Cubans sound unusually open to Kerry call for democracy

Cubans sound unusually open to Kerry call for democracy
By ANNE-MARIE GARCIA and MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press Videos


HAVANA (AP) — The blazing Caribbean sun rose Saturday on a U.S. flag
flying over Havana for the first time in 54 years and people discussing
political reform with an openness that once would have been unimaginable
in Cuba.

Speaking before the raising of the Stars and Stripes at the newly
reopened U.S. Embassy, Secretary of State John Kerry called for systemic
political change on the island, a topic that remains taboo here despite
a series of economic reforms and the reestablishment last month of
diplomatic ties severed during the Cold War.

"We remain convinced the people of Cuba would be best served by genuine
democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders," Kerry said,
going on to call for responsive institutions and independent civil
society in this single-party state.

Friday morning's speech was broadcast live on state television and radio
and it was rebroadcast on state television in its entirety Friday night,
then reprinted word-for-word Saturday morning in Granma, the official
Communist Party newspaper.

In a series of interviews across Havana, Cubans told The Associated
Press that they also welcomed Kerry's call, openly discussing their
desire for more democracy without the requests for anonymity or slow
measuring of words that once were nearly universal when discussing
political change.

"Of course we Cubans aspire to more democracy, more liberty and more of
everything, because the truth is that life here is really hard," said
Roger Granado, a 44-year-old masseur who lives in the working-class
Cerro neighborhood in south Havana.

President Barack Obama made a milder call for change in Cuba when he
announced the new U.S. policy of engagement on Dec. 17 in a speech
broadcast live on state TV here. And in 2002, former President Jimmy
Carter addressed Cubans in an unprecedented hour of live, uncensored
television — telling them their country did not meet international
standards of democracy and repeatedly promoting a grass-roots campaign
for greater civil liberties.

Shortly after that 2002 broadcast, a 22-year-old woman selling black
market cigars to tourists in Old Havana would only give her first name,
Alejandra, when she was asked her opinion of Carter's call for greater
liberties.

"People are afraid to talk openly about these things," she told an AP
reporter. "We're not sure what we can say anymore without getting in
trouble."

Stopping as he strolled Friday night through Old Havana, not far from
where Alejandra spoke, 50-year-old nurse Esbaldo Rodriguez shared his
name and occupation before confidently saying "I think it's logical that
Kerry talks about those ideas, democracy, etc."

"For us it's a drop of hope, it's something we weren't expecting."
Rodriguez said. "It's logical and for me it's like a dream, what
happened today and on Dec. 17, and now we have to wait to see it become
reality."

Sofia Granda, a 62-year-old retired state worker, agreed: "Everything he
said about liberty, human rights, democracy, didn't surprise me and I
like it," she said after watching Kerry walk through Old Havana Friday
afternoon.

Retired Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray said Friday's events "had a
great impact on people, who became enthused and started talking much
more easily about those themes," of democracy and liberty.

Cubans have felt increasingly free in recent years to complain about the
country's stagnant economy, bureaucracy and the difficulty of life in a
centrally planned economy.

Far less common are open complaints about Cuba's leaders and its
political system, which allows people to vote directly only for
low-level municipal posts.

Cuban officials describe the system as a form of true democracy that is
"perfectible," a euphemism ordinary Cubans interpret as a sign that the
government is planning small-scale political reforms in the coming years
while retaining Communist Party control.

View gallery
Secretary of State John Kerry, and other dignitaries watch as U.S.
Marines raise the U.S. flag over …
The Cuban government rejects U.S. calls for political change, citing the
long history of American interference with Cuban domestic affairs and
blots on the United States' own record on civil liberties.

Addressing reporters with Kerry after the ceremony, Foreign Minister
Bruno Rodriguez responded by citing U.S. human rights transgressions —
from police shootings of black men to mistreatment of prisoners at
Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base on Cuba that the government says
must be returned.

By Saturday morning, as the giddy reaction to the flag-raising ceremony
wore off, many Cubans were leavening their praise of Kerry with
criticism of the U.S. that echoed Rodriguez.

"What happened yesterday was transcendental, that's true," said Rolando
Quevedo, a 67-year-old retired driver for a state company. "But I don't
like the cynicism of the Americans when they come here to talk about
human rights and democracy. What are they talking about? What are the
rights of the blacks they've killed in these past months?"

"Let the Americans come and bring the good but not the bad," Quevedo
continued. "The majority of Cubans don't want to change our system."

____

Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mweissenstein

Source: Cubans sound unusually open to Kerry call for democracy - Yahoo
News -
http://news.yahoo.com/cubans-sound-unusually-open-kerry-call-democracy-163046657.html;_ylt=AwrC1zFtc9BVghYAfyzQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByaWg0YW05BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM4BHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--