The Cuban priest Alberto Reyes, who has become a well-known figure inside and outside the Church for his critical stance towards the regime, believes that the country is experiencing a terminal moment.
Reyes, from the parish of Esmeralda in Camagüey, gave an interview to journalist Mario Pentón from Martí Noticias, stating that the current moment is one of the toughest and most difficult in many years, experiencing worse crises.
"It would seem, and I hope so, that this is a terminal moment, with things we all know but that it's good to remember: food is a problem, prices are skyrocketing, transportation...", he detailed.
"I always emphasize the issue of medications, which is disastrous. The other day I picked up a man in a rural town and he told me that his only 14-year-old son sprained his ankle with an open wound, the wound got infected, and the boy died because there were no antibiotics. That is the dramatic situation of our people," he emphasized.
The Father pointed out that in the spiritual realm there is much despair and civil society feels very vulnerable, as every time there have been protests, the repression has been brutal and the punitive measures exemplary.
"People are afraid and the government is afraid, because it knows it has lost the heart of the people," he stated.
"This moment is one of pure and hard dictatorship. The government is subjugating a people that doesn't want it, it is binding the hands of a people that wants something else and that is waiting for the opportunity to get rid of it," he added.
Regarding the massive exodus that the country is experiencing, he stated that it is not stopping and will not stop, and lamented that Cuban churches are empty, especially of young people.
"The atmosphere is: 'how am I leaving, how am I leaving, how am I leaving'. At all ages," she emphasized.
The parish priest expressed that there is no interest from the authorities in changing the situation of the town, and that there is a divorce between the government and the people.
"The government's interest is to maintain control and power; the people should fend for themselves, survive as best they can. And if they protest and rise up, we repress them, control them, and give them a little gift, a bit of food, to calm them down, and that's how we put out the fires that keep appearing," he explained.
"It's not just empty slogans, but also - and this bothers me a lot - the institutionalized lie. They lie to you while looking you in the eye. They lie to you on television: 'the energy problem will improve next month.' It won't improve because it can't improve. It's a lie, I prefer that you say nothing, but don't foster an illusion that will break," he demanded.
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