Interview with Hansel Hernández - «A contracorriente».»
1º Before talking about your book, tell us a little about yourself: how would you describe the person behind your book? Against the tide?
I am a young man like many others, marked by the reality of my country of origin and by my own history in it, which spans almost my entire life. From a very early age, my family, especially my parents, made sure that I had a proper education, not only in history, mathematics and language, but also in manners and values. The latter I think are the ones that define me the most. I am one of those who apply the saying “do good and don't look at whom”; at the end of the day, the most important thing for me is to have done well and to be able to sleep with a clear conscience.
Because of my parents' attention and interest in my education, as I mentioned before, I was a very good student: almost all my academic grades were excellent or outstanding. I did my baccalaureate in a special school dedicated to preparing and training the student elite, there being only one of these schools in each province, and it is something I am very proud of. I studied the university degree that I always liked, a Bachelor of Law, at the university in my province.
I think that, if there is one thing that characterises me beyond my insatiable taste for history, it is that I talk a lot. Yes, I always have a topic of conversation, I can always give you a curious fact about something and, above all, debate about anything. Add to that the fact that I like to question everything, and you have the perfect ingredients for a lawyer; and that's what I became once I graduated.
During my studies, I spent the last two years working as a legal technician in a law firm, the same firm where I worked after graduating. Therefore, unlike my fellow students, I got a head start in my profession and quickly began to make a name for myself. This lasted only one year, as I took one of the most important decisions of my life: to migrate. The opportunity presented itself to me at the end of 2022; I was only 25 years old and I took it. It was largely thanks to that decision that the book I authored was born, Against the tide.
I am a staunch defender of personal freedoms and the rights of individuals, as well as the equality of all before the law. I am a great opponent of any totalitarian or absolutist regime and I am totally against war; no matter what the reasons, I am sure that it can always be avoided.
I had the opportunity to experience a legislative reform in my country and I was one of the many jurists in charge of explaining to the population what the new Family Law consisted of, in which, for the first time in Cuba, marriage between two people of the same sex was allowed. I had many heated discussions with backward people who opposed this, and the truth is that I was quite successful, so I can proudly say that I actively collaborated in achieving a better society.
Otherwise, I don't think there's much more to say. I like to play football -although I suck at it, to be honest-; I like music from the 80s, 90s and 2000s; and I play quite a lot of PC games, although I'm not one of the best, but in both cases I do it for fun.
2nd Your novel Against the tide What prompted you to transform your personal experience into a literary work?
My greatest motivation for writing this book is that my story is not only mine: it is the story of thousands of Cubans who took the same path before me, and at the same time it is the story of thousands of others who are about to take the same path. It is time for the world to know the reality of a country like mine: Cuba. On that tropical island where I was born, not everything is tobacco, beach and rum, as the government sells to tourists.
Since I arrived in Spain, I have realised that many people think wrongly about my country and have even dared to ask me why anyone would leave such a “paradise”. Even trying to explain to them that what they see in the official Cuban press is far from reality is a challenge; many people looked at me incredulously at my stories. Nobody understood why I took the path I did: they asked me why I didn't get on a plane and come to Spain, if that was my goal. How do we explain to the world that Cuba is a prison island? That's very difficult, believe me.
When I first arrived in this country I was working with an NGO that helped migrants find their way, others who, like me, emigrated to find a future. Of many different nationalities, but most of them came by plane, and were perplexed by my story. Many of them were the ones who encouraged me to write this book.
My intention with this book is to let the world know a part of the truth about Cuba and the communism in which we live there, which drives us to venture into the unknown and to face hundreds of obstacles just for a better future.
3º The title suggests a constant struggle, what does “going against the tide” mean to you?
Sometimes it is necessary to go against the current to achieve something better, something new, something important; and what better example of this than the salmon, which fights against the river and its dangers just to ensure a future for the next generation. Indeed, the title means a constant struggle and, for Cubans, it is reflected in the daily struggle to survive: in imposing ourselves on the harsh reality, in seeking to evade an unjust law just to be able to eat, in facing migration to achieve some peace and tranquillity and, more importantly, so that those who come after us can be free from that horror.
For me, that word carries a lot of weight: it is to oppose a regime that tries to control us as much as possible and suppresses our freedom and fundamental rights. It is a struggle that goes on and on.
4º In the book you narrate your escape from Cuba and your journey through Europe. What was the most difficult moment of that journey and how do you reflect it in the novel?
There were many difficult moments in my journey, but I think the most difficult was when I had to watch my parents cross a river, with a strong current and very high water level, on a fragile and poor quality raft, pulled by a thin rope that had already broken before. If for whatever reason either of my parents fell into the water - especially my mother - I don't know what would have become of me. The current would have swept them hundreds or thousands of metres at best; at worst, I don't even want to name it.
