Priest Alberto Reyes: "Social change must arise from the people, it will not come from those who govern us."

The Cuban priest Alberto Reyes, a strong critic of the regime, stated that social change in Cuba must arise from the people, it will not come spontaneously from those who govern, because their daily life is so different that they are unable to empathize with the suffering of the people.

Father Reyes, from the diocese of Camagüey, shared a text on his Facebook wall this Friday in which he denounces that the government is becoming increasingly disinterested and indifferent to the needs of the people. He calls on the people, who are increasingly suffocated and helpless, to break free from the "spirit of slavery" that dominates them.

Reyes emphasizes that those who lead the country believe they are entitled to power and consider themselves an untouchable elite. He criticizes that if some deign to approach ordinary people, they are received as gods, praised, and applauded.

Next, CiberCuba shares the full text of the publication.

I have been thinking… (LXXII) by Alberto Reyes Pías

I have been thinking about why social change has to come from the people.

I like solutions, problem-solving, overcoming challenges, but I understand that this is not always easy.

How to resolve the divorce between the Government and the people, a Government that is increasingly disinterested and disconnected from the needs of the people, a people that is increasingly suffocated and defenseless? How to break that spirit of slavery that makes us clench our fists in anger inside the house and deal with smiles and complacent lies with those who day by day steal our lives?

I am not always able to come up with solutions, but there is something that is always possible, and that is to help to think, to help us have clear ideas, at least. And one idea that we have to be clear about is that the change on this island will not come spontaneously from those who govern us today.

They cannot come from them because their everyday life is different from ours, which makes it impossible for them to empathize with our suffering.

When there is no power outage, and you don't suffer from the heat, nor the children's milk goes bad, and the nights are not a hell of heat and mosquitoes... you don't think about those who spend night after night without rest and have to face the new day from exhaustion.

When food is not a problem, money is not lacking, medical care is guaranteed, and moving from one place to another is not distressing... one learns to see that life as 'normal', and the poor, the needy, the average person become abstract concepts, faceless beings.

When one has grown up with the mindset that power is owed, and it has been instilled deep in the neurons that they belong to a different class, an untouchable elite... 'the masses,' 'the people,' become words for empty speeches and an intolerable threat if they try to change things.

When one has grown up without God, when the Bible is an unknown book and Christ is nothing more than an incomprehensible and bothersome superstition; when God does not factor into the equation of life, and is not seen as the Father who makes us see others as siblings... then power dehumanizes, and the soul becomes insensitive to the cries of the poor.

On the other hand, when someone deigns to approach people who live in the real world and are received like gods, praised, applauded, adored... it doesn't matter if out of fear, strategy, or indoctrination; when they are paraded through fireworks and no one dares to tell them 'the emperor has no clothes', the message of submission and slavery cannot be clearer and more reassuring.

I do not know how we will be able to achieve that things change, but the change will not come spontaneously from those who govern us, because for them, a change is not necessary or practical; for them, the people are just an excuse for their perfect life; for them, we do not matter.