The great Cuban chess master Lázaro Bruzón posted a strong message on Facebook where he responds to those who try to silence him and unapologetically reasserts his right to speak about Cuba: “Why do I talk about Cuba? The short answer is: because I FEEL LIKE IT.”
The chess player from Holguín, who has been competing under the American flag since 2020, continues to issue a steady stream of critical statements against the Cuban dictatorship, and this new publication represents one of his most direct and personal texts to date.
Bruzón outright rejects the arguments made by the regime's defenders to silence him: "The supporters of the dictatorship always try to make you feel inferior so you'll stay quiet with tired phrases like 'they pay you,' 'you didn't speak in Cuba,' or 'you have no morals.' That's the usual script: diverting the message. It doesn't WORK with me."
The chess player describes the debate about Cuba as "a two-way street": on one side are those who demand freedom, rights, and dignity; on the other, those who justify censorship, repression, and the absence of freedoms.
For him, his complaints do not respond to any external agenda or organization: "My complaints stem from my conscience, my history, and my responsibility as a Cuban. I do not belong to any party or organization. I first represent myself and my principles."
The Grand Master goes beyond the current situation and establishes a position that, as he himself clarifies, would not change even in the best possible scenario: even if there were no political prisoners in Cuba tomorrow and the economic situation improved, he would continue to assert that "in Cuba THERE IS A DICTATORSHIP of a single party that divides the nation and maintains an apartheid of consciousness."
It also calls on Cubans to shake off their fear: "Cubans need to overcome the complex and fear of being censored for speaking about their country. Who has the authority to tell you what you can talk about? Was it not enough to grow up in a system where we were told what to think and what to say since we were children?"
Bruzón concludes his publication with a statement that encapsulates his stance: "Even if I'm left alone, I will continue to say the same thing: what is happening in Cuba is UNJUST, and denouncing it is MY RIGHT."
This publication adds to a series of recent interventions. On October 4th, he referred to those who applaud the imprisonment of young people for posting a video or singing protest songs as "miserable," and days later he stated in a video that he would not be silenced: “I will not stop talking about Cuba.”
Last Sunday, he stated that access to the Internet "eliminated all excuses" to defend the Cuban government, and in September, he reported that his mother was harassed in a store in Las Tunas due to her son's political opinions, labeling that province as "a forefront of informants".
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