The Monopoly on Political Truth in Cuba

The Monopoly on Political Truth in Cuba / Somos+
Posted on March 16, 2016

Somos+, Evangelical Pastor Raúl Macías López, M.D., 23 February 2016 —
Across the broad spectrum of Cuban reality, certain aspects stand out
quite markedly. All around us we see contrasts and inequalities that
give rise to fear over what the future holds in store and civic
immobility in the present, with a tendency toward indifference (on the
part of the people) and seizure of the truth (by the government). The
combination of those factors keeps the radically transformative changes
the country needs from taking place.

The prevailing single-party ideology has tried to monopolize political
truth for the nearly fifty-eight years of its "irreversible"* existence.
I want to emphasize "has tried" because, fortunately, in Cuba today
there are as many ways of thinking as there are people who think. The
voices of more and more citizens are raised to express an unstoppable
and absolutely necessary diversity of opinions. This is clearly inevitable.

The philosophy of "here we all think alike" almost succeeded in
banishing the resounding truth that "it is utopian to pretend everyone
thinks alike," in its attempt to enshrine a lie that was believed as if
it were true. In reality, to really understand each other, we cannot
separate this fatal pair: monopoly – single-party regime.

For far too long, power has basically been in the hands of the same
people and families, and has been used only as a means of enforcing
their illegitimate control. The Castro top management (the term I find
the most polite) controls the media in the name of socialism and uses
that control to disseminate its own "truths," all of them aimed at
maintaining a monolithic economic, political and social order that is
unjust because it damages the nation through its now questionable
irreversibility.

And that "injustice" —since I've mentioned the word— also has to do with
the fact that behind the scenes almost everyone questions the official
discourse. But interestingly, most Cubans have chosen to devote
themselves to their domestic concerns, be it cuentapropismo
(self-employment), professional aspirations, or religious beliefs, in
order to distance themselves as far as possible, etc… And meanwhile we
all just let "them" take care of the nation's political future.

Therefore if we want to appeal to justice, we have to admit that we
ourselves have contributed to the current situation by putting the rope
around our own neck (or allowing it to be put there), thereby
unwittingly collaborating in the monolithic single-party system's
monopoly on truth. We've readily accepted our defeat, without even
needing to be convinced or seduced beforehand, without demanding that
reasons for it be given. If someone says such and such thing, the rest
of us blindly, unanimously, and dogmatically accept it as the truest
truth ever spoken.

It is as if the ability to ask questions had been excised by a
collective scalpel, by a kind of intellectual surgery, with the
aggravating factor that the scalpel was in the wrong hands. When were we
mutilated? When was our crucial need to engage in fair, open argument
and debate whenever and with whomever necessary taken from us?

The single-party government's monopoly on truth has this distinctive
feature: it appeals neither to people's intelligence nor to their
ability to take the initiative. Instead the authorities veto individual
liberty and subliminally control people's ability to decide for
themselves. As if they were robots, people are forced to make decisions
that favor the authorities' interests.

For how much longer are we going to remain in this limbo, trapped in
other peoples' schemes? What more will it take before we wake up and
begin to march forward as a nation? By what right do a few people claim
to be the only ones free to decide what is true and what isn't?

Cubans: let's defend our truths with respect, but let's defend them!
It's not fair for anyone to monopolize the truth.

Collective truth is made up of the greatest number of individual truths.
Let's embrace inclusivity.

"To hide the truth is a crime; to hide part of the truth—the part that
compels and encourages us—is a crime; to hide what is not in an
adversary's interests, and say only what is, is a crime" —Martí, Obras
completas, Vol. 1, p. 291.

The greatest human who ever walked the earth said: "And ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free" —John 8:32.

*Translator's note: In response calls for democratic reforms and human
rights in Cuba, the regime modified the constitution to make the current
system "irreversible."

Translated by Steven Aguirre, Diego Alvarado, Yulieth Galindo, Jemilcia
Garcia, Iuliana Mazheika, Carlos Mojica, Clarissa Polanco, Gabriela Ramirez

Source: The Monopoly on Political Truth in Cuba / Somos+ | Translating
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http://translatingcuba.com/the-monopoly-on-political-truth-in-cuba-somos/