TANTO NADAR PARA MORIR EL LA ORILLA

De la seccion MIRADA HACIA CUBA para los que me leen dentro de la isla
por Andres Alburquerque.

Sabio y viejo refrán que refleja la futilidad del esfuerzo humano cuando se desata en un caprichoso contracorriente solo para adelantar la agenda de unos pocos individuos en detrimento de la gran mayoría de sus semejantes. En el caso cubano la historia nos regala cientos de momentos en los que se puede aplicar esta sentencia. Deseo que los compatriotas de la isla me regalen un par de minutos para acompañarme en la siguiente reflexión ciudadana:

Entre las razones que justificaron la imposición por la vía armada de su persona, su grupo y en última instancia su régimen totalitario, impío y despiadado, Fidel Castro Ruz, quien afortunadamente ha dejado de importunarnos con su petulante presencia y su rancio verbo de articulación oxidada y quejumbrosa, nos enumeró un sinnúmero de calamidades:

1- Cuba era el destino del turismo americano que había convertido la isla en su exclusivo burdel.

2- La dependencia de la caña de azúcar nos hacía rehenes de los caprichos de la administración americana y se hacía necesario diversificar la agricultura en la isla.

3- A pesar de una campaña de alfabetización lanzada por Fulgencio Batista a finales de los años treinta; el campesinado permanecía ignorante y analfabeto.

4- A pesar de contar con una cabeza de ganado por habitante a la llegada del Caligula tropical al poder (éramos seis millones de cubanos y existían seis millones de cabezas) era necesario potenciar al máximo la productividad y repartir las tierras ociosas de modo que los latifundistas no entorpeciesen el desarrollo de nuestra agricultura. 

5- Era necesario no solo convertirnos en autosuficientes en el sector agrícola sino lograr exportar algunos reglones más allá de la tradicional y voluble azúcar y sus derivados.

Todo esto y un cúmulo de razones más fueron lanzadas con una retórica tan violenta y traumática que implicó:

1- La división de la familia al punto de que los que quedamos en la isla rompimos todo tipo de nexo con los familiares emigrados y hasta los denigrábamos públicamente.

2- La ruptura casi total de la población con la religión católica e incluso con la afrocubana aunque en este último caso quedaron siempre los que se consultaban de madrugada.

3- Una campaña de demonizacion de todo lo americano desde la música hasta su modo de vida; de pronto nos convertimos en los sovieticos del Caribe y borramos de golpe todo un siglo de cercanía al vecino del norte; poco faltó para que disparásemos nieve artificial en los faraónicos desfiles militares donde mostrábamos orondos ese poderío milagroso que nos permitiría resistir un ataque directo convencional de Estados Unidos por el prolongado periodo de TREINTA Y SEIS HORAS.

Amigos míos: aunque nos parezca absurdo; sesenta años después:

1- No solo fue imposible diversificar la agricultura sino que hoy Cuba importa azúcar; mientras una gran porción de las otrora fértiles tierras están plagadas de marabú y permanecen improductivas.

2- La carne se convirtió en un artículo de lujo; cabría pensar que las vacas fueron fusiladas junto a todo vestigio de oposición al régimen.

3- La isla de Cuba hoy no es el burdel exclusivo de los americanos sino el promiscuo centro de sexo mundial que recibe vuelos charters europeos repletos de todo tipo de insatisfecho sexual que busque realizar las más elaboradas fantasías a cambio de unas bocanadas de humo "americano" o una cena decente; el único sector donde la Junta Militar que desgobierna la isla fue capaz de diversificar el mercado fue la prostitucion. 

4- El régimen de La Habana gasta  cuantiosas cifras y mueve todo tipo de chantaje con el objetivo de restablecer plenamente el comercio con Estados Unidos; a tal punto llega la paradoja que la propaganda oficial afirma que las simbólicas medidas del presidente Trump afectarán gravemente al cubano de a pie. Quiere decir que luego de sesenta años necesitamos más que nunca del poderoso y rapaz vecino del norte de quién tanto hemos despotricado todos estos años.

5- Una de las batallas más arduas se desarrolla en el campo de la importación de productos agrícolas de Estados Unidos; en particular el arroz. Puede el régimen explicar cómo es posible que luego de sesenta años de hostilidad y de propaganda adversa ahora tenga la desfachatez de decir a su pueblo que necesitan regresar al 1959?

Quienes se hacen estas preguntas en Cuba? Por qué en vez de viajar al extranjero a convencer al mundo de lo que ya conoce los intelectuales cubanos; sean opositores o no, permanecen en este silencio cómplice? 

