May 23, 2023
Source: 14ymedio and Havana Times
By
Yoani Sanchez (14ymedio)
HAVANA TIMES – In many Cuban houses there is still a wooden Matryoshka, an empty bottle of Moscow Red perfume, or a copy of Sputnik magazine. The Soviet presence was so intense on our Island that, for the children who grew up between the 70s and 80s, the USSR was like a powerful and severe stepmother. Today, we see the Kremlin envoys arrive again and, although they look different in their suits and ties, we know that they are seeking the same thing: to use our country as a geostrategic chess piece that is too big for us, very big.
The same day that the Group of 7 summit began in Japan, Cuba President
Miguel Díaz-Canel ratified to the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitri
Chernishenko, “Cuba’s unconditional support for the Russian Federation in its
confrontation with the West.” In Hiroshima the meetings revolved around how to
tighten sanctions to corner Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine, but in
Havana the red carpet was rolled out for the former KGB agent’s narrow circle
of power. It was no coincidence.
Increasingly isolated internationally and with a war in which it has not won
the stunning victory it had hoped for, the Russian regime is in dire need of
alliances. The urge is not only on the diplomatic level to pretend that it
maintains loyal partners in some parts of the planet, but also for its friends
help it evade sanctions. Until the beginning of the invasion, Putin had shown
several signs of disinterest towards the Island, several joint projects were
even canceled due to the inefficient actions of the Cuban side. But the war
campaign changed everything.
Havana rapidly aligned itself with Moscow’s discourse and began to call the
entry of troops into Ukrainian territory a “special military operation.” It
avoided condemning the Russian actions at the United Nations and blamed Kiev
for the start of the conflict. Then began a slew of announcements of new
agreements signed, of credits granted by the Kremlin and of visits by officials
to both sides of the Atlantic. As more photos surfaced with bureaucrats from
both countries signing contracts and memorandums of understanding, concern grew
among Cubans.
The unease that overwhelms us now comes for several reasons. We know the
intensity of the presence that the Russians can have in our country, their
infinite willingness and ability to meddle in ministries, offices and barracks.
We know that the Díaz-Canel regime is bankrupt and that to save what remains of
Castroism it is capable of auctioning off the Island piece by piece. We intuit
that a fat check from Moscow would allow the unpopular engineer in the
president’s seat to continue at the helm of the nation and reinforce the
repression. We also understand that Putin is only interested in us because we
are 90 miles from the United States, his archenemy, and located in Latin
America, a region in which he wants to have a significant area of influence.
Furthermore, we suspect that with those collar-and-tie envoys who arrive in
Havana these days, a democratic change will not come to us, nor more freedoms,
much less greater respect for human rights. It points to the opposite. When
Chernishenko announced last Friday the creation of “a road map” to accelerate
the rapprochement between the two countries, “which might require some changes
in Cuban legislation,” he is not thinking of decreeing more spaces for
dissidence or a framework of respect for independent media. Rather, it is about
paving the way for the Russians to control portions of the national economy and
run wild in other spheres as well.
They will bring us, yes, their methods. The ability for obscure agents of
the political police to amass an empire, for Party bigwigs to take over the
most appetizing industries, and for money from public property liquidations to
end up mostly in in the hands of ideological comrades who will exchange their
military uniforms for the elegant clothing of the oligarchs.
Translated by Translating
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