Alberto Reyes to those who suppress the protests in Cuba: "They are just pawns who are sold the illusion of power."

Alberto Reyes, a Cuban priest from the diocese of Camagüey and a strong critic of the regime, sent a message to his compatriots who, not being police officers or military personnel, are called upon to dismantle popular protests and are authorized to use physical violence against the population.

In a text shared on Facebook, Reyes questions those individuals who suffer the same shortcomings as the people and are willing to stop those who have the courage to say "Enough!" on behalf of everyone, just because they feel important for a few hours.

Father Reyes calls on those repressors to realize that having power, even if it is illusory and momentary, prevents them from seeing reality, and that they are nothing more than pawns, pieces in a game that is decided at a much higher level.

Next, CiberCuba shares the full text of the publication.

I have been thinking... (LXXIII) by Alberto Reyes Pías

I have been thinking about how power makes people invisible.

Someone told me about a conversation with a close acquaintance, those we can't properly call 'friends', but who are part of our inner circle of relationships. This person is one of those who, in plain clothes, have the role of dispersing popular demonstrations and are authorized to use physical violence against the population.

This person recounted with pride the role they have been asked to perform, and how 'we have to stop the people' when the people come out in masses demanding freedom. The other person looked at them and said: 'Haven't you realized that I am part of that people, of those people they have ordered you to beat?'.

It's interesting how our small parcels of power can make us feel so important, so necessary, even heroic, that they prevent us from seeing reality. It's amazing how people who suffer from the same deficiencies as the people, who experience the same needs, lend themselves to slowing down those who have the courage to say, "Enough already!" on behalf of everyone. It's sad how the illusion of feeling important can lead to repressing and striking those who should be defended.

Because in reality, they are nothing more than pawns, pieces in a game that is decided at a much higher level. They are just tokens to which the illusion of power is sold.

But power, even if it's illusory, is a drug, and like a drug, it makes reality change in front of you. You see, but you don't see, because what you're looking at is not the person in front of you. What you see is not the father and mother of a family who are asking for bread, medicine, quality education, rest for their children; what you see is not the young person defending their right to freedom; what you see is not the elderly person who is alone, at the mercy of a meager pension that does not allow them to live. What you see, you do not consider a person.

Drugged by the illusion of power, you see yourself as the superhero, as the one who with blows manages to control the masses and make them submissive, ecstatic with the impunity that makes you feel protected by a superior power that, however, you are terrified to disobey, a superior power to which you feel you cannot disappoint, because then you would be its victim.

But this subjection will not be forever. As Nicaraguan bishop Silvio Báez says, 'the crucified peoples, sooner or later, will rise again.'

When that resurrection comes, and be certain it will come, maybe by then you will have managed to escape to lands of freedom, where you will try to bury your past; when that resurrection comes, perhaps you will be able to go unnoticed and hide your oppressive history; but what you will never be able to do is escape from your conscience, the one that tells you today, as you strike, that you are taking the life of your own people.