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MARIO J. TORRES
Political Repression
Due to the serious economic
situation, the government has created several specialized organizations.
Some of them are selective; others are falsely massive.
These organizations have as a goal to
repress and control the population's lives to avoid a possible rebellion or
protest. The following is a description of the main repressive organizations
of the system:
(1) CDR (Committees for the Defense of the Revolution)
This is a compulsorily massive organization, which is structured at every
block or street all over the country and has the purpose of watching,
inspecting, and controlling every detail of the lives of the people who live
in that block. There are thousands of CDRs in Cuba. There is one in each
block, street or building in every city, town, or village. Each one has a
president and a board of assistants who are in charge of different spheres
of life like vigilance, productive work, education, recreation and sports,
recycling, financial affairs, and others. The president may be bribed with a
new apartment, a phone, or a new Russian car (most of the Cuban cars are old
American cars of the 50's) but most of the time, they are afraid of losing
their jobs, want to have more respect and consideration and be "clean" with
the system or they simply want their sons to get a career at the University
or don't want to be bothered by anyone who might say they are not with the
regime since this works as a shield for protecting themselves, so the
president will inform all he sees, hears, or whatever moves in his
surroundings.
The control is total: they know if the person arrives home late, where he
works or studies (to report those places about that person's political
attitude), if he drinks, if he spends too much money, if he has any
business, the people that visit him, how he expresses himself in political
issues, and mainly if he is politically active.
In order to evaluate every Cuban's behavior, standpoint and submission
towards the system, detect possible WORMS (colloquial term meaning: enemy of
the system) and also to measure up to which extent people bend their heads
at the establishment, the CDRs have instituted a series of nonsense
activities and tasks for that purpose:
(a) Blood donation
(b) Parades
(c) Celebration of political and historical dates
(d) Recycling of all materials
(e) "Productive" works
(f) Scheduling of night guards
(g) Reading of orientations from the "Commander in Chief".
(h) Meetings to check emulation and individuals' behavior
(i) Military activities.
(j) Financial mandatory contribution to the organization and many others.
He, who would dare not attend or take part in these activities, could be
declared as antisocial or potentially anti-revolutionary. That person could
be socially banned, and CDR authorities might inform his job about his
behavior, and he could even be fired.
Night Guards:
Every CDR member must stay up the whole night at the corner of his block
watching for possible thieves or enemies of the state who could damage
social property. This is usually biweekly, and it can take up five hours off
the person's sleep. However, the next day he will have to be ready to work.
This type of guard also takes place at jobs. The funniest thing is that
there is nothing to take care of. These are only tasks to measure the degree
of acceptance and discipline towards the system and to identify those who do
not like it. The fulfillment of these activities is a priority for
promotions, references, attitude evaluation for transfers, and social
behavior.
"Productive" Work:
On Sundays, CDR members are urged to clean, sweep, weed their gardens or
yards, or simply show up or show off before the apartment building or
street. Sometimes moving a broom and letting it be seen by the official who
is calling the roll is enough. This is also evaluative. If the person that
checks the attendance finds out that somebody is frequently absent, that
somebody will also be considered an antisocial, public enemy; and no matter
how honest and decent he may be, he could be declared as a negative element
in his block.Following the chief's rules is what counts, and there is such a
big spider's web that everybody is tangled into it; even the leaders in
charge do not have a sincere ideal towards what they are doing. And, what
they do is show off, make noise, repeat slogans, give commands, boast or
brag, or pretend they are working hard. They are active or energetic for
everyone to see that they are tough revolutionaries that can get a grade in
the system, being "clean" as most Cubans say. It is just a theater play.
Usually, these people have a double moral because they express one thing,
but feel another. Those are the rules of the game in Cuba, and that is what
keeps the commander in chief in power. Some of those people are simply
afraid to lose the little they have, so they act as if they were communists;
others want to keep what the system gave them, and others do it reluctantly
because they have interests to care for and want to be respected:
(a) A son who wants to study Medicine or another college career, and if the
family does not "behave, the kid will not get the career.
(b) An illegal business everybody knows of, but if the person complies
politically, they let him go ahead with it.
(c) Having many relatives in the United States supporting them economically
so the family has to compensate for that by being politically active.
So everybody is trapped with something he owes the system, and that is
precisely the key for its survival. The CDR also organizes parades for
historical dates. Everybody has to go out in the street with big signs
supporting the system and saying silly slogans aloud; they should march
towards a concentration square where a leader will give a political speech.
This creates a false image to the world but what the world does not know is
that this is all mandatory.
