The Dangers of Hatred

The Dangers of Hatred / Miriam Celaya

Cubanet, Norma Whiting, West Palm Beach, U.S., 29 April 2017 – The news,
later refuted, of a supposed Cuban flag burning in recent days by
Venezuelan demonstrators who oppose the government of Nicolás Maduro
provoked diverse reactions on social networks and some Cuban websites.
Many Cubans, mostly residing overseas, immediately expressed their
indignation against Venezuelans at what they interpret as an affront to
a national symbol they consider sacred, which does not represent in the
least the dictatorial power that has ruled Cuba for almost sixty years,
ultimately co-responsible for the deep political, social and economic
crisis that Venezuela is currently experiencing.

The misconception, however, was not completely unfounded, considering
that a few years ago Cuban flags burned in connection with student
protests in Venezuela.

However, leaving aside anything smacking of nationalism, justified or
not, the Venezuelans' apocryphal pyromantic message against the Cuban
flag in several important cities of their country would have made clear
the rejection of the gross Cuban interference in Venezuela by Havana's
Palace of the Revolution, since it is not just the perverse tabernacle
where the devastation of their nation has been cooked for years, but, to
date, it's the arena from where the strings of the Chávez-Maduro regime
are manipulated, now decadent but, because of this, more dangerous.

Thus, in any case, it should have been that evil power and not the Cuban
national emblem that Venezuelans burned in their riots of recent days.
In fact, the images from 2014 that caused the confusion leave no room
for doubt when we see that several of the flags burned then carry Fidel
Castro's image on a bundle of dollars displayed under his face, and
other pictures where the signs "Out with the Castros" and "Out of
Venezuela" can be seen. At that time, they also set on fire mannequins
that mimicked the now deceased creator of the longest dictatorship that
has existed in this region.

But it is also true that one of the dangers now is that, in the midst of
the violence applied by the repressive bodies and the gangs incited by
the central government against the demonstrators, their response will
turn more violent. The Venezuelan crisis offers a much more convulsive
and highly volatile and unstable scenario as a result of widespread
hunger, the shortages and the needs of the population, social
frustration, and the regime's misrule, so that any situation can lead to
uncontrollable chaos for any of the parties.

In this context, popular indignation would not be able to discriminate
between Cuba and Cubans on the one hand, and the Castro regime on the
other, bypassing the irrefutable fact that the misfortune of living
under autocratic regimes is something that nationals of both countries
share.

In this sense, and not wishing to be apocalyptic, it cannot be denied
that the thousands of Cuban civilians who currently collaborate in the
populist programs (called "missions") of the Castro-Chávez alliance are
very fragile links in the midst of the Venezuelan confusion, not only
because they could easily become victims of the hatred, accumulated over
many years, against a political project led by a gang of thieves and
crooks which turned out to be a swindle, but because the perverse nature
of the alliance between the hierarchs of Havana and Caracas would not
hesitate for a second to sacrifice them motu proprio, and to attribute
to the opposition the loss of life and the violence against Cuban civilians.

The Cuban gerontocracy knows that the loss of Cuban lives would allow
them to unleash a whole Witches' Sabbath through their monopoly of the
press, and would be a golden opportunity to stir the patriotic spirits
of the masses in the hacienda in ruins, especially now, when the defunct
revolution doesn't have any credibility among Cubans, and when the final
fall of " twenty-first century socialism" also heralds (more) difficult
times for the Cuban population.

The fact that it would involve Cuban professionals, mostly in the health
industry, who carry out a humanitarian mission of medical care to very
poor populations, would add a dramatic touch that is extremely conducive
to the propaganda effects of the Palace of the Revolution. Who could
resist the tragedy of perhaps dozens of Cuban families?

For now, the official Cuban press is keeping a suspicious, almost
sepulchral, silence about what is taking place in Venezuela. Or it has
lied cynically, as is evident in the printed version of the main
official newspaper, Granma, which contained a brief note this past
Monday, April 24, stating that "normalcy reigns" in Venezuela, despite
the opposition to Maduro calling for demonstrations, the massive
mobilizations that have flooded the streets of many cities in Venezuela
since the beginning of April, and the dozens of deaths, mainly
protesters', that have taken place at the hands of the delinquents
grouped in the sinister "collectives", that variety of motorized
terrorists at the service of the government who assassinate their
compatriots with impunity, just for exercising their right to protest.

Let us hope that the best children of Venezuela do not allow the just
aspirations of freedom, justice and democracy of her people to be
contaminated with criminal acts against Cuban civilian collaborators.
They need to not give in to the hatred sown by officials in power. But,
in any case, the evils that might take place in Venezuela will be the
direct responsibility of the Cuban leadership and its puppets at the
head of the Venezuelan government.

(Miriam Celaya, a Havana resident, is currently visiting the U.S.)

Translated by Norma Whiting

Source: The Dangers of Hatred / Miriam Celaya – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-dangers-of-hatred-miriam-celaya/