Behind la mascara ("the mask")

The American Thinker ^ | Jan. 1, 2004 | A.M. Mora y Leon

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One of the terrible tragedies of communist Cuba is the dead silence of Cubans who must voicelessly live on that island. Unless we have Cuban relatives, we don't know a thing about those people, who might as well be living in the blacked-out Iraq of Saddam Hussein, or on the far side of the moon, for that matter. The only sound out of Cuba is the megalomanical voice of dictator Fidel Castro, or the parroting of his obedient minions. In the Cuban press and public square, every single issue and article, one way or another, is ultimately all about Castro.

In the free world, it's nearly impossible to know and feel and understand what Cubans think. We know they are oppressed, but we don't know them. The reasons are obvious - every fourth Cuban is spying on his neighbor and the remainder are concealing their thoughts. The silence of Cubans actually has a name in Havana -- la mascara or, "the mask." ...

We certainly aren't going to get the reality of Cuba from Reuters correspondents...

That's why an essay written by a real Cuban who lives in Cuba in Friday's Wall Street Journal is so compelling and should be read by everyone. Called "A Cuban Cry for Justice," the author is Oswaldo Paya, who heads Cuba's Christian Liberation Movement. His group sponsored the Varela Project petitioning for free elections inside Cuba. Paya, who lives uneasily in Cuba, gives us a living, breathing picture of what Cubans deeply think. Paya tells us what it is like to be a second-class citizen in Havana with worthless money, as radical chic Frenchmen and German package tourists walk around like arrogant colonial sahibs.

[Kitten Festival]

A refer to please read a linked Wall Street Journal article that's accessible to read.