The new year 2014 was welcomed in Havana by the sound of canons. Twenty-one of them, so that the recent arrival would experience its first fright. In other parts of the globe, the authorities and the citizens welcomed it with fireworks, parties, hymns and songs. But here, to reaffirm that the old soldiers prefer old canons, pointed those from the La Cabaña fort, as always, at the city.
2013 left us in a December marked by the physical passing of Nelson Mandela, the South African Madiba who, after long suffering, finally rested. The official ceremony for his death coincided with the celebration of Human Rights Day. The football stadium in Johannesburg wasn’t big enough for the thousands of compatriots and representatives from all the world who went to pay a well-deserved tribute.
In heartfelt words, the secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, said there, “Mandela hated hatred. Mandela loved peace. Mandela showed a great capacity to forgive. It is everyone’s job to keep Mandela’s memory alive in our hearts.”
In Cuba this past month witnessed the unusual first non-unanimous public vote in the National Assembly. Probably responding to a script prepared in advance, but even so, it was interesting. The general-president had repeatedly referred to the need to end the formal unanimity of voting in the Assembly. But it was difficult for some deputy from his or her own free will to take the initiative. And this is because, lamentably, there still do not exist in this Assembly deputies who represent themselves.
The new labor code was approved by this legislature, giving the green light to the 20th Congress of the official Cuban Workers Center (CTC). As always, everything was approved, among which was the budget for the current year, 2014.
Now in this year, during the commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution, celebrated in Santiago de Cuba on January 1, the general-president said in his speech “and I quote”: (…) to directly consult with the population on decisions for the development of society… “end of quote.”
So we ask ourselves: Why not consult with the people in a plebiscite about whether they prefer a multi-party system to the dictatorship of a single political party? And if, as he reaffirmed, this continues to be a revolution of the humble, for the humble and by the humble, presumably, as in al lthese years, some humble will continue being more humble than others, some equals more equal than others.
As so to begin this new year, we have the government declaration that the Revolution continues with more of the same after 55 years and, to ratify it, the police arrested several people from civil society for attempting to give toys to children on Three Kings Day.
What else could we expect after that twenty-one gun salute from the canons of yore.
7 January 2014
