My mother, devoted to Fidel, sat in front of the television. A few days later her two daughters understood that a transcendental and irreversible change had come over that compulsive 30-something. A former militant in the Young Communist Union, she had suffered a degree of ideological disillusionment in the late eighties, but the trial of General Arnaldo Ochoa was too much for her revolutionary illusions.
I remember seeing her sitting in that easy chair in front of the television thinking that her "Commander" was more than a father -- much more than the nation itself -- and observing, from my naïve adolescent perspective, her transformation. Her anger, her sadness, while the farce of the judicial process continued. Later I heard from my school friends that a similar metamorphoses occurred in many of their homes. "What have we come to," seemed to spread among a good part of Fidel's faithful followers.
Why, 23 years after that "reality show" televised throughout the country, is what is called "Case No. 1 of 1989" still considered a point of rupture? How did this moment become one of the dates marking the decline of the Cuban Revolution?
I do not think it was solely because of popular sympathy for the haughty and handsome man who was in the dock. Nor for the false note of the generals -- chubby cheeked from the good life -- blaming one of their colleagues for enjoying a luxury here, an extravagance there. Nor can it be said that it was just the evident contrast between the soldier who had led battles in Africa, and the Commander in Chief who played at war from afar, from the comfort of his office.
I think it all came together for many Cubans, in that moment, that the train of the political process had gone off the rails. But undoubtedly added to this was the desire to find a good excuse for a break, a sufficiently strong pretext to show the door to an ideology that had defrauded so many. We children saw this metamorphosis in our parents... there was no way we could emerge unscathed in the presence of such a mutation.
For four weeks, the small screens in every Cuban household were tuned to these courtroom images, where the great majority of those present wore olive green uniforms. We heard the witnesses testify, the accused shift from a tone of alarm to the stuttering of terror as many of them declared that the highest levels of the Cuban government were not aware of the drug trafficking.
Raúl Castro talked about how he had cried in front of his bathroom mirror, thinking about Ochoa's children, but he still approved his execution, and that of three other defendants.
And all this happened before our eyes in the same year in which the Berlin Wall would fall and many Eastern European regimes would crumble like illusory castles in the sand. It wasn't possible to separate what was happening outside our borders from that Military Tribunal that indicted Arnaldo Ochoa for "high treason against the country and the Revolution." Difficult to separate the crisis of faith that the Cuban process was passing through at the moment of this public lesson broadcast to millions of TV viewers.
The authorities -- intending to teach us a lesson -- wanted to show that they were still capable of striking a blow against any ideas of a tropical Perestroika that might be lurking on the island. A self-inflicted wound in their own ranks was a very clear way of warning that there would be no mercy for those who crossed a certain line. Parallel to the official version of the trial ran a thousand and one popular rumors about the most decorated General in Cuba overshadowing Fidel Castro.
Many analysts argued that what was really playing out was a rivalry for power. It was not surprising, therefore, that so much of the evidence presented in the trial ultimately did not convince the audience. "There's something more going on here," said the older people... "there's something fishy," they repeated, with the wisdom of those who had seen many others fall, be ousted.
At dawn on July 13, 1989 Arnaldo Ochoa, Antonio de la Guardia, Amado Padrón and Jorge Martinez were shot. My mother had turned off the television just as the sentence was announced. I never saw her look at the screen with rapture again; nor meekly consent when the figure of Fidel Castro appeared.
Yoani's blog, Generation Y, can be read here in English translation.
Translating Cuba is a compilation blog with Yoani and other Cuban bloggers in English.
Follow Yoani Sanchez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/yoanifromcuba
See: http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/category/topic/drugs_crime
Especially on the internet, talk is cheap. In the real world, action is manufest. Whether about this or any other national or foreign policy issue, when statements are false, they should be exposed for exactly what they are.
Thanks to Fidel, Che and others, those things are no more, in spite of sixty years of boycott by the US. It's probably time for the Castros to move on, but they should be remembered for making Cuba into a real country and bringing the people up to a level where they will find their own freedom. Hopefully, it will be a freedom from animals like Batista and corrupt American corporations, too.
It's both infuriating and heartbreaking to read such dribble on the glories of Cuba. By now any informed person should now how Castro destroyed Cuba from day one of 1959.
