The article linked below ["Cuban Exiles' 'New Hope' As Castro Fades"] is the first about Cuba which I have read in the mainstream media to which I could raise no objection. Of course, it is not published in the U.S. mainstream media, but their British counterpart, which themselves have never been purveyers of the truth about Cuba until now. The subject is depressing, but we are conditioned already to expect nothing but what will batter the heart from our suffering country. I confess that as I read it I expected at any moment that the author would lose her way; there were innumerable openings that would have conduced her to the well-travelled roads of journalistic apologetics; but she was not content to follow the path of those who think by rote. Where this article differs from the rest is that it does not try to deny or mitigate the real causes of Cuba's suffering, or justify inhuman conditions with slogans and irrelevant statistics that are intended to conceal or palliate the truth, or at least compensate for it. The truth does not need to be barnished; it is stark enough and glaring enough and admits of only one conclusion -- the last 50 years have set our country back 500, except, of course, that what was pristine then is now debased, what was full of promise is now bereft of hope. This, of course, should not cause us to give up but to redouble our efforts, for where the task is greatest so, too, must be the human resources assembled to accomplish it. Since the redemption of our homeland is the common work of all, it is well that there are those on this side of the Florida Straits who are preparing to vindicate the Rule of Law in our country and restore the fallen and buried landmarks of civilization.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/23/wcuba123.xml
And here is another article ["Cubans Won't Shed a Tear for Fidel Castro"], also from The Telegraph, which does detour from the truth, in places, through partial ignorance but not malice, yet manages still to arrive at the right conclusion: "So what have Castro, Ché Guevara and the Cuban revolution achieved? The ruination of their country..."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=FOP4YEZVNTFHNQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/opinion/2007/12/19/do1902.xml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/23/wcuba123.xml
And here is another article ["Cubans Won't Shed a Tear for Fidel Castro"], also from The Telegraph, which does detour from the truth, in places, through partial ignorance but not malice, yet manages still to arrive at the right conclusion: "So what have Castro, Ché Guevara and the Cuban revolution achieved? The ruination of their country..."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=FOP4YEZVNTFHNQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/opinion/2007/12/19/do1902.xml
Thanks for posting, these, MaT. Over one year has passed since I last saw my wife, and I hope that you and your readers will keep her **and ALL Cubans suffering under Castro's dictatorship** in your prayers this Nochebuena.
ReplyDeleteJoe, y'all are certainly in my prayers.... Please tell Yuliet that Joe Jr. is also in my mind at this particular time of the year, I think of him and I think of Jesus as a young boy, and of Moises in his basket. I think of him and I see kasstro as Herod, and raul castro as Caligula.
ReplyDeleteBut, hey, if they are afraid of something it's children. They know that those who are children today will judge them very harshly, and some of the youngsters today will bury all they ever represented face down, so they cannot even come back to the surface again....
How do I tell Merry Christmas to you, my friend? I can only say, FORZA JOE, FORZA.
How sad Manuel, to have to resort to Google Earth to see the wonderful land that was taken from you, good article thanks.
ReplyDeleteJoe I shall keep her and your son in my prayers, and also all of you my Cuban cyber friends, may next year bring peace to our tormented island, and to us.
Joe:
ReplyDeleteSomeone who casts his lot with us in adversity, as you have, through conscious choice rather than accident, will always deserve of us our gratitude and affection. I wish that I could lighten in some way, especially at this time of year, the terrible burden that you bear, deprived of your rights as father and husband, by one who has always made war on the Cuban family. Faith, hope and courage are all that can sustain us, and I know that you have all three in abundance. May God bless you and your family and may you soon re-unite whether in the United States or a free Cuba.