TOTALITARIAN CUBA

"This anthology compiles texts and works that render account, seen from different angles, literary and artistic genres, of that totalitarian machinery which is the Cuban state, an expert in repressing dissent expressions, both in the individual thought and creation space as well as in the public space of civic responsibilities. Any rule of law should be proud to have artists, writers, thinkers and activists like those featured in this book. It should be a source of pride and not a threat, as it happens in Cuba.The terror that the Cuban state has spread among its citizens over decades, with the aim of avoiding dissent and maintaining control under the guise of unanimity, has increased the passivity and indifference of a citizenry that is faced with the dilemma of keeping quiet or having to emigrate. In the midst of this bleak landscape, there are writers, journalists, artists and activists who, from inside the island or already in the diaspora, do works, document events and rehearse gestures for a plural Cuba; placing at risk with these actions the love of their family and friends, their destiny, and even their own life."Lester Álvarez Meno, PREFACE"The road to leftist totalitarian states is paved with legit social yearnings, promises of progress, and social mobility, progressively turning into a cult-like police state and then into brutal totalitarianism full throttle, usually with the collaboration of international supporters that—since I have witnessed some conversions and candid arguments, I refuse to believeall of them are intentional dishonest—devote themselves to fighting the victims of the communist state and cleaning their image in front of the international public opinion from the comfort, privileges, and legal protection provided by the Western democracies, under the premise that they are viable alternatives against the severe problems that capitalism alsohas. For them, the witnesses who escape the totalitarian rage are weak specimens, failures of the collectivist utopia, enemies of the people, and obstacles to humankind’s final emancipation that must be silenced. And they have been carrying out this prophylactic dirty work for the world-left dictatorships with total impunity from the university chairs, the mainstream press media, and the so-called friendship societies. The main argument is the “what-about-ism” and “cultural relativism” that have permeated contemporary American culture, giving the status of singularity and “tradition” to what obviously are under the magnifying glass of human dignity, horrendous rights violations. But another man’s disease is not hard to endure."Joaquín Badajoz, FOREWORDS: PARAPHRASING GENTILE Read more