The Fall of Democracy

Day after long day Ines Guerrero thanks God for the life she has. After having lived in Cuba when it was still Democratic up until its sudden turn to Communism she remembers all that occurred. At the age of 81 she is eager to tell her stories of how Castro changed her life. Trying to help her relatives in Cuba is a small struggle now because of the US embargo on Cuba, but she still manages to do so. Coming from a large family she is a very outgoing, and strong woman who's only desire is to help others.

In the time I was living in Cuba we were under President Batista’s rule and it was a time of great economic growth. My grandfather started a sugar cane farm and he sold his crop to rum distillers. I then married a man in the import business, mostly automotive parts. I was very comfortable with two maids at home and everything we needed.

The revolution started when Fidel Castro and a bunch of hoodlums came up with the idea of supposedly liberating the country from the Yankee imperialism and Batista’s “corruption.” Oh, what corruption, there was no corruption. Castro's government functioned by giving positions of power to the people that helped him in the revolution. All the hoodlums got government jobs. Che Guevara was given the job of minister. As well as Huber Matos and Camilo Cienfuegos. These are people that never had any political post before and all of a sudden they did. They had no experience and were ill equipped to govern anything, much less a country. They were all eager to exercise their power, like modern day Robin Hoods that came to distribute the richness of the nation evenly. They found out that Castro lied to them and when they would express their sentiments, they would go to jail, betrayed by Castro. Those communists were all liars. 

Not everything was perfect, but there was no need for a revolution. We had freedom, prosperity and we could come and go as we pleased. But then communists came and started telling the people that they would be better off if they would help Castro overthrow Batista. They were filling people’s heads with dreams of equality; they said that everybody would have a farm, not only the rich people, and as soon as he came into power he took my father's land away from us because the land belonged to the people and not to any individual person. The corruption was that American companies were controlling Cuba and the casinos were run and controlled by the mafia.

I remember around the end of 1962 when the radio started to tell us to be prepared for an invasion by the United States because supposedly we were cooperating with the Russians to attack the United States. The radio said that the US was claiming that Cuba had Russian missiles. After I left Cuba I found out that it was true. I believed that we were going to be invaded because it was a year and a half after the Bay of Pigs invasion. The Bay of Pigs invasion was when the United States supported a group of Cuban exiles in an attempt to overthrow Castro’s government. I remember that there was a lot of propaganda in the Granma newspaper. They kept saying that the revolution was as strong as ever because we had killed or captured about 1,200 invaders.

In 1963 we moved to Havana. Because of the US embargo my husband could not remain in the import business. He could not find a job because he was not part of the communist party, he was not “with the revolution.” He found a job as a baker, which was good  because we had a better supply of food. The rations of food were very small and if he wouldn’t have been able to bring home eggs, flour, and milk, we might have starved. They used to give you a ration card and for us since we were a family of three they gave us one pound of meat every two weeks, some rice, some beans, and a few other things for my husband, my son, and myself. I would also sometimes trade the eggs from my chickens for some necessities.

Once Castro and his band of hoodlums came into power we weren't allowed to practice our religion. The only religion was Communism. We didn’t see the effects of not having freedom of religion then but now after 40 some years without a belief in God I think you’ll see a difference in people. We also lost the freedom of expression. You could not say anything against the government or Castro, and you could not say anything negative about the conditions. People that were loyal to Castro were everywhere. If they heard you say anything negative, they would report you to the chief of the block. One of my husband’s friends was a vocal person that expressed his dislike of the government. One day he got a notice to report to a government office where he was told to go help out with the sugar cane fields for five years. They never said why it was, but everyone knew that it was because of his beliefs.

In Cuba you had to ask permission to go anywhere outside the city. And the government had the choice whether they wanted to deny or allow you permission. Our communication was terrible, we had no telephone service, I could not call anywhere outside the country, to make a call I had to go to a communications office. With our limited freedom of the press the reporters had to submit their stories to a government editor before they could be published. If they felt that anything that was in the article was anti-government the article would not be published and the reporter could get in very serious trouble. The TV and radio also became government run. We were bombarded by propaganda. Every place we went we would see pictures of Che Guevara showing him as if he was Jesus Christ. One time I was walking around El Malecon and seeing all the posters showing how great we were and then at the same time I look towards the horizon and notice a group of men trying to get into a raft to Miami.

I suppose for poor people communism was good because now they had some things that they didn’t have before. Castro’s government did provide for healthcare and education for everybody, but having their loss of freedom was a very expensive price to pay. I do not have much optimism for the future since after 40 some years of living under Castro’s regime I think that people just got used to living that way. What would really help would be if the United Stated takes the embargo away so that Fidel Castro does not have that as an excuse to have a lack of supply of basic necessities.

When the revolution happened everyone thought it would only be temporary; but after a few years everyone lost hope and started thinking about what would be the easiest way to leave Cuba. Every year hundreds of people die in attempts of getting out. Presently, there are some that do not want to leave because they believe the propaganda and so they have grown up with strong hate for the United States.

Even though it was very difficult to live with limitations the hardest part was the loss of freedom. We were finally able to go to Colombia in 1969. I thank God that Colombia as well as the US welcomed me and my family.

                                                                                             Interviewed by: Andrea Martin