This type of system is arrogant, it believes that it has everything under control and that it can tame the human soul. This leads them to make mistakes and miscalculate certain steps.
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 28 July 2024 — The official Cuban press woke up this Sunday too silent on the main issue that affects all the inhabitants on this side of the world: the presidential elections in Venezuela. And while, in the homes and streets of this Island no one talks of anything but than the possible defeat of Nicolás Maduro in the elections, the media controlled by the Communist Party have preferred to go back 70 years, to that July 28th when Hugo Chávez was born.
To prevent Cubans from being aware of the details of this historic day, several activists and independent journalists have had their cell phone access to the Internet cut off. The satellite dish service that illegally provides the ability to watch television programming from the United States, Mexico and other countries in the region has also been conveniently suspended. The visits of agents from the political police to the areas with the greatest presence of these devices in Havana has dissuaded their administrators from providing a signal whose content the government cannot control.
The anguishing reality in which we live also acts as a distraction from what is happening at the polls in Venezuelan. The mountains of garbage that surround us, the inflation that hits our pockets, the constant farewells to those who emigrate, along with the flies and mosquitoes that have taken over our cities and our homes, it all gives us no respite and barely allows us to concentrate on anything beyond survival. However, people are attentive to the electoral process in that country that, for 25 years, has been intertwined with ours in the political, economic and diplomatic direction.
To prevent Cubans from being aware of the details of this historic day, several activists and independent journalists have had their cell phone access to the Internet cut off
We all know that what happens there will have an impact here. Chavismo has propped up the inefficient Cuban regime for more than two decades. It has given it the oxygen of a constant supply of oil, it has supported it in its delirious international campaigns, it has silenced many of those who criticize Castroism, either by buying their silence with fuel or by making use of that institutional bullying that is common to any authoritarian system. Both dictatorships have embraced, supported and shielded each other against their citizens’ questioning, dissent and the desire for change.
But even with an emigration that exceeds 7 million people in a decade, with most of its main opposition figures exiled, the Chavista collectives terrorizing those who do not join Maduro, and an official propaganda apparatus that has swallowed up practically all the news spaces in the country, Venezuelans still have the electoral resource to show their discontent and weariness with a model that has led them to national and personal ruin. It is an imperfect mechanism, rigged and controlled by the regime, but it exists, unlike in Cuba where all possibilities of a change through the popular vote have been severed.
That is why we are so attentive on this island to what is happening in the vast territory of Venezuela; we hold our breath, we call each other on the phone. There are those who have become emotional and, with watery eyes, have spoken of a future in which Chavismo no longer supports our misfortune, is not an accomplice of the executioner who is squeezing our necks, and who has made so many of our children pack their bags and leave the country where they have their roots.
“What if they succeed?” a friend asked me, his voice cracking. His question tested my skepticism about an authoritarian regime obeying the voice of the ballot box, accepting that it has lost the favor of its people and stepping down peacefully. But for once, I am hopeful. I also know that this type of system is arrogant, it believes it has everything under control and can tame the human soul. This leads them to make mistakes and miscalculate certain steps.
This Sunday I am in Havana, but as if I were in Caracas. If the Venezuelans can do it, why can’t we also rid ourselves of this long-standing tyranny?
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