14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 3 February 2021 — In these times of pandemic in which even scientists debate whether a virus is alive or not, it is worth reviewing what makes a human being transcend the category of furniture, a step or mere thing in the way. Without a doubt, their ideas, their opinions and the desire to change reality contribute to the definition that in this species “life runs through the veins.”
But not everyone is clear about it and that is why they do not understand that freedom of expression is a human right.
After reading the article signed by Arthur González on the official website Las Razones de Cuba [Cuba’s Reasons] entitled Counterrevolution sheltered behind the cross and the cassock, it seems necessary to me, given my personal experience on the subject, to give some recommendations that serve those people who have among their priorities to not look like a counterrevolutionary.
For González, in the letter signed by religious and laity there is a plea that “stamps the counterrevolutionary character of the entire letter,” which calls for “better legal frameworks so that lawyers can work independently of the control of the State, impunity is eliminated from the sector of society related to the Government and politically diverse and peaceful initiatives are protected.”
Understanding that what is published in Las Razones de Cuba passes through an approval filter at the highest level, I have the right to believe that these arguments are (or agree with) the official opinion; that of the Party and the Government.
In short, if you don’t want to sound like a counterrevolutionary:
- Do not criticize any law, decree or administrative instruction issued by an official institution. The people who wrote this standard are reliable colleagues, armed with a solid ideological position and are more knowledgeable than you of the economic and social details that made it possible.
- In social networks do not express your own idea or share the ideas of others. Refrain from giving a “like” or any other sign of acceptance to messages, opinions or information that have not appeared in the official media.
- Stay within the model. Always be optimistic and confident in what the leaders say. Although being homosexual, religious, animalistic, or environmentalist is no longer so frowned upon, don’t forget that the role model is heterosexual, atheist, and development-minded, whatever the cost.
- Remember that you only dialogue with “the other,” and if you do not want to seem like a counterrevolutionary, you must testify that you belong to a monolithic “we” that does not have to be in dialogue with those who deviate from the correct line. “And in no case” should one trust imperialism, its lackeys or its spokesmen.
- If these warnings seem complex to you, it is better be silent and when you begin to applaud the government’s measures, try to do so with remarkable enthusiasm, never forget that there is always someone who is evaluating you.
If by following these recommendations you come to feel like an anodyne being, draw your own conclusions and decide which risk you prefer to take, whether to be a candidate to qualify as mediocre and cowardly or to be singled out as a counterrevolutionary.
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