Posted on 05/01/2003 6:35:01 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
Stephen Spielberg called his recent meeting with Fidel Castro "the eight most important hours of my life." Barbara Walters has fawningly described "the great things" Castro had done "for education."
And just as Castro begins his most severe campaign against free speech in Cuba in decades, Yoko Ono and VIPs of the New York media are set to spend $6,500 a person to meet with him.
Meanwhile in Cuba, kangaroo courts have handed out prison sentences of up to 28 years to a group of over 70 democrats, journalists and human-rights workers - including 46 grass-roots supporters of the Varela Project, a petition drive for democratic reforms that had garnered thousands of signatures despite the now obvious risk to life and liberty for having done so.
One of the founders of the Varela Project, Oswaldo Paya, was summoned by Jimmy Carter during his recent visit to Cuba as proof that the ex-president was "allowed freedom of movement" by the Castro regime. The silence from Carter as Paya and the brave Cubans behind his movement have been summarily jailed and silenced is deafening.
But public support for Paya and the other oppressed dissidents would require Carter to admit that he was wrong in his benign and benevolent assessment of Castro, and would likely also ensure he would never again be invited for a Potemkin Village tour that would allow him to undermine U.S. foreign policy decisions regarding Castro.
Moreover, Spielberg, the man who directed films like "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan," has not taken this opportunity to revise statements he made in support of Castro and his regime. Why?
First, it just so happens that Spielberg would like to make a movie in Cuba. Second, he would have to find another "eight most important hours" in his seemingly painfully sheltered life.
Then we have Barbara Walters, a woman who makes millions as a journalist but does not publicly support fellow journalists risking far more in the defense of free speech and democracy than she has ever risked in her career.
Could it be that celebrity journalists like Walters are far more interested in access than they are in news? Criticizing Castro would likely mean no more visits to Havana, and since Walters is now more a celebrity interviewer than a journalist, looking the other way as Castro does what he has always done seems a small price to pay for future visits.
Cuban officials have suggested that their new crackdown is a result of Bush administration policies. The Clinton administration was seen as "friendlier," thus dissent was grudgingly allowed. If true, this assessment is a stark example of what has been the reality in Cuba since 1959.
A Communist system in Cuba that relied on Soviet financial and military support for its existence was caught seeking a new sponsor with the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and the end of the Cold War. It was only then that the American embargo that had been in place all along finally started to show results.
The already anemic Cuban economy, the supposed miraculous proof of a successful socialist system were you to take the Carter-Spielberg-Walters-Ono tour, was now forced to solicit capitalist tourism for support and started an ipso-facto second currency in dollars.
That this reality is literally ignored by the fawning reports of celebrity stooges paraded around Cuba by the nose is almost as disturbing as their disregard for the Varela Project and the fate of the Cuban dissidents fighting for the freedoms we now enjoy.
In light of a history littered with examples of oppression akin to what is now taking place under Castro's rule, it is vexing to imagine how so many celebrities and politicians have been so blindly supportive of his dictatorial regime.
Havana is literally crumbling and its inhabitants barely surviving and desperate for American dollars, yet we are reminded by smug visitors of "how happy everyone seemed." Really?
It's doubtful the men and women jailed for 30 years for signing a petition would seem "happy" right now. It is equally unlikely that any of the aforementioned celebrity visitors would get the chance to meet the jailed dissidents to find out - nor would they ask to.
Celebrities who tout the totalitarian system of Castro's Cuba all have their own reasons for doing so, but having met with a few of them the stories tend to be sadly similar and hypocritical. These wildly privileged individuals often deal with their guilt by pretending to embrace socialist ideals.
Of course, these celebrities don't actually embrace these ideals because that would require giving up the Beverly Hills mansion and the staff of personal assistants and other accouterments of their acquired wealth. But like most people who are never held accountable for what they say, it is simple to call a meeting with a brutal dictator "the most important" time in your life.
Castro's ideology must not be that inspirational, as the celebrities who fawn over him do not return home and grant their personal fortunes to "the people." Further, their avowed concern for Cuba and its "happy" people during their tour is quickly forgotten in the face of oppression like the crackdown happening now.
Thus, we are left with a reality that is as simple as it is sad. American celebrities who visit Castro do so for the same reasons that they choose to go to "A-list" parties in Hollywood; it's hard to get invited, they're likely to have a good time, and it is a virtual certainty that Fidel will provide a cheering crowd of "happy" people to greet them.
Is it really possible that Fidel Castro has garnered so much praise (and conversely so much intentional blindness) from American celebrities over the years by playing on their inherent narcissism?
Ask Oswaldo Paya - while you still can.
Sterling Rome
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It sure is amazing. If Fidel keeps it up maybe he will get the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE next. He hates BUSH, that's their main criteria, isn't it?
Of course, these celebrities don't actually embrace these ideals because that would require giving up the Beverly Hills mansion and the staff of personal assistants and other accouterments of their acquired wealth. But like most people who are never held accountable for what they say, it is simple to call a meeting with a brutal dictator "the most important" time in your life.
Agree with all of the above completely but also I wonder if these "stars" instinctively recognize Castro as one of their own - a performer, an actor, a poseur, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage?
Hollywood types always seem to gravitate towards phonies, because at their core that's what they are. Clinton, Castro, Scientology, you name it, if it ain't real, they're down with it.
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