APPEASEMENT AND ACQUIESCENCE

The west is known for its inveterate preference for kicking the can further down the road. Politicians are more concerned about their so called legacy, and of late about their handsomely paid speeches than about the future of their countries and the interests of the average people; as relief pitchers they have one mission and one mission only: to "kill" a couple of innings, the rest is irrelevant. That's how we got to where we are regarding the rogue state of North Korea; Clinton, Bush and Obama did little or nothing to avoid this disaster and now Mr Trump, who for many is the least qualified of our presidents, has been given the ball with no outs and the opposite team with all bases loaded. There's no need to draw any red lines since the Korean madman has already passed them all; he's capable of reaching the continental territory of the United States of America at least hypothetically. What are the options for our government?

1- Press all Chinese banks and institutions with any sort of ties with North Korea; which could in turn lead to an economic "war" with China, the communist nation that happens to be our major foreign creditor. Doesn't look too good.

2- Shipping back nuclear war heads to South Korea and convince Japan to request nuclear weapons. That could upset the balance between the old and the new guard of the Chinese nomenclature in favor of the latter which supposedly considers the embarrassing neighbor to be a pain rather than an asset. The actual shipping wouldn't have to take place; chances are that the mere request from Japan forces China to come back to its senses. But what if the old fellows in Beijing call our bluff and we end up arming Japan and thus triggering an arms race in the Pacific? 

3- Delaying any measures against China's rigging of the market and manipulation of its currency for a few years in exchange for some help with North Korea; but just how much help would that buy us and how effective and enduring would such help be?

4- Carrying out a "surgical" attack on the madman's quarters eliminating him and his close aides. American spends billions of tax payer's dollars to supposedly develop our intelligence capabilities; we the people have tacitly given up on our privacy in order to be safe; it is time that the government shows us that our decision was the right one. If the most powerful nation on earth cannot get rid of Kim Jong Un without men on the ground then we have a problem. But even if we manage to neutralize the Korean dictator chances are the rest of the bureaucracy reacts in a destabilizing manner.

The notion of the Chinese persuading the North Koreans to give up their nuclear weapons is unrealistic; Kim only has to look at Libya to be ominously reminded that the West is not able to keep its word. Our record is so poor that only a fool would trust us.

This is one of those cases where all options are lousy options; but one thing is certain: a nuclear North Korea with ICBMs capable of reaching our west coast is a game changer and we must not hesitate to take harsh measures. Time's up and we can't kick the can any further because the road ends here.

ALBERTICO Y ESPERANZA (PART IV)

As they sit silently in their battered rocking chairs; dust flying by and the smell of cheap gasoline conquering the air, three strokes and one surgery later, Albertico listens carefully as Antonio explains in plain language the latest developments in America. A black president had governed for two terms, a mogul was now in the White House and his friend, of all people, was part of a group who pushed a message of reconciliation and leniency with the Cuban government; he learned that there allegedly were 55 senators from both parties ready to pass a law that would allow American entrepreneurs to export to Cuba and invest in the island. So the embargo has been lifted, Albertico asked, no, no, but we are slowly dismantling it; it's a matter of time. Oh God, time; time for what and time for who?; Fidel had always pleaded for time to materialize his unrealistic dreams; his enemies claimed time wouldn't solve anything; now; wait a minute! Now his enemies are the ones asking me for more time?; I don't have more time; I don't have time at all; I never had time. Fidel kicked some people out and stayed in power for 50 years; now those are coming back to prevail for another 50 years? I won't live that long. We made a revolution to eliminate a status quo and now I learn that my friend is fighting hard so that the very same status quo emerges from the shambles of this shattered dream we call revolution? 

Antonio carajo before long you will tell me that your people allá fuera are fighting bringing back la Guardia Rural and los casquitos; 

Albertico y Esperanza were able to watch the new president speak about Cuba. It was the first time they watched a speech live from Miami of all places. This new president was rich, very rich and many claimed he was crazy. All his life he had been told that America was the enemy; but all his life had depended on what the Americans decided to do. The US is ready to invade Cuba; Fidel had said so many times, but now the Viejo was finally dead, and he didn't feel sorry about it. America was the beginning and the end of everything Cuban. Of late he had suspected the whole thing was a farce. He had been able to know that Ike had forced Batista out; the the famous batalla de Santa Clara was nothing but one more sign of how corrupt the previous army was; the damned train had been sold. And who paid for it? The same rich people that less than a year later fled the country; the same rich people that were feeding his friend Antonio all that nonsense about defeating the regime with money. Hay cosas que no se entienden. As the hot afternoon became evening and the blackout grew longer the couple sits in their portal watching the world get older, the street dirtier and their memory weaker.

