Reentry to Cuba Includes a Conversation with State Security

Reentry to Cuba Includes a Conversation with State Security / Eliecer Avila
Posted on March 4, 2015

Eliecer Avila, 26 February 2015 — After having "conversations" like
these, I always ask myself is it is worth the trouble to publish an
account of them or not. I do not like even giving these people the
impression that I have blabbed about everything. But I also believe not
publishing such accounts only hurts me. They have cameras everywhere and
have demonstrated they have no scruples. They can release a doctored
video recordings and use the information to destroy someone's life

Upon entering the airport yesterday, I was approached by an immigration
official. After taking my passport, he led me to a small office for
"routine questioning." Since I am already familiar with these ploys, it
did not surprise me to find Lieutenant Colonel "Yanes" and "Marquitos"
there in the room. The latter goes by a different name when he is with
other people. He was the young man who "looked after" us some time back.
It was he who put me and Reinaldo into the patrol car on the day of
Tania Bruguera's performance.

After my phone was taken away, the "chat" began. Though it was
extensive, I am highlighting here only certain essential passages that
provide some insight into the mindset of these people. Also included are
some of my responses and other reflections on their points of view.

State Security (SE): Get this straight: The Revolution is not going to
fall apart because you or some other little dimwit want to see it
happen. You are a nobody!

I ask myself this: If I am so insignificant and pose no threat, why do
they focus this attention on me? Wouldn't it be better to use the
gasoline they're wasting, the time, the salaries, the clothing and all
the other resources to fix the hospitals, build buildings or buy
internet antennas?

SE: You are quite mistaken if you believe that we are afraid of the
internet. The thing is we provide it to doctors, professors and
Revolutionaries. We are not going to provide it to people like you or
Yoani Sanchez. And don't get the crazy idea that the Americans are going
to subvert us with the internet. We are going to have a secure internet
like Russia or China. You know full well that we have thousands of
technicians and cyber experts to deal with that.

It seems surreal to me that someone, especially a young person, would
tell me that the model for information access that he wants for Cubans,
for his own people, is to be found in Russia or China. On the other
hand, it comes as no surprise to me that, given this mentality, the
Cuban economy is in such ruins. Here is one of thousands of young
professionals in the prime of their working lives trying to put the
brakes on the nation's development. I would give anything to have this
conversation in public! I would love to know what Calviño thinks about
this. What intellectuals, humorists, workers, artists, students and even
the police and military officials think. I invite them to discuss this
subject publicly but their response is to change the subject.

SE: So, tell me. How did your trip go? With whom did you meet? What did
you do?

It went very well. I will share the details with my family, with my
friends. I don't see why I should share them with you.

SE: O.K. We see you favor diplomatic relations with the U.S., but
fundamentally your position is the same as that of other
Counter-Revolutionaries. You see this change as an opportunity to import
that "perfect democracy" that you like so much, like what they have in
the U.S. That's the conclusion our analysts came to after watching your
interview on CNN for example.

I am tempted to say a lot of things but realize that doing so would be
pointless, so I say nothing.

SE: Look, Eliecer, since it is my duty to advise you, I suggest you
don't get involved in all these initiatives that are sprouting up, in
the house of your friend Yoani, or in the the events for the summit.
Remember the instructor (investigator) who took care of you in Regla on
the 30th? Well, don't be surprised if there is a knock on your door and
you are arrested for breaking the law, what with all the things you
peope have been up to. We have laws here, just like in the U.S., and you
didn't break any laws there. Right?

Expressing oneself is not a crime in any normal country in the world. I
will keep saying what I think in Cuba, in Greenland, on Mars. Wherever I
am invited to engage in serious conversation, I will be there, whether
it be Yoani's house or the Council of State!

When they finally let me go, they were waiting for me at Customs on the
other side. They took me to another small room and conducted a thorough
inspection of my luggage. They finally saw I was clean and had almost no
luggage. Their focus was on analyzing a book which René Hernández
Arencibia had dedicated to me: The Book of Cuba; 500 Years of History.
After the young customs agents and their boss had a good long look
through it, they arrived at an encouraging conclusion: "Wow, it looks
like it covers everything." And then they let me go.

Still fresh in my mind is the loss of thirty-six books which were
confiscated for being "of inadequate literary value." Clearly, the
literary training of Cuban customs officials must be a serious matter. I
doubt the world's great men of letters could arive at such a conclusion
so readily.

I finally left the airport and went home. Then begins the "yoga" to
refresh and detoxify with the little left to us in Cuba to enjoy:
family, friends… and faith in the future, which refuses to be broken.

Eliecer Avila, Engineer

Footnote: This post should have been published a day earlier but was a
delayed due to communication difficulties arising in Cuba.

Source: Reentry to Cuba Includes a Conversation with State Security /
Eliecer Avila | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/reentry-to-cuba-includes-a-conversation-with-state-security-eliecer-avila/