202 Chapter 8
have fueled a fairly generalized search for spiritual and psychological
surcease through religion.
At present there is no acknowledged leadership representing a
broad cross-section of Cubans, rather there is sectoral representation.
The emergence of consensual leadership requires increased construc-
tion of horizontal links and interaction among proactive citizens and
associations. Can religious groups facilitate the development of such
leadership? This is one of the principal aims of the religious media on
the island, particularly via their efforts to mold and train community
leaders, professionals, youths, and others to take a more active role in
civil society, but there has not been an island wide coalescing of such
individuals around a consensual agenda. To date there is no leader-
ship, religious or secular, in Cuba with a mass basis that might define
what forms the society and polity might take in the future.
While there has been some discussion of goals and agendas within
a revitalizing civil society, the proposals circulated to date tend to be
quite schematic. The topic has been explored in various sectors and,
to a degree, in secular and religious publications, conferences, and
within informal networks, but again without any strong indication that
there is a citizen wide consensus about what form the Cuban polity,
economy, and society might take in the future. This reflects the degree
to which Cuban civil society is somewhat adrift conceptually. The
state continues to maintain considerable political hegemony, in part,
because of historical cleavages and sectoralism that have been exacer-
bated by tensions among Cubans within and without the island. As a
result, the impact of the religious media in Cuba in the future is not
yet clear.