CDR - Cuba’s Neighborhood Organization

On September 28, 1960, as Fidel Castro was holding a speech, bombs were heard exploding nearby. Legend has it that Castro spontaneously reacted to the explosions and announced the formation of a nationwide network of “neighborhood-watch” committees to fight counter revolutionary activities through the collective vigilance of the population.

And so it happened. There is no apartment, no house, and no family in Cuba that does not belong to a CDR (Comité de Defensa de la Revolución). The role of the CDR has changed a bit over the years. While it started as a neighborhood watch organization, over time other activities also became standard procedures, such as initiatives for blood donations, voluntary neighborhood cleaning, helping to organize big mass marches, and frequent assemblies to attend suggestions, ideas, and complaints of the people, to name a few. 

All images in this gallery © Sven Creutzmann.

So, in Cuba, September 28th every year is celebrated as the CDR anniversary, usually with a “caldosa” (a heavy broth of many ingredients cooked over hours and becoming quite the show for everybody), on the eve of the 28th.

The new national head of the CDR was just announced a few weeks ago — Gerardo Hernandez, well known as being the leader of the so-called Cuban-Five (Los Cinco Heroes, in Cuba), a group that had infiltrated into the Miami exile Cuban scene to find out about possible attacks against Cuba. So, in a way, it is quite fitting that he is the new CDR head.

Obviously, there will be no “caldosa” and no neighborhood parties on the streets this year. Anyway, here are some pictures from over the years, a little mishmash of photos; at the end, a “caldosa” of images.

All images in this gallery © Sven Creutzmann.

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