The Cuban priest Alberto Reyes, from the diocese of Camagüey, shared a reflection in which he details all the rights that the government has taken away from the people over these six decades, while urging citizens not to lose hope.
Father Reyes, known for his rejection of the Castro regime which he often denounces and criticizes on his social media, recalled that many Cubans who risked their lives to overthrow Batista did so driven by hope. Those who came afterward fostered that same hope and transmitted a false illusion to the people, while buying time to consolidate their power and take over the country.
In a post on his Facebook wall, Reyes listed all the freedoms that communism has taken away from the people: alternative political parties, free elections, peaceful demonstrations, private initiative...
Now, the people know that it was all manipulation and lies; that’s why the regime has only one option left: a strong hand and continuous threats.
Next, CiberCuba shares the full text of the publication:
"I have been thinking… (LXXXV) by Alberto Reyes Pías"
I have been thinking about the root of some 'no's.
Many years ago, this town grew weary of Batista's dictatorship, and the vast majority supported the revolutionary movements that fought against tyranny. Many people risked their property, status, and even their lives; many worked clandestinely, many lost family members, many died. Why? What gave them strength and courage? What made them challenge dangers? Hope, the sun that rises in the soul when it is still night.
Those who planned to take over this island nurtured hope and conveyed in a thousand ways to this people that their support and sacrifices would lead to victory. And when that happened, they offered this people a prepared illusion, making them believe that only they knew the way to the longed-for freedom, while buying time to chain the only thing that could truly take away their power: hope.
That's why they were establishing a 'no' where this town was expecting and needed a 'yes.' The 'nos' to what they could not and cannot allow.
No to alternative political parties, because political parties are not just a group of people with different thoughts, but a community of individuals who come together to dream of a different country, to create a new vision of reality, and from that vision, to inspire one another to seek the means to make it possible, and this dream, this vision, needs hope in its soul.
No to free elections. They invite you to vote, but prevent you from choosing, because the right to choose conveys the message that different thoughts are possible, and that projects towards change, as choosing is a way of living hope.
No to freedom of expression, because they cannot allow the voices of citizens to reach the sleeping, deceived, or frightened masses. They cannot accept being questioned by those who offer a different option, because if the people start to believe in that different option, nothing will stop the birth of hope within them, and awakened hope sees the deceptions and strengthens the determination that it is possible to do something.
No to peaceful demonstrations, because sometimes we believe that hope is only a personal and private matter, but when that hope is shared, proclaimed, and brought to the streets, it is discovered that it is the hope of an entire people, and that makes one believe in the change that was once imagined to be impossible.
No to the amnesty for political prisoners, because imprisoning those who think differently is the best warning of what can happen to those who give voice to their hope.
No to the advance of private initiative, because private initiative means autonomy, empowerment, independence from the State. Private initiative is called freedom, and freedom nurtures hope.
Gone are the times of idyllic infatuations, of soothing promises, and of energetic songs that foretold futures of glory. Now we know each other and have looked each other in the face. Now we know that it was all manipulation and lies.
It is no longer worth pretending. Only the iron fist and the constant threat remain. Only the attempt to convince that hope is useless, and that dreaming of a different tomorrow is of no use.
And yet, in the heart of this people, every new day, amid precariousness and tyranny, a voice deep within is reborn and resonates: 'I exist' – says hope – and one day, one day, we will manage to change the night for a freedom that becomes midday."
What do you think?
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