Discontent is Growing on the Island

Discontent is Growing on the Island / Somos+, Sandy Perez
Posted on January 7, 2016

Somos+, Sandy Pérez, 7 January 2015 — Every day that passes, the Castro
dictatorship loses more followers, which was demonstrated in the past
elections for delegates to the Municipal Peoples Power Assemblies. The
official press supervised by the regime published the results of the
polling stations on April 25, in the Juventud Rebelde paper. It's clear
that the figures are made up but, even so, they reflect the growing
popular discontent of the now-exhausted Cuban people.

Some 11.22 percent of the electorate didn't bother to pass through the
colleges where they were supposed to vote; that is to say, there are
850,314 people who don't believe in the political system that has
reigned in Cuba since 1959. If you add to that the 343,430 voters who
left their ballots blank, and the 372,351 who made them invalid, there
are now 1,566,095* non-conformist Cubans, a figure that should worry Castro.

There are several motives for the disinterest showed by the electorate:
the very low salaries for workers and pensioners; the lack of housing
for young couples and the impossibility of renting, which provokes
instability in marriages; the deficiency of the basic basket (ration
book) and the low purchasing power.

In the case of young Cubans, most of them are obliged to vote by their
parents, who have been indoctrinated since they were little and implant
the same fear in their kids. These days you hear things like: "You have
to go vote or I'll be fired from my job!" That's the sad reality for
Cuban youth.

*Translator's note: The 2013 voting age population in Cuba was reported
to be about 8.87 million, with about 8.66 million registered to vote.

Translated by Regina Anavy

Source: Discontent is Growing on the Island / Somos+, Sandy Perez |
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