Posted on 05/20/2002 3:03:50 PM PDT by walrus954
Today was an amazing day for I finally got to see President Bush speak in Miami. My day started at 9 am when my father and I set out for the office of Rep. Lincoln Diaz Balarat. I got tickets from the congressman on Friday and had to pick them up. Then, it was off to the Orange Bowl where were boarded a shuttle bus to the James Knight Center. For someone who's Spanish is very shaky (I am only partially Cuban), this was a baptism by fire. I am 15, and I was the youngest on the bus by fire. Not only that, but my 45 year old father was the youngest on the bus by far. The people with us on the bus consisted of old Cuban-Americans who, like all Cuban Americans, had a strong love for Cuba and a passionate hate for Castro. After about a half hour of singing the Cuban National Anthem and reciting poems about Cuba, we made it to the James Knight Center, where we had to wait for two hours in line to get through security.
After this two hours of waiting, we had another hour and a half of waiting. It was interesting, however, because we got to hear the stories of the man who sat next to us who was a political prisoner in Cuba for 26 years. Then, at three o'clock, it started. Our senators and congress men (Graham, Nelson, Ros Lehithn and Diaz Balarat) entered, and Gloria Estefan and John Secada sang the national anthems of Cuba and the US. Governor Jeb Bush came to the podium and spoke in flawless Spanish. Then, he introduced the President of the United States. It felt like a volcano erupting inside the auditorium. All 3,000 jumped to their feet clapping and waving flags and screaming "Libertad" (Liberty!) and "Viva Cuba Libre!" (Long Live a Free Cuba). The feeling of goosebumps doesn't even begin to describe it. The president began to speak in Spanish, but then said he didn't want to destroy a beautiful language and reverted to English. The President gave a great speech spelling out his Cuba policy. After every few sentences, the crowd would leap to their feet, waving their flags, and shouting "Libertad!" and "U-S-A."
It truly was an amazing experience. He challenged Castro to allow free elections and introduced a Cuban refugee kid who came here 6 years ago speaking no English. Now, he will be going to Harvard. It proves what can happen to capable people when they are allowed to prosper in freedom. He then discussed his conditions for lifting the embargo (freeing political prisoners, allowing elections, etc), which I agree with. The President really gave me strength to continue to believe that someday, Cuba will be free again. I hope that this day is soon.
Viva Cuba Libre y Presidente Bush!
Andrew
It was great, Giuliani was on the bus along with Jeb and Connie(I never should have retired)Mack.
W is no where more at home than when he is in Miami.
The speech will be aired at 2:19AM EST
Simple, China didn't steal the factories and land from dozens of US corporations, not to mention position nukes 90 miles from Key West.
This bearded SOB isn't going to last forever, if it wasn't for JFK he would have been gone a long time ago.
When the GOP is in the White House he keeps a low profile (unless of course the idiot Carter wants to reprise his Mariel stupidity).
If there was no embargo Castro would still rule Cuba and the people would still be suffering.
Cuba trades with virtually every other country on earth, so it's not like there isn't ample opportunity for Cuba to benefit from foreign trade. The suffering of the Cuban people, like the suffering of people in Zimbabwe, has to do with bad economic and political policies of their own governments- they most certainly have nothing to do with a lack of trade with the US. Any other system which had property rights for individuals could make that island a paradise, embargo or no embargo. Even without overseas trade of any kind, if Cubans had a government which recognized basic private property rights and recognized freedom of speech and so forth, those people would be doing extremely well on their own local economies, which could thrive. If they had access to the same markets Cuba does today as well as freedom, they could be wealthy as all get out.
Cuba's hurting now because the Soviet Union is no longer propping it up in exchange for all that Cuban military assistance in Africa and South America. Without being able to suck on a superpower's teat, Castro simply can't get the hard cash he desires and still keep the country communist, so he devotes his energies into growing sugarcane on his (government) land as the only major cash crop to fill his government coffers instead of letting farmers grow what they see fit on individually owned land, which would result in an abundance of food fit for local consumption. Regular Cubans are getting screwed.
