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democratic government whose capacity ofleading the destiny of the nation is calledgovernability and the other capacity which isinseparable from the former one that iscalled governance or capacity of the citizensfor self-management with free andresponsible participation in their own destiny.Mons. Meurice states in his legacy: “Ourpeople respect authority and like order butthey also need to learn how todemythologize fake messianisms… This is apeople that have striven for social justice forlong centuries and now it finds itself at theend of one of these stages, seeking againhow to overcome inequalities and lack ofparticipation”.3. Cuba needs to rebuild the damagedfabric of civil society which is a schooland a guarantee of that responsiblegovernability.The threads to weave the civic cohabitationhave already been mentioned: spaces,fraternity, freedom and solidarity. These arethe textual words that Mons. Meurice left us:“Cuba is a people that have a deep vocationfor solidarity but throughout its history thespaces for association and participation thatcivil society has enjoyed have beendismantled or paralyzed so I present you thesoul of one nation that longs for rebuildingfraternity by a lot of liberty and solidarity”.4. Cuba must recognize and promote theprimacy of the human person above all ofthe other structures of the nation.The anthropologic failure is the worst of thedamages of the State paternalism. The wayout must be found, according to Meurice’slegacy, through a process of personalizationand empowerment of the citizens for themto be able to choose and design their ownlife project: “I present you all of the Cubansand the ones from Santiago de Cuba whocannot find a meaning for their lives, whohave not been able to choose and develop alife project because of a path ofdepersonalization which is a result ofpaternalism”.5. Cuba needs a deep civic educationwhich can allow people to discern andvalue their nation and their roots.The civic and political illiteracy which is a resultof the ideological manipulation of teaching hasproduced confusion and uprootness. That lossof the ethical consciousness leads togeneralization and escapism. To educate is toteach how to discern and not how to maneuverin the consciousnesses that are confused. Thatis why in that “Antonio Maceo” Square thediagnosis that follows resounded so strongly;this was the first time that someone said it soclearly and so publicly for four decades. Thewhole world listened to it; it was the voice ofthe Lion from the East. Though in a decreasingway, confusion still goes on: “I present you agroup of Cubans who have mixed up theconcept of Fatherland with one party; who havemixed up the concept of nation with thehistoric process we have experienced for thelast decades and they have mixed up culturewith one ideology. They are Cubans who rejectall at once without discernment so they feelrootless; they reject everything from here andovervalue all that is foreign”.6. Cuba must strengthen its geographic andpolitical independence by promoting thecitizen sovereignty of every human person.There is an inseparable relationship which isdirectly proportional, between personalfreedom and national independence. Thisrelationship has been negatively shown in Cubabecause of the results of economic and politicaldependence, very hard to overcome, first on theUSSR and the socialist field and then onVenezuela. This dependence has coincided withthe restriction on personal liberties. Manycountries from “primitive” capitalism and from“real” socialism as well have suffered thishemiplegia in their sovereignty. The PrimatialAchbishop from Cuba used to describe it likethis: “this people have defended the sovereigntyof its geographic boundaries with true dignitybut we have forgotten a little bit that thisindependence must arise from the sovereigntyof the human person who sustains from belowevery project as a nation”.7. Cuba needs to learn from themulticentenarian history of one part of itspeople which is the Church. Its lights andshadows of yesterday warn and educate todiscern today’s lights and shadows.Ediciones ConvivenciaPinar del Río. 201290