comes the essay by Manuel Cuesta Morúa “ Soma : The Pill Against ...” His metaphor points to the detestable practice of sublimating the contradictions in social life — especially its expressions in the alternative cultural movement — per the dogma : " Within the Revolution everything ; outside of the revolution , nothing ." ( Words to the Intellectuals , 1961 ). It became the foundation that justified , without the slightest possibility of confronting it , the most harmful consequences for Cuban culture . In this regard , Cuesta Morúa affirms : " Wherever it appears the whistle and laughter of the culture originated from its most authentic source , society , the Soma of the cultural discourse of power emerges trying to reread and redirect the world that is surprising for the powers that be ." The cultural project of the revolution was designed to maintain its ideological and socio-cultural control . It has exerted a pernicious influence on another artistic manifestation : the visual arts . Frank Correa demonstrated it in “ Native Painters in Havana .” He exemplifies with three representatives of pictorial art who , as lovers of what they do , have not given up , but have ended in ostracism at their homes . They often use their valuable work to survive , since they are forced to offer them in humiliating and painful barter or sale transactions for food . This section ends with a reflection by Leonardo Calvo on the “ Undeserved Honors and Lack of Civic Honesty ” involved in the incredible distinction to Alicia Alonso as " Illustrious Daughter of Callejón de Hamel ." The famous dancer has never made a kind gesture to such an enclave of the Afro Cuban culture . A number of Cuban dancers have been victims of and have given testimony to the racist praxis at the Cuban National Ballet by deed and grace of Alonso . In addition to unusual and ridiculous , the distinction corroborates that the powers that be can take decisions beyond the true transcendence and even the coherence with historical truth . As Calvo Cárdenas points out , " it is more lacerating to see that those who present themselves as fighters against racism are indecently silent about such grievance . Progovernment anti-racist activists are more concerned with pleasing the ruling elite than with consistently denouncing the inequities and injustices we suffer ." In such a situation , it is unquestionable that the development and implementation of policies and projects to confront the national disaster necessarily involves a process towards democracy . The promoters of the “ The Tables of Constitutional Initiatives Today ” in Cuba have decided to engage in this effort . Manuel Cuesta Morúa and the very author of this note precisely elaborate on this topic . And to close this issue , we get three works by South American authors . In “ Afro-Descendants and Democracy …” the Peruvian analysts Jorge Rafael Ramírez and Angie Edell Campos Lazo explore the particularities of Latin American democracies and their shortcomings to achieve true national equity and integration . " We think that , in the 21st century , Latin America is living in a failing democracy , with a lack of representation of Afrodescendant communities in the political decision-making process . The lack of participative spaces for this and other vulnerable sectors is a perverse game of interests generated by those who hold the power of oligopolistic markets and share a neoliberal vision against the promotion of democratic spaces .” They conclude that the Afro movement must emphasize the struggle for recognition and participation in all spheres of the political life to achieve a more inclusive society . Norberto Pablo Cirio , an Argentine anthropologist with high degree of specialization in African cultural
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