14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 30 September 2020 — As a result of the first debate held between President Donald Trump and the Democratic candidate Joe Biden, the controversy among Cubans has been reactivated the debate about which candidate winning the November election would be better for us: whether it is the current tenant of the White House or the candidate who was vice president during Obama’s term.
As an ordinary Cuban (I don’t even own a bicycle), I believe that we do not have the slightest opportunity to influence the results and that, at most, from now until the Americans decide who will occupy the position in dispute, there is no choice but to carry two bags; in one (Trump’s), what we will have to do in a situation of extreme belligerence; and in the other (Biden’s), how to take advantage of four years of thaw.
As Trump does not pay taxes to the Cuban tax authority, I do not care about his alleged errors in paying taxes, and since Ukraine is so far away, I do not think that the ties of Biden’s son with that country may be related to our problems.
What matters to me is that things change in Cuba. This means that political disagreement is decriminalized and that we can all speak for or against those who govern us and that, economically, those who are capable of producing the things we need to live are given the freedom to do so.
And this is where I get opportunistic.
Cuba and its future are my priority. If the total strangulation of the country through the intensification of sanctions brings that change, welcome. If rapprochement is the Trojan horse that forces the regime to change what really needs to be changed, then welcome.
This is my “strictly personal” position, to which I have the right because I was born on this island where my ancestors lost in the days when Bartolomé de las Casas baptized the Indians with my second surname, in this territory where I remain despite of everything.
If the debate that matters to us is how to react to what will happen in relation to the election of a president in another country, whatever it may be, know that this ordinary Cuban has only one priority: this country, where my children and my grandchildren will live for many years.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
