The Cuban priest Alberto Reyes Pías, one of the most persistent critical voices from within the Island, published this Saturday on Facebook the 181st installment of his weekly column "I've Been Thinking" to dismantle the triumphalist narrative of the regime following the altercation involving Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez at the UN General Assembly.
Reyes described the actions of the Cuban delegation last Tuesday as a "shameful incident," when Rodríguez interrupted the speech of the American ambassador Mike Waltz —who was displaying photos of the Castro family's assets— stepped toward the podium, and called him a "liar."
The regime presented the scene as a "defense of Cuba"; however, for the parish priest of Esmeralda, Camagüey, "that is just one part of the equation."
"There are many people on the other side of the equation, people whom no one looks at, because when the priority is to shout louder than the opponent, it is impossible to hear the suffering of an entire nation," wrote the priest.
In his reflection, Reyes contrasts the diplomatic scene with real cases he knows: women who steal to feed their children, mothers who beg through tears, another who, in an act of extreme desperation, killed her daughter with Down syndrome before committing suicide, and two children, aged nine and eleven, who make charcoal to survive.
"Millions of Cubans need electricity, food, medicine, freedom, and hope—needs that will not be resolved by any media victory," he declared.
The priest goes beyond the diplomatic episode and points directly to the nature of the regime. He asserts that "the Cuban people still do not matter to anyone," and that even if the embargo were lifted tomorrow, "the situation of the people would remain the same, or perhaps worse," because the government "neither wants nor can allow the people to prosper."
His reasoning is compelling: "Any minimal prosperity of the people implies a loss of power, it implies a possibility for people to be encouraged to claim their rights, and that would be the beginning of freedom, the path of democracy, that is, the forbidden route."
Reyes, who has faced summons from State Security, threats of legal action, and restrictions on traveling abroad, does not yield to pressure.
His column this Saturday concludes with a phrase that summarizes his position: “The true defense of Cuba will begin when the dignity of the average Cuban matters more than the pride of any government, when the truth is not considered a threat, and when the goal is no longer merely a statistic to attempt to slap the enemy.”
The altercation at the UN did not put an end to the intimidation tactics of Bruno Rodríguez and his associates. Richard Tur de la Concepción, the first secretary of the Cuban mission, tried to snatch the phone from Waltz's spokesperson and swatted at him while he was recording the confrontation.
After being expelled by the United States, Tur returned to Havana and was received with honors by the Cuban Foreign Ministry, in a gesture that the regime used to strengthen its narrative of confrontation.
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