The Cuban Catholic priest Alberto Reyes Pías published the 175th installment of his weekly column on Facebook this Saturday, titled “I Have Been Thinking About a Message of Hope,” in which he openly acknowledges the severity of the Cuban crisis and urges his fellow countrymen not to lose hope.
The parish priest of Esmeralda, in Camagüey, does not soften his diagnosis: "It is no secret that Cuba is immersed in a systemic crisis, a crisis that worsens day by day, while the Government seems only concerned with repression."
Reyes goes further and points out why the regime is not seeking solutions: "No one in power seems to have the slightest interest in finding a solution, perhaps because, given the level of deterioration the island is in, any improvement would empower the population and entail a loss of power. And the loss of power, for them, is unacceptable."
For the priest, however, the most serious issue is not the scarcity or repression, but the collective mood: "The worst part of this moment is that we have lost hope again. Days go by without us seeing a light on the horizon, and the expectations from a few months ago have faded away."
Despite this, he urges not to lose hope because, he asserts, "no evil is eternal, and the oppression of our land will not be either."
In the face of widespread discouragement, reflect on the importance of solidarity: "Look for someone who is in need and assist them, share what you can, call someone who is alone, help a family with food or medicine, listen, comfort, encourage." And he adds: "Don't wait to change everything; start by helping one person."
Reyes also appeals to faith as a support in the midst of adversity: "Keep remembering time and again the voice of the God who keeps telling you: I am with you, which does not mean that there will be no difficulties, but rather that you will not have to go through them alone."
It warns that giving up before change arrives would leave people without the strength to seize that moment: "If you give up along the way, when that situation ends, you will have neither the strength nor the hope to embrace the light."
And it conveys a statement of collective identity: "Cuba is not just its problems. Cuba is also its children, its ability to love, to share, to rise up, to reinvent itself."
Finally, Father Reyes concludes with a message of optimism: "Cuba, despite its chains, will move forward if we do not stop believing in the dawn and if, in the midst of the night, we continue to extend our hands to one another and do good."
The post arrives just a few hours after another complete disconnection of the National Electric System, following several failures in different sections of the power grid.
Throughout the year, his reflections have described Cuba as a "country at war," have unveiled fear as the foundation of the regime, and have explained how the regime manages to make capable individuals participate in repression without questioning whether what they are doing is right or wrong.
Reyes does not write from a place of comfort: the government has pressured him directly. In January, the State Security summoned him along with the priest Castor José Álvarez Devesa and issued him a warning for his public criticisms. After that episode, he stated: “The summons was not a dialogue, it was an intimidation.”
In July, the authorities prevented himfrom traveling to Miami.
Despite everything, he has continued to publish every week without interruption.
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