CUBAN TRANSITIONS

What is freedom? Is it necessary for people in a society to live peacefully and happy? What is the price of freedom? Is freedom the ultimate value that should be fought for and defended no matter the costs? As a U.S. citizen bombarded by the messages of corporate media and the government, I am told that yes, nothing is more important than freedom. That is what the fourth of July is all about. This is what most politicians mention in their speeches. But is freedom worth it?

As someone who understands the injustices committed in the United States (the best country on Earth who loves freedom supposedly) I find it hard to believe whether freedoms like freedom of speech is worth it when citizens who rally and march for issues never actually influence the government. How many wars of terror has the United States waged that have been successfully avoided because millions of citizens showed no support and protested on the streets? The United States government likes to provide (but not always) the freedom of expression to its citizens but goes no further in providing freedom from poverty, gangs, illness and other forms of violence.

In my point of view, democracy and freedom is and should not be required for people to live peacefully and happily. Cuba, for example, is not a democracy and the freedom of expression is severely limited but from the people I talked to it seemed that they were content with the Revolution that had provided other types of freedom. A few examples are freedom from poverty which was provided through government programs, freedom from gangs provided through the Comites de Defensa para la Revolucion and freedom from illness provided through the free health care system.

However, there were a few Cubans who I met that told me otherwise. They did not believe in an authoritarian government. One of them was a drug dealer who I met on my final nights in Havana. He had spent ten years in prison because of dealing drugs, however he continued to do so in order to support his family. When I met him, he was with his brother who was occupied with someone else and the drug dealer expressed to me that his brother was not even aware of his business. Then he went on to speak about his daughter named Angelina who was five years old and how it was unfair to live in a place where opportunities were scarce yet they could not leave. He said that money was not the issue but that it was Fidel and the government. He proceeded then to talk about Fidel using a lot of vulgar language.

Another person I met was a former balsero. I met him in Havana as he was passing by and told me his story. He had left the island in the hopes of reaching the United States on balsas. He had made that entire journey even losing friends on the way when he got to a point where he could see the U.S. coast line. Unfortunately, he was forced to turn back even though he was so close to his destination. The balsero told me later that he loved his country no matter what since it was his home. He loved the free education and free health care however, “liberty has no price.”

After these two encounters, I realized that liberty and what Cubans want for their government was not as black and white as is portrayed by the Revolutionary government.