Betrayals

Betrayals / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar
Posted on September 6, 2015

Reinaldo Escobar, Mexico City, 5 September 2015 – A long time ago, I
can't remember where, I read a phrase that said, "When you have to
choose between two betrayals you will recognize that you are lost."

The label of "traitor" has been used indiscriminately in Cuba during the
last half century, by the government propaganda machine, to "disqualify"
anyone who express their discontent with the policies of the Communist
Party, as well as against those officials, artists, athletes and doctors
who have made the decision to abandon some "mission" abroad, with the
intention to restart their lives outside of Cuba.

In most cases, these decisions involve family dramas and the relocation
of the "deserter," sometimes temporarily, other times permanently, into
a workplace far from their capabilities and personal ambitions. However,
the hemorrhaging of talent does not stop and at times increases in a
threatening manner.

If Cuba had not lost all the creative potential that has chosen
emigration, today we would be one of the countries with the greatest
human capital in the world. Because, unfortunately, those who leave are
the entrepreneurs, those with the necessary self-esteem to believe,
right or wrong, that they can survive and thrive in a competitive
environment.

All of them had to choose between two betrayals, one against the system
that supposedly formed them and one which they would have made against
themselves if they had remained faithful to a project they had stopped
believing in.

After having tried every arbitrary measure possible to prevent doctors
from abandoning the country, the Cuban government just announced that
"Health professionals (…) have the opportunity, if they wish, to rejoin
our National Health System" and in a parallel manner they let be known
other immigration modifications to increase the grounds for repatriation
of other emigrants who are affected by the restrictions.

Now, in a gesture promoted as an act of generosity on the part of the
Revolution, they are trying to replace Cubans who once escaped in search
of better destinations, in a situation to reverse what the government
classified as treason but which, in the majority of cases, was simply
the renouncing of wearing a mask.

The question is, why not just once and for all abolish all the absurd
migratory restrictions; why can't Cubans see in their country a safe and
welcoming home to return to and leave whenever they want, and for
whatever length of time best suits them.

The Cuban government is the one who is lost, not because it must choose
between two betrayals, but because it cannot allow itself the luxury of
choosing to respect the most elemental rights. They have no choice but
to change everything or to continue to behave as vulgar dictators.

Source: Betrayals / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/betrayals-14ymedio-reinaldo-escobar/