Cuban writer Lien Estrada reflects on a critical video blaming Cubans for their own misery under the current government. In her diary, she questions whether the people are entirely responsible for the oppression lasting decades. She promises to be kinder to her compatriots despite the divisions.
In a diary entry published on Havana Times, Lien Estrada describes coming across a reel from the program 'El 4tico', a critical space produced on the island that denounces everyday realities like blackouts, misery, and hunger. The video, set in an improvised room with patched fans and walls covered in newspapers, features young people rapping truths about Cuban society.
The reel focuses on the 'modern Cuban', arguing that 'the enemy of one Cuban is another Cuban'. The hosts call them a 'bunch of cowards', liars, charlatans, and miserable scoundrels who have not fought for independence, having been trained to be puppets of a government that arises from and survives thanks to the people. Estrada acknowledges the exploitative tyranny of the communist regime but questions if all responsibility lies with the citizens.
She recalls a friend's comment: 'a monster like Fidel could only have been produced by a people like the Cubans'. In response, Estrada shares in the video's comments: 'We have suffered the deception of a dictatorial system... are we expected to react like Europeans, Americans, or Japanese?'. She argues that blaming each other does not help and that the dictatorial system has shaped behaviors like neighborly surveillance out of fear.
Estrada concludes that, instead of self-flagellation, it is better to foster kindness toward compatriots who have shared misfortunes. 'What I promised myself after watching this reel is to try to be kinder to my compatriots, whether they think like me or not', she writes, recognizing the life force of those who have lost more.
