“We are Leaderless” in Cuba · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

Young Cubans (Photo: El Microwave)
In an emotional post by Rafael González, author of the blog El Microwave, he questions: Are any of us willing to sacrifice time, prestige, fortune and emotional stability in support of an improbable change in the climate of the state of affairs in Cuba?
The author builds on multiple issues which the current Cuban society has yet to resolve.
El basurero recoge los desechos cómo y cuándo le parece; que el médico tiene –conscientemente o no– instaurada la cultura del regalo como método de sobrevivencia; que el abogado solo está buscando cómo extraerle algunos pesos de más al cliente; que a los comerciantes no les basta con lucrar irracionalmente sino que encima pretende –y logra– robarte en la mercancía; que los maestros han confundido, en el mejor de los casos, la instrucción con la cultura, cuando no han llegado a sucesos como el de Waterpre.
The garbage man picks up the rubbish how and when he feels up to it; the physician has –consciously or not– imposed the gifting economy as a method of survival; the attorney is only searching for ways to take away yet a few more pesos from the client; it's not enough for the shopkeeper to profit unreasonably, but also sets out –and achieves– to short you your goods; the teachers have confused, in most cases, an education with culture, when happenings like the Waterpre haven't even surfaced.
“What is left for us with such outlook?,” asks the author.
Al periodismo –periodistas mediante– le queda recuperar su responsabilidad social como bien público que es, y a la sociedad en general reasumir esa condición ética que –dicen– atraviesa nuestra historia y explota de tanto en tanto.
In journalism–by means of reporters– accountability of the social responsibility has yet to be recovered as a public asset, and  as a society in general, resuming that ethical status –which they say– runs through our history and exploits from time to time.
“If so much discontent exists and so many sense the issues and its probable causes, why is that nothing changes?,” he questions once again.
No tenemos líderes (…) el no tener líderes es fatal para cualquier proceso de transformación social, por más inquietudes ciudadanas que hayan.
We are leaderless(…) not having leaders is fatal to any social transformational process, no matter how many citizen's concerns there are.
Since the remarks, Disamis Arcia points out:
No puede evitar preguntarte si entonces tiene que existir primero un líder para que la gente se mueva, o si la indiferencia esta que padecemos in extensus no tiene causas más jodidas que la inexistencia de liderazgo.
One can not fail to ask if a leader needs to exist, in order for the people to take action, or if the indifference that we suffer from in extensus is stemmed from no other than the damned nonexistence of leadership.