Gabriela Torres
BBC
Mundo, Londres
=======================================================
Mundo
Gabriela Torres
“Democracy is
Still an Invention”
A CubaNews A CubaNews translation
by Mercedes Rosa Diaz.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
“I admire what homosexuals have accomplished here [in London],” Mariela
Castro yelled before a crowd of homosexuals meeting at Trafalgar
Square. The daughter of Cuban president Raul Castro was one of the
guests of honor who attended the festivities during National Gay Pride
Day in the U.K.
After the
crowd heard what conservative and liberal leaders and trade union
activists had to say, Castro and a translator took the stage to talk
about her fight for the rights of homosexuals in Cuba.
Castro, who is director of CENESEX in Havana, has become something of a
folk heroine for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals on the
island.
Before the microphones on Trafalgar Square, she spoke about the need for
change and an end to patriarchy. She spoke with BBC World about the
need for less talk and more action with regards to freedoms in Cuba and
her belief that real democracy is non-existent.
Beneath the lions at Trafalgar Square
The marches that have taken place in Havana over the past two years
have been against homophobia. How long before you hold your first Gay
Pride Parade?
I don’t know. We have a
different strategy. We Cubans like to try different formulas from other
places. We like to learn from others’ experiences, but we create
different strategies. We don’t march for gay pride; we organize
artistic and educational events geared toward respecting sexual
orientation and sexual identity in general. What we celebrate on May
17th is not gay pride; it is that on that date, the World Health
Organization eliminated homosexuality from its list of mental
illnesses.
Being gay is not the problem; homophobia is the problem. That’s why we
focus on the homophobia; because that’s the behavior we want to change.
And once you change that, will you hold a Gay Pride parade?
We are fighting for the inclusion of all in all, not to make ghettos.
You have been pushing to have the draft law that includes rights for
homosexuals passed in Cuba for almost two years now. Do you think
having international renown will help pressure your government into
approving it?
I don’t think so. However, we have accomplished a few initiatives. In
2008, the Ministry of Health
approved a resolution that legalizes all treatments for transsexuals,
including sex-change operations, to be conducted free-of-charge as part
of the national health system. I think the parliament will pass
it when there is a national consensus.
To do that, we are going to have to educate the Cuban people. If
we do it the other way around, the people won’t approve of it.
Homosexuals were persecuted during the early years of the Revolution
by the UMAP. Who or what remains from that time in Cuban society?
The bad memories—and the desire to prevent it from repeating itself. We
don’t want to hurt people out of prejudice. At this moment, we’ve been
able to promote a serious discussion in society and in the mass media
about issues surrounding homosexuality.
Beyond education, what other obstacles prevent the law from being
passed?
Prejudices are the only obstacles. The only way to overcome prejudices
is to talk about them and by including scientific analysis in your
arguments, so that the society can understand and change its prejudices.
But we also need to have the support of laws, resolutions and public
discourse. This topic is finally beginning to insinuate itself into the
issues addressed by the political organizations as well as the NGOs.
The fact that you are the daughter of Raul Castro and the niece of
Fidel Castro should work in your favor in your struggle.
It helps in some ways, and not in others. At least I don’t have to go
through some bureaucratic wait to speak with my father [Raul Castro]
like some officials must. But there are many people who reject the fact
that I do this work so they set up roadblocks.
The reforms in the Family Code to include rights for homosexuals—what
does that mean for Cuban society?
It will help to make the family more democratic—more just. It will
ascertain to homophobic parents that their responsibility is to support
and welcome any family member who is LGBT (lesbian, gay bisexual or
transgendered). It will help dismantle homophobia and the patriarchal
models that have traditionally dominated our families and our culture.
It will help a great deal in effecting change in people.
Do you see your movement as an example for others seeking other kinds
of freedoms?
We aren’t the only ones proposing these kinds of changes. There is a
movement in Cuba—a debate—that is in search of a socialism that is more
dialectical. We seek a socialism that is more satisfying for all of us.
