For writer Leonardo Padura, the "cry" of the Cuban people must be heard - France 24

Havana (AFP)

The historic demonstrations that took place in Cuba on July 11 are "a cry of despair" to which the authorities must give "a response not only material but also political," said the writer Leonardo Padura, in an exclusive interview with AFP.

"We cannot see what happened only as a manifestation due to shortages, the economic crisis, the fatigue of so many months of confinement", declares the king of the Cuban thriller and one of the contemporary writers of Latin America most published.

The 65-year-old writer, whose police intrigues are generally used as a pretext to tell the Cuban reality, had not yet reacted publicly to these mobilizations, unprecedented since the revolution of 1959. Friday, he published a text entitled "A cry ".

These demonstrations represent "a cry which is also the result of the despair of a society which is going through not only a long economic crisis and a one-off health crisis, but also a crisis of confidence and disillusionment", he wrote in particular.

Among the slogans most heard during these gatherings: "We are hungry", "Freedom" and "Down with the dictatorship".

For Leonardo Padura, "what happened in Cuba in recent days, especially July 11, has many causes, has started to have consequences and will have many, I believe".

- "Find hope" -

And the simple fact that these demonstrations took place "proves that there is a great lack of communication between the spheres of power and the daily reality of the people", because "in a country like Cuba where everything is known, that a phenomenon like that could have happened, in such a surprising way, it is really strange ”.

Under the impact of the worst economic crisis in 30 years, Cubans have to wait hours every day to buy food and medicine.

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In his district of Mantilla, in Havana, the author says that "the day the drugs arrive at the pharmacy, there is a line on almost two blocks of house and many do not manage to get the treatments they have. need for chronic diseases, such as diabetes ".

As for the power cuts, which have become daily, "it forced me to change my way of working, from my desktop computer to the laptop, because the power was cut all the time and I didn't know if I was going. to be able to recover what I had written ".

In this difficult context, "one of the most visible and dramatic reactions was the option of exile that many people, especially young people, chose", laments the author.

Emigration, a painful subject in Cuba, is at the center of his new book "Poussière dans le vent" - which will be published in France on August 19 by Métailié editions -, the story of the intertwined destinies of a group of friends, " the clan ", which over the years and departures will scatter throughout the world.

While he underlines the devastating impact of the American embargo, in force since 1962 and denounces a "media campaign" aimed at manipulating information around Cuba, the author notes above all that "the Cubans need to find the hope and have a possible picture of their future ".

- The right to express one's opinion -

On Wednesday, the government made a first concession, temporarily facilitating entry into the country of food and medicine.

But faced with this situation, "there must be sufficient intelligence to find a response not only material but also political, ideological and common sense," said the writer.

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Because "it is an absolute right of people to have the opportunity to express their opinion, even in critical moments like the one we are living".

In his text, the author also criticizes the immediate response of the authorities to the mobilisations.

"To convince and calm these desperate people, the method cannot be that of solutions of force and obscurity, such as imposing an Internet cut", he believes.

Mobile internet was made inaccessible on the island from Sunday noon to Wednesday morning, drawing criticism from the international community.

It was still unstable on Friday, access to social networks can only be done through a VPN.

And "the response of violence is even less a convincing argument, especially against non-violent people," he writes of these protests which have left one dead, dozens injured and more than a hundred detained.

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