In the midst of the shuffle of information about Cuba, as a result of the events of last Sunday, March 19, I was struck by the attitude assumed by some artists, reluctant to make comments to support the just claims of our suffering people.
Contrary to the position adopted by them, other artists who reside in Cuba and who are exposed to the direct repression of the dictatorship, have expressed their support for the just demands of the people. That’s what makes the difference between those who opt for a dignified civic attitude and those who belong to the “bread-and-steak generation.”
I know perfectly well the fatuity, egomania and desire for notoriety that marks not a few of those who claim to be against the dictatorship.
In the midst of the popular effervescence that once again raised the hopes of those of us who do stand in solidarity with our people, the comments made on social networks by Eddy Suárez and Jorge Ferdecaz, at the very least, deserve to be described as inopportune and unfortunate, because beyond the real importance of their work, every artist should know that he is a public figure and, therefore, you must take care of your expressions.
Eddy Suárez wrote the following message, which I transcribe as it appeared on Alexander Otaola’s program on March 19:
“That one over there, is me on July 11, 2021, in the middle of the streets, protesting and REALLY living what is experienced in a protest in Cuba: AND FROM THAT EXPERIENCE I cannot dare to SEND anyone to the street and I show them my empathy, but I am not going to make that CALL. I know what they do to them, I saw the beatings, the sticks, the young and old on the ground, my friends imprisoned. I DON’T SEND ANYONE from my home in Miami to expose themselves to that, because I know how terrible it is and how afraid they are for you and yours.
There are activists, politicians, journalists, media who have made visible for years what is happening in Cuba and I respect their work and applaud it. They’re the ones in charge of that.”
Beyond the self-aggrandizement, I find it painful that he made that comment in Miami, where there are still men who served more than twenty years in prison in Cuba and have assumed that sacrifice with extraordinary humility.
While it was true that Eddy participated in the protests, he did not suffer the same bad luck as those who are still in prison. There are many, many Cubans who have seen that panorama narrated by him and did not stop fighting for the homeland, because the fear and pain of the blows, both very human feelings, can be overcome, what cannot be overcome is the emptiness caused by living without ethical, civic and political commitments.
Cuba’s fate is not only in the hands of activists, independent journalists, and dissidents as Eddy Suarez mistakenly believes, because all Cubans of good will should fight for change. I should remember this beautiful phrase of Martí’s: “One is free, but not to be vile: not to be indifferent to human pains; (…) Man has no liberty to watch impassively the slavery and dishonor of man, nor the efforts that men make for their freedom and honor.”
Jorge Ferdecaz went further, according to what he posted on social networks and appeared on the aforementioned program: “When you thought you had seen everything, Carlos Masola appears making public his solidarity with Rosa María Payá and for this, among other pearls, he shares with us his deep desire to see Trump again in the white house (sic), At the end of the day, if he repeats his mandate, he would be the commander of the American army and if it were, the illusion, the dream, the tremendous desire of Carlos to see the Army entering the island, would be much closer to being fulfilled. The first thing the actor should do is soak up the life and thought of Oswaldo Payá, if he wants to pay homage to him.”
It hurts that an artist like him, who has had visibility and empathy with the Cuban public, takes it against a colleague who thinks differently and has dared to do in Cuba what he did not do when he was there. Will Ferdecaz be “revolutionary”?
Beyond his judgments about Trump and the imagined invasion that we are always told about and has never happened, nor does it seem that it will happen, Ferdecaz forgets that the solution to our problems is in ourselves and above all, in those who try to do something from there. Linking Cuba’s freedom solely to possible U.S. military action belittles our dignity, but vilifying those who are doing something for that freedom, right now, in Cuba, is extremely reprehensible, as is it to do so against people who surpass us in virtues and civic values and who are already physically dead.
And that is what Ferdecaz has done by trying to tarnish the image of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, one of the most dignified and patriotic Cubans in our recent history.
Daniel Santovenia, who served almost thirty years in prison in Cuba, has just died in Cuba. He did truly know what suffering and injustice are, but as can be seen in the video that Cubanet published accompanying the news of his death, he continued to cry out for the unity of all Cubans.
Their examples allow me to identify where the entire citizen is and where the butter patriot is.
I believe that if at this time it is laudable to welcome everything that tends to unite, we must firmly reject everything that disunites us.
Positions such as those taken by these artists do not help the struggle for democracy at all, on the contrary, they only serve the dictatorship. I hope that both of them will come to their senses and adopt truly dignified attitudes in the future.
Roberto Jesús Quiñones Haces