I recently travelled to Cuba on a mission trip.  I wrote a 4-part report on the trip that was first published in The Yazoo Herald that I am now reposting on my blog.  This is part two of four.

The wonderful and gracious Cuban people (as mentioned in a previous installment) are so despite living in what I understand to be a completely socialist environment. All industry is owned by the government. So are most of the retail outlets. Healthcare is completely socialized and transportation is a subsidized service of the government (most Cubans do not own a vehicle and use buses to travel). The question is, “What do the Cubans think about their government?”

I get the feeling I could travel to Cuba for years and never be able to answer this question because they do not discuss the government in public. Our friends are reluctant to answer questions regarding the government, and even when they say the name of Fidel in the privacy of their own home they lean in and say it in a whisper. It is common knowledge that on every block in every city there is an agent of the government who listens and reports on the actions and conversations of their neighbors. It is dangerous to discuss politics because you never know who is listening, and it seems futile because they have no input in their government’s practices. Why talk about what you cannot change?
And while things are better, the history of the revolution and the government’s Soviet-inspired intrusions are fresh on the people’s minds. I learned of an incident in 1972 where the government unilaterally arrested all the protestant pastors in the country, taking them from their homes in the night and holding them without charges or information to the families. After two years of demonstrations by the people (and the churches’ refusal to stop worshipping even without their pastors) the government eventually released the pastors with no explanation or compensation. I met two pastors who experienced this round-up, and while they are not afraid, that threat always looms on the horizon.

However, things are better because Raul has loosened some restrictions. Just in the last few years the Cubans have been allowed to open their own businesses or cafés out of their homes. It’s not industry, but in a small way the people can now influence their own destinies. Access to the Internet has opened them to new ideas and to see how the rest of the world lives. And I have the strong impression that just the presence of Americans gives the people great encouragement. But while there is apparent optimism that things are changing in their country the people still live under an unspoken blanket of fear because they know the government can flex its muscles at any time and that they have no recourse. It is very difficult for the Cuban people to dream about the future like we Americans do because their future is so much more uncertain.

Again I am excited about the opening of relationships between our two countries because our presence in their country and the experiences we bring with us make it more difficult for the government to restrict freedoms that the people now know are possible. And in the shadow of our divisive election, we can learn from them too. Although we can speak into our government processes (and should, constantly) we can learn from them that the movements of our government do not have to dictate the outcomes of our lives or the joy with which we live them. It amazes me to see the good lives the Cubans have made for themselves despite the political environment in which they live. We can learn something here.