Interview to the leader farmer, Pedro Antonio Alonso (I PART)
Victor and Sanchez,
independent journalist
victorernestosanchez@ymail.com


SANTIAGO OF CUBA, 13 of April, 2009 - Like journalist and a little studious world-wide the political fights, always I saw that two factors had great impact in the social fights, the worker and the farmer, to their unit even occurred great strategic importance him, that is to the call alliance worker-farmer.

The social fights before 1959 in Cuba, also incorporated these two components and their sine leaders left, who became flags, as martyrs of the social fights. We have the cases of Virgilio Lores, Virgilio Rosemary, Simplicio Fertile valley, Juan Coit Noa, Emilio Reinoso, Sabino Pupo, Aracelio Churches and Niceto Perez, among others.

The absence of a fort and genuine movement farmer as strategy of an opposition structured in Cuba has drawn me attention powerfully. Nevertheless, I wanted to know of first independent hand that one movement of farmers had happened yet and cooperatives that arose at the end of years 90, indeed here in Santiago of Cuba.

With such intention, Sunday 12 of April I yesterday went to the encounter of that untiring fighter farmer, Pedro Antonio Alonso Perez, founder of the first independent cooperative, Transition and of the National Alliance of Independent Agriculturists of Cuba. After its habitual visit to the Masónica Lodge it invited, me to a humble house to offer this interesting interview me.

P-Victore: Alonso, years ago back the movement farmer had a great impact inside and outside Cuba, what has motivated their evident decay?

E-Alonso: The reasons are many that have conspired against the development of the movement independent farmer in Cuba. Much effort cost to extend it at national level, taking into account that arose here in the Eastern region, soon to maintain a functional structure without the necessary resources. The movement farmer arises as a necessity to organize the farmers of a different form that it allowed them to obtain better economic yields. Nevertheless, trying to look for a directive multipurpose, able to interact between rural and logistic organizational and the means, we gave entrance him to enthusiastic person that demonstrated my, but in the end its intention was to logar the condition of refugees, the organization was becoming a route to logar the exit of the country. That cleared motivation to him to the true farmers, who its intention indeed is to stay in his terruño.

Something that also there is to consider is the paper that then played Martí Radio, when Carlos Quintela was main inspiring of the movement the farmer. To his Romel death Churches it maintained the doors to us abiertas, with a fort endorsement of Robert Rodriguez Tejera, but with the Romel retirement and to prohibit the access our representative in the outside to the radio transmitter Martí, more ago than 5 years does not make contact with enemy with no member of our organization.

To all this the lack of resources is added, in April of the 2004 organization who was created in the United States to coordinate aid bottoms, Support battalion to the Independent Cooperatives of Cuba stopped receiving bottoms the NED, no other organization as of that date has not either replaced us bottoms or any other resource of support. Limited resources we have received from our parent organization, Civil The Rural Development Project, since to them repeatedly the NED has denied the request to him of bottoms and they have not described either before the USAID. There are other factors, I even commit, that have limited to us, but these are the main ones.

P-Victore: Since you speak of the resources that the North American Government assigns, to support the democracy in Cuba, you know a declaration realized by three important groupings of the internal dissidence in Cuba, All United ones, Agenda for the Transition and Liberal Unit of the Republic of Cuba?

E-Alonso: If, clear that I know and not only that, but the endorsement. What they are raising is the pure reality and still there are many more things than to clarify. It is not explained that those organizations who receive millionaire numbers back in the State United, only send the resources to those who respond to their interests, creating more division between we ourself. Here the dissidence and the groups of the civil society are divided in which they receive and those that do not receive, those that have cover of Martí Radio and those that they have to us. Even, there are workers of Martí Radio who are the representatives of organizations here, then only give to cover to his people, fragmenting the organizations him. And thus there are several categories of opponents.

(It will continue….)