Attendance here is also controlled.
The CDRs organize political celebrations such as:
(a) Triumph of the "Revolution" (Jan 1st 1959)
(b) Moncada Garrison Attack (July 26th-1953)
(c) CDRs Day (September 28th)
(d) Women's International Day (March 8th)
(e) Federation of Cuban Women's Day (August 23rd)
For these days music and rum are provided; there are no blackouts scheduled,
and some kind of public brothy goulash meal called CALDOSA is cooked in a
big pot with firewood in the middle of the street where attendance is
mandatory, and everybody is supposed to eat, drink, and dance. Usually the
ingredients for this meal are asked for from the same neighbors who do not
have anything to eat and it is a serious sin to be absent from these
celebrations. Sometimes the strength of the system is measured by massive
attendance to these celebrations. People seem happy; they drink, eat, and
some even dance, but there are several reasons for this attitude: Some of
the reasons rely on the repression system as such, but a very special one is
that Cubans can get easy and free food at least for one day just by stepping
in front of their houses. Other young people, who like to drink and dance
and cannot, do it due to the life they lead. They then take advantage of
this opportunity, and even though they do not share any political ideal or
do not know what is being celebrated, they attend these parties just to have
a couple of drinks and forget about their troubles. The system has no
principles or ideals, and everybody is spinning in a wheel the government
knows of and makes profit from too because it is supported by this game.
Only a few have firm ideals and do not join in the celebrations. It could be
said that Cubans have no principles either, but their only way out is either
to leave the country (tough task) or wait until the commander dies.
Rebellion is out of the question due to the very well-knitted and complex
repression system, so sometimes they let off their steam in this way,
whereas anyone might think they are supporting the system. Castro has
specialized himself in keeping the power at all cost and has become a
perfect machine or a genius for that purpose but his only mistake is to have
gone so high and so god-like that if one day he were not present, no one
would have the "height" to replace him. He haunts and deceives people with
the magnetic and convincing power of his words, to such an extent that also
his enemies respect him and I'm sure that some even admire him.
In Cuba he is colloquially called: THE HORSE, which in the culture of the
island means full of power, skills and strength. The Cuban government is
supported by hypocrisy, lies, deceit, and double morals. Nobody can ever
know what somebody else is thinking.
Nobody trusts anybody because anyone can be an informer or a bribed or
blackmailed squealer who can be speaking against the system to make the
other person say his opinion and turn him in, or who could be talking in
favor for his own safety.
So everyone prefers to say: "Castro is kind," instead of "Castro is killing
us," because he could get up to five years in jail for that.
This process of not trusting anybody is a real chain, and the monster knows
it and takes advantage of it by increasing that sense of mystery and the
not-know-who-is-who among the population. For these reasons the commander
has not not easy to overthrow.
The CDR also controls attendance to military preparations to be ready to
defend from an attack of the Yankee Imperialism. Castro calls this All the
People's War, and only fools in Cuba believe that there is going to be an
American invasion. He hopes it will happen so as to keep on putting the
blame on the United States and maybe attack them. He also knows an invasion
is unlikely, but in this way he entertains the population and measures their
dependability. Castro claims that all Cubans should be soldiers, and the
country is completely militarized. All the garrisons that became schools
doubled or tripled as garrisons again in other locations and for the purpose
of totally involving Cubans in the military he made up a new army called the
Militia of Territorial Troops to agitate the people even more and to which
all people must belong.
Castro has been a genius of evil, and there has not been anything that
escapes his wit for keeping the power before all.
Money is collected by the CDR and jobs to support the MTT. Sunday
"maneuvers" are carried out under CDR control. So, on a Sunday morning, a
person wakes up tired and depressed, with no money and no food, and he has
to attend a militia meeting sometimes just to "shoot" with a toy gun or to
play hide and seek where even old people have done it. This is undoubtedly
ridiculous.
CDR meetings are scheduled monthly or biweekly at night in front of whole
apartment buildings or in the middle of the street. Right there every member
is criticized, analyzed, and the new "tasks" are oriented.
In conclusion the CDR can destroy any person's life by cornering him
socially, firing him from his job or even sending him to jail which would be
a "major curse" due to the inhumane situation of jail conditions and also
for the brutal harassment given to prisoners and this is what everyone
dreads and wants to avoid.
"The way people behave in the island is like that kid story of the king who
wore invisible clothes and everyone had to admire them and so mouths are
only allowed to be open to praise the system and not to do their other
functions".
MARIO J TORRES
JANUARY 2004
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