the cuban writer Leonardo PaduraPrincess of Asturias Award for Literature in 2015, recognized that on the island “many things have to change” and assured that “the option of exile is not the one that can guide the country.”
In an interview with BBC Worldduring his participation in the Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, Padura referred to the current situation in Cuba and the massive migratory wave that the island has suffered in the last year, from which more than a quarter of a million people left in 2022 bound for the United States and other nations.
“It is a bleeding that does not stop, because people no longer trust that things can improve in a social sense, in a general sense, and they are looking for individual solutions for their needs,” said the novelist.
Also the National Literature Award Winner and author of the famous detective Mario Conde saga, commented that at times he feels optimistic about his country and pessimistic at other times, and defended the need for changes “so that we begin to found a feeling of optimism towards the future”.
“There are days when I think it’s possible and days when I feel like it’s impossible. And that makes me feel, when I think it is possible, with some optimism, when I feel that it is impossible, with a lot of pessimism,” he assured BBC.
“Right now, Cuban society is experiencing a very complex moment, with many shortcomings. And although the official propaganda talks about all the efforts made by the state government to improve things, we don’t see the results. And we have been tired of hearing promises for a long time”, he said.
Citing his character Mario Conde, Padura pointed out that in Cuba “we are already tired of living for so long in history and we want to live in normality.” “We need to get out of history and into a coherence that we have not been able to have,” he added.
In his opinion, to transform the Cuban reality, “although the word is quite hackneyed, used and even devalued, it would be necessary to have a revolutionary attitude.” Because, he pointed out, “the revolution can change things, it is to turn things around.”
“Many things would have to be turned around, starting with the economy, and that in some way will also have an influence on politics and society,” he added.
“Hopefully things will change,” he insisted, because, he said, “most people continue to live in Cuba. 2.4% of the population has left, 97.6% remain in Cuba and hopefully these people can live better.”
The author of novels like The man who loved dogs He acknowledged having censored himself at some time, but said that “for many years I have said what I need to say, and I try to ensure that this political element is not at a first level.”
“The Cuban political structure is known, the political changes that may or may not have occurred are also known. Focusing on it, I think, is not what allows us to give a different reflection on society, but what human behavior and the situations in which people see themselves are shown in that reality. And I think I’ve had the chance to do it as freely as possible,” he said.
Padura regretted that after Trump’s policies towards the island, the anti-government protests of July 2021 and the arrests and convictions of protesters, “a somewhat unhealthy environment” and the division among Cubans were reinforced.
“Everything goes through fundamentalist solutions: you are with me or you are against me; there are no third ways, you are mine, or you are contrary, you work with me or you work against me, “he considered.
In addition, in the interview he referred to his most recent novel, decent peopleand reflected on decency as a necessary quality, for the “social effect of good behavior, good relationship with others, honesty, seriousness, fair play”.
Regarding a passage from that work, Padura commented on the importance of “feeling like people” and enjoying the good times, despite the shortcomings and difficulties that life imposes.
“I think it’s a fairly common attitude on the island,” he said. Sometimes one wonders how it is possible that in Cuba people throw so many parties, that they consume so much music and if they can try to drink that day the rum or the beer or whatever appears”.
“It’s that people need to be in that state of happiness for a while,” he reflected.
