IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 6 ENGLISH | Page 19

absorb what we need to read to do so.
We should have clarity throughout this
process, so we can move it forward. We
have been able to empirically do much
of this while taking advantage of a
virtue-defect all Cuban have: we talk a
lot and have opinions about everything.
This is a virtue within deliberative
democracy, but it must be structured. It
must be a structured conversation for
that virtue to result in a positive impact.
At the same time, it really requires what
is necessary: to control the time during
which the conversation takes place and
for us to open up and listen to others in a
process of active listening that must be
constructed little by little. Deliberative
democracy is nothing more than a
rationally structured conversation with
active listening, and not a debate or
argument to see who wins, as if it were
an Olympic competition to see who has
the best argument. No. It is about finding
consensus. This is the new phase we
want to put into practice: we will do so
within the Unity of Democratic Action
Table (MUAD) and, concretely, with the
Otro 18 Project. Marifeli Pérez-Stable, a
Professor of Socio-Cultural Global

Studies, closed the presentations by
praising the Constitutional Initiative
Tables’ process and offering her
thoughts about the differences in context
between Cuba and the United States,
where experience with deliberative
democracy is quite advanced, given the
U.S. has a structured society and strong
civic culture. She believes the
experience is valuable and sets forth that
any change in Cuba should not be
conceived of as revolutionary at its core
and in its values. The event concluded
with a rich discussion of differing points
of view, doubts, and valuable
commentaries from all the participants.
In any case, once the United States and
Cuba finally fully reestablish their
diplomatic ties, the conversation about
democratizing Cuba will take on new
qualities and dimensions. In this context,
our challenge will be to reinvent
ourselves as a political model, imitate
the past, or deepen citizens’ participation
as subjects of their own destiny, and the
nation’s common destiny: deliberative
democracy
becomes
increasingly
relevant to all this.

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