One of the contributors in my documentary, The Man of Two Havanas, journalist Ann Louise Bardach ...you may have heard of her, she's on NPR all the time... quotes Einstein as saying: "Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Yep! This pretty much sums up U.S. Cuba policy for the last 47 years. The words STUPID and CRUEL also come to mind.
As Americans, we don't know jack about Cuba. We do know that there is a bearded boogieman named Castro who runs the place, but not much more. But that's okay, because Cuba doesn't really affect us. Right? And with wars, genocide, stolen elections, poverty, AIDS, Lindsay, Brad and Angelina...well, who has the time to give a damn about Cuba?
But for me, a Cuban-American, and the daughter of a man obsessed with the singular idea of reuniting the two Havanas, I thought, I better start giving a damn!
But I get ahead of myself.
Okay, here's the situation. I was born in Havana. That makes me Cuban. But, I was raised in little Havana, which makes me Cuban-American. However, since I don't see Castro as the root of all evil in the universe, nor would I strangle him with my bare hands given the opportunity, I am not your typical Cuban-American. I must be Norwegian. I always have been Norwegian. And I really don't care.
My dad, Max Lesnik, on the other hand, is not Norwegian and he does give a shit. Back in Havana, he was a revolutionary and fought alongside his best buddy, Fidel Castro.
Then he had a beef with Castro over the Soviet Union and it was Miami, here we come.
My dad had a third position...he was both against the Cuban government, as well as against the U.S. policy towards Cuba. But wait a minute, no third position allowed! Whose side are you on? You're either with us or you're against us. He was basically against everyone and everybody was against him. That was not unusual. Welcome to my childhood.
Just as we're getting used to this, he changed his mind again. Now he wanted dialogue. He wanted to talk to Castro. That's when the shit hit the fan.
Bombings, death threats and drive by shootings would typically scare the shit out of somebody and make them shut the fuck up, but not my dad....
By the way... who would do this to us? We were Americans now. Surely, it must be the Communists, right? Wrong. And get this, 'cause it is a bit complicated. My father became the focal point of the anti-Castro terrorists. These were Cubans who left Cuba, hated Castro, and would do anything to get rid of him. Including bomb and kill moderate voices like my dad's within the Cuban-American community. These terrorists, they were American. Well, Cuban-American to be exact. Oh right....they were trained by the CIA.
Terrorism in America did not begin on September 11th. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a reign of terror in Miami. There were as many as seven bombings in one day and hundreds per year. The culprits were not Communists. They were Americans. And my family was at the epicenter. Bombs away...
