The statement of President Castro that Cuba does not guarantee( at least) 14 human rights seems a blatant announcement that they will continue to be violated. While Obama was delivering his speech at the Grand Theater“ Alicia Alonso” in Havana, my colleague of Havana Times, Erasmo Calzadilla, was violently arrested along with a group of dissidents, including two women( " What I experienced after Obama ' s speech,” Havana Times, March 24, 2016). On Friday 25 th, Good Friday, at the concert of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger said he knew that playing or singing his music was not allowed in Cuba for many years, but that things were changing. Just three hours earlier, several Ladies in White and dissidents were arrested as they tried to attend a performance. What is changing in Cuba? That which guarantees that everything remains the same. Now Cubans can listen to the Rolling Stones and even read 1984 by George Orwell, which came to light in the recently concluded Book Fair, fifteen years after an acquaintance of mine lost his teaching post because he had lent this very book to a student. But still Cubans can neither disagree with nor oppose the regime, nor associate peacefully to seek to change the constitution. " It turns out that fourteen are violated " In the face of the people that until now were convinced that no human rights are violated and the so-called human rights activist are mercenaries working for the American government, the statement of President Castro demonstrates the legitimacy of the work done by the human rights defenders. The day after Obama ' s speech, I went to the movie theater Infanta to watch " Selma "( what a coincidence, a film about Martin Luther King Jr.) and heard a woman saying that she was born before the triumph of the revolution and always believed that no human right was violated in Cuba. " It turns out that fourteen are violated," she whispered puzzled. The man next to her added: " Of course, even the Ladies in White, who are dummy, realized that." Understandably, Cubans start to wonder which rights are not respected in Cuba. However, the official media resorted to re-direct our attention to the human rights that are not enjoyed by many citizens in the rest of the world and themselves and are guaranteed by our government, mainly the universal access to health and education. But it is the first time that Cubans heard the president saying it publicly, that not all rights are protected in our country. Despite all the efforts of our government to counter Obama’ s influence through the media( at least five opinion pieces and one more of Fidel Castro himself), the positive effect is evident among the people in Cuba, who are still talking about him and will continue to speak positively as a topic of conversation while standing in line. " We don’ t need any gift " In a line to buy eggs, a woman behind me said she needed three cartons: " Two for me, and one to send to my family in the East. I should wrap it in newspaper pages, put it carefully into a plastic bucket, and send it by train. In the East there are no eggs at all, and when a few go on sale, the police must intervene, because people get injured and even killed. There are no potatoes either, but sending them has been prohibited." Someone jumped into the conversation:
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