PINAR DEL RIO, July 2 (Víctor Rolando Arroyo, UPECI) - After three
years working as a supervisor with the Cuban Petroleum Company, Wilson Bravo
Miranda, 25, was harassed into quitting his job for refusing to join the Union
of Communist Youths.
Bravo declined the invitation to join the Communist Youth May 23 and
immediately the chief supervisor, ex-intelligence agent Jorge Luis Carbonell,
accused him of being apathetic toward the government and told him he had lost
the confidence of his superiors.
"This negative will cause you serious problems," Carbonell told
him.
A few days later, Bravo was sent to Havana without money for the trip and
with orders to bring back a train full of fuel. At that time, Carbonell told him
that from that moment on he would learn how difficult it would be to work in a
company where all the bosses are veterans of either the army or the Ministry of
the Interior.
"Now they give them 15 pesos (0.75 dollar) to eat during the trip, but
that's not enough, and then there's a lot of stress because of the frequent fuel
thefts," he said.
Bravo decided to resign, saying he feared he would be accused of malfeasance
and jailed.
Bravo said workers at the company are paid a maximum of 220 pesos (a little
over 10 dollars) a month. Some months, he said, workers are given incentive pay
of seven or eight dollars, but that to earn that, "you have to participate
in political activities, perform volunteer labor, and put up with injustices
from the bosses like Mr. Carbonell."
Other workers, following Bravo's example, also resigned from their jobs at
the company. For that, they will be considered "not trustworthy" to
the Revolution.
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