The CDR is a mass organization whose objectives are to mobilize the people in the tasks of defense of the Revolution and the conquests of Cuban socialism, through direct work with the families of the community.
Nearly a million people gathered in front of the former presidential palace (now the Museum of the Revolution) were listening to then-Prime Minister Fidel Castro Ruz on the night of September 28, 1960, when several alarming explosions were heard.
Then those gathered there responded with cheers to the Revolution, to its leader, and they sang the notes of the national anthem.
"We are going to establish a system of collective revolutionary surveillance - Fidel Castro had stressed on that occasion - They are playing with the people and they do not yet know who the people are; they are playing with the people and they do not know the formidable revolutionary force that exists in the people."
That same evening, at the end of the speech, the first Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) were born.
This organization brings together the vast majority of the population over 14 years old who wish to work for the benefit of the community, and is structured throughout the country, both in rural and urban areas. The CDRs are formed from the place of residence, in cities by blocks or multi-family buildings and in the countryside from neighboring houses, hamlets and communes.
The block and zone leaders carry out this activity on a completely voluntary basis. It is a non-governmental organization that is financed by the contributions of its members.
All CDR managers are proposed and democratically elected by local residents.
The organization works with all the people of the neighborhood, to maintain the tranquility of the citizens and the protection of the community's property, as well as to promote participation in tasks of economic, political, ideological and community interest.
The CDR is organized by blocks, zones, municipalities, provinces and nation. It brings together in its 133,000 nuclei almost eight million Cuban citizens, without distinction of sex, race or religion.
"The revolutionary system of collective surveillance implemented against terrorists and criminals has demonstrated, as Fidel had pointed out, that when the people organize themselves, there are neither imperialists nor lackeys of the imperialists, nor sellouts to the imperialists, nor instruments of the imperialists who can move."
Critics of the socialist system, however, believe that the organization of the CDR would have produced a state-controlled structure that, in addition to its social work, exercises the main mission of monitoring and controlling the public and private lives of individuals, families and neighbors, from a level very close to them.
Some international analysts consider that the committees act as a secret police or government spies, seeking to guarantee the continuity of the current political system.
The truth is that the CDRs have always had a certain reputation among Cubans, for apparently being hotbeds of peddlers and informers based on a somewhat destructive policy of jealousy and envy. No one knows or would ever say anything about it, however.
This is how Cuban families, who had managed to overcome the low economic level, which had become a culture over the years, had to be discreet and hide their particular success from the gossip and curious glances of the neighborhood, just in case. To be happy, let's live hidden. We didn't even need surveillance cameras, which didn't exist at the time, the old gossips on the balcony were largely effective.
I remember that, a long time ago, when I did not even imagine doing this job, and when bed and breakfasts did not yet dream of existing, if a Cuban family dared to welcome a foreign tourist as a visitor to their home, it was mandatory to declare their presence to the CDR and, from then on, the ideological integrity of the family would indeed be called into question.
The absurd fear of being influenced by the subversion of a mentality foreign to our reality often led to surreal situations.
Times have changed a lot since then.
Indeed, more than half a century has passed since the creation of this popular organization and these old fears of counter-revolutionary sabotage, other common criminal acts and the need to protect the collective good have given way to other vital current concerns such as daily subsistence, the struggle for life.
Today, economic security is a priority for the family and no one cares anymore about what might happen in the neighborhood. Apart from that, it must be said that nothing ever happens. Cuban nights are generally very calm and safe.
The CDRs have clearly lost their original strength and enthusiasm. The old legitimate power of convocation, which was inherent to it, is no longer the same. Very few Cubans still organize these night vigils that reached every family once a month.
For many people, this neighborhood institution survives only symbolically, and many of them now claim that it only serves to provide the annual contribution of its members, without knowing for sure why.
The CDRs, one might say, live today in the glory of the past.
For most of its current affiliates, more by tradition and custom than by true conviction, the CDRs are almost no longer useful, if only for the occasion of preparing, for its founding anniversary, a collective soup, the caldosa, made in the streets themselves, which invites the neighboring cederistas to meet around a bottle of good Cuban rum the night before September 28, and to remember together, not without nostalgia, the good times spent and which dissolved in a glass of Ron.
Tonight... not even caldosas in the streets. The typical atmosphere has died down due to the gathering restrictions in force.
However, if you ever visit Cuba towards the end of September next year, do not miss out on participating in this special commemoration, with its festive, friendly and supportive atmosphere between neighbors.
Don't forget to bring something to drink or to make caldosa, like all Cubans.
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