Cuba. Pujol: "The protests in the streets are a symptom of an irreversible revolution"

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July 15, 2021

Thousands of Cubans took to the streets last Sunday to protest the government shouting "freedom!", In an unprecedented day that resulted in hundreds of arrests, clashes and one death after President Miguel Díaz-Canel ordered his supporters to stop the protesters. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez defined the protests simply as "riots, riots and vandalism". The trigger of the current situation seems to be a mixture between the gravity of the situation caused by the Coronavirus and the economic measures taken by the government. A severe economic and health crisis, the runaway pandemic and a severe shortage of food, medicine and other basic products, as well as long power outages, have made life in Cuba unsustainable.The new generations do not recognize socialism in their path of life: a civil disobedience is taking place that asks the Cuban regime for a change of course towards freedom.

We interviewed

Alberto Pujol

, a famous Cuban actor who is part of that generation who have been asked the greatest sacrifices in the name of the revolution and its leaders.

What are the unexpected protests of last Sunday in Cuba, shouting "Freedom" and "Down with the dictatorship"?

To the serious economic and health crisis, to an out-of-control pandemic, to the lack of food and basic services that have caused a social outbreak in your country?

Personally I don't think it's just that, this was the straw that broke the glass. The real social drama in Cuba is freedom, and this is not a recent event. Supporting socialism for more than 60 years was an experiment that led to insanity. The lack of confrontation, information, freedom of thought and democracy has led to a social break that has shattered the country. The Cuban people have naively believed and placed hope in their charismatic leader, Fidel Castro. However, people began to realize little by little that the minimum necessary for subsistence was beginning to be lacking. That is, things weren't exactly how they were telling her.

The new generation of young people who demonstrated on the street wants to kick out the old politics, what do you think?

The present generation of Cuba does not necessarily have to respect what the ideas of thirty years ago were. Today's young people have, through the Internet, access to the world and to news, the Cuban state with its government organization sets conditions that are prohibitive for citizens, economic power is dependent on political power, it is forbidden to do business it is forbidden to grow up with alternative ideas, whoever is currently in government of the country is afraid of losing political power, and they do not want to lose it.

But is there a stance on the part of young people?

People are hungry, people have basic needs, they are literally dying, there are no funeral services, we are in a pandemic, and the money that was meant for the Cuban people has been totally diverted elsewhere. They have built hotels to increase the tourism machine, the Cuban political class travels comfortably through the streets of Havana with Mercedes Benz. The day before yesterday, an activist, the Youtuber Dina Stars, was arrested while giving a live interview with Spanish television. The guards came to her house and took her away. What worries me most is that there are no leaders, not even the opposition, who intervene and take a position on what is happening. However, the Cuban regime will continue to repress the people.I ask for help from all the democratic forces in the world who recognize themselves in freedom to give us a hand.

Can you give me an example?

People are disappointed and have started to leave the country, there are about two million Cubans scattered all over the world. The young people who took to the streets do not recognize themselves in this model, they fail to see concrete results of development, of well-being of sharing the common good. They see quite the opposite. Wealth is in the hands of a few and the revolution for freedom and democracy in Cuba is irreversible.

Does the economic crisis that Cuba is experiencing also depend on the United States embargo?

I do not agree. Embargo is when military patrols circulate throughout the state to check, but we are not in this situation. Why does so much money come in with which hotels are built, and people are starving instead? There are crops and productions in the country that could and should maintain the needs of the population, but they are bringing this money to their private business, not to the country. How is it possible that there is so much interest in only some sectors? It is clear that there are agreements and protocols that allow all these people in the government to dispose of the 'internal' money abroad.

International public opinion has stated that Cuba lacks freedom, food and future prospects. Has the socialism of Fidel Castro, Chavez, Lula, Morales, Ortega on the continent failed?

Totally! Everywhere it had a racket, they sold propaganda with the promise of doing good works when in reality they sowed misery, as has also happened in Nicaragua. For years it was believed that everyone could get health care, education, basic rights, but this is not the case, because year after year the population has become increasingly impoverished and the results of this mismanagement were seen on Sunday. People are demanding their rights, basic rights, they see no progress in the country. They changed the constitution by tying people's hands, Cuba sold its propaganda system to many countries in Latin America, which seemed like a valiant system, but at a high price, at the price of freedom of expression, health and freedom of millions of people who believed in an ideal.

What do Cubans ask of international public opinion?

The Cuban population needs help in general, people are tired of suffering the abuses of the regime.

We need international help to stop the repression, so that there is an opportunity for a plebiscite, for dialogue, and for going to political elections.

There is a strong social rupture, there is a divorce between the people and the current dictatorship, they are two different ways of seeing the future.

The history of Cuba, after the July 11 protests, has completely changed.

The lie they wanted to sell us has been revealed.

There will no longer be a representative of the Cuban government who speaks in the United Nations hall saying that Cuba is a country of peace, where diversity of thought is respected.

These are lies that have led to civil disobedience today.