Of Divers, Lions and Tankers (UPDATE)
That's the translation of the title of an award-winning 2005 documentary by Cuban director Daniel Vega. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any sites in English, nor could I find any real good Spanish sites which describe this documentary at length.
Why do I bring this up? Well, I was watching the popular Miami current events show A Mano Limpia earlier this week (if you live in South Florida, understand Spanish and don't watch this show, you are missing out on some very interesting Cuban topics), and the topic was on this documentary De Buzos, Leones y Tanqueros. This post does not do the documentary justice, but I'll try to describe it as best I can based on what I saw on the program.
The documentary interviews several Havana resident who specialize in "diving into" garbage dumpsters (thus the tanker reference) all across the city and pick up anything from empty plastic water bottles to discarded shoes. The divers then turn around and sell these items. This "business" has become fairly sophisticated, with the divers claiming their own areas of work, and often complain when others infringe on their territory. Apparently, the tourist areas are highly sought after due to the quality of the garbage found in these areas. At the end of the documentary, a member of the local CDR (neighborhood government "watchdogs") walks up to the cameraman and tells him to stop filming the divers.
A skeptic might say, "There are homeless people in the United States who go into garbage dumpsters too". That's true. The big difference between those in the US and the divers in Cuba is that in Cuba there is supposed to be equality amongst all people. Everyone is supposed to have the same opportunities. The documentary shows otherwise. If you have a good job with good pay, why in the world would you want to pick through garbage to put food on the table and support your family? For these people, this is their job. They do this because it pays more than an ordinary job offered by the government. Some of the divers even have college degrees. These aren't your ordinary "bums".
I think it's also significant that a Cuban director decided to film and show something like this. Even without openly criticizing the regime, it obviously points to a big problem in what is supposed to be a "utopian society" when young men have to pick garbage in order to make a living. The fact that this documentary has won awards in Cuba leads me to believe that Cubans realize that things are bad in Cuba, and this undercurrent of disenchantment shows itself in subtle yet recognizable ways.
Perhaps Cubans are waking up to reality and are slowly but surely manifesting their dissatisfaction.
UPDATE 11:34 AM EDT- Reader Frank was kind enough to track down a video of the A Mano Limpia show which aired the documentary. Check it out here. You can also click on the Link Externo below the video window to open up a Windows Media Player file.
Gracias Frank!
Great post, Robert. Couldnt have said it better myself.
Oh, and a congrats on the Instalanche yesterday at the Parallel.
Thanks Val...I just checked my site stats and now I know why they call it an instalanche!
From what I can tell, the Cuban government goes through cycles when it is more and less tolerant of criticism. I distinguish "criticism" from "dissent," in the sense that the latter calls for a change in the form of government or at least for open elections. "Dissent" is never tolerated for long. On the other hand, "criticism," or at least the kind of criticism tolerated by the Cuban government, is oblique. It doesn't attack the government directly. It presents itself as a record of life in Cuba. Examples of the kind of criticism that is tolerated include the movie, "Fresa y chocolate," the novels of Pedro Juan Gutierrez (see "Trilogia sucia de la Habana") and the novels of Leonardo Padura. The Cuban government benefits from allowing some criticism. It allows them to point at these works and claim that there is freedom of expression in Cuba.
Without seeing the documentary, I can't comment on it. I hope you are right. I hope the documentary is a sign that change is in the offing. But it may just be another example of the kind of criticism that the government can live with.
BTW -- I second your comments about "A mano limpia." Oscar Haza is one of the most thoughtful and prepared interviewers on television. He covers current topics -- whether about Cuba, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, or anywhere in Latin America. And he does so intelligently and impartially. The show is not about him. It is about his guests and their topics. That's part of what makes him such a good host.
Dear all,
I found the TV show with the documentary. You can watch it here:
http://www.noticierodigital.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=68583
frank
You're very welcome, Robert.
BTW, that site (noticierodigital.com) also has other "A mano limpia" shows.
frank
Friends,
This is a truly powerful show... a truly powerful documentary that, I think, shows the reality of life in today's Cuba as nothing else.
It is, in a word, frightening.
Yet wonderfully educational.
I hope everyone online who can understand Spanish will have the patience to sit through the 47 minutes or so of the documentary *and* the comments by the panelists.
Because it is tremendously enlightening.
Too bad we can't make this documentary --no, the entire "A Mano Limpia" broadcast-- required viewing in places like today's Venezuela, and Bolivia, and Mexico, and so on, throughout the Americas.
Because that is exactly the type of reality that is coming their way.
And in spite of the despair that the documentary caused on me, it gave me, in a weird, unexplainable way, hope for the future: The Cuban people will bounce back from these (close to) 50 years of abuse. I *know* we will.
Maybe the Almighty had in mind using Cuba, and Cubans, as a lesson for the rest of the continent.
How can anyone stand by and refuse to help those
"tankers", particularly after their liberation comes?
JulioZ
Personal message to Robert M,
I tried to contact you via 26th Parallel, but apparently it didn't go through.
Please drop me a message at Jzangroniz@comcast.net, because I have something of particular interest to you.
JulioZ
PS - Happy anniversary!
Jzangroniz:
I saw the whole program and could not have expressed my feelings as well as you just did. Thank you.