Exclusive: The President and the Musician, from Cuba
Also in this edition: Reclaiming sacred lands. San Quintín: the arid poverty of the desert. Mexico denounces the treatment of detained immigrants in the U.S. Museum of Women.
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Self-Determination and Change
Cuba is facing a new offensive from policymakers in Washington who are betting on the island’s collapse through “regime change.” But in exclusive interviews in the Caribbean nation with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, the iconic singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez, and others, what became clear to La Jornada is the resilience of its people. In these conversations, Cubans addressed the challenges of this moment, including external threats and their internal consequences, the reforms being promoted, and negotiations with Washington.
“There is a multidimensional crisis in the capitalist system. That always makes capitalism more aggressive, more ultra-conservative. We are witnessing a resurgence of fascism,” says Díaz-Canel, offering context for the current moment. Eighty percent of the Cuban population was born after the revolution and has therefore lived their entire lives under the U.S. embargo. He explains that under a blocked economy, Cuba “has been able to sustain an enormous social system” and “in the midst of that embargo, of that confrontation, has managed to build a just society, with unity, convictions, and principles.” That is resistance, he says, “but it’s not just about resisting: it is creative resistance. By resisting, we have been able to build, to move forward, to develop. That has not pleased imperialism.”
“The greatest failure of U.S. governments over these 67 years of revolution is that they have not been able to take over Cuba. That makes them angry. They have never forgiven us for the revolution’s progress. That failure has provoked their rage,” the president summarizes.
The U.S. government labeling Cuba a “failed state is a very hypocritical and a very unjust assertion”, says Diaz-Canel. “The country that imposes a blockade to deprive you of everything and force you into difficult situations then tells you that you are a failed state, when it is the one responsible for those problems.” He adds: “What a strange failed state we are! We maintain coherence, direction, harmony, we endure… we are capable of continuing to function on the basis of that creative resistance in the midst of so much coercion, pressure, and aggression.”
Facing the U.S. offensive and the offer of negotiations, Díaz-Canel reiterates that there has always been a willingness for dialogue with Washington on any issue, “on the basis of respect for both political systems,” and to seek solutions.
“What about the U.S. demand that Díaz-Canel step down from the government?” La Jornada asks. “In Cuba, processes like these cannot be personalized. There is a collective, collegial leadership that is accountable to the people. (…) Whether I remain or not, or whether any other person holding a responsibility of this level in our country continues, depends on the people. It also depends on the representatives of the people in the National Assembly of People’s Power, not on the United States.”
Out in the streets and talking to other well-known figures, journalist Luis Hernández Navarro and two photographers from La Jornada report on a population enduring extreme conditions—shortages of electricity, and at times water, and public services in crisis—yet at the same time persisting and resisting, facing daily challenges without losing their sense of humor, their music, or their defense of what they have built for the benefit of all, not only in Cuba but in solidarity with other peoples.
Silvio Rodríguez, the renowned Cuban singer-songwriter, was interviewed in his studio in Havana. Recently, he swapped his guitar strings for the steel of a combat rifle to defend his people. During the conversation, he charged that the embargo has been intensified so that the Cuban people feel they have no future. He insisted that defending the revolution does not mean rejecting change. He explained that “brilliant economists, including some former ministers, have for years advised reforms that have not been undertaken or have been adopted reluctantly. I see that more decisive steps are now being taken in that direction. And it’s not because of pressure from the United States. It’s because within Cuba as well, for years, there has been a struggle for more realistic approaches that will benefit our people. I support that, as long as our condition as a sovereign nation is not at stake, which I consider fundamental.”
These expressions of open criticism alongside a defense of principles, complaints combined with resistance to any external interference, are expressed daily on the island at this critical moment in its history and in the face of new threats of U.S. intervention.
Read more in these previous editions of La Jornada Internacional: A Visual Chronicle of Resistance in Cuba and From the Streets of Cuba.
The Quote:
“I lived in the monster, and I know its entrails; my sling is David’s.”
—José Martí, recalling his time in the United States.
In Case You Missed It
◻️ AztLÁn, Tunnel of Time. Aztlán, the mythical place of origin of the Aztec people, reimagined by Chicano culture as a symbol of historical memory, is featured in the first Chicano art exhibition at the Palace of Fine Arts. The show is being held “in a political and social context marked by migration tensions, criminalizing rhetoric, and a renewed visibility of Mexican and Latino diaspora communities, with the aim of proposing a critical reflection on the shared history between Mexico and the United States,” explain the curators.
◻️ Reclaiming Sacred Lands. A judge in Zacatecas annulled 44 mining concessions because the Wixárika communities had not been consulted before they were granted. In a ruling issued in late March, the judge insisted that any new mining concession to be issued in Wixárika territory “must be subject to prior, free, informed, and culturally appropriate consultation with the community.”
◻️ There are 132,534 missing and unaccounted-for persons in Mexico. The government is obligated to search for the disappeared, President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterates. Her administration recently published a report stating that 132,534 people remain classified as missing or unaccounted for. Since the beginning of this administration, 31,946 people have been located. The Movement for Our Disappeared in Mexico and more than 200 other groups reject the report, criticizing it for “prioritizing administrative management over the reality faced by families on the ground.” In an editorial, La Jornada writes that “one can hope that in the coming months, these signs of political will translate into accelerated progress both in locating the disappeared and in preventing new disappearances.”
◻️ Excluded farmworkers. Farmworkers living in San Quintín, Baja California, are considered among the best paid in the country. However, despite the more than 10 billion pesos annually generated by the large, highly mechanized agricultural fields where they work, they live on unpaved streets without street lights or public transportation. In addition, their homes lack potable water and sewage systems. It is the arid poverty of the desert.
◻️ Mexico denounces the treatment of immigrants detained in the U.S. The Mexican government filed a complaint before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) regarding the deadly conditions its citizens face in detention centers in the United States. It reported that 14 Mexicans have died while in ICE custody. “These deaths reveal systemic failures, operational deficiencies, and possible negligence that violate the United States’ own protocols and regulations, as well as international human rights standards,” Mexican authorities stated. In an editorial, La Jornada argues that “the vast majority of victims of Trumpism’s human hunt are seized and confined because of the color of their skin and for speaking Spanish, not for having committed any crime.”
◻️ Women’s Museum. La Casa Azul offers a look at the ecosystem of women creators admired by Frida Kahlo. The Women’s Museum is conceived as a “cross-cutting” journey in which visitors can view, in a different light, the works of Carmen Caballero, a papier-mâché artisan; Modesta Fernández, a clay artisan; Concha Michel, singer, composer, and political activist; Matilde Poulat, jewelry designer; and Merced Zamora, academic painter.
🎧 What We Are Listening To
Bruce Springsteen in Minneapolis.
Springsteen launched his Land of Hope and Dreams tour in the city where ICE killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The previous Saturday, he took part in the “No Kings” protest in St. Paul.
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Edited by David Brooks and Jim Cason in the United States, Tania Molina Ramírez in Mexico City, of La Jornada, and Elizabeth Coll in Tokyo, under the direction of Carmen Lira Saade and Guillermina Alvarez. More information.