BOURGEOIS COMMUNISM V

The left had a "master plan" they were convinced their candidate would win; blinded by their arrogance and their elitism, they failed to heed the clamor of the very downtrodden masses they so often speak about when demagoguery is necessary. They flirted so intensely with alien interests and values that they forgot what America was about; they moved so far to the left that they left America; and above all, in defiance of all logics they prioritized a mafioso agreement between Obama and the Clintons (in emulation of a feudal marriage arrangements) over all the warning signs as to the vulnerabilities of the crowned queen. We all know the result; they lost, and when we say they lost we mean they lost as to exclude any possibility of the other candidate winning. The left blew it, the left lost; that is the root of their hatred towards the current president; every time Donald J Trump appears on TV or makes a remark they are mercilessly reminded of their historic gaffe and they simply cannot accept it. How can you make a mistake if you are always right? How can this people be so stupid, so ignorant and so red necked to vote for "that man"?. They had it all worked out; after eight years of Obama yet eight more years of Hillary Clinton and the job would have been completed; religion against the wall, an attack to the jugular of the second amendment, total neutralization of the right in academia and in all campuses of America; gradual erosion of the semantics and the perception in order to sow doubt and confusion. They had realized the gay movement by itself would not delete our identity: the American people in its proverbial kindness and compassion had come to terms with the issue and defeated homophobia; thus, they had to shift to a higher gear: doubt, blurred lines, hesitation, vacillation; gays were not gay anymore; it was time to not know who we were; we had to feel male today and female tomorrow, the seed of uncertainty would undermine our identity until we were no longer able of knowing who we were. Whether Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton were conscious accomplices in this conspiracy remains to be seen. My personal opinion is that while Obama did not feel any regrets about "changing" America, Hillary was not too happy about departing from what she had known all her life, but she wanted the presidency so badly that she would not alienate the extremists that had taken her party hostage. Wittingly or unwittingly they had been chipping away at the facade of this luxurious high rise we call the USA.

The blonde mogul was an obstacle and since that fateful Tuesday night in November of 2016 they abandoned the coordinated strategy to engage in an all out civil war that continues to erode our nationality as we read these lines. But we are not alone; this is not an American conspiracy, the bourgeois communists are everywhere; enjoying a cup of coffee in the Parisian boulevards, sipping prosecco in Rome and marching down the streets of Madrid on Venezuela's dime. Their objectives are the same: instill guilt, doubt, hatred, confusion and hesitation. They need to guarantee that we don't fight back so that when we wake up their job is finished. The upsetting of the ethnic balance, the latinamericanization of the US and the spread of the Muslim religion throughout Europe; the Third World version of the Christian crusades. Why would rich people who can enjoy a wonderful life go into all those troubles?; because money is not enough; Soros and a handful of capitalist leeches want it all; they no longer want to share their privileges with a few chosen: they want to be the "only ones" ignoring the fact that once the hateful masses are put in motion the avalanche destroys everything and that they won't live to enjoy their victory. 

Before we end this series, let's point out some of the techniques used by this dangerous elite:

1- They manipulate history hyperbolising the evils of the right and humanizing the atrocities of the left.

2- They exercise a tacit monopoly on history; therefore, they quote events and phrases of the past at will to prove their points, but when we try to do the same they shrug our arguments off stating that we cannot live in the past.

3- They viciously dig any and all unpleasantries of the right but edulcorate and sugar coat their own.

4- They claim the throne of culture; theirs are the artists and the entertainers, the writers and the poets and those few who dare challenge them are ostracized and neutralized.

5- They carefully collect all evidences of "deviation" from the conventional norms of our society although they claim to be progressive and revolutionary; although from Kennedy to Clinton the left has engaged often in sexual debaucheries; they invariably assassinate the character of anyone who challenges their narratives; Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain and more recently Bill Cosby are just a few examples of the same racist plot: the black guy who raped the white lady or who sexually harassed a woman. Always blacks and sex; one would think it is a conservative, white narrative; instead this weapon is mostly wielded by the so called "progressives".

The list goes on and on, but the aforementioned points are some of the most common tactics used by such dangerous variant of the old communism; which leads us to my point in the first chapter: Gramci's theory of creating alliances with honest capitalists that would be kicked in the butt when the time was right.