loads of business they have with the dictatorship. The Russians also happy with their vacations in Varadero and happy to keep their spearhead 90 miles from the "empire", and the Chinese -perhaps a little more cautious- but also training the Cuban riot teams and using their old tactic of " I'll sell you on time and when you can't pay I'll seize it” (which I don't think works very well with the Castroists).

Nothing, that the little game of the "revolution" gives a tremendous ticket. While the families in power benefit from every deal that is done there (or with the Cuban state anywhere in the world), the expenses incurred by the state are infinitely less. It is the classic feudalism with the lords in the castles and the serfs living in huts. Hotels, car rentals, million-dollar purchases of inputs, development aid received, international events, donations for natural disasters, not a penny escapes them.

And all that money goes to his millionaire accounts abroad, to buy properties (mansions, yachts, companies) all over the world. A whole criminal network protects his assets and his families (front men, escorts, infiltrators in foreign governments). The money of all Cubans (the one that has been taken from them) is used for the most dissimilar -and dark- purposes: financing left-wing parties throughout the world, arming guerrillas in Latin America, infiltrating agents in the US; A fortune is spent just to spread the tentacles of communism, and all that capital comes from denying Cubans opportunities, from depriving them of prosperity, from taking away their economic freedom.

Whenever the pot has been about to explode they simply open a valve. Camarioca, Mariel, the rafters, Ecuador, Panama, Russia, Nicaragua; they let off the social steam and along the way infiltrate their agents all over the world. This is nothing that I am making up, in a laundry in Ecuador I personally met a hit man that the Cuban dictatorship sent to hit the opponents of Correa in the marches. And well, as Cubans we normally take our route to the "turbulent and brutal" north, because in the process they create a "San Juan alumbrao" for the Americans on their borders, and melt their pockets.

And this is perhaps the main support mechanism of the system: sustained migration. We instruct you, we impoverish you, we crush you, we let you go (to yourself, because the money saved is not enough for so many people), and when you come to visit -with the enemy's money- you can buy all the rum and women you want , rent good cars, go to hotels and give you the life that we stole from you before you left. And if you don't want to come visit, it doesn't matter, you can help your family who sacrificed so much for you.

It is a horror.

Infinite resources are devoted to that: pseudo-rebellious artists who turn out to be safe acting as agents of influence, intelligence assets infiltrated throughout Latin America -and beyond- moving chips to achieve leftist governments that establish free visas and hire medical brigades; scholarships for members of communist youth who may act as political agents in the future, fugitives from international justice housed in protocol houses or permanently residing in Cuba under the protection of the authorities. And much more.

Clearly - and to the regret of all Cubans - the Cuban revolution has become everything it promised to destroy: widespread poverty, malnutrition, yawning social classes, poor education, poor health care, slums, prostitution, scarcity, inefficient industry. , substandard and unsafe housing, destroyed infrastructure.

Today Cuba is a country supported by family remittances (mainly from the US and Europe) and Cuban emigrants who do tourism in their own country, mostly. The rest of the money comes from exporting human capital (Cubans who are mostly separated from their families for several years in order to earn extra money that allows them to have a small house and 4 electrical appliances upon their return), and the odd industry that survived from the Republican period (tobacco, rum... and no sugar anymore).

Except for that small group of monotheistic fanatics whose god calls himself Fidel (the so-called "revolutionaries"), and those who hold power; The rest of the Cubans live excluded from any citizen participation, many far from their land and their families, all suffering the consequences of decades of bad policies, abuses and deceit.

But... May I share my very particular opinion? This is the karma that we have to live as a people.

The day we learn that we can have different criteria and still respect each other, that day the dictatorship ends. When, instead of seeking leadership and personal gain, we humbly assume that the task of Cuba's freedom is above all vanity, that day we will already have won.

All good Cubans want a better Cuba. It is essential to set aside all ideology or political creed and work together to achieve a democratic Cuba, in which the people, with their vote, decide from time to time the destiny they want to give their country.

Martí, Maceo, Gómez, Calixto, Céspedes, Agramonte, no one thought the same. There were many occasions in which even very heated discussions were reached. But everyone was clear that the freedom of the Homeland was above any difference.

We have a lot to learn from our heroes yet.

I have faith that once we have succeeded in freeing ourselves from our oppressors we will enjoy the taste of democracy so much that not many will decide to choose to defend a system whose sole objective is the destruction of capitalism. But only time will tell.

I pray to God every day for the freedom and prosperity of our people. When it corresponds to us, it will arrive.