Cuba is dying.
We cannot close our eyes to this reality. People are dying in hospitals and isolation centers for lack of medicine. We do not have even the most elementary supplies, such as painkillers, antibiotics, and vitamins. We are a vulnerable population, malnourished and suffering from hunger, and largely unvaccinated. The state-run media lie with impunity, upholding the communist party’s line, no matter how absurd.
Many ask me if there is hope. I believe there is. There is always hope.
There is hope that this entire nightmare will pass, that the island-wide protests that broke out on July 11 (what Cubans on social media call “#11J”) were the final blow to 62 years of servile fear and silence. There is hope that Cuba now has the opportunity to write a new history, to return to the path it should never have abandoned: the path toward a democratic republic whose citizens are totally free to participate in the nation’s political, social, and economic life.
The armed forces and the national police have the opportunity to join the people, that is, those whom they should be serving rather than repressing. The government has the opportunity to obtain a different legacy and future for a new generation that sees the governing ideology, one of hatred and oppression, clearly and with disgust. Those who now hold power in Cuba have the opportunity to finish burying the nation’s communist system, an absurd yet deadly farce that is now in its last throes.
To those in power, you who govern amid so much discontent: Finally recognize that Cuba’s sons and daughters do not want communism, a disastrous import from the Soviets that did not work even for them. Learn to value the rich legacy of the true heroes of Cuba, those who forged this republic, and to value also the tremendous energy and capacity among our youth; it is they who should be at the forefront of the country we desire.
To my fellow Cubans: It is up to all of us to arm ourselves with this hope so that we can lift up our nation once again. The international community has yet to offer much help. Let us together be the protagonists of a new Cuba that is free, a place where it is normal to have dreams and smiles on our lips and in our hearts.
Let us work toward a Cuba “with all and for the good of all,” a Cuba that is not dominated by ideology, where everyone has a place, where the streets belong to everyone, and where the powerful do not oppress those without power. We want a Cuba where the only limits to freedom are charity and the rights of others; where no one has to lower their voice, or worse, hide, in order to say what they think; where there is true political participation; and where one can freely launch new enterprises. In short, we want a Cuba in the hands of Cubans and not in the hands of any dictatorship. This is a Cuba where all her children can come fellowship at the table without anyone them calling another “traitor” or “worm” or “scum.”
We, the sons and daughters of Cuba, were not born for such vileness. We should confess before God any hate and mean-spiritedness on our part, if there has been any, and then retake the reins of our story and put an end to this long nightmare.
God, homeland, life, and liberty for Cuba: This is my humble prayer today. Viva Cuba libre!
Ruben Orlando Leyva is a priest in Santiago de las Vegas, a town located near Havana, and the director of the Cuban Catholic Youth Network, an online community with more than 5,000 members. Leyva was ordained a priest in September 2020.
