Jeff Jacoby: A wave of repression in Cuba

Boston Globe ^ | April 10, 2003 | jeff jacoby

[Cincinatus' Wife]

ONE OF THE FIRST people I met during a week's stay in Havana last year was the economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a once-ardent communist who had turned against Fidel Castro's dictatorial system. For daring to criticize Cuba's disastrous policies, Chepe and his wife Miriam had been severely punished. He lost his prestigious position in the foreign service; she was told to choose between her job in the Foreign Ministry and her marriage. ''You want me to divorce my husband?'' she had asked in disbelief. ''Well, it's up to you,'' came the reply. As we sat in their tiny apartment in Havana's Playa district last March, the two dissidents told me how they had been forced to sell many of their possessions -- the car, the stamp collection, even some of their clothes -- in order to keep body and soul together. Barred from normal employment, Chepe managed to cobble together an income from odd jobs teaching and writing about Cuba's dysfunctional economy.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Fidel Castro - Cuba

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[goldstategop]

Should we do regime change in Cuba? I can see Jesse Jackson and the peaceniks squawking about the illegality of such a move.

[oldironsides]

Jeff Jacoby had better watch what he says about The Darling of the Left. Mr. Castro has many fans in the U.S Congress. No doubt the Boston Globe loves him also.

[ninonitti]

I can see Jesse Jackson and the peaceniks squawking about the illegality of such a move.

Of course we should do everything in our power to topple Castro.

As for Jackson and that crowd it'll do them good to get out and exercise their free speach this Spring.....Jesse's jowls seem to be growing a bit flabby......too many hand-outs and not enough standouts Reverend?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

[wiseone]

the cuban expatriates are the root problem,buffoons like jackass jackson just exploit it,its the cuban people who are suffering ,from their cousins in miami's rigity

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Is that right?

[Beck_isright]

But of course repression is ok to the Hollyweirdos and liberals if it's in Venezuela, Cuba or Libya. As long as it's communist repression they don't mind.

V

[Cincinatus' Wife]

They like communist order. They expecially like it if they can picture themselves keeping the order.

[Beck_isright]

I know. That's why the hollyweirdos don't dare show their faces in front of the Cuban communities here in Florida. The Cubans want to go home like the Iraqi-Americans are going to. And they have to wait for that commie dictator to die instead of being overthrown because of people like Jimmy Carter and the American left.

V

[Cincinatus]

the cuban expatriates are the root problem

Oh yeah, Castro isn't really a problem at all -- he's a sweetheart.

The brainlessness of your post belies your screen name.

[ruppertdog]

Great column. I have an Cuban employee, Joaquin Martinez, who has a very similar story. He is 57 years old and is able to remember Coca Cola and toy trains in Cuba before the revolution. After Castro, those things dissappeared. Joaquin was educated as an electrical engineer to work on the power grid and rail systems. His electrical skills are still evident as he is able to make repairs on complicated comsumer electronics in short order. He was a captain in the Cuban army and spent time in Angola and two forgettable years as a lumberjack in Siberia. It seems Castro exported human capital to other oppressive regimes as a source of income. Joaquin began to dissent as he realized what was best for the Cuban people was not Communism, and was in and out of prison through the 1990's. Finally, about 2-3 years ago the secret police took him from his house and told him he and his family could accept asylum in the US or go to jail for 12 years. He ended up in Atlanta working for me as a building engineer. His son graduated from a local high school last year and received a full scholarship to Southern Tech in Marietta, GA.

Joaquin loves the US and although he misses Cuba, the opportunity for him and his family to be free is one he is greatful for. He is one of the lucky ones who has made it over here successfully. It makes me wonder why the US doesn't make a concerted effort to grant asylum to all of the imprisoned intellectuals? It is an opportunity to have the intellectual base of a separate country and culture on loan until Castro and Communism are gone.

[mgist]

I think you got lost in the web. You were looking for DU and you mistyped. See ya.

[Beck_isright]

"the cuban expatriates are the root problem,buffoons like jackass jackson just exploit it,its the cuban people who are suffering ,from their cousins in miami's rigity"

You obviously have never spent any time down here or just a down right idiot. The Cuban-Americans want nothing but a free democratic Cuba. They would leave in 5 seconds if Castro were to die and a free Cuba appeared. I guess you just want democracy where it's convenient and not for all people.

V

[Diddle E. Squat]

Ron Paul says "Who care?"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/889759/posts

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

The only one way to reform a totalitarian despot like Castro is to topple his regime. Peacefully if possible, by force if necessary.

BTTT

[bvw]

I'd volunteer to take Cuba back -- just to free that one good man if he was the only one, and he's not -- there are thousands upon thousands upon thousands.

[bvw]

We wait for Castro to die of natural causes ... meanwhile good men and women are in harsh prisons beacuse some glimmer, some whisper of hope we gave them caused them to pop their heads up, and be noticed by the evil ones.

[Free the USA]

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