Álvarez Devesa, 49, entered priestly education after being expelled from the Universidad de Oriente. In 2018, he sent a letter addressed to Raúl Castro along with two other religious people in which they denounced the totalitarianism of the system and the need to hold free elections in the country.
The priest, one of the most critical voices of the regime, insists on his “hope in the nation.” “I hope to see a rocket take off when we can free ourselves from this system that oppresses us.”
“People have their hearts broken in half. Many of the families have loved ones who have left or who are wanting to leave… There are many Cubans outside of Cuba, outside of this island, which belongs to everyone, but stolen by a group. The other party is trying to survive.”
“You can see a generational polarization. There are many older people who no longer have a future, who cannot leave and on the other hand you see young people who do not have the resources to do so… The schools are also in a serious situation. There are no teachers, There is no attention to youth… We have a difficult situation that makes many people discouraged,” he noted.
For the parish priest, there has been a kind of strategy in that sense. “First, deceive, then remain silent, and third, eliminate. That is, in the first stage, they try to deceive you through a large advertising apparatus. But those who have a different vision, then move on to the second group, which they try to silence through threats or of perks. When that group that has tried to remain silent ends up in a small group that does not remain silent, they try to eliminate it.
“They separated me from the Ministry of Higher Education… It’s not that I couldn’t study mathematics, it’s that I couldn’t study any career,” he explained.
“When I was on July 11, accompanying the boys, the people who were on the street, that cost me a precautionary measure and a prohibition on leaving the country. This measure was communicated to me on July 12, when they released me “They have sent letters of warning and threats to other priests that we are not immune to the laws and prison.”
Álvarez Deves thanks “all the Cubans who are fighting for our nation around the world. I am very happy when I see those who are outside and continue living Cubanness and are fighting for a better country, for a change.”
“I have a lot of hope because I believe that all these years of suffering have helped us to delve deeper into the truth of human society, to understand those things that limit men from being able to develop their potential. And that is why I have a lot of hope… In “Cuba at this moment is emerging a new germ of a new society.”
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FOUNTAIN: Martí News
