Mariana Camejo: The United States says the pressure is against the government, but in reality it is on the people

BarcelonaPolitically, Cuba is experiencing one of the most critical moments since the 1959 revolution, which gave rise to the Castro regime: the country's government is negotiating with the United States and President Miguel Díaz-Canel has announced an extensive package of reforms that will liberalize the island's economy. Socially, the longest economic siege that Washington has ever applied to any country and the lack of reforms, have left the most basic needs of Cubans uncovered. We discuss the responsibilities for the situation on the island and its future with Mariana Camejo, director of the independent media La Joven Cuba.

How is the threat from the US experienced among the Cuban population?

— People's reactions cannot be understood in homogeneous or monolithic terms. There are those who say that the US is to blame for everything, to those who want Washington to invade the country because they believe it is the only solution. And between these two positions moves a lot of people who disagree with the government of the United States, nor with the immobility and lack of reforms of the Cuban government. But life in Cuba right now is concentrated on the basics. When you walk down the street, people don't talk about Trump. People are looking for food, they are thinking about the water they don't have and they are thinking about the power outages. And amidst these concerns, the issue of a possible military intervention arises.

How has the country's situation changed in recent months?

— A lot. Since January, with the energy fuel blockade, the situation has worsened significantly. Even in Havana, which has always been protected for political reasons. Everything is deteriorated. The State has shifted and taken a step back in public life. Everyone is very clear that the achievements of the revolutionary process were health and education, among others, but now not even that is guaranteed. I think we are on the verge of a humanitarian crisis in Cuba.

Has committed errors the Cuban government?

— The blockade and everything that the US sanctions scheme implies has always played a main role in the Cuban economy. It seems to me a significant political cruelty that some want to deny the responsibility of the United States in the current situation. But it is also true that the Cuban government has not made reforms in time. In June the executive announced measures to open up some activities to private actors, and these are measures that it could have taken ten years ago.

Is it a question of immobility?

— Above all, there is no open and transparent recognition of errors. It is vaguely said that things could have been done differently, but the US is always pointed to. This is a geopolitical variant with which Cuba must live because it will not disappear. Knowing this, as the government of Cuba, it is up to you to generate economic policies that will somehow get around it. There are precedents, such as the Doi Moi program in Vietnam [1986], reforms that were made in a context of sanctions and that managed to have actors within the US who wanted to remove them because they wanted to participate in the growth of the Vietnamese economy.

Has the Castro regime paid the price for not knowing how or being able to circumvent the US siege?

— People increasingly see the gap between the official discourse and reality. One of the Cuban government's maxims is "We will overcome". When will we overcome? What is the horizon? When will this victory arrive? Furthermore, you give a speech assuring that "Cuba is not alone", when Cuba is more alone than ever. Practically, not even humanitarian aid arrives and the population suffers day by day. All this implies a clear loss of credibility. It is also true that the pressure exerted by the United States, which they claim is pressure against the government, is actually pressure on the people. They are betting on squeezing the people to provoke protests that end up toppling the government. It is ethically quite questionable, but furthermore, the Cuban government has demonstrated its capacity for resistance for years.

Do you see a probable military intervention by the United States?

— I see it as quite unlikely. First, because it would mean destabilizing a country just 90 miles away with whom the US cooperates in terms of surveillance of waters, ships, drug trafficking, etc. Washington is not interested in the country being ungovernable. It could carry out some type of aerial intervention, but I believe that economic pressure really responds to a progressive strategy in which the US, along with psychological warfare, tries to gain an advantage over Cuba in economic matters to reach a negotiation table where they can impose their conditions.

What makes you think that?

— Initially, all the US State Department leaks were that Washington was demanding Díaz-Canel's resignation, and now that has changed. Now it's all GAESA [a business conglomerate controlled by the Cuban armed forces that controls almost half of the country's GDP]. Marco Rubio has pointed him out, stating that he has the Cuban economy hostage and recent moves are in the direction of pressuring on this side.

Before I said that Cuba is more alone than ever. Is there a feeling of helplessness?

— Of course, even among sectors of the radical left. Russia has negotiated with the United States to bring in a ship of oil and that's it. Where is the international community? Mexico has been one of those that has tried to help the most, but has been able to do little against the US blockade. Hardly anyone speaks out forcefully enough.

How is it to report in Cuba?

— Freedom of the press is an outstanding issue. I understand there are restrictions, for example, on companies receiving funds from the United States government expressly aimed at causing a regime change. Cuba has the syndrome of a plaza under siege. The country has been under United States hostility for so long that everything has led to a lack of permissiveness with independent media, but, in terms of freedom of expression and democracy, independent media are necessary. And right now, we, La Joven Cuba, have been attacked on national television for doing our job. The feeling is that when you say something, you are criticized, and if you don't say it, you are also criticized.