HAVANA, Cuba – They have wanted to handle it as “just another problem” when in reality it is the clearest sign of collapse and the worst political crisis of the last 10 years, as the recent revelations in the case of the Minister of the Economy and Deputy Prime Minister leave no doubt about the chaos and shamelessness as the “governing style” of the Cuban regime.
If until a few days ago there was anyone in Cuba not yet convinced that the roots and origin of our problems should not be sought elsewhere but right here on the Island, and that there are no other “enemies” than the homegrown ones, which the regime harbors within the ranks of a “single political party”, today there is no justification for naiveness or silence because this is not just another case of uncovered corruption but the CASE (in capital letters) that definitively demonstrates the rampant corruption emanating from the highest levels and spreading uncontrollably that leaves very few safe places among us “the underdogs”.
What we have learned about Alejandro Gil—not through the sparse “official note”, barely published as a patch to futilely disguise a gigantic black hole, but through the truths exposed by the independent press—would be enough in any “decent” place on the planet for citizens to demand the resignation of the entire cabinet, including its main leaders. This is not about the minister who “allowed” such and such a crime, or who received bribes, or even had a “poor performance” of his duties, but rather we are facing the guy (or rather, the most visible face) who orchestrated an entire scheme of corruption and financial plunder while promoting economic austerity policies on the basis of the scarcity of foreign currency and the urgency of capturing it in order to “better distribute it”.
But we are not a “decent country”, and the proof lies not only in the fact that it is the very Minister of the Economy who cried about the dollar shortage while stealing them and taking them out of the country, but because, beyond the comments on the street, some even in jest despite the seriousness of what has happened—and despite cynically revealing to us that we have been taken for a ride with the tale of the lack of liquidity and the “U.S. blockade”—nothing has happened.
No one among those most affected by the economic shock-packages, now revealed in their true hypocritical essence, has demanded anything outloud. Even then, there are still those who, either stupidly or very purposefully to “play along,” continue to attribute inflation and the fall of the Cuban peso against the U.S. dollar to the “El Toque rate,” not only following the pattern of disinformation that preceded the “official note” of March 7 —mainly from social media profiles aligned with the regime, undoubtedly to create a “state of opinion” before dropping the big news—, but also turning a blind eye to the biggest evidence that nothing good can be expected from a government whose top leadership is not changing anything but simply mutating into ruthless and corrupt businessmen, ready to emerge healthy, safe, and disgustingly rich from their own collapse, or rather, “controlled demolition.”
Even without knowing all the details of what happened but merely knowing what is on the surface of the matter, the case of Alejandro Gil is emerging as potentially devastating for the regime. So much so that in the very “official note” itself, there is a glimpse of the awareness the leadership has about the seriousness of the scandal; so much so that they will try by all means to prevent the leakage of information. Not only because it involves more than one of the regime’s leaders but also because it exposes their own scheme of mutation.
We must be clear that Alejandro Gil did not fall from grace for what he was doing behind the scenes but because he did not take enough precautions to avoid being discovered outside of Cuba, since the voice of alert was sounded from afar, from the other side of the Strait of Florida (and also from within, but those do not worry the regime). That is why Gil’s case as a scheme of institutionalized corruption is something similar to that of the case of General Arnaldo Ochoa in 1989, although by no means less serious than Ochoa’s, not only because of the consequences it could have for the former minister, who is the scapegoat this time around, but because it is irrefutable proof that, in times of aggravated crisis, the regime always resorts to the same subterfuges.
On the eve of the first “Special Period,” the creation of the “MC” department (acronym for “Convertible Currency”) at the heart of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT, by its Spanish acronym) was delegated to some military officers. MININT was involved in drug trafficking and, moreover, dominated the creation of offshore companies mainly in Panama. Amid this second Special Period, the one that is unfolding during these days of uncertainty and hunger, the creation of a “market in MLC” (Freely Convertible Currency) -and after plundering the pockets of emigres- allowed them to mass-produce some MIPYMES (micro, small, and medium enterprises) behind which hide the new type of Ochoas and De la Guardias, the “new generation” that will help them mutate more easily, by camouflaging state-owned businesses as private and the private ones as state-owned.
That’s why it is neither casual nor exceptional to find “retired” military personnel, and even repressors, shuffled among the extensive list of “small and medium-size entrepreneurs.” Nor is it casual that, without any type of obstacle when leaving the Island or entering the country of destination, so many of them join the migratory wave as if it were an act of dissent, of rupture.
Gil’s case is the most serious thing the regime has faced in a long time, far more serious than the protests of July 11 and 12, 2021, more so than any natural disaster, accident, fire, or explosion (with or without a “final report”), since it involves a mutation scheme that has been dangerously exposed, a scheme where the leaking money trail can be clearly followed, as well as the direct connections between the top brass and the “new economic actors”, in addition to the roles each one plays.
All that remains is to wait for the reactions of the underdogs and of the few honorable men and women that are left, in order to have complete certainty about our destiny as a country. If the regime manages to survive this, which is just beginning to surface without even showing its real magnitude, then we can assert without fear of being mistaken that the communists will rule Cuba forever and ever.
