Last Monday, the directors of the University of Camagüey (UC) detained the professor and journalist José Luis Tan Estrada, when he was about to go home. in a kind of impromptu trialthey recited a rosary of “incidents” against the Government, they notified him that he could no longer teach at his university and –as consolation– they offered him a couple of jobs in a canning factory and in the municipal headquarters of Hydraulic Resources .
Needless to say, he did not accept. As he left UC, he couldn’t help but take a picture of the old State Security mantra, freshly painted on the whitewashed wall: “The university belongs to revolutionaries.”
Ask. It gives the impression that you are being accused of carrying an “ideological poison.” What is the negative influence attributed to you in the faculty?
Response. For some time now, I have more followers on social networks, mainly on Facebook, due to my work as an activist and my journalism. There I have denounced the arbitrariness of the regime, telling life stories and giving a voice to people whose problems are not solved by the Government or local authorities.
At the university, the head of human resources and the dean snapped at me that the students follow me on the networks, they agree with what I publish and with my ideas. None have published anything, of course, because they are afraid of losing their university degree. They are afraid of being reprimanded or closely watched by a teacher.
Another element, according to them, is that I am a negative influence on the students, due to my position openly opposed to the regime on the Island. If I do not agree with the political system or with the people who run it, how can I prevent them from students feel mirrored and do the same?
“It seems that they do not know that a university student – and much more so those of journalism – have the capacity to reason and realize the social problems that we are experiencing”
It seems that they do not know that a university student – and much more so those of journalism – have the capacity to reason and realize the social problems that we are experiencing. Everyone is suffering from them equally.
Q. Why take this action against you right now? Did you expect that level of radicalism that dismissing a teacher implies in the midst of the educational crisis that the Island is going through today?
R. Cuban universities have been characterized as a repressive body against anyone who, within the faculty or the student body, opposes the Government. Because, supposedly, as is written on that famous sign at the entrance to the UC, “the university is for revolutionaries,” complemented by that other no less famous: “Within the Revolution, everything; against the Revolution, nothing.”
Examples are plenty. At UC itself, we have José Raúl Gallego, José Alemán, Henry Constantín, Eliecer Jiménez… countless students and professors who have gone through the university and who have experienced this type of repression. I am not the only one nor the first, nor will I be the last.
Of course, I knew that a measure would come against me, because of my “background”. I lived closely the case of Professor Gallego, how he was prosecuted and discriminated against for his political ideas, despite being an excellent professional. One of the best I’ve ever had, hands down. What I did not expect was that the summons would be unexpected, without prior notice, almost at the time I was going home.
It was a kind of circus. How could I imagine? That half hour showed me that the dictatorship can be unpredictable and knows how to shuffle its cards well.
“It was a kind of circus. How could I have imagined it? That half hour showed me that the dictatorship can be unpredictable and knows how to shuffle its cards well”
Of course, having an opponent of the regime inside a university is not the same as having them expel me “cleaning their hands”, as they did. They openly told me that the reason was because my statements, ideas and attitudes went against the principles of the Cuban Revolution. In addition, they told me that I used my knowledge and my intelligence based on that negative influence.
Unfortunately, students have not made up their minds, or do not have the courage yet, to speak out openly.
Q. What did you teach them?
R. The subject of Hypermedia Journalism, in the daytime course, to journalists; and that of Digital Language and Hypermedia Communication to social communicators, in the course for meetings for workers.
Q. What did these young people think of their expulsion?
R. There are many who have sent me messages of support, positioning themselves against the measure and the way in which it was taken. They tell me that I will continue to be their teacher, as I told on Facebook. I posted those messages to show you what my “bad influence” on students consisted of. If I was that bad, they wouldn’t have even sent a message. I am very aware of them and if something happens to them I will report it.
Q. Don’t the more innocent “other jobs” they envision for you have some kind of humiliating intent?
“The radicalism of the State consists in repressing everyone who wants to unmask it. If one shows their faces and does not use false profiles, they increase their repressive force”
R. Humiliating, crushing, repressive. A low intention and blackmail. I am sure that both the provincial director of Labor, Human Resources and the dean of my faculty knew that none of these positions has to do with my profession. The intention was to lower myself from a graduate to a technician. They want to shut me up and overshadow me. Its normal.
Q. Does the radical nature of the State and its “educational arm” force it to be more radical?
R. The radicalism of the State consists in repressing everyone who wishes to unmask it. If one stands up and does not use false profiles, they increase their repressive force. As this happens, one is also forced to increase the fight against this dictatorship. They force you to separate from your friends, from your students, from everything you have built.
My commitment, my strength, is with the Cuban who has to fight to see what he wears, how he dresses, what he eats. Those stories that the regime silences and hides, through my weapon, which is journalism, I need to make them known.
Q. Can you expect an awakening of the university students?
R. College students are waking up already. Camagüey, with the famous “conga” protest, was a clear example. Without fear, all of them, more than a thousand young people, launched themselves to demand water, electricity, food. They don’t believe in the Revolution or in the student organizations, even less in the Party. They are disappointed and do not see their life project in this country. They don’t see their future here. This dictatorship does not have the capacity to guarantee a life project for a young person.
The reality is direct, it is raw. College students are no strangers to it.
“The official Cuban press is far removed from the real problems of Cubans. The Cuban public agenda does not correspond to the media agenda”
Q. How do you evaluate the scenario of the Cuban press, both official and independent?
R. The official Cuban press is far removed from the real problems of Cubans. The Cuban public agenda does not correspond to the media agenda. They are nothing more than propaganda media for the Communist Party, where a tweet from Díaz-Canel determines the headline of the newscast. They trample to the most absurd degree of pressure on critical journalists, those who think, because they are unacceptable for their media outlet.
The official press is “mechanized” and nobody believes in its triumphalism or its propaganda. It lacks, of course, the basic standards of journalism.
That is where independent journalism plays an essential role, which has been in charge of showing the world the reality of the country. Truthful, exact, direct and timely information that does not mask reality. Despite the limitations and danger, it is the only one that reflects his day to day.
Q. Do you think that the pressure of the regime will lead you into exile?
R. I don’t know. There are many examples of independent journalists, opponents, and activists who have been repressed and censored by the regime, even threatened with imprisonment and death, which have forced them to leave. My only plan now is to fight for Cuba and denounce the arbitrariness that the regime commits daily.
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