On November 14, LatAm Council student leaders invited Cuban students, entrepreneurs and leaders to take part in a roundtable conversation about Cuba. This conversation was incredibly rich and interesting, as all participants were able to post questions beforehand and receive personalized responses. Among other topics, students discussed the drafting of the new Cuban constitution and how Cuban millenials are responding to it. Specifically, we talked about the inclusion of LGBTQ rights in the constitution and the population’s response.
The discussion dove into understanding the role that the media is playing in the legalization of same sex marriage. Panelists talked about the fact that representation on TV of members of the LGBTQ community is extremely limited due to censorship. The Cuban student delegation stated that due to the heavy regulation of television content, social media is playing a major role as a propaganda tool for the new constitution. I found this topic very interesting as I am from Venezuela and can identify numerous parallels with daily life back home. I was particularly interested in hearing about their experiences with freedom of speech in the media. Overall, I was very happy with how this panel went, and am thankful for the Cuban leaders who took the time to share how life in Cuba is today.