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Fara Armenteros / UPECI
HAVANA, June (www.cubanet.org) - "What are we voting for?"
Clemente asked the official from the Committee for the Defense of the
Revolution, who had called him to vote early.
"Against what Bush said," the woman answered.
"And what did Bush say?" Clemente asked.
"What Fidel said," the woman explained impatiently.
"But, what did Fidel say, Lola?" Clemente persisted.
"Damn it, Clemente, Fidel spoke about what Bush said..." said
Lola.
Clemente laughed and said: "I have until Tuesday to make up my mind, so
don’t rush me."
This past week, the Cuban government, through its grass-roots Committees for
the Defense of the Revolution, collected signatures for a Constitutional
proposal to declare Cuba’s present Socialist system of government "untouchable."
As of Monday evening, the official Communist Party daily, Granma, claimed
slightly over 8 of Cuba’s 11 million people had signed petitions backing
the proposal.
The petition drive was preceded by a massive demonstration of support (the
government press claimed 9 million had marched) which effectively shut down the
island’s exhausted economy for a day.
As to what exactly the petition drive is about, there is some discrepancy.
The official government line is that the Constitutional reform is a response to
U. S. president George W. Bush’s remarks on May 20 that the U.S. would
pursue an opening toward Cuba as soon as the Communist government changed some
of its policies.
Dissidents here, as well as diplomats and foreign observers, point out that
the unprecedented government initiative comes on the heels of the unveiling of
Proyecto Varela, a petition to the National Assembly of the Popular Power for a
plebiscite, with signatures laboriously collected by various dissident groups
over several months and without any help from the government-controlled mass
media. The Varela Project received its greatest boost, if only for the attendant
publicity (it was the first time many Cubans had heard of it), when former U. S.
president Jimmy Carter mentioned it during a speech in Havana.
In spite of the usual barrage from the official news media, it is not
entirely clear what the Cuban people themselves know about either petition.
Jesús Reyes and María Borrero went to the Popular Power
headquarters in the municipality of Regla, across the bay from the city of
Havana, to inquire about the purpose of the government’s Constitutional
petition.
"To vote for Socialism or Death," they were told.
Reyes asked for information on the Varela Project, which has been formally
presented to the National Assembly of the Popular Power for consideration, and
were insulted and threatened until they withdrew from the premises.
Georgina, a retired teacher in La Víbora, who didn’t want her
last name used, said: "What is happening is sad. People allow themselves to
be led like the blind, who can’t see where they are going. By signing, they
are reaffirming the economic crisis, political stasis and isolation. I think the
government, by neglecting the petition of 11,000 citizens (referring to the
Varela Project), missed the opportunity of finding a peaceful solution to the
problems our country faces."
Versión
original en español
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