Does Henry Want to Resurrect the Undead BUCL?

We thought we had buried BUCL and buried it deep, with a stake in its heart and a garland of garlic around its neck. But we begin to detect the stirrings of life in the monster as the earth shakes around its grave. This should be a matter of concern to all the bloggers in the Babalunian orbit who were begged, cajoled and otherwise inopportuned to join and contribute their mite to Henry Gómez's dream of world conquest founded on the conceit that the same advertising skills which served to sell a given brand of condoms or oven cleaner could prevail in the marketplace of ideas no less than in the supermarket. Perhaps if such a campaign had been spearheaded by somebody else with some actual insight into Cuban history or culture it might have succeeded in doing something constructive for the cause of Cuba's freedom. I hope Henry is a lot better at selling soap than he is at selling ideas. In any case, we are more comfortable with the idea of him selling soap.

BUCL's first campaign, which RCAB followed step by step, as you will recall, was directed at Spain, a country about which Henry and Val know absolutely nothing, not even the language. Whether with a campaign for Palmolive or a "Campaign Against Spain," it really does help to know the language of the targetted country; otherwise, you might end up accusing Spain of "exploding" Cubans rather than exploiting them, as was Henry's second gaffe. (The first was the acronym for his organization which is pronounced BUCKLE, as in collapse or defeat). From there things only got worse.

Henry's biggest mistake, however, was his inability to distinguish between Spain and Spain's Socialist government. The two are not the same. Ironically, Zapatero's Socialists were given a free pass as the BUCLers focused their feeble guns on the Spanish people and their legacy in the Americas. In effect, Henry and Val took a card from Castro's deck, who, in 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery, proclaimed himself a spiritual Indian and champion of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, denouncing Spanish colonialism as the fountainhead of all of Latin America's problems. We know why Castro did this. He needed a scapegoat during the "Special Period" and Spain was easier to blame for Cuba's problems than Marxism-Leninism. But why the hell did Val bring up the Siboneys in BUCL's "Campaign Against Spain?" Too late to save the Siboneys. We are living in the 21st century, not the 16th; and starting at the beginning is definitely not the best strategy for solving the problems of today. This approach frankly reminded us of the Muslims' obsession with the wrongs of the 13th-century Crusades.

The "Campaign Against Spain," which consisted of putting up three stickers in a New York subway station and another one within 13 blocks of the Spanish consulate in Miami, as well as purchasing ads on Google and posting an illiterate manifesto on Spain's equivalent of DIGG, was what it was: not much.

Finally catching on towards the end of its "Campaign Against Spain" that the enemy was not the motherland but its vastly unpopular Socialist government, BUCL declared victory when the Socialists overwhelmingly lost Spain's municipal elections in June. We were glad for that; let them claim as many "victories" as they want if they will only stop from making fools of themselves and all Cubans.

Having been cured of their taste for future jihads against entire nations and peoples, BUCL next took on Sting and the Police, not in an aggressive way, but as worshipful supplicants for their favor. Having heard a rumor that they would be playing a free concert in Cuba, the BUCLers embraced them as Cuba's future liberators. Only one little problem: these guys were Marxists who had no intention of saying nary a word against Castro's regime. This didn't stop Henry from accosting the group's guitarist at the Versailles or flying a cropduster with a banner beseeching Sting to say a word about human rights in Cuba at his concert in Miami. No word was said. Not even a nod. They were probably lucky that he was too high to read the banner; otherwise he might have sneered at it.

We thought that BUCL had expired in the wake of its failure to coax even one word of support from Sting for human rights in Cuba. There was no way to claim "victory" there. They had invested real money and great emotional capital on Sting's conversion and the return was nil. All BUCLers, besides Henry, breathed a collective sigh of relief. Maybe the embarrassment and financial drain was finally over. The less said about it the better. Let people forget the forgettable.

But no. Henry would not leave well enough alone. In a post by Ziva yesterday rightly criticizing the Socialist government's continued coddling of Castro, in the midst, even, of the regime's latest crackdown on dissidents, Henry appended this postscript:

"You'll remember that we were criticized heavily, both by domestic and Spanish bloggers, for our first Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty campaign denouncing Spain's cooperation with repression in Cuba. We were right to denounce it then, and we are right to denounce it now."

"Criticized heavily?" Yes, here. And by Killcastro. So much for the "domestic" bloggers. The Spanish bloggers, as I pointed out then, the BUCLers declined to engage other than by posting their illiterate manifesto on the aforementioned Spanish DIGG. As for denouncing "Spain's [i.e. the Socialist government's] cooperation with repression in Cuba," this is not something that the BUCLers invented. Cubans have been denouncing the perfidy of both Socialists and Fascists in Spain for nearly half a century, ever since Franco underwrote the Castro regime in the period between Castro's repudiation of the U.S. and embrace of the Soviets. It was not for naught that Castro declared 9-days mourning in Cuba when his kinsman Francisco Franco died. (I wonder if the Socialists will return the favor when Castro dies).

Henry can sit on his withered laurels if he wants. So long as he doesn't resurrect the undead.


POSTSCRIPT:

Charlie Bravo has an excellent post on this subject entitled "¡Viva España!" at Black Sheep of Exile which merits your attention:

http://blacksheepofexile.blogspot.com/2007/09/viva-espaa.html


More posts on BUCL at RCAB:

BUCKLE

The BUCL Belt: Henry's Imagination Strikes Again

Henry Gómez Accuses Spaniards of "Exploding Cubans"

Is There Anything At All in Henry's Mind On Any Day?

BUCKLE But Don't Tighten Your Belts

BUCL's Siren Song

BUCL's Last Hurrah

BUCL Again

"BUCL Up, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Ride"

BUCL Is Killing Babalú

Dissent Comes At Long Last to Babalú

And From the Peanut Gallery...

Insanity, Homoeroticism and Xenophobia on "The Babalú [Faux] Radio Hour"

Val Praises Fidel's "Charisma" and Moneo Calls Him "One of the Smartest Politicians Who Ever Lived"

BUCL's Bizarreries to End at Versailles Restaurant

BUCL (2007-2007)

BUCL and The Black Legend: Using Racism to "Liberate" Cuba

Babaloo's Waterloos: Spain "Forced Religion" on Cubans

La Raza