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
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
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NewsTranscript
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.