Posted on 03/23/2010 8:34:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Rally designed to support the Ladies in White activists in Cuba
After seeing women protesters dragged through the streets in Cuba, Gloria Estefan figured the best way to fight the injustice was to dress in white and carry on the march. The Cuba native is calling on all Cubans in Miami to come out and rally against the Castro government on Thursday in Little Havana at 6 p.m. Estefan called on participants to dress in white, walk in silence and hold flowers in the style of the Cuban group.
"Cubans and non-Cubans alike that live in liberty need to take the opportunity at this moment in history to come together and show them that we care," Estefan said at a press conference, "We are all united in the love and the need for a free Cuba and freedom for the Cuban people that are enslaved right now on the island."
The march will travel along Calle Ocho and will be led by the Grammy award-winning singer and song writer.
The protest is expected to be peaceful, unlike the one held in Havana on March 17, when the Ladies in White were attacked by Cuban police, dragged into buses and hauled away.
Ladies in White, or Las Damas de Blanco as they are known in Cuba, is a group of wives and mothers whose relatives are in prison for opposing Fidel Castro's government. If you are interested in attending the march, meet at Beacom Blvd., between 7th and 8th Streets, before the start of the march. The march will go from 22nd to 27th Avenues.
I admire her. She seems like a decent human being who aspires to be a decent human being.
Miami is the capital of Latin America, so she has a bigger audience than just Miami.
Most entertainment people are jumping all over themselves to suck up to Castro and Chavez. She is a refreshing exception to the rule.
ANSWER is domestic.
Line up all the false dichotomies you want.
Bay of Pigs Veterans Commissioned in the U.S. Armed Forces 1963
You will find my Bay of Pigs veteran uncle's "allegiance to this country" specifically outlined for you on pages 25, 101-102, 104, 107-108, and 118 in the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young - Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam".
My brother is a veteran of the 10th Mountain Division and my sister is a veteran of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.
I served twenty years in active and reserve duty in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps although I did not drill to get retirement points because my medical practice as a specialist solo practitioner was not conducive to being away one weekend a month. (Translation: I put myself at risk for being called back during wartime, and I was called back during the Gulf War, but I did not expect any retirement money. As I told the Reserve pencil-pushing officer that did not understand why I was neither drilling nor resigning my comission, "I don't need the Navy's money for my retirement. But, if there is a war and you need me, I will be there for you.")
So, go ahead and think that Americans of Cuban descent have no "allegiance to this country".
Whatever floats your boat.
So have I.
My secretary has been to Cuba. My only return to Cuba has been a one year U. S. Navy tour of duty at Guantanamo.
This opportunity was different.
This was a chance to stick a fork in the eye of the Castro regime on the international stage with the Pope as a witness.
At the time, I really did not understand why Gloria did not take the opportunity handed to her on a silver platter.
The older and wiser exile Cubans on the forum set me straight.
Her record sales would suffer.
I'm not sure what she could have done to stick a fork in his eye. That would have seriously risked backfiring and possibly embarrassing the Pope.
If the Pope had asked me to go, I would have respectfully have to have declined. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.
She is doing it on a local Miami stage. Not on an international stage.
She is whispering her message very softly in a whisper that will not carry very far beyond Miami. SHE IS NOT SHOUTING IT AROUND THE WORLD.
Her international buyers will never hear about it.
The opinion that I gave was not my original opinion. In 1997, I was clueless in regards to why she did not seize such a golden opportunity to denounce Castro, in Cuba, in front of the Pope with the international media covering her every word.
That opinion in regards to her failure to do so came straight from Cubans on the Cuban exile political forum who were actively fighting Castro when I was still in First Grade in 1960.
Penn Hangs Again With Pal Chavez:
http://www.newser.com/story/40507/penn-hangs-again-with-pal-chavez.html
__________________________________________________________
Sean Penn Applauds as Venezuela's Chavez Bashes Bush:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291855,00.html
__________________________________________________________
From National Public Radio (NPR):
August 29, 2006
"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been visiting countries such as China, Iran and Russia as part of an effort to build a 'strategic alliance' of interests not beholden to the United States. He considers the United States his arch enemy.":
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5729764
__________________________________________________________
From CBS-News:
July 29, 2006
"Chavez pledged that his country would 'stay by Iran at any time and under any condition,' state television reported. Ahmadinejad said he saw in Chavez a kindred spirit." "'We do not have any limitation in cooperation,' Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying. 'Iran and Venezuela are next to each other and supporters of each other. Chavez is a source of a progressive and revolutionary current in South America and his stance in restricting imperialism is tangible.'":
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/29/world/main1847331.shtml
Yes, a single exception removes the rule.