Is there room in the discussion for all sorts of issues?
In Cuba, there is always room for discussion, but our communications
media tell a different story. Sure, we could broaden the discussion.
But the problem is not just having the discussion—what is important to
me is that something is done about it [the issue].
Amnesty International has reported that Cuba does not allow free
expression, and as a result has 57 prisoners of conscience.
Let me explain. In Cuba, there is free expression because Cubans say
whatever they believe. Who can shut up a Cuban? No one that I can
think of. We have the same problems with freedom of the press
that everyone else in the world has. Now, the people to whom you are
referring didn’t have problems with freedom of expression; they were
paid by a foreign power that wants to exert control of Cuba. They
are mercenaries; and, mercenary people are punished throughout the
world. The Cuban government has said that it is ready to hand them over
to the United States in return for the five Cuban heroes who were
unjustly imprisoned for uncovering terrorist plans against the Cuban
people that were originating from there. Those mercenaries here work
for those terrorists; so it’s not about freedom of expression.
Those people were convicted of having acted against the sovereignty
of the State. But…
They were convicted of receiving a salary for working for a foreign
power that wants to dominate Cuba. That was explicitly proven with lots
of evidence.
Back to the topic that brought you to London—the Gay Pride Parade.
You shared the stage with homosexual political leaders who were
conservatives, liberals, unionists. Some were applauded, others
booed…don’t you wish for Cuba to have that same diversity?
When you compare it that way, I really don’t understand it. I want
there to be diversity in every sense; diverse opinions, ideas,
proposals, initiatives, experiments…I love to experiment. I think
creativity is fundamental to a people; I would like that for Cuba. I
want Cuba to grow, to be able to express itself and develop.
At the end of your speech, you were thrown a beer bottle—has anything
like that ever happened in Cuba?
Cubans are very pleasant and civilized. The only thing the public can
do if they don’t like something is not applaud.
Would a major international opening help Cuba and your cause?
Cuba needs a major international opening. Cuba has been the victim of a
campaign of defamation that has made its international relations
difficult. We need help from the rest of the world to put an end to
this situation.
But U.S. president Barack Obama has introduced changes with regard to
Cuba. He announced that he would allow Cuban Americans to travel to
Cuba and to send money…
That has not begun. We are waiting for that to happen.
It seems like Cuban president Raul Castro is allowing an opening for
discussion or reflection in the country. Have you discussed democracy?
Democracy is still an invention that is being experimented with
throughout the world according to the interests of the ruling classes.
Personally, I think it’s an abstract term that we are going to have to
struggle to make into reality.
But, in that desire to make democracy a reality, what kind of a
democracy would be right for Cuba?
I think Cuba needs a participative socialist democracy.
With a multiparty system?
I don’t believe in multiparty systems. I believe in having diverse
ideas, and in a participation in which we all contribute some part.
Multiparty systems are a fiction to make one believe that he lives in a
democracy. Up to now, no multiparty system has guaranteed democracy.
The United States has two
parties—the Republicans and the Democrats—but neither of them responds
to the most dispossessed classes. Europe has copied the American
model.
In the end, their multiparty systems
have not guaranteed democracy. So we have to keep thinking up new ways
to bring about real democracy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/america_latina/2009/07/090704_2254_marielacastro_intw_gtg.shtml
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Última
actualización: lunes, 6 de
julio de 2009 - 18:07 GMT
“La democracia todavía es un invento”
"Admiro lo que han logrado los
homosexuales aquí (en Londres)",
gritó Mariela Castro ante una
multitud de homosexuales reunidos en
la céntrica plaza Trafalgar de la
capital inglesa. La hija del
presidente de Cuba Raúl Castro fue
una de las invitadas de honor en las
festividades por el día del orgullo
gay.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/america_latina/2009/07/090704_2254_marielacastro_intw_gtg.shtml |