Protests in Cuba mean regime is weakening: people see historic opportunity for change

I came to the United States ten years ago from Cuba, where I was a student activist pro-democracy. The work I did there was light by American standards; Along with some of my friends, I organized small meetings and collected signatures to present to the government. But my efforts caught the attention of the secret police, and I eventually moved to Florida as a political refugee.

So it filled me with hope to see the demonstrations of recent days in Cuba, which would have been unthinkable while I was an organizer. The fact that hundreds of people are publicly calling for reform shows that the regime has weakened and the people see a historic opportunity for change. We hear him in their cries of protest: “It’s over!” Down with communism! ”It’s over, down with communism.

Much has been said about recent food shortages on the island and the lack of access to coronavirus vaccines. This is certainly fueling some of the current anger. But focusing on these factors ignores the long process of change in Cuba. Disillusionment with communist ideology has grown, not only among Cubans of my generation, but also among older Cubans who believed in revolution 60 years ago.

The older generation sacrificed their freedoms to achieve a communist utopia, but their efforts ended in misery. For example, Cubans were promised a first-class health care system, but the result, six decades later, are dirty hospitals, a lack of drugs and doctors, as Cuban doctors are sent abroad for profit and to state propaganda.. Other major propaganda programs have also turned into disaster, such as the much-vaunted literacy program of late dictator Fidel Castro. It may still appeal to Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, but it has become a tool of decaying indoctrination.

The most important recent change is communication technology. The use of cell phones, the Internet and social networks have allowed Cubans to connect and communicate. During the last uprising in 1994, known as the Maleconazo, the regime easily isolated and suppressed protests by cutting off the few landlines. This prevented most Cubans from being informed of the protests until their end. This time, images of the spontaneous protests in two cities far apart were shared on social media, allowing the rest of the country to find out immediately.

Unlike previous protests – such as the Ladies in White (a collective of mothers and wives of political prisoners) and the San Isidro Movement (artists calling for freedom of expression) – these protests have spread beyond their small enclaves and were made up of tens of thousands of Cubans, despite harsh repressive tactics, including arbitrary detentions and disappearances.

Technology has helped create a strong civil society. Cubans have seen communities emerge around religion, LGBT issues, politics, entrepreneurship, and even video games. These associations, harmless in a normal society where people freely pursue common interests, are seen as a threat to the power of the Communists in Cuba.

A growing movement of social media influencers is also challenging the Communist Party’s monopoly on public speaking. While the flagship program of the Communist Party of Cuba, “Mesa Redonda”, since 2009 has more than 4 million visits and 32,000 subscribers on YouTube, the channel “Cubanos por el Mundo”, which offers information and entertainment independent, has accumulated more than 38 million views and 142,000 subscribers since 2013. Popular YouTuber, Alex Otaola, who is largely unknown outside of the Spanish-speaking Cuban and Cuban-American social media niche, used his provocative comments to push prominent Cuban artists and celebrities to echo his anti-Communist message and persuade Cubans to fight peacefully for freedom in the streets.

Although this uprising is crushed, I am sure that these events mark the beginning of the end of the communist regime in Cuba, because people have understood that they can claim their freedoms. Even if the regime retains power, it will be forced to carry out economic reforms and possibly grant more political freedoms. Despite strong repression, my contacts in Cuba tell me that people continue to go to demonstrations. They are afraid, but they believe that this is the end of the dictatorship. They just want the support of the free world.

The United States can play a leading role in supporting protests by enforcing more sanctions and other measures if the regime uses violence to quell protests. More immediately, the Biden government should make the Cuban regime understand that causing an exodus, like that of Mariel in 1980 or the raft crisis in 1994, will be considered hostile action and will be resolved by putting all options on the table, including including military intervention.

Many Cuban Americans like me did not vote for President Joe Biden, but we hope he will reject domestic radicals, including Democratic Socialists, and fight our foreign communist enemies. Biden claimed that “he faced the Castros and Putin of the world.” I warn you: it ends here. It ends with me ”. He also recently called communism a “failed system”. Now is the time to act. The Biden administration’s message to the Cuban regime should echo “It’s over!” of the Cuban people. It’s finish.

Yuri Pérez is Program Manager for Latin America at the Memorial Foundation for the Victims of Communism.

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