Cuba's infant mortality rate was the best in Latin America -- and the 13th lowest in the world
.
Cuba also had an excellent educational system and impressive literacy rates in the 1950's.
http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/FACTS_Web/Cuba%20Facts%20Issue%2043%20December.htm
PBS AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: FIDEL CASTRO- Pre-Castro Cuba- Cuba's capital, Havana, was a glittering and dynamic city. In the early part of the century the country's economy, fueled by the sale of sugar to the United States, had grown dynamically. Cuba ranked fifth in the hemisphere in per capita income, third in life expectancy, second in per capita ownership of automobiles and telephones, first in the number of television sets per inhabitant. The literacy rate, 76%, was the fourth highest in Latin America. Cuba ranked 11th in the world in the number of doctors per capita. Many private clinics and hospitals provided services for the poor. Cuba's income distribution compared favorably with that of other Latin American societies. A thriving middle class held the promise of prosperity and social mobility.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE REPORT, VIDEOS ETC.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/e_precastro.html
The same holds true for Castro, and so I doubt that he had direct knowledge of those activites. As for the riduculous accusation that Castro was worried that the US would do to Cuba what it did to Noriega, that is absurd since it would have been a long and bloody and ultimately unsuccessful invasion. Panama is far smaller and less armed than Cuba is. Only militarily ignorant people could make such a claim.
The fact is the in Cuba, they punished the guilty, and in the US the reporter who broke the story of the CIA cocaine running was driven to suicide by the US. I think that is a big difference. That hardly means I love Castro or think he is great. Just that the US did not go after US sponosred drug smugglers while Cuba did.
The memories...
The insensitive disregard for those inextricable issues of parenthood was reflected in a simplistic and judgmental public opinion about "fatherhood" and in the callous specifics of "Seizing Elián" by the Clinton Administration's Janet Reno. (Also see: http://pearlfilms.com/aninnoce.html)
Sadly, this vexing "insensitivity" from too many Americans still persists to the present day.
However, I should caution you against fighting "for perfection". Striving for that impossible goal has destroyed many a hero, patriot, and nation.
They created a special department and they called it MC (hard coin). This department had to do exclusively with illegal but very profitable things, for example, smuggling of weapons, gemstones, people, high technology and drugs among a lot of more things. MC was a very successful project under the direct supervision of castro self. Colombian drug lords were very happy with the efficient collaboration of the cuban partners but USA were very unhappy with this situation. USA gave the first blow to this happy corporation by catching general Noriega. USA gave a second blow by presenting proves that showing the cuban connection in the international drug smuggling. Castro understood immediately he was the next to be blew, he was then in urgent necessity of showing the USA he was innocent. Then he decides to sacrifice some of his generals and collaborators and started the circus known as Cause #1 explained by Yoani here.
MC were dismantled but the good fellows that made it work were still there, unemployed and with all contacts and knowledge needed for starting again as self-employees. Having no longer the possibility of sell the “items” to dealers in USA they turned theirs efforts in, the cubans was their new prospects.
CUBA ARCHIVE'S TRUTH AND MEMORY PROJECT is documenting deaths and disappearances resulting from the Cuban revolution and studies transitional issues related to truth, memory and justice.This project seeks to compel people and nations to help Cubans peacefully attain their rightful freedoms, foster a culture of respect for life and the rule of law, and honor the memory of those who’ve paid the highest price.
VICTIMS OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION- Cases up to January 25, 2012
This work documents loss of life and disappearances of a political or military nature attributed to the Cuban Revolution. Each documented case is available for review at The Cuba Archive and substantiated by bibliographic/historic data and reports from direct sources. Due to the ongoing nature of the work and the difficulty of obtaining and verifying data from Cuba, the following totals change as research progresses and are considered far from exhaustive. Cuba Archive is currently examining additional cases -most are expected to be added to this table. Experience has shown that as additional outreach efforts are undertaken, many more cases are likely to be uncovered.
Non-Combat Victims of the Castro Regime: Work-in-progress-Documented Cases
Total = 10,500
"Balseros" (estimate to 2003) = 77,833 victims lost at sea!
http://cubaarchive.org/home/images/stories/1.25.2012_update.pdf
Lives destroyed, in the millions.