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Posted on 03/17/2002 1:20:11 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:07:33 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
HAVANA ''THERE ARE NO banned books in Cuba,'' Fidel Castro declared in February 1998, ''only those which we have no money to buy.''
Of course, books are banned in Cuba; just try to locate one that criticizes Castro. Bookstores and public libraries here carry works exalting Marxism, but you won't find ''The Gulag Archipelago'' or ''Darkness at Noon'' on their shelves.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
The oppositionists and their supports are extraordinarily, even disturbingly, grateful for any sincere attention they receive. They are accustomed to being snubbed or defamed. Another exile writes, "Prisoners cling to newspaper articles about human rights in Cuba as their only hope against being abandoned and forgotten. The sense of helplessness, that no one is listening, that no one cares, is what kills their souls. I've known many such people, including within my own family."
Back in the Reagan years, Jeane Kirkpatrick became a heroine in the Soviet Union for the simple act of naming names on the floor of the U.N.: naming the names of prisoners, citing their cases, inquiring after their fates. Later, in Moscow, she met Andrei Sakharov, who exclaimed, "Kirkpatski, Kirkpatski! I have so wanted to meet you and thank you in person. Your name is known in all the Gulag." And why was that? Because she had named those names, giving men and women in the cells a measure of hope. Kirkpatrick says now, "This much I have learned: It is very, very important to say the names, to speak them. It's important to go on taking account as one becomes aware of the prisoners and the torture they undergo. It's terribly important to talk about it, write about it, go on TV about it." A tyrannical regime depends on silence, darkness. "One of their goals is to make their opponents vanish. They want not only to imprison them, they want no one to have heard of them, no one to know who or where they are. So to just that extent, it's tremendously important that we pay attention."
Indignation and concern are not inexhaustible, of course; no one, including Americans, can watch the fall of every sparrow (although, somehow, it seemed possible in South Africa). But American attention is a powerful thing; so is an American consensus. "Fidel will eventually die," some people say, with a shrug. But certain other people have waited long enough. [End Excerpt]
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Private libraries turn page in Cuba: Book lenders offer variety, draw scorn of Castro regime [Excerpt] The founders of the independent library movement, Berta Mexidor Vazquez and her husband, Ramon Humberto Colas, immigrated to Miami in December after losing their jobs and their home, and seeing their daughter removed from her school.
Other independent library heads say they have been jailed briefly or had security agents search their collections. ……
…. That's not to say that at least some of the same things aren't available at Cuba's expansive network of state libraries. The National Library in Havana has 4 million titles, and while most are dated--one of the "International Who's Who" copies is from 1995--the big wooden card catalog is full of authors considered controversial in Cuba, from Mario Vargas Llosa to George Orwell.
Critics point out that such books are not available to all patrons, whose type of library card depends on their jobs or other affiliations, and that most Cubans would hesitate to go on record asking for controversial titles.
Most of the library's books are in closed stacks. Patrons must ask for them by filling out a form with their own name and the title, which is then handed over to librarians. [End Excerpt]
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Castro Watch: for Castro Watch articles. Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register |
It's great to see some press coverage CONDEMNING the Castro Dictatorship instead of these columnists calling for us to be chummy with Castro. I don't think people understand that Castro is a terrible, evil person. Whenever someone tries to defend him, just remind them of this Castro quote from Castro's visit to Tehran "Together, Cuba and Iran can bring America to it's knees." And he's only 90 miles away...
Andrew
Something to be proud of.
U.S. Pressure on Cuba May Increase: Otto Reich views Castro as menace- One even said President Bush's first year in office was little more than an extension of Clinton era policies toward the island. It turns out, however, that the Bush team is just getting warmed up. One reason a more assertive policy may be in the offing was the installation in January of Cuban-born Otto J. Reich as the State Department's top official for Latin America. He joins other Cuban-Americans in key positions who, like Reich, have viewed Castro as a menace for years.
Cuba Calls U.S. LatAm Official Reich a 'Terrorist'--State TV aired a round-table discussion on Reich which was announced earlier Thursday by Cuba's ruling Communist Party, in a short communique on the front page of its daily Granma, as a discussion on "Otto Reich: a Terrorist in the U.S. Government." "Right from the start of his activities in such an important position, he has begun pouring out his sick and visceral hatred of the Cuban Revolution," the communique said of Reich, a Cuban-American known for his opposition to Castro.
Please allow me to assure you that I have nothing against Cuba, Cubans, cigars, sugar cane, Lucy, Ricky, or Caesar Romero. It just so happens that when Castro took power (with, I might add, the overwhelming support of the Cuban people), the island was rapidly falling into the hands of Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegal, and a few other Men of Respect (no, FYI, Michael Corleone was not there).
Had they succeeded in their machinations with the always cordial Batista, the island would have continued (yes, continued)on its way to becoming a joint venture gambling paradise. Whether you like it or believe it or not.
The next time you decide to lash out at someone as being bigotted, why don't you do a little homework first? Cubans have long been known as the most industrious and intelligent of the Latino peoples. Seems to me you could apply a little more mind and a little less mouth.
P.S., good luck on returning to your homeland. Let me know when you get there and I'll stop by your resort.
Cuban Americans who have prospered in the United States due to their intelligence and work ethic will flood back to Cuba, not to stay all the time, but to divide their time, energy and resources between their two nations.
The rebirth of East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the eventual rebirth of North Korea when that brutal and stupid regime finally falls, will be far less spectacular than the rebirth of Cuba. Because Cuba will have the resources of Cuban Americans to draw from, it will take off llike an economic rocket.
Will it have gambling again? If it chooses. It will certainly become immediately the major site of Caribbean travel, not just for Cuban Americans, but all Americans. It has the three necessities: location, location, and location.
For the sake of all who live in Cuba, and all who care about Cuba wherever they might live, I hope Castro dies soon, and that a bloody civil war is unnecessary to remove his minions from power. I hope the collapse is as thorough and bloodless as that of the former German Democratic People's Republic.
Congressman Billybob
I speak the name of Elias Biscet.
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