Priest Alberto Reyes: "Cuba Today Resembles a Concentration Camp"

Father Alberto Reyes Pías, from the Esmeralda parish in Camagüey, has once again raised concerns about the Cuban people's reality under the Castro regime. Known for his outspoken criticism of the dictatorship, this clergy member frequently utilizes his Facebook platform to highlight the severe violations of fundamental rights occurring on the island.

In his latest commentary, Reyes starkly compared Cuba's present situation to that of a concentration camp, noting the similarities in confinement, the absence of freedoms, political oppression, and the dire living conditions faced by citizens. He argues that more harrowing than the scarcity of food or inadequate living conditions is the pervasive lack of hope and the feeling of an unyielding system.

The priest urged Cubans to endure and preserve their humanity amidst adversity, akin to how prisoners in Nazi concentration camps did. "Our first line of resistance in this concentration camp is to maintain the goodness in our hearts, our solidarity, and joy despite everything," he articulated in his message.

He also encouraged the faithful to trust that evil cannot triumph over good. CiberCuba has shared the full text of Alberto Reyes Pías's post:

"I've been reflecting... (104) by Alberto Reyes Pías

I've been contemplating the necessity of hope. Today's Cuba is very much like a concentration camp.

When we refer to an encyclopedia for the definition of a concentration camp, we find they are places of generalized confinement where individuals are stripped of their freedom and devoid of judicial guarantees. The administration is based on political repression, and besides the official authorities of the camp, there exists a system of control executed by the prisoners themselves, who are granted some power to monitor and report on their fellow inmates.

The inhabitants of a concentration camp are deprived of humane conditions: food is inadequate, hygiene is non-existent, work is done under appalling conditions, and life is generally lived amidst scarcity—conditions deemed below what is considered normal.

However, the most terrifying aspect of a concentration camp is the lack of hope, the unbearable sensation that the diabolical system controlling and oppressing the defenseless population is immovable, with no light at the end of the tunnel. Although we understand that every concentration camp eventually ends and freedom, while delayed, eventually arrives, it does not alleviate the 'feeling' of imprisonment, unmovable slavery, and, above all, helplessness.

Therefore, we either sink into depression and apathy or continue groping through the darkness, clinging to a hope we refuse to relinquish.

Walking in the darkness means, foremost, nurturing our own lives and those dependent on us, ensuring that the night surrounding us does not seep into our souls. Despite the control, lack of options, scarcity, and even the evil we might endure, we strive to bring out the best in ourselves, that 'image and likeness of God' which will be the greatest secret in rebuilding this island.

The Psalm 27 says, 'I hear the voice of the Lord in my heart saying: seek my face. Your face, Lord, I will seek, do not hide your face from me.'

Our first line of resistance in this concentration camp is to retain the goodness of our hearts, solidarity, and joy despite everything. Our frontline is to do what prisoners in Nazi Germany did: share, support one another, and create alternative realities that keep our spirits alive.

And trust that evil is not stronger than good, darkness is not stronger than light, until the day our land ceases to be a battlefield, until the day spring explodes with all its might and covers what appear to be dead hopes with flowers."