Cuban-Mexican academic Alejandro González Acosta asserted this Tuesday, in an interview with CiberCuba, that "the change in Cuba must be radical." When asked by CiberCuba what he meant by radical, he replied, "Everything in reverse," and took the opportunity to share an anecdote about his friend Eliseo Alberto "Lichi" Diego, author of "Caracol Beach," at a book fair, where he shared a table with Miguel Barnet, a writer and president of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.
Barnet spoke for 59 of the 60 available minutes, and when he handed the floor to Lichi, he replied, "Since you left me no time to speak, to put it simply: I oppose everything you said."
Regarding the path to that state, the academic was blunt. He dismissed the possibility of a negotiated transition in Cuba because "it requires two parties to negotiate," a condition he deems non-existent. "I don't believe a transition is possible, only a change. And the change must be radical," he insisted.
"Everything needs to change. Everything that is upside down." To illustrate why the change must be swift and complete, he referred to an image of his grandfather: "My grandfather used to say that a bandage removed in one swift motion hurts less."
With great humor, he also pointed out that exiled Cubans are "the Cassandras," always warning of disaster "and always ignored and unheard," he said in the interview with Tania Costa for CiberCuba, where he reflected on the possibility of contributing to the reconstruction of Cuba.
Before González Acosta could respond, a viewer identified as Vicelda Alfonso wrote live: "These are the people we need to rebuild Cuba. Invite him back." The following question was straightforward: would he be willing to return to Cuba after more than three decades in Mexico?
The researcher, who has been working at UNAM since 1989 and has access to the reserved collection of the National Library of Mexico —which he describes as "perhaps one of the most important in Latin America"— stated that he "would try to contribute if the conditions were right" to add his bit of effort in his professional field.
His area of contribution would be the recovery of the Cuban bibliographic heritage, which he imagines must be in terrible condition not due to a lack of professionalism, but because the climate in Cuba "is the worst for the preservation of documents, whether they are books or manuscripts," he pointed out, listing humidity, heat, and the lack of pest control as determining factors.
He cited the building of the National Archive of Cuba as an example, constructed facing the bay of Havana. "They built it in the best possible location," he quipped, recalling that it was designed with air conditioning and dehumidifiers that were never operational. "If there's not even electricity, how are they supposed to work?"
González Acosta mentioned the García Carranza sisters and Israel Echeverría as "selfless dedicated workers" within Cuba, but emphasized that goodwill alone is not sufficient in the absence of material conditions. Among the documents he hopes to find, he cited materials by José María Heredia, a poet to whom he has devoted decades of research.
But before any contribution, he set an unnegotiable condition. "First, there must truly be a democratic state where there is freedom of thought, action, and assembly."
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