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Raúl Rivero dreams of radical and unequivocal, yet gradual and non-violent change, headed by the Ladies in White
By Europa Press

 

 

He says he does not feel “nostalgia” for Cuba but clarifies that he will never abandon his imprisoned friends and he will return to the island after there are changes. He believes that breaking relations with the regime is to leave the opposition “alone with the enemy” and considers it an illusion to wait for changes from Castro.

 

MADRID, April 7th, 2006 (EUROPA PRESS) – The exiled Cuban poet and journalist Raúl Rivero is convinced that change in his country will not occur until Castro’s death, although he assures that it could begin at the moment when his health deteriorates. That is why he dreams of a transition that is “radical and unequivocal” in the Caribbean island, but that it be carried out in a “gradual and pacific” way, headed by non-violent movements such as the Ladies in White.

 

Rivero assures this in an interview with Europa Press on the occasion of the publication of his latest book, “Vidas y Oficios: los poemas de la cárcel” (Lives and careers: poems from prison) written during the eleven months he spent in the Ciego de Ávila prison, after being condemned to 20 years in April 2003 under charges of conspiring with the United Status, attempting against the independence of the State, and violating the principles of the revolution.

 

'The scenario I dream of is to produce change radically and unequivocally, but in a gradual and non-violent way, so that it can be non-violent (...) Everything that is happening now is disastrous, everything must be renovated, everything must be changed, but in an intelligent, non-violent, and calculated way, with prudence so that is does not become a fratricide,” affirmed Rivero.

 

Thus, he refers to the future in the mid term in his country and what will happen when the changes begin to occur that are necessary in Cuba. “It is necessary to request pardon but it cannot be forgotten. I believe that justice should be done but true justice, supervised by the international community, and not a circus like the one mounted against us in the Black Spring of 2003”, he explains.

 

FORCE OF THE LADIES IN WHITE

 

The journalist repeats on several occasions the word “non-violent,” and is convinced that movements like the Ladies in White, in which his wife participates, Blanca Reyes, are those that represent the type of struggle for which he pleads against the Castro regime. “They are the most important thing that is happening at the moment in Cuba because for the Government it is very difficult to repress them,” he emphasizes.

 

After remembering that it is a non-politicized movement that fights for the freedom of their relatives, he is cautious because they know that the Government is looking for “formulas to end” them. “It is the most emblematic group within the opposition on the island. They have much force and they are a symbol of the most pure non-violent resistance”, adds Rivero, who takes the opportunity to give thanks for the international support.

 

On this point, upon being consulted by the role that Spain can play in the democratization of Cuba, the journalist is also clear. “Spain is a great example of where things must go, due to its own history,” indicates Rivero immediately afterwards he presents a brief overview of the transition that was obtained in our country following the death of Franco.

 

When he is asked to evaluate the controversy between the PSOE and the PP as to the policy to adopt to obtain that objective, he considers that what is needed is a combination of both currents.. On the one hand it says that it is “fatal” to break relations with the regime for the Cubans in general, and for the prisoners in particular, and by the other he believes that it is “erroneous and illusory” to wait for a “gentile gesture” from Fidel Castro.

 

ALONE WITH THE ENEMY

 

“It is necessary to maintain contacts and not close the embassies, above all the Europeans, because they are a window opened for the non-violent opposition, to know where the Government is heading. To close them would be fatal, because I am convinced that things would go worse for the opponents than they are now in Cuba, because it would be to leave them alone with the enemy”, he insists.

 

On the other hand, when asking him to give a balance of his stay in Spain, country to which he arrived a year ago after being released by Havana, assures that he is very positive and, that although he technically knows that he is a foreigner, he doesn’t feel that way. “I feel very well, without nostalgia of Cuba, because after the experience of the past 15 years that were so bad that now I am in a period of rest. “I have rediscovered life, he adds.

 

Nevertheless, he is also certain that the moment when changes begin to be produced in that he will return to the island. “I feel that I have an obligation to return”, affirms Rivero, who clarifies that political interests do not move him and that his intention is “to mount a journalism business.”

 

On this point, he explains that he does not have official contacts with the Spanish Government, although he recognizes that he maintains good relations with people, “that are friends”, as much in the Government and the PSOE as in the Popular Party and the Foundation for the Analysis of the Social Studies (FAES), presided over by ex- president of the Government José María Aznar, and other institutions.

 

NEUTRAL AND EQUIDISTANT

 

“I am in an absolutely neutral and equidistant position out of respect. I cannot come from another country to take sides on what is happening in Spain. First because I have much respect for Spain because, among other things, I am free thanks to Spain,” he remembers.

 

The fruit of that longed for freedom is “Vidas y Oficios: los poemas de la cárcel” (Lives and careers: poems from prison) from Peninsula Publishing. Rivero assures that writing those poems served as an “escape” every night from the rigors of the Cuban prisons and that his objective when publishing them now is to obtain his place in the panorama of poetry in Spanish. But above all as a tribute to those that are still imprisoned.

 

In fact, the poet always has words for his companions and friends that remain in prison, with which he has a moral commitment until the last one them leaves and whom he will never abandon, after insisting that the situation in Cuba has worsened in recent years as much for the prisoners as for their relatives, who suffer acts of repudiation mounted by the Government.

 

Those acts of repudiation are “similar” to the one experienced at the University of Seville this past Monday. Rivero ratifies that there were people tied to the Consulate behind the boycott. Finally, he refers to the controversial declarations of the Cuban ambassador against the president of the Community of Madrid. “The Cubans of the regime think that they can behave as they do in Cuba (...) but they demonstrate the overwhelming and intolerant essence of Cuban totalitarianism”, he concludes.

 

 

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