When the Census Taker Comes Cubans Lie

Yoani Sanchez - Award-winning Cuban blogger

When the Census Taker Comes... Cubans Lie
Posted: 09/07/2012 2:37 pm
CENSUS: Population and Housing

Two smiling young people explain in a TV commercial the advantages of
the 2012 Population and Housing Census. They speak of the need to have
updated and reliable statistics about our society. To end the brief
spot, they chant in chorus a phrase where they claim that, "Between
September 15th and 24th we will count everyone." Which immediately leads
the viewer to reflect that it's not the same for them to count us as to
count on us. But beyond the "Freudian slips" that are evident in the
official language, concern takes us down another path. Cubans don't
trust inspections, we have a strong suspicion of counts and inquiries
within our homes. We divide our existence between the legal -- and
public -- zone, and the other, plagued with illegalities in order to
survive. This is the main explanation for why we don't always greet
polls with pleasure.

Under other conditions, a census shouldn't worry us but rather please
us. Because it's a statistical tool that provides the citizenry with
data about itself. The number of houses, how many inhabitants of one
gender or the other, the growth rate of the population... and so many
other figures that reveal the achievements and shortcomings of a nation.
However, in the case of our country, it is very difficult to separate a
simple inventory from the consequent State control it generates.
Impossible to unlink an inquiry -- however ingenuous and anonymous it
seems -- from its most feared counterpart: surveillance. Especially with
regards to all the objects and resources of "doubtful provenance" that
underpin our daily existence. Thus, a good share of Cubans will end up
lying on various questions posed by the enumerators, and others will
refuse to participate in the census altogether. The final results, then,
will be a mix of the approximations, omissions and falsehoods offered by
many of the respondents to avoid revealing the reality of who they are
or what they possess.

After inquiring of several friends and neighbors, I corroborated that
people are not disposed to confess everything that the National Office
of Statistics wants to know. One friend, who has been able to repair her
house from the profits of illegally selling clothes, explained to me,
without embarrassment, "I'll put the flat-screen TV in the bedroom and
tell my son to hide his laptop." She immediately added, "When they ask
what we live on, I'll tell them the 420 Cuban pesos (less than $20 U.S.)
my husband earns each month." And then, "Ahh... and if they inquire
about the brand of my refrigerator, I'll lie to their faces and tell
them it's a Chinese Haier... even though from the living room you can
see the South Korean LG logo." But most complicated for her will be if
they ask about her brother, his wife and their little girl, who will try
to not be at home when the census takers come because they are living
illegally in Havana. When the enumerators leave her house they will
surely have a very different idea of the standard of living and way of
life of my astute friend. And that is precisely what she wants, that
they think black is white, up is down, and today is tomorrow. Because
from the time she was a little girl she was taught that to tell the
truth is to single yourself out and to give information to the State is
self-incrimination.

Translating Cuba is a compilation blog with Yoani and other Cuban
bloggers in English.

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