The very land which could provide all the meat and produce the Cuban people could desire, or could be converted to privately owned resorts and which would create a booming economy of middle class shopkeepers, business people, and processors, is instead devoted to growing not very nutritious sugar cane for the government to sell. The profits don't go into the worker's pockets... they go instead into corrupt government bureaucrat's pockets or into Castro's pet projects. In order to buy much needed meat or milk, Cubans must sacrifice a ridiculous percentage of income or do without, and even if willing to sacrifice there's no guarantee there would be any for sale, any more than a Russian in the former USSR could be sure to find bread on the shelves.
There are shortages because the laws of supply and demand are ignored by the government. This is not going to change simply because we drop an embargo... Cuban shelves could be filled with Canadian, European and Brazilian products right this minute, but the people of Cuba still couldn't buy the stuff because they have been made artificially poor by being deprived of their property rights and so, have no opportunities to make use of their own resources in commerce. They don't even own their own labor- their wages are determined by government, not by market forces and their own merits.
There's no shortage of corporations ready to jump in there and screw them too. If they get a foothold there while the people are still denied private property rights, the average Cuban can forget ever owning his property of his or her own, not land and not stock, and forget about that for his kids as well. What the state won't control directly, it will control just as effectively, albeit more subtly, through partnership in corporations. The government of Cuba will demand that worker's salaries be funneled through its bureacracy to be milked, as happens elsewhere in the world. Companies won't have to negotiate with workers for labor, instead they will simply negotiate and bribe government officials. Even if the economy showed some improvement, it would essentially be in the lives of the bureaucrats most responsible for screwing the economy up and taking people's property in the first place. Essentially all that would happen is bureaucrats would be able to take more and more control of property for themselves, and you'd end up with a wealthy class of thieves and a still poor class of landless serfs.
So until some concessions are made which would enable people to benefit from open relations, throwing trade at Castro isn't going to benefit the Cuban people so much as just give congress the means of subsidizing more grain sales of huge corporate farms at the expense of the American taxpayer, plumping up some American companies at the expense of Cuba's people, and give Castro the means to profit from his people's labor without the people being able to profit for themselves.
So far Castro has made no concessions of any kind.
John, can we give this one a push?
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| Latin singer Jon Secada (R) sings the U.S. national anthem as President George W. Bush (far left) sings with, from left: Bush's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Jeb's wife Columba Bush, and U.S. Housing Secretary Mel Martinez, prior to the president's speech to the Cuban exile community in Miami, Florida, May 20, 2002. Bush lashed out at Cuban president Fidel Castro and vowed not to ease trade sanctions until steps toward democracy are made. REUTERS/Colin Braley |
Thank you so much for sharing these events. Your report was the next best thing to being there!
I was able to watch the speech on Cspan last night (after I had read your report). What a tremendously powerful speech and response!
We will never stop praying (and I hope working) for the freedom of the people of Cuba!
Why can't just one media puppet ask this question of Castro and of Hillary Clinton and of every leftist:
WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF FREEDOM FOR THE PEOPLE OF CUBA??? OR OF ANY PEOPLE? WHY DO YOU HATE FREEDOM SO?
Just once, I would like that question to be asked.
The yearning for feedom is built into the heart of every human being......and as President Bush said, in the end, for the Cuban people, as for the people of China and of VietNam and of Korea, and even of the Islamic countries - FREEDOM CANNOT FOREVER BE DENIED!!!
I am 54 years old and I got goosebumps from reading your Freeport.
Goosebumps are a very special thing and many people do not get them. You do, I do. We are lucky.
BUMP for a GREAT essay, GREAT speeches, a GREAT president and a GREAT GOVERNOR.
Jeb for prez in '08!
It was great, Giuliani was on the bus along with Jeb and Connie(I never should have retired)Mack.
I was at the same rally. Facing the stage, I was on the right, three rows (standing room only) back. I got to shake Dubya and Bill McCollum's hand.
It was interesting, however, because we got to hear the stories of the man who sat next to us who was a political prisoner in Cuba for 26 years.
Care to share his stories here?
W speaks Spanish pretty well for a Texan. Texans only hear the Mexican accent around them at home, so how can you fault him for not being able to wrap his tongue around the very different Cuban sounds? But he knows the difference and he knows not to abuse the ears. I just love him, and I'm so glad you got to hear him in person and take part in such a memorable occasion and got to hear the stories from the oldtimers. Never forget. Viva Cuba Libre!
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