The members of Ireland's Cuban community have diverging feelings about their country's new regime. 

It’s 10pm on Easter Sunday in a central Dublin pub, just like any other night on the town. Except that this is salsa night, and where there is salsa there is invariably a gathering of Cubans.

Talking about the infamous Caribbean island is always contentious, and many Cubans, even while living outside the country, are reluctant to express an opinion. For some it is a matter of wanting to move forward, leaving the past behind. Others will tell you openly they are simply too nervous to comment. And then there is another group – those who say that they have no interest in commenting on Cuba, but with whom a little more investigation reveals a very apparent fear of doing so. When they do speak out, attitudes vary widely – and most of all on the Castro government, the American embargo, and the likelihood of a future democracy.

One Cuban national living in Ireland, Maykell Pajan, has no qualms about expressing his views. Now 28, he came to Dublin in 2003. Maykell says he left Cuba for economic reasons, but that he has nothing against the Castro government. He doesn’t expect things to change greatly now that Raul Castro has taken over from his brother Fidel. He also claims to know little about politics. “I’m not saying I’m 100% in support of the Castro government, all governments have good and bad points, but there have been many positive things achieved under the revolution. They are doing the best they can. We are not a big economy. I hope they will stay in power”. He says life for him in Cuba was good, that he didn’t have any problems. He now goes back to Cuba every year. On the embargo he doesn’t hesitate with his response. “We have been living with it for years. Now we have the help of Venezuela it’s not so bad. But we could be better off without it”. Asked if being pro-Castro equates bring anti-American he repeats a remark made a number of times earlier in the conversation “I hate the American government – really”.

The views of Alex Herrera Delgado could not be more different. Now 31, he came to Ireland almost four years ago and has not been home since then. His parents were ‘children of the revolution’, in their teens when Castro came to power. Both taught literacy programmes in the rural areas of Cuba at the age of 14, one of the first initiatives introduced by the new revolutionary government. Their views on the political situation are very different to those of their son. Alex’s mother, however, was anxious for him to leave Cuba, afraid for his future in a country where freedom of expression is not allowed.

“Now my family says that things are getting worse. They want people to think things have changed with Raul coming to power, but it’s not true - they run Cuba like a family business. They’ve signed a new human rights agreement, but it’s all just talk - so that they can get Europe on side. As for liberalising the economy – only days ago they suspended the licenses of 14 foreign firms so that they can’t operate there any more.

Alex says he is not worried about voicing his opinions. “The Cuban government doesn’t pay my bills, I do. I’m not afraid of them, I’m not interested in them”.

Last week there was an official meeting in Havana of Cuban Residents Abroad, convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with129 delegates in attendance. Much was made of it inside Cuba, with the government eager to portray widespread support from those who have left. Alex is not impressed. “Are we really expected to believe what they say about there being so much support from expatriates? Why don’t they meet with anyone of importance? Anyone in Miami? The people who were at the conference work for military intelligence - there are many Cubans living outside of the country that work for the Cuban governnent”.

He has little hope for real democratic change in the short term. “Do you think people coming in with foreign money and investment will be enough to change the attitude of the old-guard there? It will take many years for that to change - people have been brainwashed by the Castro regime. The American embargo helps keep them in power. The smallest thing that happens in Cuba is blamed on the Americans and the embargo - it just gives them an excuse. And they take advantage of it to make money. The government charges people $25 dollars per month to pick up cheques from family living in the US. How many millions do they collect anually as result of the embargo?”

His views on Venzuelan support for Castro are clear. “Fidel is milking his relationship with Hugo Chavez. He gets free petrol out of it. And Chavez will need somewhere to go when he finishes his term – then he’ll go to Cuba, he won’t be able to stay in Venezuela. The people there are suffering, they have to queue for rice, there’s a lot of hunger. Those who can are leaving. I know lots of Venezuelans here in Ireland and they tell me terrible things”.

Alex is critical of those who choose to forget the problems they have left behind. “Most people who leave Cuba adapt to their new environment, and they forget the people left there. Once they’re out they lose interest. And they are afraid to do anything that might prevent them from entering and leaving Cuba. They go abroad for six months and save money, go back and blow half of it partying, and then they leave again".

Last week there was extensive coverage in international media on the five year anniversary of what is referred to as “la primavera negra’ or ‘black spring’. In March 2003 more than 75 people, journalists and political activists, were imprisoned. 5 years on, 58 remain behind bars.

On the eve of the anniversary Amnesty International requested that the “new” authorities grant the immediate and unconditional release of the 58. In a separate initiative, a document signed by writers, amongst them Noam Chomsky, Ariel Dorfman and J.M. Coetzee, highlights the failure of western intellectuals to condemn what is happening in Cuba.

Inside Cuba there is only brief mention of the anniversary. In the national newspaper, Granma, Fidel Castro gives his own views on ‘black spring’. “The 18th of March marked the fifth anniversary of the arrest of more than 70 traitors, the capos of imperialism's fifth column in Cuba who, paid by the U.S. government, violate the laws of the land and share the opinion that this dark corner of the world should be swept off the map”.

Meanwhile both inside and outside of Cuba, many wait anxiously to see what the future brings.

This article was published in The Sunday Business Post in 2008.