Las ''reflexiones'' de Sarah Stephens

Estas son las ''reflexiones'' de Sarah Stephens, la directora ejecutiva de El Cetro por la Democracias en las Américas (CDA), quien acaba de regresar de un viaje de cuatro días a Cuba:

1. Business as usual. The damage isn’t the way I pictured it. In Havana, you simply wouldn’t know there had just been a hurricane. It’s business as usual, the Hotel Nacional patio is as full of mojito drinkers as ever (given that it’s the low season), the flea market in Old Havana going strong, the farmers’ markets bustling and full of produce, paladares completely booked on a Saturday night, etc. For Havana residents, the crisis is pretty abstract – it didn’t get hit by Ike. But with upcoming food scarcity, the government will allocate resources based on greatest need, and at that point, Havana will feel the pinch. The question is, how will they respond?
In Pinar del Rio, the destruction is spotty but widespread. The town of Pinar itself is virtually undamaged, but nearby Los Palacios has many destroyed or partially destroyed homes. People are living with neighbors or in their roofless homes, with plastic sheeting over their beds. They spend the day cleaning up the mess, sorting through the debris. It’s heart-breaking.
2. The government’s ability to handle a crisis of this magnitude. I left on the trip concerned about the initial silence from the government. Was this going to be another Katrina, Cuban style? What did it mean that Raul wasn’t on t.v., leading the way, showing his face out in the hardest hit areas? Was the government unable to deal with the severity of the catastrophe? Was it at best under communicating? Was it at worst in disarray, paralyzed, its weakness revealed? Would the people sense the weakness and lose confidence in their government?
What I saw and heard was quite the opposite. Dozens of electrical towers are down but already replaced along the highway between Havana and Pinar del Rio. In the Pinar del Rio areas we visited, most phone service is back. Everyone reported to us that the government has been out in force leading the clean up (and we saw this). Many commented about the efficiency, speed, and large presence of armed forces and the party. Notable: In La Isla and also Pinar, there were women Poder Popular leaders who took public leadership, were on television, organizing the clean-up efforts, calling on local community to come together, take responsibility. Solidarity is a big refrain, both at the community/country level but also international solidarity (Fidel writes about this in his reflections – Venezuela, China, Russia, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, etc). “You are not alone.”
People live on rumors, though. It is unclear what is coming in terms of material relief and when. Government has responded, but more is definitely needed, and people don’t know what to expect. They are worried about what happens when the existing food supply runs out.
3. I was wrong about the way the $5 million U.S. offer is playing in Cuba. Mostly, people don’t know about it and those who do don’t seem to care. It just isn’t the main issue. The $100,000 initial offer was seen as an insult. Trinidad and Tobago gave a million, for heavens sake! People don’t expect anything from the USG – it has been causing them hardship with the embargo for 48 years.
I was also worried about the CANF (Cuban American National Foundation) money being viewed as a political maneuver, but instead those we spoke to weren’t differentiating – any aid is good.
4. The mass exodus question. Nobody we spoke to in Cuba believes this theory is likely, and you would have to have 20-20 future vision to be able to predict it. To be sure, there is a looming issue of food security in Cuba, but things will have to deteriorate substantially from the way they are now and Cubans say there are two missing ingredients: a provocation by one government and an acquiescence by the other for the boats to go.
5. Opportunity – while U.S. Commerce Secretary Gutierrez et al are looking at this as the “tipping point” in the sense that it will force the country to the brink and will bring down the regime, people in Cuba have other ideas about the opportunity that the crisis presents.
From the Boston Globe: “Gutierrez described Cuba as a country devastated by two recent hurricanes while grappling with an economic system that breeds corruption, a population growing increasingly defiant, and a president ‘who will have a hard time keeping it together.’ Gutierrez reiterated the longstanding U.S. policy regarding economic sanctions against Cuba. ‘We don’t want to give them a lot of breathing room at a time where we believe change will happen,’ he said during a question session that followed his talk at Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics.”
I am reminded of 9-11. I remember having the hope that the tragedy gave us the opportunity to turn the page, to begin a new chapter and a new relationship with the rest of the world.
In Cuba, people talked about “silver linings” to the crisis in several ways:
- Opportunity for the Catholic Church

Caritas and the Catholic church have seized the opportunity to strengthen the collaborative relationship between the government and church, opening space for greater church involvement in aid efforts; they have hope that this might pave the way for future role in supporting private enterprise, etc.
- Opportunity for U.S. business

There is now $5 billion worth of potential investment in rebuilding of infrastructure, an opportunity to be missed or capitalized upon.
- Opportunity to rethink housing that is “green” and more durable.

With global warming and increasing violent weather, a new approach to housing in the Caribbean is going to be essential. Why not rebuild the right way now in Cuba?
And of course, the biggest opportunity is ours. What’s the down-side to opening up travel and remittances? Like the Catholic Church, it could be a start to something hopeful, larger. I came home from this trip convinced we need to push hard to get Congress to act, and to get Obama to speak out. For people who think in fear scenarios and national security threats, it may make more sense to stop thinking about the boats coming to our shores, and to remember instead that the Russians and the Chinese and Venezuelans are already there.
Fotografía: vista aérea que muestra las viviendas destruidas después del paso del huracán Ike por Pinar del Río, en esta imagen tomada el 11 de septiembre de 2008 (Claudia Daut/POOL/EFE)