Game Fights in Güines:
Cocks, Dogs and Cuban Finches

By José Izquierdo, Biblioteca Cívica “Sebastián Arcos” ("Sebastian Arcos" Civic Library)

Güines, February 17, 2003 (www.cubanet.org) - I remember when I was a child, the big raids made by my town’s police against the so called “cockfighters,” (persons in charge of fighting gamecocks) in an area known as El Cangre about 12 kilometers away from the municipal seat.

In a very hidden place within the rural locality, an extended “valla” or fence was placed (name of the place where the popular fights were conducted). Hundreds of fans and bettors arrived there, preferably on Saturdays and Sundays, to enjoy this traditional spectacle declared illegal since Fidel Castro took power in 1959.

This policy of the authorities against so called “capitalistic vices” was in fashion until the beginnings of the nineties, and from that moment on, a certain tolerance was observed on the regime’s part. During those years, it was commonplace to see anywhere tens of persons gathered in public places, watching a cockfight or a singular fight between Cuban finches in their respective cages. Also, during this time, it was also commonplace to observe bloody fights between purebred dogs. These activities were rejected by organizations defending animal rights labeling those persons who organize the fights as predators of the national fauna.

At the present time the police raids are returning against these “tolerated clandestine fighters.” Recently, Güines' Municipal Popular Tribunal sentenced several persons who participated in a cockfight. The judges levied fines on the defendants that fluctuated between 1,500 and 3,000 pesos.

But, who are the persons who are punished by present Cuba’s laws?

It is common knowledge that in the area of Managua, near the capital, there is a farm at Alcoma State Enterprise, where high placed leaders of the revolution attend with their resplendent gamecocks and conduct long cockfighting matches, where the winners are awarded electro domestic articles and luxurious automobiles. Besides, auctions of gamecocks are carried out and animal’s sale contracts with foreign experts, as well as cooperation protocols with countries with a tradition of raising gamecocks.

“For these privileged in power everything is possible and nobody is capable of criticizing them nor reject their vices. We on the contrary, are really constantly watched and threatened with losing even our homes”, José Lima stated, against whom Güines Municipal Tribunal levied a fine of 3,000 pesos. Lima is a clandestine breeder of gamecocks.

But not only fines and arrests are the consequences of these government operatives. During the middle of last year, representatives of the Communist Party in the Havana Municipality of San Nicolás de Bari, accompanied by police agents, confiscated hundreds of gamecocks belonging to several area breeders. The operation caused strong protests in front of the Party’s local head office, by the persons so harmed, which compelled the authorities to return all confiscated birds.

Again Cuba’s regime is launching a campaign against “illegalities,” and even the “tolerated” fights are included in such campaign. Its main characters continue on the defensive, waiting to be repressed. While many persons ask themselves: Whom does the law punish?