A May Day of mental liberation in Cuba
Authoritarian regimes seldom pass up opportunities for extravagant patriotic pomp. So when Cuba鈥檚 leader, Miguel D铆az-Canel, canceled the May Day celebrations in Havana today for only the third time since 1959 (the first two times were during the pandemic), the move begged the question why.
The Cuban president blamed acute fuel shortages caused by U.S. sanctions. In years past, the government has bused in millions of workers from the hinterlands to pack the capital.
But the real reason may be something deeper 鈥� the people鈥檚 demand for freedom in response to severe economic crisis and repression. As one Cuban tweeted about the decision: 鈥淕ood idea. An expensive celebration makes a mockery of the people in a time of shortages. Just get on the streets & shout what you really think!鈥�
This mental liberation 鈥� and the government鈥檚 fear of it 鈥� is increasingly evident in this communist dictatorship. Since Mr. D铆az-Canel rose to power in 2018, his tenure has been marked by economic decline and iron-fisted intolerance. Food prices have soared, the currency has tumbled, and inflation hovers at 200%. A new penal code criminalized dissent. Roughly a third of the population has tried to emigrate since late 2021.
Those who have stayed are pushing back. Voter turnout plummeted in the largely meaningless municipal elections last November. One in four abstained in the parliamentary ballot in March that gave Mr. D铆az-Canel a second term (a foregone conclusion, since opposition candidates were barred from the ballot). Cubans turned out in mass protests in July 2021 over the government鈥檚 mishandling of the pandemic, and then again last fall over acute electricity shortages.
In a country long shaped by collectivist thinking, hardship is forging new racial unity as Cubans seek refuge in the country鈥檚 unique blend of African spirituality and Catholicism. Santer铆a, as it is called, is 鈥渟o decentralized and it allows the individual believer or practitioner to make it what they need it to be,鈥� Katrin Hansing, an anthropologist in Cuba for City University New York, told The Associated Press last month.
Mothers have become another source of political resistance amid the shortages of daily needs, filling a space left open by the government鈥檚 repression of opposition parties. 鈥淢others feel the effects that certain policies or certain government inaction might have on their children,鈥� said Amelia Calzadilla, who ignited a movement with a Facebook video asking the government to run a gas line to her block in Havana, in an interview with Al Jazeera.
The odd stillness in Revolution Square on May 1 isn鈥檛 the only sign that the government feels the pressure of discontent. In March, for the first time, it let Cuban baseball players who emigrated to the big leagues in the United States play on the national team at the World Baseball Classic.
That concession sent a signal that the aspirations of ordinary Cubans may be stronger than the regime鈥檚 tools of repression. 鈥淎 country needs to be a place where people can have a beautiful life,鈥� said Beatriz Luengo, director of a new documentary about 鈥淧atria y Vida,鈥� a hip-hop song that has become an enduring anthem of change since the 2021 demonstrations. The title, 鈥淐ountry and Life,鈥� is a play on the ruling Communist Party鈥檚 slogan 鈥淐ountry or death.鈥�
