Reports from Cuba: The Cuban people’s silent resistance

Orlando Freire Santana writes from Havana via Diario de Cuba:

The Cuban people’s silent resistance

‘It’s as if people are striving to flout that indicated by government and partisan directives.’

In recent times we have witnessed a kind of silent resistance by the Cuban population to compliance with some initiatives promoted by the island’s political leaders. ‘It’s as if people are striving to flout that indicated by government and partisan directives.’

There are, for example, the constant and fruitless calls by the Comptroller General of the Republic, Gladys Bejerano, to complete the staff of auditors, both at her Comptroller’s Office and of the other agencies of the Central State Administration.

Few professionals in the field of Economics want to be auditors, which can be interpreted as a refusal to sanction other workers who work at state companies and entities, perhaps spurred by the conviction that stealing from the state (which started out by stripping many Cubans of their property and assets) is not really a crime.

If this reluctance occurs with slots for external auditors at the Comptroller’s Office and ministries, finding people who want to work as internal auditors at some basic entities is even more critical. Almost no one is interested in being a whistleblower on their own coworkers.

Similarly, the small number of young jurists who become prosecutors is conspicuous, as they are slow to lend themselves to condemning people who take to the streets to protest against the Castro regime. It is inevitable that these jurists will ponder what will happen to them when Castroism disappears, and society sees them as those who once oppressed their countrymen.

Then there are the many members of the Union of Young Communists (UJC) who reach the age limit for military service in that youth organization and then refuse to join the Communist Party (PCC). This is one of the greatest concerns of Cuba’s higher-ups. Much was said about this situation during the recent 12th Congress of the UJC, and it remained a task to be urgently addressed by the PCC and its youth organization.  

It is very likely that many of those young people who have declined to join the CCP have realized that they were going to become a kind of cannon fodder  to undertake all the dirty work (repudiation rallies, militant marches…) through which the Party strengthens its power over society.

Perhaps the least expected of the people’s refusals to accept orders from above was highlighted ruing recent meeting between Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and the provincial governors and the intendant of Isla de Juventud.

One of the points discussed at the meeting was the Government’s calls to combat with it considers “abusive and speculative prices”. The surprise came when the Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro, also present at the meeting, pointed out as a weakness in that fight the limited efficacy of the country’s price inspection agencies.

Marrero then said: “How are we going to fight prices if there is not constant inspection of this important matter in terms of compliance with what is established?”

Of course, there is no constant inspection because the necessary number of inspectors is lacking. It is surprising that even in the case of an activity that all of society was supposed to support (fighting high prices), many are reluctant to inspect its proper functioning.

The possible experiences of those who are involved in these inspections must be considered. These almost always involve situations in which market prices operating according to the supply-demand relationship are under attack. Suppliers immediately withdraw their goods and services, and the greater shortages ensue. Obviously, nobody wants to be part of this.

But it cannot be ruled out that this shortage of price inspectors is yet another reflection of the people’s widespread refusal to do whatever the power structure wants.