Due to decades-long political and economic troubles, Cuba experiences shortage of just about everything but policemen and political slogans painted on brick walls and giant billboards found in every corner of the Island. During my recent trip to Cuba this summer, I couldn’t travel far before I was bound to feigned messages of the Cuban Communist Party which still actively uses political slogans to ensure the perpetuity of revolutionary ideas. The absence of advertisements was a great relief, but after a few hours of driving from the Cuban capital to the famous Varadero resort abundance of political slogans was already irritating.
I have never seen so much political propaganda in one place. The fact that I found myself in a dictatorship explained it all, but I was still wondering why so much. Why would a regime that has been in power for more than half a century need so much propaganda? May be that’s the reason why it has been afloat for so long, I thought. According to the New York-based Institute for Propaganda Analysis, political slogans are used to emotionally engage people and rouse their support. They are mechanisms of encouragement that use attractive and at the same time vague words like “freedom” or “honor” to attract people’s approval and acclaim. Indeed, Cuban political slogans, such as “We Shall Overcome,” “We Need a Complete Turnaround to Land,” “Everything Here is For the People,” “Till Victory Forever,” give Cubans a feeling that it is all about them – all about the people. Displays of Che Guevara and other national heroes endorse patriotic messages and appeal to Cubans’ emotions instead of logic. Award-winning Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez wrote in her recent blog: “After so many repetitions, seeing it painted on billboards, hearing it from the podium, I've come to wonder if perhaps we have overcome, if what we have today could be called “victory.” Although now Cubans are less moved by political slogans and ignore them for the most part, slogan’s ability to influence people’s minds is evident.
Slogans are part of propaganda which has always been and will be used in politics as a way of winning people’s hearts and minds. For quite a long time Fidel Castro has been successful in obtaining people’s support and compliance for his policies partly thanks to promising political slogans. One of the most famous slogans “Patria o Muerte. Venceremos” (“Fatherland or Death. We Shall Overcome”) has engraved itself in minds and hearts of all Cubans, as well as visitors. It has even been adopted by Bolivian President Evo Morales, who for the first time used the chant “Patria o Muerte. Venceremos” (“Fatherland or Death. We Shall Overcome”) during the March ceremony known as the “Day of the Sea” which remembers the 1879-84 war against Chile.
When in Cuba, no matter whether you are in the capital or in the most abandoned rural village far in Oriente, you’ll be exposed to various billboards with political slogans. For tourists they are just another attraction of La Isla de la Libertad along with mojitos and old American cars. But for the government they are an important vessel through which they influence the population. Cubans say they don’t view these propaganda tools as important anymore, but their abundance doesn’t stay unnoticed. They are a constant reminder for the population of Castro, Che, Revolution, and unwillingness to any change.
I have never seen so much political propaganda in one place. The fact that I found myself in a dictatorship explained it all, but I was still wondering why so much. Why would a regime that has been in power for more than half a century need so much propaganda? May be that’s the reason why it has been afloat for so long, I thought. According to the New York-based Institute for Propaganda Analysis, political slogans are used to emotionally engage people and rouse their support. They are mechanisms of encouragement that use attractive and at the same time vague words like “freedom” or “honor” to attract people’s approval and acclaim. Indeed, Cuban political slogans, such as “We Shall Overcome,” “We Need a Complete Turnaround to Land,” “Everything Here is For the People,” “Till Victory Forever,” give Cubans a feeling that it is all about them – all about the people. Displays of Che Guevara and other national heroes endorse patriotic messages and appeal to Cubans’ emotions instead of logic. Award-winning Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez wrote in her recent blog: “After so many repetitions, seeing it painted on billboards, hearing it from the podium, I've come to wonder if perhaps we have overcome, if what we have today could be called “victory.” Although now Cubans are less moved by political slogans and ignore them for the most part, slogan’s ability to influence people’s minds is evident.
Slogans are part of propaganda which has always been and will be used in politics as a way of winning people’s hearts and minds. For quite a long time Fidel Castro has been successful in obtaining people’s support and compliance for his policies partly thanks to promising political slogans. One of the most famous slogans “Patria o Muerte. Venceremos” (“Fatherland or Death. We Shall Overcome”) has engraved itself in minds and hearts of all Cubans, as well as visitors. It has even been adopted by Bolivian President Evo Morales, who for the first time used the chant “Patria o Muerte. Venceremos” (“Fatherland or Death. We Shall Overcome”) during the March ceremony known as the “Day of the Sea” which remembers the 1879-84 war against Chile.
When in Cuba, no matter whether you are in the capital or in the most abandoned rural village far in Oriente, you’ll be exposed to various billboards with political slogans. For tourists they are just another attraction of La Isla de la Libertad along with mojitos and old American cars. But for the government they are an important vessel through which they influence the population. Cubans say they don’t view these propaganda tools as important anymore, but their abundance doesn’t stay unnoticed. They are a constant reminder for the population of Castro, Che, Revolution, and unwillingness to any change.
“Bolivian army adopts Cuba's revolutionary slogan.” BBC News. March 24, 2010. Aug. 18, 2010
Kelly, Terri L. “Symbols, Snipery and Spectacles as Tools of Propaganda.” Aug. 17, 2010
Sanchez, Yoani. “Fatherland or Death: Anniversary of a Slogan.” Huffington Post. June 9, 2010. Aug. 17, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment