Many
years ago on cable TV, Cheech Marin, of Cheech & Chong fame, hosted a comedy
special featuring various Latino comedians. The special featured up
and coming Latino comics as well as some that were already
established. My memories of that special are vague, but one skit in
particular remains vivid in my memory. An Hispanic version of Moses,
carrying with him the sacred tablets inscribed with God’s
commandments, began to tell the story of how he led the Latino
tribes to the promised land: the United States. One by one, this
Moises started to name the different Latin American
nationalities that had followed him as if they were the tribes of
Israel. The list contained the usual countries, the names
interspersed with jokes while he motioned to his left, pointing to
the imaginary masses behind him. I listened to the list, waiting for
Cuba to be named and right when I thought it would be ignored, he
motioned to his right and said, “…and on my right, we have
the tribe of Cuba.” The line was received with laughter and
applause; the mostly Latino audience understood the joke. Cubans, it
is commonly said, are not like the rest of the Latinos—they are all
right wingers.
All jokes require some truth to them to
be truly funny and to a certain degree, the joke did point out the
propensity for the Cuban exile community to fall on the right side of
the political spectrum. In contrast, the majority of the rest of the
Latino community tends to lean more to the left. Although the joke may
have intended to exaggerate the right-leaning tendencies of the Cuban
exile community, that extreme perception has been the fodder for much of
the ill will directed at Cuban exiles by the rest of the Latino
immigrant community.
Even though I had been born in the
US—my parents managed to escape the dictatorship in 1961—my mother and
father raised me as if our family were still on the island. Not until I
became old enough to comprehend the difference did I realize that I had
not been born in Cuba. This realization, however, did little to affect
my identity as a Cuban. As a young child, my Cuban born family members
referred to me as “El Americanito,” but my upbringing, and the culture
that surrounded me during my formative years, made me feel as Cuban as
black beans and rice. Growing up in Miami in the 60s and 70s surrounded
by Cuban exiles, I did not fully experience the vast differences between
the Cuban exiles and the rest of the Latino immigrants in this country
until I reached adulthood. It was then, while dealing with the many
Latino nationalities that live in South Florida and other parts of this
country, when I noticed that not only do we differ with our Latino
cousins politically, but we also are not exactly looked upon favorably.
In the beginning, I had a difficult time understanding the reasoning
behind the animosity many Latinos felt toward the Cuban exile community.
We spoke the same language, ate similar foods, shared many cultural
customs, and were all considered Hispanics by the Anglo community. One
would think that a group, however diversified internally, would rally
together based on the immense amount of similarities we all shared.
Still, as I traveled this great country we have all adopted as our new
homeland and met Hispanics from all different backgrounds, one comment
continued to be repeated: “You’re not a bad guy, for a Cuban.” Whenever
I asked for clarification, they offered differing rationalizations based
on anything from personal experience, to hearsay. All of these
explanations, however, shared a common perception—Cuban exiles are an
arrogant lot that think they deserve special treatment. No matter how
well or how badly they articulated their point, it never failed to
dumbfound me that my fellow Latinos would view us in such a light.
Not feeling that same disdain towards
my Hispanic counterparts, I began to dig deeper into our differences and
realized that the Cuban culture has one dynamic that few of our Hispanic
cousins share—we passionately despise communism and communists.
Communist ideology, and the communists that carry it out, are
responsible for the rape and plunder of our once great island nation.
For some bizarre reason, many Latino immigrants do not seem to
comprehend how evil communism is and how it has the ability to destroy
their country and their families. They would not have to look far to
dismiss any doubt they may have that communism is capable of such
sinister acts. The millions of Cuban lives destroyed by communism and
the tens of thousands that have died fighting it should be more than
adequate proof. However, it is apparent that many have not bothered to
examine the atrocities that have befallen the nation of Cuba. Pictures
from the recent demonstrations against current US immigration policy
show dozens of our Hispanic brothers and sisters wearing Ché Guevara
shirts as if he had been something other than a murderous thug bent on
total power, destruction, and death. I often wonder if any of these
people realize that if their revered Ché were alive today, he would have
no qualms placing a pistol to the back of their heads and blowing their
brains out if any of them dared to voice an opinion contrary to his.
Right Wingers:
That was the punch line of Latino Moses’ joke and a fair indication
of how the Cuban exiles are characterized by many of the Latino
immigrants in this country. After all, Cuban exiles came to this
country fleeing the leftist communist dictatorship that has
destroyed their island nation. The majority of the other Latino
immigrants came to this country fleeing the poverty and hardship
caused by corrupt governments. Yet many are under the mistaken
impression that a socialist/communist system of government will cure
the social and economic ills of their homelands. They ignore the
horrific effects that such system has had on Cuba, a once thriving
nation that in its pre-revolutionary era had a standard of living
that rivaled the US and Western Europe. Cuban exiles, with good
reason, are wary of any leftist government—be it hardcore communist
or soft socialist—where many Latino immigrants believe that a
leftist government is the panacea for their suffering nations. This
difference in philosophies, along with other socio/economic reasons,
is the chasm that keeps the Cuban exiles excluded from the Latino
immigrants’ “club.” However, with the millions upon millions of
Latinos in this country, it would be unfair to paint them all with
so broad a brush; the majority of them, I am sure, would detest the
current Cuban government as much as they would detest any repressive
regime, if they were aware of the facts. Actually, I have met many
non-Cuban Latinos, some of which have become good friends, who have
taken the time to research the truths behind communism and they have
rightly developed disgust for communism and its proclivity for death
and destruction. As far as I can tell, their ideals could never be
characterized as leftist.
Although I believe that most
Latinos who live in the US, once they are aware of the facts, would
not agree with the repressive dictatorship that has kept Cuba in
chains since 1959, it is difficult to find examples of this
disagreement among the Latino leaders that have risen to prominence
in the US. These leaders have the cameras and microphones pointed in
their direction and when they speak, their statements are ostensibly
the voice of the Hispanic community they represent. The Hispanic
community depends on its leaders to defend their rights and
interests and assume the information they are being told is fact and
free of any political bias. Far from being able to claim ignorance,
most of these leaders are learned individuals with a few PhDs and
university professors as members of this group. They do not attempt
to conceal their leftist principles, but some have gone further and
have come to the defense of an oppressive regime. Whenever
questioned about the horrid living conditions in Cuba, some of these
leaders blame the US embargo, completely ignoring the fact that the
communist dictatorship is free to trade with the rest of the
world—and does. Perhaps they should consider the reality that Cuba’s
government is a bad credit risk, regularly defaulting on its foreign
loans and has resorted to renting its citizens (a nice way to say
slavery) to foreign nations and corporations as cheap labor in order
to procure the hard currency foreign governments have stopped
lending them. From the doctors sent to Venezuela in exchange for
oil, to the poor shipyard workers sent to Curacao to work 16-hour
shifts, paid a measly $16 a month by the Cuban government (a
fraction of what the government charges the shipyard), the regime
continues to sell its citizens’ labors on the open market to the
highest bidder. The representatives of the US Latino community, who
profess to have the best interest of all Latinos at heart, have gone
so far as to visit the self-appointed dictator and commend him on
his marvels of education and healthcare. Never mind that the
benefactors of these alleged marvels are allowed to read only the
books the government approves and risk incarceration if caught with
a banned book such as Martin Luther King’s autobiography, or George
Orwell’s Animal Farm. The free healthcare they tout so fondly is on
par with many highly developed nations, but only if you happen to
be, or are related to, a high-ranking government official. Filth and
unsanitary conditions await those that lack the adequate political
connections to procure modern healthcare, leaving them to make do
with hospitals and clinics that are in horrific condition and make
some hospitals in third world nations seem like Johns Hopkins
Hospital in Baltimore. Not only is there a lack of the most basic
medicine (an item not embargoed by the US), but they must
also bring along their own sheets and pillows to cover the rundown
hospital beds that we in America would not deem acceptable to use in
a morgue.
photo: therealcuba.com
Unfortunately, the view of Cuba
presented to the Latino community in this country by many of its leaders
is one of a great societal system that cannot completely evolve because
of the archaic US embargo. Couple this disingenuous message with the
reality that seldom, if ever, do mainstream media outlets report these
facts and you have a large Latino community forming an opinion based on
misinformation combined with lack of information. Cuban exiles, from
experience, can see through the charade performed now for almost five
decades by the despotic dictator that has enslaved an entire nation with
the enlisted help of the liberal elite throughout the world. You and I
know them as actors, artists, writers, political leaders, and other
leftist glitterati, but the Soviets had another name for them: useful
idiots. With their help, Cuba’s dictator has been able to continue his
magical smoke and mirrors act, making his repressive government that has
stripped all civil liberties from its citizens, appear like a great
advance in societal evolution. Perhaps they are still holding on to the
fabled promises of the utopian society promised by socialist/communist
ideology that has never come to fruition. Whatever the reason may be for
this duplicity, their hypocrisy, continually glossed over in favor of
the “higher good,” registers in their misinformed or worse yet,
informed minds, as more important than the individual freedoms of
Cuba’s eleven million-plus population.
The
philosophical difference experienced between Cuban exiles and Latino
immigrants is vast and appears insurmountable; no matter of discussion
or name-calling will change the respective positions. Other Latinos will
always view Cuban exiles as the redheaded stepchildren of Latin
America—out of place and out of step. One common notion that is
expressed on a regular basis by non-Cuban Latinos in news shows,
editorial pages, and internet blogs, to name a few, is that Cuban exiles
are the remnants of the deposed fascist Cuban dictator, Fulgencio
Batista, and that they only want to return the island to its right-wing
past as a pseudo-colony of the United States. Those that believe and
espouse such nonsense are not only poor students of Cuban history, but
also fail to see the absurdity in such a notion. Dictatorships, be they
on the right or left, are oppressive by nature and regardless of what
their foreign supporters and collaborators may think and proclaim, never
enjoy a loyal following from their own masses. The only loyalty a
dictator can expect—without the convincing help of a rifle—comes from
the ones who are complicit with the dictatorship and benefit from it. In
Cuba, however, not only did Batista and his accomplices leave the
island, but so did many others, including doctors, artists, lawyers,
taxi drivers, professors, clerks, factory workers, and members of every
other social and economic class. Over one million Cubans have fled the
island since January of 1959 and to assert that these exiles, who
represent the complete social and economic spectrum of that nation, were
all collaborators with Batista’s dictatorship shows at best an
all-encompassing ignorance of history and at worst, a complicity with
the murderous regime.
Similar to the Bolshevik revolution that was supposed to free the
Russian people from the monarchial rule of the Czars, in the end it only
served to enslave them and bring upon them even more misery and death.
Many Russians were starved and killed under the insensitive and cruel
reign of the Czars, but those numbers paled in comparison to the 25
million that perished just under Stalin’s communist dictatorship.
History has now taught us that Batista, with all his defects and rampant
corruption, was a baby latched to its mother’s breast compared to the
dictator that replaced him, promising equality and the elimination of
corruption. In retrospect, Cuba’s political history before 1959 had
always been volatile and when the triumphant revolution rolled into the
streets of Havana on New Years Day, 1959, it meant nothing more to the
Cuban people than the end of the previous chapter of Cuban history and
the beginning of a new, and hopefully better one. Up until that moment,
the chapters had all been relatively brief; no one expected the new
chapter to endure for almost half a century, its pages printed with the
blood of the innocent men, women, and children who lost their lives at
the hands of the “revolution.” Some analysts have estimated the number
of deaths attributed to this totalitarian regime to be well over 100,000
when including those lost at sea attempting to escape the island prison.
It is yet another lesson that the Latino leaders have failed to learn;
be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Venezuela is on the
brink of falling into the same trap that destroyed Cuba’s freedoms, yet
few seem to recognize the similarities. Historical facts are seemingly
ignored in favor of the utopian pipe dream that has arguably been the
cause of more suffering and death than any other political movement in
modern history (Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Kim Jong Il immediately come
to mind). The toll that communism has exacted on humankind is enormous
and it is difficult to understand how anyone can still believe it is a
viable alternative.
Another subject causing a rift between Cuban exiles and Latino
immigrants has to do with the Cuban Adjustment Act. Enacted in November
of 1966 by the US Congress, it gives a fast track to US citizenship to
Cuban refugees; an entitlement afforded to no other immigrant class. I
can understand the consternation felt by other Latinos, especially the
millions of Mexicans that have come into the US illegally seeking a
better life for themselves and their families, but the reason for this
law is not favoritism towards Cubans. Any immigrant, regardless from
which country he is emigrating, has a right to request political asylum
in the US if he or she can prove they are fleeing political persecution.
During the cold war, many people escaped the Soviet Bloc countries and
were granted political asylum. As unfair as the Cuban Adjustment Act may
seem to our Latino cousins, the truth is that there are very few of them
that face political persecution if they are deported back to their
countries.
Almost every Cuban that has arrived here in the US since 1959 has
had to either risk his or her life in a daring escape, or has
requested an exit visa and faced persecution and humiliation. Far
from being much safer than a makeshift raft navigating across the
Florida Straits, these unfortunate people, upon requesting their
exit visa from the Cuban authorities, are immediately fired from
their jobs and their ration books are confiscated, eliminating
access to what little food the government provides. The government’s
Ministry of the Interior— the dictatorship’s version of the KGB—will
then initiate surveillance of these “subversives” in order to hinder
their ability to obtain food and other common necessities on the
black market. Left to fend for themselves in any manner they can,
they seldom leave their homes for fear of being accosted by the
infamous “acts of repudiation” criminal squads whose only job is to
intimidate, humiliate, and physically beat these “ungrateful
traitors.” The granting of the exit visa by the Cuban authorities
can take, for no apparent reason, anywhere from a couple of months,
to several years, leaving these individuals in a limbo unsure of
where their next meal will come from. With the “Wet Foot-Dry Foot”
policy enacted by the Clinton administration, there have been
thousands of Cuban refugees caught at sea by US authorities and
returned to the island. If the simple act of requesting permission
to leave their “workers’ paradise” is answered with persecution, you
can imagine how the ones that failed in their attempt to escape and
are returned are treated. When returned to Cuban authorities, these
unsuccessful escapees are immediately placed in jail for what could
be a few days, weeks, or months. When they are eventually released,
they are allowed to join the general population, but now they must
carry the proverbial scarlet letter “T” for traitor on their
foreheads. With their permission to work permanently rescinded, odd
jobs and the black market become their only source for food,
clothing, and any other necessary items. Every day they awaken to
their never-ending struggle to survive as they risk arrest and
lengthy jail terms with each non-government sanctioned job they
find, and each covert purchase of food and necessities they make.
All of this happens in a society that supposedly adheres to the
Marxist principles of to everyone according to their needs.
These needs, obviously, are trumped by the needs of the State, which
finds the requirement to maintain absolute power more important than
the civil liberties of its citizens. No other Latin-American country
has a government that routinely persecutes its citizens for wanting
to be free, although Venezuela, under Hugo Chávez, is quickly
heading in that direction.
If it offers my Latino immigrant
cousins any comfort, I can honestly say that I truly wish there were
no need for the Cuban Adjustment Act and that all Cubans would be
free to leave Cuba as they please as all the other citizens of Latin
America can and do. It is not my intention to belittle the struggle
of those who are fighting diligently to achieve legal status in this
country, but as difficult and daunting as your task may seem,
imagine just how much more grueling it would be if you faced a jail
term in your country if you failed.
Cubans already face an uphill battle with a world that refuses to
see the atrocities of its communist government, and their struggle
is further harmed when the uninformed world continues to aid and
defend the murderers that plundered a once great and self-sufficient
nation. The indifference shown by other Latinos toward the plight of
the Cuban people is hurtful enough, but when some of them go out of
their way to applaud the communist dictator and his henchmen, it
only plunges the knife deeper into our backs. We may have many
differences with other Latino immigrants, both cultural and
political, but that does not excuse their support for the government
that killed our fathers, our mothers, our sons, our daughters, our
sisters and our brothers. If you want to argue US immigration
policy, or the alleged merits of socialism, we can sit down together
over a cup of coffee and have a civil discussion. Maybe you can
offer me a perspective I never contemplated, and perhaps I can do
the same for you. However, be sensitive to the fact that your Cuban
cousins have suffered for nearly half a century because of the
dictator that has used communism to destroy their nation and their
culture. All of us have had the good fortunes to immigrate to a
country that allows us the political freedom to speak our minds
without fear of persecution. Keep this in mind though, the next time
you want exercise your right to free speech and wear your Ché
Guevara shirt, or tell someone that the dictator of Cuba is not as
bad as the Cuban exiles say he is: Tens of thousands of men, women,
and children have died because of them. Death does not differentiate
between left and right—it just kills, and it is just wrong.
