He entered and sat on one of the wooden benches of the Municipal Court of Playa where, that August 2008, the musician Gorki Águila was being tried. The large hall was packed. There were bloggers, dissidents and activists; but also agents of the political police and official journalists. Shortly after, Maray Suárez took out a television report against the rocker and his friends. She now lives in Miami.
Since then, the reporter began to gain space on the small screen and in August 2013, when the program Cuba Dice was launched, she became one of the faces of journalism. raulista along with Talía González, Gisela García and Boris Fuentes. Every Tuesday, they were seen blaming citizens and officials, but without ever questioning the political model or the men in power. Suárez was one of the most combative.
That space was erected as a judge of those who immersed themselves in the black market to buy a bag of cement, a whip for those who tried to survive by selling imported products, self-employed workers who pushed the iron limits imposed by their license and any entrepreneur who dared to accumulate some wealth. It was the scourge of the common people and the spearhead of a policy of “getting in line” with society, promoted by a general for whom no one voted for the position of president.
Many of the people who were denigrated and demonized in Maray Suárez’s reports are still in Cuba
Almost a decade after that informative experiment saw the light, the journalist has been recycled professionally and works as coach emotional in that country to which he devoted so many attacks. He now wears fancy clothes, smiles for the photo and warns his followers not to “let anyone steal” his light. He has replaced slogans with mantras of personal growth and ideological attacks with phrases where words like “success”, “emotions” and “overcoming” are interspersed.
Many of the people who were denigrated and demonized in Maray Suárez’s reports are still in Cuba. Having been mentioned by her in the prime time of national television brought them problems in their communities, the rejection of their more dogmatic neighbors, the harassment of their children in schools and even some other mental health problem due to so many pressures and power abuses.
“You can create a new life for yourself regardless of the moment or how old you are,” the new happiness coach now announces on her social networks. However, some of the victims of her barricade journalism will never have that option. They were overwhelmed and their names muddied without the right to reply. In her current job, Maray Suárez must know that any process of personal change must also include review and self-criticism. We are waiting for you to do yours.
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