New Year , New Life

Yordis García Fournier Political Activist and Delegate of the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy Guantánamo , Cuba

From my very childhood , I have always been hearing stories by elders — who lived both the dictatorships before 1959 and the Castro brothers ´— about dinners in New Year Eve and Christmas . The latter were officially reinstated in 1998 due to the visit of Pope John Paul II , a faithful defender of people ´ s freedom and human rights . Already since the mid-80s , these elders commented how the traditional New Year celebrations have been increasingly degenerating . Many said that such festivities remain important for just very few people , since the holydays had been replaced by other secular celebrations like the landing of the Granma expedition on December 2 nd , 1956 , and the triumph of the Castroite revolution on January 1 st , 1959 . Even I remember the atmosphere in December and it is logical , because we were not living in extreme poverty under the Soviet subsidy . Many naively believed the official speech about the incoming year as better than the outgoing one , but nowadays there was no enthusiasm in my native province , Guantanamo , while dismissing 2016 and welcoming 2017 . The reasons are more than obvious . The opinions circulating on the streets were varied and abundant , but almost none favorable to those who have been misgoverning us for more than half a century . The most common argument is that the economic crisis is deepening since long ago and there is no solution in our sad horizon . It has been more than proven that the main cause is the lack of political will among those responsible for the socialist project rather than other external factors like the U . S . embargo , which they call a blockade . The shortage in the markets extends to the shops selling in hard currency . It is a quite common phenomenon that reflects the lack of productivity . Demand is always abysmally over supply ; hence , the long and stressful lines to purchase whether a pound of rice or a loaf of bread . Such a situation disincentives the entire population and creates discontent . Anyway , people look forward to celebrate despite poverty and insalubrity , precarious and insufficient services . They do not celebrate the triumph of the Castroite revolution , but having survived another year under it . The prices of essentials are high and on the rise , and the basic basket associated to the ration card is not even close to solve the problem created by the government itself after seizing all the fundamental means of production and turning free enterprise into a huge socialist enterprise . In the end , history has shown that this great company only serves to distribute poverty , as well as to destroy the emerging economies , like ours before the Commander arrived and ordered to stop , as the refrain of a wellknown song says . It was composed by the late leftist singer-songwriter Carlos Puebla , soon after Fidel Castro came to power . Corruption and mismanagement in the corporate sector — well-demonstrated by the number of state entrepreneurs