By Benjamín Noria
HAVANA TIMES – Look, if someone wants to determine how far the Cuban government is willing to go to maintain power, regardless of the consequences, they can calculate it with the extensive blackout that occurred in Cuba from 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 17, to 4:00 p.m. to Tuesday, October 22, 2024, in the provinces of Pinar del Río and Isla de la Juventud, for example.
The power outages that are happening today could lead to the collapse of the system and a transformation into a democracy. This is just a theory, but it’s not dismissible. What’s clear is that the Cuban dictatorship is not in good health. The good thing is that once democracy takes root in Cuba, it will never turn into another despotism, considering the pain, misery, and inequality it has caused the people.
Cuba is a country overshadowed by a long-standing dictatorship. The Cuban government has survived for over 66 years despite the severe economic crises it has faced and the sanctions from the United States. The only precautions and measures they take are to remain in power; for this purpose, they have absolute control over the mass media, the army, the police, the courts, and the prosecutor’s office.
However, the Cuban government is increasingly crushed by a lack of credibilty. There has been no economic strategy that has yielded results. They are driving the country toward economic suicide. And this seems not to concern them, as they continue on the same path of their foolishness and aberrations.
At this moment, there are merchants from China who no longer wish to do business with Cuba because the Cuban government is reluctant to transition to a market economy. For this reason, they have become unreliable and a risk for long-term investments and loans.
What happens is that they don’t like any of the proposed changes because they would mean losing the absolute power and privileges with which they live at the top. According to textbooks, as long as they maintain the dictatorship as a political system, they are not legally obligated to be accountable to the people for their governance, and consequently, they do not have to answer administratively or criminally for the mismanagement and fraudulent administration of state resources.
This is why they do not wish to transition to democracy, as under this system of government, they would be held criminally accountable for their mismanagement. They are inept but not stupid. The market economy and democracy have a presupposition relationship. One element cannot coexist without the other, considering that the market economy must operate with minimal state intervention. Excessive state intervention can only be seen in dictatorships.
As long as they remain in power, the atmosphere will not be conducive to realizing the right to happiness for the Cuban people. They resist prosperity. Cubans have reached a desperation fueled by the monotony of the government’s lack of transparency, and more than half of the population wants to leave and live in other parts of the world to seek their fortune and have a better life.
Nevertheless, I can say for certain that the Cuban government is postponing the inevitable. They will have to make the change, even if it means losing their hair.
Read more from Cuba here in Havana Times.
