‘Patria y Vida’

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 418 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon.   ‘Patria y Vida’ (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

Between 1987 and 1991 the peoples of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, fought Soviet occupation essentially by singing. Two million people holding hands and singing patriotic songs across three countries. This was the Singing Revolution of the Baltic States. We are now witnessing massive protests across Cuba with protesters chanting ‘Patria y Vida,’ meaning ‘homeland and life.’ Patria y Vida is the theme of a song written by Cuban dissidents that has resonated with Cubans in dramatic contrast with the government’s slogan of ‘Patria o Muerte,’ or ‘homeland or death.’ The lyrics of Patria y Vida highlight the lack of freedom in Cuba. Patria y Vida has become the protester’s anthem.  Yes, years of severe shortages of food, medicines, and other necessities, together with a wave of COVID infections were a precipitating factor, but this was not an uprising about economic shortages. This uprising reveals that Cubans no longer believe their hardship to be the result of U.S. economic sanctions, but rather the result of the unproductive economic system imposed by their leadership.  This Patria y Vida uprising shows that Cubans now realize that their hardships result from their lack of freedom. Next comes the choice they must make: exit, voice, or loyalty. Such is the theme-title of a 1970 book by the economist and political scientist Albert O. Hirschman, which perfectly captures the choices facing the Cuban people.  Hirschman’s Exit, Voice, and Loyalty became an influential must-read book for social scientists. Hirschman’s thesis is that an individual in a disappointing or failing relationship has three choices. That person can leave, complain, or endure in silence. In this scheme of exit, voice, or loyalty, ‘exit’ is leaving a country by migrating to a different nation-state, ‘voice’ is the option of articulating discontent, and ‘loyalty’ is allegiance to the governing regime or its ideology.  As we witnessed in Cuba, even in repressive regimes there is always a certain loyalty to the government. All regimes must have at least a modicum of acceptance from some sectors of the population in order to be able to hold on to the operational capabilities of its institutions such as the armed forces. For those not loyal to the regime, only exit and voice remain as the mutually exclusive options.  Historically, Cubans, including this writer, have opted for the exit option. Often, we chose the exit option to obtain resources to return and overthrow the Castro regime. This was the case of my generation of early Cuban exiles. The 1961 Bay of Pigs landing of the Brigade 2506 and other martial actions undertaken in the 1960s and 1970s exemplify the reasons for our exit. Today, our voices are older and softer, but still loyal to the idea of a free Cuba.  In Hirschman’s analysis, the early exit of the original voices paralyzes voice by depriving it of its principal agents. Yes, for a time perhaps, but today there is a new generation in Cuba that has now embraced ‘voice’ as their strategy to bring about freedom to that long suffering nation.  Hirschman notes that when the exit option is unavailable, as is fundamentally the case for Cubans today, voice becomes the only option for any opposition, “...the role of voice increases as the opportunity for exit declines.” On the other hand, the easier the exit option, the lower the prospect of voice. “The presence of the exit alternative can therefore tend to atrophy the development of the art of voice.” Knowing this, oppressive regimes have long sought to remove political enemies from the national sphere.  Now that a new generation of courageous and patriotic Cubans have found their voice in the island, the predicament, and the challenge, for my generation of exiles is to support their voice, not their exit, with all sociopolitical and economic resources available to us. I realize that it may seem hypocritical and callous for an exile to dissuade exit and encourage voice from the safety and comfort of exile. And yet, we must not fall into the trap of becoming complicit in silencing their voice by way of exit. Patria y Vida.  Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos, Lily & José (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon.  Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish.