Cuban youths see protest movement and generational conflict on island

Cuban youths across the Florida Straits met and talked via Internet video phone this week during an unusual experiment conducted by the University of Miami. The images of youths in Miami and in Havana were projected on a large screen inside a UM conference room.

For one hour Tuesday night, about half a dozen UM students of Cuban origin talked to more than half a dozen Cuban youths, some students, in Havana.

The UM students asked the Cuban youths questions about the current situation on the island and some of the answers were surprising.

   At times, the Cuban youths sounded like Cuban exiles referring to the Cuban government as “dictatorship’’ or “tyranny’’ and its actions as “repression.’’ One even said that while Fidel Castro used to describe the Cuban Revolution as the revolution of all the Cuban people, most young people on the island now feel it is “his revolution.’’

   While many issues were discussed, overall the Cuban youths left the impression that an anti-government youth movement is emerging and that pro-democracy youth protests may one day spread through the island. One student noted that the greatest peril to the Cuban revolution is the country’s youths because they are the ones who most fervently want change.

   One of the most insightful comments came from a 25-year-old man who said: “There’s a generational conflict which also includes a political conflict. Today’s generation does not feel committed to the same initial ideals of the Cuban revolution.’’

   The UM group sat in a room at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the UM campus in Coral Gables. The Cuban youths sat in a living room-like setting somewhere in Havana.

UM organizers said they could not identify the location or provide the names of the participants to protect them against possible Cuban government reprisals.

-- Alfonso Chardy

Comments

[Tony Planas]

I do not think that it was a reality video conference. It is my strong conviction that it was manipulated by Cuban counterintelligence. Who in the Island can have a computer video camera? I do not believe at all.

[jachapin]

That's awesome!

[cubanojoven]

I think what UM CAUSA is doing is great, its refreshing to see young people involved in the struggle for a free and democratic Cuba.