“Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle! Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong that will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
Thomas Paine
Sunday’s The Miami Herald published a full page advertising signed by ten, so called Cuban American, businessmen touting the progress made in Cuba for the general population since president Obama established the opening of relations with our country. Not wanting to be outdone by their desire to foster the Castro’s tyrannical regime, the paper decided to make the highlights of this advertising front page news. Everyone accepts promoting an idea, or product, for what it is, a representation of a particular interest, but when it becomes front line news, it requires being confronted for what it then becomes, a hypocritical report. The first falsehood committed by the newspaper is the labeling these promoters as Cuban American. Most, if not all, never lived and/or experienced life before Castro, either by being born in the US, or arriving here at a young age. They never participated in the fight for freedom and democracy during the Batista illegitimate takeover of the government, or the bloody tyranny established by Castro, that has lasted over 56 years. They did not witness or suffered through the unjust murders of our young students, the theft of private businesses and/or property, and the lack of the basic human rights. They are just American entrepreneurs publicizing the potential of an upcoming opening of a new market for their goods and services. Most people of good will accept that a group of promoters can anticipate changes in Cuba after time takes its toll on the elderly actual rulers. They have the right to think of the potential that a younger generation of Castro’s, might produce more freedom towards people’s rights and market openings, but that law of nature has nothing to do with the present measures that should be seen as promoting repression rather than liberty. “We saw progress beyond what we could have imagined”, and “families benefiting from the newfound freedom of enterprise” go beyond hypocritical, they are blatant lies.
The only real progress made is on the quantity and brutality of the repression towards the dissidence, and the increase of the fortunes of the Castro family and military elite. These promoters are fully aware that there is no free enterprise, and that the small establishments opened are completely under government control. The only change has been to reduce the central bureaucracy by conferring operating licenses to ex-employees on trades allowed by the rulers, not tolerating without authorization expansion, selling, private financing, or location for these so called “free”entrepenours. These licenses are as easily removed as they are offered and the profits derived from them are subject to 50% taxation in every income above $2,000. Basically they are still employees of Castro, but with another name. These facts are well known as it is also common knowledge of the increase of the population’s poverty secondary to the economic disaster derived from the regime’s policies, and their need for urgent financial support. To read in this advertising page that they have no personal or political interest, with their only goal is to help “nuestra gente”, our people, is so disingenuous that makes us nauseous. The only “nuestra gente” been helped this last year are Castro and his acolytes which have been given a lifeline to continue ruling, without having to give anything in return. The lack of an acknowledgement of the increase of the brutality of the regime against their people confirms that point. The rest is pure self serving publicity.
Fernando J. Milanes, MD
