Extreme innocence

Much has been said and discussed regarding the video of the Cuban students who in a meeting with Ricardo Alarcón appeared to stand up to the repressive machinery of the Cuban dictatorship. Were these students acting out of their own volition, or was this just another orchestrated event prepared by the regime for foreign consumption? Regardless of their motivations, it is important to remember that the regime rarely, if ever, allows anything to happen by chance. Their stranglehold on power, which has lasted nearly half a century has not come from allowing free thought and its expression. They have maintained the island under their domination by controlling each and every thought expressed by its victims. Although we cannot help but to hope this outburst of what most certainly would be deemed “anti-revolutionary” behavior is real, we must temper our hopes with what is the reality and the history of the regime.
Camilo López Darias, a Cuban blogger, wrote a very interesting and eye-opening piece on this video outburst on his blog, Estancia Cubana. He titled it, Inocencia extrema; Extreme innocence. Having participated in similar orchestrated events in Cuban universities himself, he recalls how he too initially felt hope that democratic changes and freedom for Cuba were finally on the horizon. He also recalls how disillusioned he felt when soon after he came to the realization that all those meetings and all those expressions of discontent were just a ruse played upon the youth of Cuba by the castro regime.

A los ilusos se los digo, el gobierno de La Habana no quiere cambios verdaderos, porque esa propia mutación podría generar el fin de su existencia, y es cosa sabida que este tipo de regímenes se alimenta de la ostentación y del control absoluto del poder. ¡No hay otra forma! Yo también creí alguna vez en esa transición interna, reposada y hasta justa hacia un sistema libre y democrático, pero me equivoqué como quienes se equivocan ahora esperando de la hebefrénica monstruosidad un signo de cordura. ¡No pierdan su tiempo, caballeros! Posiblemente habrá violencia y hasta miedo. No somos la URSS y la caída del muro de Berlín quedó hace mucho tiempo atrás. Para que las revoluciones dejen de ser tales han de ser barridas de la historia, de los libros y sobre todo del espíritu de la gente. Y eso no se consigue sembrando flores y discurseando poemas en los campus.

As you can see, Camilo’s posts are in Spanish. But I recommend to all of you that can read Spanish to read his entire post HERE.