Without telling you exactly how it is in the book, I can tell you that it was a very bitter pill to swallow and a very difficult decision to make. There were tears to spare, and the dread it caused me is something that, to this day, still inspires a lot of fear in me. It was one challenge after another; that was the one that impacted me the most, and I thank life for overcoming it, as well as my parents for having the fortitude required at the time and their full confidence in my judgement.
5º What role does hope play in your story, and were there times when you thought about giving up?
Hope, in my story, is everything. It was thanks to hope that we managed to get to Spain. Once we got on that plane that took us out of Cuba, the only thing we had was hope. All our belongings were reduced to what we could carry; everything we had achieved in our country remained a memory. We had to start from scratch, and for that we had to get to Spain.
All that kept us going was the hope that, once we reached our destination, things would be better; that it would be worth all the stress, all the fear, all the suffering and all the sacrifice. Hope was the only thing we had left: it was the fire that warmed us and the hand that comforted us. We were leaning on something we did not know, but we knew that it could not be worse than Cuba. We could not give in; it was not allowed, and it never will be.
6º Many readers feel that Against the tide How did your vision of yourself change along the way?
Well, I must tell you that the tortuous path I faced has brought me a lot. Suddenly, and without me wanting it, I became the lighthouse for my parents and those who accompanied me. I felt that pressure of acquired responsibility and I was trying to control something bigger than I could. I did the best I could: we achieved our goal without major damage, beyond a shocking memory full of memorable scenes - for better and for worse - that my brain often tries to forget.
I felt that I had matured many years in just a few days; for a moment, the role of father and son had been exchanged. I felt like the protector and responsible for my family. I think I gained a greater temperance, a greater ability to react to adversity. Sometimes we have to go through one hell just to be ready for the next. Life still has many challenges ahead of me, but if I made it through that one, the next one will be much easier.
7º What did it feel like to relive your past during the writing? Was it a therapeutic, painful or liberating process?
Reliving all that during the writing process made me dig up some memories that my mind, as a self-preservation mechanism, had eliminated. It was a constant ups and downs of emotions, of feelings, of tears. I cried, and a lot: both from joy and fear. Remembering it all was not easy. Today I laugh about it and recount it as if it were a child's feat; I'm bursting with pride that I did it. But while I was writing, it was different: there were phrases and words that stuck in me like daggers, and some I know I will never forget.
I think in a way it was liberating, therapeutic and painful at the same time. Well, depending on the chapter, of course; but, deep down, I feel it did me a lot of good.
8º In the novel there are places, people and decisions that mark your journey. Was there an encounter that changed you forever?
I think one of the parts that marked me the most was when I got off the bus in Barcelona. I couldn't believe it: I saw signs in Spanish and Catalan, and I heard people speaking in my own language. For four months I could hardly speak Spanish with people other than my family or another Cuban and, to be honest, for a person as talkative as me, that's difficult. But I think the real shock came from the fact that we had reached the end of that long road. I couldn't believe it: after all we had been through, we had made it.
9ºWhat message would you like readers to take away from their reading? Against the tide?
The message I want you to take away with you is that, however difficult the road may seem, it can be done. Resist, persevere, be stubborn and be confident that it is possible. Never give up. I want readers to take away that hopeful message: that no matter how complicated things look and no matter how difficult the decisions you have to make, if your cause is a good one, then don't give up. Keep going again and again despite the obstacles; if it becomes too difficult, stop, think, ask for help if necessary, and keep going. Nothing has been written about cowards.
And the other message I want readers to take away with them is that the reality of Cuba is far from the postcards, the beautiful beaches, the eternal fiesta. It is also a way of raising awareness that not everything is as it seems; that my country is going through a very bad time and that my voice is the voice of millions of Cubans who are looking for a change, a better future.
10ºLooking back, if you could talk to the Hansel who decided to leave Cuba, what would you say to him today?
If I could talk to my past self, I would tell him so many things, but in the end I think that whatever I had to tell him, he already knew. Of course, had I known the future, maybe my path would have been easier, but I still think it was worth it: it was a lot of life lessons that I now treasure. So I probably wouldn't have tried to influence what happened too much; after all, that's what brought me here.
There is one thing I would say to him, and that is: “You and your parents are going to make it, it's going to be fine”. I truly believe that those words would be enough for me; that confidence booster never hurts before facing a big challenge and it would give me a little more strength. Deep down, though, I think I said those words to myself before I left home.
We made a decision: to “burn the ships”, as Alexander the Great and, later, Hernán Cortés did in his day. The die was cast, and I don't think there is anything I can say to my past self to change my mind. I am sure that
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