“Son extremadamente racistas”

ADN America

Ariadna Mena Rubio: Son extremadamente racistas La activista cubana residente en Miami Ariadna Mena Rubio, fue víctima durante muchos años de abusos, secuestros y arrestos arbitrarios debido a su oposición explícita al régimen de la isla. Hoy, desde su exilio forzado, Ariadna Mena cuenta su historia y analiza las condiciones en las que vive una mujer en Cuba. Entrevista realizada para la serie “Cuba: la dictadura disfrazada” por Nitsy Grau

Transcript

00:00The dictatorship always tries to fragment, because they are extremely racist.

00:05When you decide that you are not going to give your rights to anyone,

00:09they attack your family, they attack everything,

00:14they even attack your integrity.

00:16Being a black woman and an oppositionist, and a mother, is not easy.

00:21The Cuban activist living in Miami, Arianna Menas Rubio,

00:26was a victim for many years of abuse, kidnappings and arbitrary arrests

00:32due to her explicit opposition to the regime of the island.

00:37Today, since her forced exile, Arianna Menas tells her story

00:42and analyzes the conditions in which a woman lives in Cuba.

00:47Well, the biggest problem that a woman has to face in Cuba is,

00:51first of all, the day-to-day. Society is the community.

00:56The Cuban woman is like saying, I see it like this,

01:00it is where all the weight of what a society is.

01:06The Cuban woman is that woman who gives you strength.

01:09I see the Cuban woman as the best in this world.

01:14She is afraid to go through the needs that are happening,

01:19and yet she is facing them.

01:22Why did I have to leave Cuba?

01:24I mean, when I was exiled,

01:27which was the moment when I was going to my husband's grandmother's house,

01:34to a block, which was very close, and they caught me.

01:38I was alone and they caught me.

01:40And they put me, I mean, they don't cover me,

01:42but they do throw me against a car, inside the car.

01:45The patrols were behind.

01:47I know it was the patrols because you could see the color of the lights and the siren.

01:52In this fight, there comes a moment when you adapt.

01:56You say, oh, you're going to take me, okay.

02:00In the end, you're going to let me go.

02:01What caught my attention was the time, the time.

02:05I mean, they didn't do those lightning kidnaps.

02:08They didn't, at that time, they didn't do those burglaries.

02:14I mean, the houses didn't do anything at that time.

02:17But hey, my house wasn't my house.

02:19When I saw that it was spinning and spinning and spinning,

02:22normal, because they normally take you anywhere.

02:25But when I saw that they were a cañaveral, alone,

02:29that the witnesses only had the stars and the light,

02:33that amount of men,

02:38there I said, that's it, my life is over.

02:42I was dying inside, it's logical.

02:44But I didn't want to show it.

02:48I remember that the State Security Officer comes,

02:51he drags the gun and puts it here.

02:53And he says, do you want to see how you die?

02:55I thought about a lot of things at the time.

02:58And the only thing that came out of my mouth was, kill me.

03:02Yes, anyway, all Cubans are dead.

03:04He told me, I'm going to give you three options.

03:06Either you leave Cuba or you go to prison,

03:08or as you can see, we disappear and nothing happens.

03:11They left me there alone.

03:13When I saw it from a distance,

03:15that's where I reacted.

03:20And my fear went away.

03:22I cried a lot.

03:24I trembled.

03:25I looked at the sky and said, thank God.

03:28Because he had his hand on the trigger.

03:33People tell you, oh, you are a warrior.

03:37Oh, you are brave.

03:39But we also have to give a side to our children,

03:44who are warriors, who are brave.

03:46Remember that there is no worse judge

03:49than our own children in life.

03:52And remember that they also have to live

03:56with a society that is also judging them.

04:00And there are people who don't tell you anything,

04:03but they do hurt those fables they have in the house.

04:06They have to overcome all those things.

04:10That is, they are stronger than you.

04:13Because it is society, it is the media,

04:15it is the little friends, it is the school, it is everything.

04:18Do you understand?

04:19I have sometimes wondered how my daughters

04:23and how the children of all of us have been able to survive

04:29without going crazy, I don't know.

04:31Because for me, in this story,

04:33they are the greatest warriors.

04:38The dictatorship always tries to fragment.

04:41The first thing that prevails is the factor of the races,

04:44because they are extremely racist.

04:47And then, many times,

04:49the ones you have in front of you are of the same race as you.

04:52You see?

04:53So it's like you have to thank the revolution

04:56because the revolution gave you a place in society.

04:59What place did it give me in society

05:01that I can't be free, or act, or think free?

05:05When you decide that your rights are not going to be dominated by anyone,

05:09they attack your family.

05:12This is a very crucial moment.

05:14That is, they have like a meter.

05:18When you are able to overcome

05:22all those things they do to you with your children,

05:26they say...

05:29Because it is logical that if a mother has a child,

05:33she has two alternatives.

05:35Either she goes out like a beast, or she softens.

05:38In my house, no.

05:40In my house, my daughter was taken out of ballet school,

05:42she was taken out of gymnastics school,

05:44and that's what gave me more strength.

05:46Because I said that no one touched my daughters.

05:48And because of my thinking...

05:50Besides, I was also fighting for their rights.

05:54So that's what gave me more strength.

05:56So they go against everything.

05:58And they try to denigrate you.

06:00Or they denigrate you.

06:02You have to live with that.

06:05You have to live with all those negative things

06:09that the same dictatorship, to make you weak,

06:12exerts on you.

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