Reinaldo Hernández Cardona
* 1939
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“At the begining of the 1970s, people were still benefiting from what had been left over from capitalism for more than a decade, because the offer in stores – for example, in terms of household appliances – was very limited and outdated. At that time, the government decided to reward workers for achieving better results in their jobs. In other words, the opportunity to buy, say, a television, was a reward. For example, in my factory, there were about 300 employees and there were ten televisions available for those who worked best. So the system of merits and rewards was set in motion. Let's say the person with ten merits won over the person with only nine. If you participated in a political parade, you got a point. If you got promoted or exceeded your quota at work, you got another point. If you behaved in accordance with what was required, another point. And in the exact opposite manner, points were also deducted. If you did not complete your work assignments, had bad grades in school, or did not behave in accordance with the ideology, you got a black mark. This is how the little that was available was distributed. Imagine the fights when one employee went after another because he had one less credit and did not win the chance to buy a television. They would accuse each other mutually of being worse. One could cry about it, but it was the reality of the revolutionary process in Cuba at the beginning of the 1970s."
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“It is good to mention that, if Fidel Castro really had any special abilities, they were that through his populism he was able to achieve that the people allowed themselves to be controlled by him. He tricked them and they thought what he wanted. Let us remember that such a noble people as the Cubans reached the point where they were able to demand that opponents of the regime be shot at execution sites. Notice how clever the people who directed it must have been. They created an environment for trials that took place in settings similar to those of ancient Rome. The trials at the Ciudad Deportiva were reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum. They told the people anything, all lies. No normal trial. Laws that protected the population disappeared. They managed to convince people of the necessity of executing people like Sosa Blanco. There were many of them. At the same time, they wanted to make it clear to people just how far they were capable of going, that they did not hesitate to execute people. If we ever talk about a reconciliation with this regime in the future, we must remember how many people they were capable of murdering.”
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“Civil ethics were characterized by a complete rejection of or at least an effort to avoid prison. It was considered something very shameful. To the extent that it can be said that the whole of Cuba at that time had about a dozen prisons. It was a sufficient number to imprison anyone who committed a crime. Nonetheless, this so-called system needed to increase the number to, say, fifty, sixty prisons. At the same time, it should be noted that the most important ones were opened for political prisoners. This was previously a very limited group of people. Freedom of speech and assembly applied, all of this was ensured by law.”
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Cuba, 01.01.2024
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They told us things like that we produced more cheese than The Netherlands
Reinaldo Hernández Cardona was born on 14 February 1939 in Puentes Grandes. At the time, this village on the outskirts of the capital Havana was home to many factories, in which his father and uncles had worked before Reinaldo. Today it is located in the city district of Playa. Due to the dire financial situation of the family, which along with Reinaldo had a total of seven hungry mouths to feed, the boy had to work alongside attending school starting from the sixth grade. Reinaldo remembers the times before the victory of the Cuban Revolution as a relatively happy period. Despite some restrictions on freedoms evident in everyday life, the population enjoyed a good economic situation in Cuba, which, combined with a relatively well-functioning civil society, created an environment full of joy and mutual respect. The victory of the guerrillas under the command of Fidel Castro and the rapid changes were reflected in the accumulation of problems that Reinaldo, as a not entirely conformist person, had to deal with. He complained, among other things, about the non-compliance with safe working conditions in the factory. But he never achieved any change. In his narrative, Reinaldo compellingly describes and explains through real-life stories the socioeconomic tendencies that Cubans have struggled with over the decades under the leadership of the Castro brothers. At the beginning of the 1990s, he joined the opposition movement, which resulted in frequent harassment and bullying by the Cuban authorities, of which he was a victim for many years.