PROLOGUE

Even though this essay will be available to all interested readers, regardless of national origin, it is addressed to Cu­bans of all ages, social standing and countries of residence.

I was born in 1940, resided in Cuba until August 2002, lack political aspirations whatsoever and it is not my inten­tion to pontificate.

My motivation for putting pen to paper emerged when, finally living in a democracy and with access to the interna­tional press and the Internet, I observed that little is dis­cussed or published about the island's mid- and long-term options. This reluctance could be linked to the instinct of self-preservation in some of those living in Cuba; expatri­ates may think that the cart should not be put before the horse.

Speculation on when communism will end in Cuba is not to be found here. Nobody knows and it is digressive. Most people think it has lasted for too long because we measure events in the chronologically short term of hu­man life expectancy. For a nation, however, fifty or sixty years are equivalent to a year in the life of a person.

But everybody knows that the system is condemned to extinction. In peacetime, no form of government in the Western world has failed so dismally. There were monar­chies, aristocracies, democracies, theocracies, oligarchies, plutocracies, and even tyrannies that, alternating accom­plishments with failures, had positive net results in poli­tics, or in the economy, or in the social field, or in two of the three areas in which civil society is customarily divided. Communism failed in all three wherever it was imposed. It doesn't work. It is ineffectual. Its Cuban standard bearers reveal themselves irrational or drunk with absolutist power when they proclaim it untouchable and immutable.

Not knowing when or how it will terminate, however, should not preclude discussing what should be set in mo­tion the day after. This essay invites readers to reflect on our nation's history, and to think about its near and distant future alternatives.

Although the nature of the topics examined demands some education, I tried to make them accessible to most readers. Specialists will feel disappointed if they only read about their field of expertise. The intention is to acquaint them with vital aspects of Cuban reality about which they have little or no information, because in the social fabric everything is interwoven.

The first chapter — fifty percent of the essay — resumes the twentieth century's main Cuban events. This has two objectives:

To lay the groundwork for considering valid options in this century and, to stimulate the young to study in some depth the pe­riods they feel more interested in, and the assertions and value judgments they regard as incorrect or mistaken.

Those pages are not the history of the Cuban twentieth century. Some of the events that took place on the island in that period had planetary repercussions and by themselves fill thick volumes. We also had a significant number of out­standing men and women. Our historic figures, as many others in the world, did good and dirty deeds. The fascinat­ing paradox that what in the beginning seemed promising ended catastrophically, and vice versa, repeated itself over and over. The underprivileged were frequently victimized, yet that didn't make them less generous or kind.

Our culture, as most other cultures, tries to make us be­lieve that we are superior to other peoples: more heroic, generous and self-sacrificing. It just isn't true. Everywhere humans have contradictory impulses and reprehensible behaviors. Those who gain social notoriety are outstanding only in a very narrow field of specialization. Most men and women seldom behave admirably. Mediocrity is our con­stant companion; sometimes our conduct is execrable.

The following pages cover just the highlights of our re­cent history and provide a summarized vision of options.

The prime objective of this essay is to serve as an im­perfect and perhaps quixotic starting point for more ca­pable Cubans to evaluate and propose what we or our de­scendants ought to do for the island that is so dear to our hearts.

What saddens me are not the recriminations, censure and criticisms that will be leveled against me, but that those currently living in our nation will not have access to these reflections... for the time being.