For everyone who thinks there are no more problems in Cuba...

[VampHeartless]

I read on CNN the other day that the vast majority of Americans now believe that Cuba has gotten over it's human rights issues and Fidel Castro was no longer a threat. They want to lift the trade embargo.

And in fact, I too was among the same frame of my mind.

That was, until I married a beautiful cuban woman named Monica. (She's the one I'm sucking face with in my signature. )

Several times, she has told me of her family, and I share some of this with you here. Do you remember the movie Scarface, and Fidel ships all those cuban prisoners sent to Miami on a raft/boat? Well, one of those prisoners was Monica's father. He's a good guy, a strong guy, who's made a very nice life for himself in Miami, despite the fact that everyday he struggles with memories of a exotic land that no longer exists in this world. Mo's mother, aunts, grandparents, who are all now naturalized citizens, all came from Cuba, all saw what it used to be, and all cry at night because of what it has become.

Just yesterday Mo told me how her Aunt was pregnant and went to visit her cousin in Fidel's Cuba. Their were huge armed guards at his house. It turned out, someone, somewhere claimed her cousin was a revolutionary, and without warning, Monica's pregnant Aunt, and her husband were taken into custody. They were thrown into a dirty cell with other prisoners. Her Aunt threw up over and over and became sick because of the dirty conditions and lack of nutrition, and she prayed that her unborn child would not be harmed. Two weeks she remained there, with no contact from her husband or the outside. She was interrogated and threatened daily. Then, one morning, she was dragged out and thrown in the street, with no way home and no explanations, and no knowledge of her husband's location. Eventually, one of the armed guards who imprisoned offered to give her a ride home, and her husband arrived home hours after her.

No jury trial, no evidence, no investigation.

Just incarceration.

Incarceration for a pregnant woman and her husband. For two weeks.

Just because she wanted to the visit her cousin.

If anyone ever thinks that Cuba has healed, and that we need to resolve our differences with Fidel Castro, my only request, is that you talk with one of the immigrants from Miami, who knew a more beautiful country then is there right now. My wife's family tells us stories of beauty and song and dance, and the wonders that existed before his regime, that to them have all disappeared into faded memories. It is not fair or right for us to assume that Fidel Castro's Cuba deserves recognition on the world stage, when we are all but strangers to what is going in those borders. I myself have not stumbled across one of her family members who wants to lift those embargos. They would not spend a penny to support the man who destroyed their home, their lives, and everything they every owned. He is an occupying force to them, one that they hope will someday crumble and be defeated, and then they can return to the passion they once new, for the Old Cuba, full of song and dance. Fully of beauty and life.

That until that moment arrives, exists for them only in distant memories...

 

[JimB.]

Not to mention that Cuba is a tyrannical dictatorship that murders people that try to do the simplest thing - - leave.

I have a friend in Miami who's parents fled Cuba just after the overthrow & castro took power. Their lives were in extreme danger because of their status.

Their "crime"? They were college educated and intelligent. Therefore they posed a great risk to castro's rule.

The Earth will be a better place the day he dies................

 

[LisaB]

Yeah but we never stopped people from going China.

 

[cardaway]

I read on CNN the other day that the vast majority of Americans now believe that Cuba has gotten over it's human rights issues and Fidel Castro was no longer a threat.

I find that hard to believe. I don't know anybody who doesn't think Cuba is as bad as ever.

 

[eclectics]

No Dictatorship is any sort of enviornment to live and thrive in. The only thing about Cuba that has always puzzled me is that we have, past and present, recognized and allowed free trade and travel to, other Dictatorships in the world. What makes Cuba any worse than the others? Is it just habitual bad feelings left over from The Bay Of Pigs, a political voting hotbed because of the anti-Castro feelings the many families that made it here have, or is it something else?

 

[Pigeon]

I know Cubans who think the US embargo is the best thing we can do to keep Castro in power. The embargo does hurt common citizens, and Castro uses it to blame the country's problems on the US.

There are lots of dictatorships around the world. Some of them are our "dear friends," like the Saudis. Our treatment of Cuba has very little to do with the best interests of Cubans and everything to do with US politics.

 

[salmoneous]

Regardless of how bad things are in Cuba, the embargo is one of the worst, most counterproductive policies the US has ever put in place. It doesn't do anything to lessen Castro's power over Cuba - it does hurt the Cuban people.

While the rest of the Communist world has either crumbled or is undergoing change and transformation, an isolated Cuba stands largely unchanged. Why?

 

[barkley]

i have a friend (kind of an ex aunt-in law), who was one of the "boat people"-she is a lesbian and was one of the many told to get on the boats or go to prison at that time.

while i met her many years after she came to the u.s. the "scars" of her experiences were still very noticable-guilt over what she had readily available to her (and is greatly wasted by most) that her family members back home could never dream of finding let alone buying (basic foods, hygene items, otc drugs). she also felt great saddness that if she wrote more than sporadicly to family members she might endanger their wellbeing (holidays and birthdays were hard times-she longed to be able to pick up a phone and contact an ailing family member or elderly relative).

she LOVED cuba and the cuban people, but she was old enough to remember what it had been like pre-castro and all that had been lost spirtualy, culturaly and economicly. she ardently prayed for the day when (as she put it) "cuba is no longer a prison"

 

[luvwinnie]

I've never had any illusions about the conditions there. I, my brother and sister all married Cubans and they still have family there.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I don't think most americans think Cuba is a free place or good to its citizens. There is just debate over whether the embargo hurts anybody but citizens. Perhaps if they were provided with more exposure to a free country via trade and visitors they might find a way to get rid of Castro. I don't know enough about the situation. I do believe we should be able to legally travel there. We are free even if they aren't. As far as the embargo I'd tend to consider the former cubans living in this country's oppinion on this.

 

[LukenDC]

I am adamantly opposed to Fidel Castro and communism. I also believe that America's Cuba policy is misguided and actually helps keep Castro in power.

Communist nations cannot thrive when exposed to democracy and free market economics. The United States had trade, albeit limited, with the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc nations. We allowed our citizens to freely travel to those countries. Communism in those countries collapsed fifteen years ago under the influence of Western ideas and knowledge of the Western lifestyle. China and Vietnam have a burgeoning trade with the West and their communist parties are slowly losing influence.

Cuba and North Korea stand alone as the only communist countries with which the United States does not, and has not, engaged in trade (truth be told, we do sell some agricultural commodities to both countries). North Korea does not welcome Western tourists and the United States does not allow its citizens to visit Cuba. The dictators in those countries maintain an iron grip on power.

If the United States wants to end Castro's reign, it needs to lift the trade embargo (within reason---no high technology transfers or dual military/civilian use goods) and allow its citizens to travel to Cuba.

 

[LisaB]

What about how it was before Castro. Baptista wasn't much better.

 

[bbangel]

Being a Canadian, I have been to Cuba legally. The majority of people we encountered were quite happy with their country. They have a great education system and their culture is still very vibrant. Most don't have a great deal of concern for the politics of Castro. Some even think he has done wonderful things for them. They just want to be able to get supplies. The US embargo is still in place because of economic and political gain by people in the US. The worst part is, ships that have landed in Cuba to deliver goods must wait 6 months before they can legally land at a US port. This means that even when a third party country is involved, it is difficult to find ships that are willing to go without landing in the US for six months. It is a crime against all the people there when they can't even get proper medical supplies. You will find people have very strong opinions on either side of this issue.