“HOW DARE YOU IMPUGN MY (brother/sister/uncle/aunt/stepmother/nun who taught me in 1st Grade)!”
Not a counter argument.
But nice to know we have people who know some people that are here for the duration.
All Americans should march with her and wear white—we are all Cubans just as we were all Berliners when the wall went up. Where ever freedom is repressed Americans should take a stand. We failed when Iranians march in the streets for free elections—and some died—we failed to notice. Let us not do the same when the brave people of Cuba fall to Castro Brother’s goon squads.
If you don’t mind my asking, what is the meaning behind your “FreeDumb2003” screen name? Did you just choose it randomly or are you trying to convey something? Has it anything to do with the 2003 start/continuation of the Iraq war?
I think this is what's wrong with America, IMO. There's not enough people to champion liberty openly. It should be done at every opportunity so that it becomes an widespread and integral part of our culture. Then maybe we will have a chance ourselves.
I chose it years before — an independent chain of events led me to the “2003” (obviously several years before 2003).
The Freedumb part was a bit more conscious. It is a bit smart-alecky (which follows my personality), but also I wanted to convey the idea that I am “dumb” in terms of having so much to learn, from so many who know so much.
I will take my arguments, and my knowledge, to the precipice with anyone — but, when I have been bested, I try to acknowledge that (difficult when I brick-wall myself into a corner but I somehow survive even those).
FWIIW...
Now that you mention it, I should add what I just posted to my profile.
I think I shall! :)
Even if you think that Estefan should have sung in Havana when the Pope visited (at the risk of adding “legitimacy” to Castro’s brutal regime—remember that Castro used the Pope’s visit as a propaganda tool and the media in free countries fawned over Castro’s “openness” and largely glossed over the Pope’s criticisms of the intolerable conditions faced by Cubans), why would you applaud someone who childishly calls Estefan a “coward” for leading a protest on U.S. soil? She’s an American citizen and lives in the U.S., and if the only way that Americans opposed to Castro’s regime can protest is to travel illegally to Cuba and get arrested then you’re setting an impossible standard, aren’t you? Are you a “coward” for not returning to Cuba and starting a protest in front of Havana’s Capitol?
Gloria Estefan would have made a crapload more money selling albums in the U.S. and Latin America had she just stayed quiet and not devoted her life to telling people about the evils of Communism and Castro’s regime. She is the antithesis of a “coward.”
“Cubans and non-Cubans alike that live in liberty”
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Hey, Gloria, ain’t nobody livin’ in liberty in the USA no more! Give us jus’ a little more time and it’ll be jus’ like Cuba.
Odd that we are protesting Cuban communism at the same time we are being submerged in communism here. The Castro brothers must be dying laughing.
Thanks, freedumb2003. I was just wondering, because a lot of lefties opposed to Bush's 2003 "Operation Iraqi Freedom" mocked the effort as "Operation Freedumb".
___________________________________
Operation Iraqi Freedom:
At 9:34 PM EST on March 19, 2003 (5:34 AM local time in Baghdad on March 20), United States and United Kingdom forces consisting of 40 cruise missiles and strikes led by 2 F-117s from the 8th Fighter Squadron (supported by Navy EA-6B Prowlers) and other aircraft began conducting military operations against the state of Iraq designed to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction and to remove the Iraqi Regime from power.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraqi_freedom.htm
I following your discussions with Polybius (can't tell whether he is one of those fabled "Miami Cubans" that you speak off, as he chooses to fly the American flag, rather than the flag of any State in his homepage) I couldn't help but to ponder the notion that a Cuban (Polybius) should probably have a deeper base of knowledge to draw from when discussing what thoughts Cubans at large, and "Miami Cubans" specifically, may have on the subject of whether they wish to return to Cuba at any time.
It would seem to me that a Cuban (I am more than bothered calling someone who has served this nation, anything other than an American, and a patriot at that) would have a deeper understanding of the "Cuban" psyche per se, than you, who I suspect may NOT be "Cuban" in the least bit.
I know...some of your best friends are Cuban.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.; In memoria æterna erit justus, ab auditione mala non timebit.
Beauseant!
And so is -- apparently -- the Tea Party movement. Are you suggesting that because there are no "discernible results" (after all the dems still have majorities in both houses and were able to ram HCR through) that it is all a big waste of time?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.