socialismo2

98.97% Say Yes to Socialism

(continued)

What was participation like in your community?

Of the 610 voting age people in the community, 599 signed. Of those that didn't sign, one was in the hospital with psychiatric problems, 9 were out of the area and we didn't know if they had signed in another location (you could sign in a different location, for example in our neighborhood several people signed who were staying in the community at that time, and also there were neighbors of ours that we knew had signed in other communities) and one that did not want to sign.

In the U.S., the press often states that people are pressured to support the revolution. What happened to people who did not want to sign the petition to amend the constitution?

As you can see from my last answer, in my community there was one person who did not want to sign. This person is part of a family made up also of his wife and son, who have all submitted a request to leave the country. Still, his wife signed the petition for the constitutional amendment and he did not want to sign. He did not have any problems, and a few days ago the whole family left the country, just as they had planned.

Collecting signatures in Old Havana. The sign says "Cuba is a socialist state and always will be."

Your 85 year old mother told me she was the first one on her block to sign. Has your mother always been such a strong supporter of the revolution?

Yes, that's the way its always been. My mamá is a very interesting case. She came from a family from the middle bourgeoisie before the Revolution, she graduated from the university as a doctor, her father owned a coffee roasting plant in the town of Candelaria in the province of Pinar de Rio, better known as the "Cinderella" province of Cuba. She is from a family of nine siblings who, in spite of having a comfortable economic position before the Revolution, were familiar with the poverty of the Cuban countryside, and the great majority of them supported the Revolution.

After the signatures were gathered, what happened?

Julián and his mom

After the petition of the mass organizations and the massive support of the public, it was the job of the National Assembly (that is the only group authorized to change the constitution) to analyze the petition and give an answer to the aggressive speeches of President Bush. The answer of the National Assembly to the petition to amend was to hold a special session of two days, which extended into three days, to analyze it. During this time, the workplaces and schools were closed.

Why do you think that the National Assembly took such extraordinary measures? Wouldn't closing down all businesses for three days have a substantial negative effect on the economy? Why was such an extraordinary step taken?

Of course this had a negative effect from an economic point of view, but when what is in play is sovereignty, liberty, the future, any sacrifice is small. You should remember that we are responding to the greatest economic and military power in the world. One that has the possibility, on any day, to send against us, from its own territory, waves of airplanes that could destroy our whole country. Any pretext could be used, like the most recent ones they just invented that Cuba is a bioterrorist, or the danger of cyber attacks, and even that Cuba is training sharks to attack bathers in Florida. Any motive can be used to attack us, and our people should know the reasons that we have to be so tough and not give up our sovereignty. When a people are convinced of the cause for which they struggle, you can destroy them physically but never their ideas. The firmness and unity of people who know what they are defending is worth more than anything that was lost economically on those three days. If this demonstration of unity is able to avert an attack and convince the Americans of what the people of Cuba really want, imagine how much we will have saved from an economic perspective and how much suffering we will have prevented. I am sure that the cost of these three days was very well spent because of its significance in reaffirming our ideas.

I watched a lot of the speeches in the National Assembly on television, and it was very inspiring to hear the stories of the different deputies. Many talked about how their lives and the lives of their families had changed after the revolution. How did you feel when you listened to these speeches?

Truly the great majority of the speeches were very moving. There were 168 speeches, 81 of which were given by deputies. Of these, you can look at that of Abel Prieto, the Minister of Culture, who did an analysis of the difference in cultural focus in the two systems; and the speech of an artist like Silvio Rodriguez, who is also an elected deputy, who gave the reasons for his vote; and that of another artist know world-wide, pianist Frank Fernandez, who did not think he was going to speak until a family member of his, whom he never thought was interested in this, asked him why he had not spoken and that made him ask for the opportunity to speak;

A well-staffed signature table in Vedado, a block from the U.S. Interests Section.

the speech of the street cleaner, and all the deputies of the National Assembly who are dedicated to day to day work; the speech of Felipe Pérez Roque, our young minister of Foreign Relations, who made a very deep and clear analysis about what will secure our future in contrast with other countries that have sold out their future. I could go on citing speeches that affected me emotionally and go on endlessly on this subject. It would be very good for the world to be able to read all these speeches and study them.

I remember one night while the National Assembly was still meeting you were listening to it on the radio and said it was being jammed by Radio Martí. Could you explain what was going on?

The frequency of Radio Martí is very close to the frequency of Radio Rebelde which broadcast the session of National Assembly, and it appeared that because we were so close the U.S. Interests Section, they must have had some sort of equipment that could reproduce that station's output to the point that it could at times interrupt a Cuban station. I think it was just one more example of the interference of the U.S. Interest Section in Cuba.

Thank you Julián! I am sure that if any of our readers have questions, you will be happy to answer them at bella_isla@yahoo.com.

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