Importance of Unity in Cuba Support Work

Dear friends, To answer to one of our friends I make one of my commentaries that long ago I wanted to share with you all. Friends in our Cuban experience of almost 150 years of struggle for our freedom we have learned that the power of the poor people is always in its unity. The powerful have the money to buy the media, the people and every thing that can be bought of course they couldn`t buy Juan Miguel (Gonzalez --Elián's father) but for we who defend the ones that don`t have a lot of money the most important strength that we can have is our unity. In the seven months of struggle for Elián I suffered a lot when I saw many times our friends that were clear on what they were fighting for began to fight each other over trivial questions and even more than one discussion boards were closed because of this reason. I`m sure that the CANFers and their bosses of the Ultra Right Wing laugh in their places every time they saw our people fighting between themselves. Maybe some of you could say that`s democracy when every one can say what he thinks. False. That democracy is only used for us to destroy our movements. When they have important discrepancies they fix them internally. Can you check out the differences of the platform of the Democratic and Republican Parties? Every day they look more and more the

same. If we want to win we have to learn from this. We need the unity of our people. We can discuss all what we want among ourselves, but we need to know what is our principal goal and put together all the ones that are for it. The other questions, for the moment we have to forget them to focus on that principal question. For me this is a very important question about which we can talk a lot. So I will like to have your commentaries that we can share with all of us. Julián

Opposition groups and civil society

Dear friends, This is an aspect that I have to share my answer with all my friends. As I always say lets be clear of what are we talking about. I`m not going to talk now about the relations US/Cuba. I`m going to talk about two aspects. 1.- The real intentions of the Cuban opposition. 2.- Are there civil society organizations in Cuba? 1.- I don`t want to give you a class of history because I`m sure that most of you in the last 7 month have read the Cuban history and can teach me many things I already don`t remember. I want to start in 1959. The Revolution came as a real "Revolution," it changed all the bases of the society. Since the beginning it worked on the principal social problems. It expropriated and gave the land to the ones that really worked it. It attended to the housing problem making a discount on the

payments first and then, after different improvements, today anyone that gets a house will pay low payments up to the acquisition of the property. It worked to give free education for everybody. Free health care. The assurance of a work to do for everybody. The assurance to everyone of a happy and normal old age. The development of the country not only in the capital or some other places but for all the country. I can continue more and more but everyone of you can increase this list with your own experiences. So after this real Revolution what could be for the Cuban people a real opposition? Do you think that any good Cuban will like to change any of these achievements? For the Cuban people, who guarantees these achievements?  The great majority of the Cubans wants to keep these achievements and to improve them. So what can an opposition movement offer to our people? This opposition is paid by the same people that make laws like Helms Burton that says that we have to give back the properties to the Batista people. Who is going to believe in them? The only ears that listen to them are outside of Cuba. The principles of the Revolution are not failing. Our leaders are not corrupt. They have wide roots in the great masses of our people. So it is very difficult for any opposition movement, in the way that they work, to have even the credit to be heard. 2.- For many years our oppositors keep saying that we don`t have civil society organization. Nobody talks about the organizations of writers, artists, disabled, students, workers, women, peasants, many others and the biggest one the CDR (Committees for the Defense of the Revolution) of the neighbors defending the Revolution. What do they say? That these are governmental controlled organizations. That they are controlled by the Party. It`s true that most of the leaders of these organizations are members of the Communist Party, but have you ever asked why this happens?  For an answer, you have to look at ‘Who are the Party members?'.  How can you become a Party member? You don`t become a Party member because you want to. You have to have an attitude in your life's work in favor of the Revolution (this means in favor of all what I pointed out in my first point). Your worker partners have to agree that you deserve to be a member. Your neighbors also. And at the end the other members of the Party will sit you down and tell you what are your bad things that you have to improve and decide if you deserve or not to be a member of the Party. So in this selection the best men and women in the opinion of their work partners, their neighbors and the other members of the Party are the ones that become members. So when you are going to elect leaders for any of the civil organizations that we have it is not rare that most of the ones that are elected are members of the Party.  I hope I give you my point of view on your question. Julián

Text (c) J. Gutierrez Photos (c) C. O'Hara

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