Being Cuban, I suppose that I have a whole lot to say on
this Cuba relations issue based on President Obama’s announcement recently founded
on a request from Pope Francis. Since the announcement, Americans seem to think
this is their issue alone, if you listen and see how they have politicized it on
the news and on social media like Facebook, it seems they have placed it in
there along with all the other issues that they are completely polarized on
which is the very reason the popular votes in most recent elections in the US
are almost all split right down the middle. Well, before I get side-tracked,
this is about Cuba and Cubans mostly, and Cuba was a sovereign nation before
the Castro’s, and I suppose since the president wants to assume now that the
Castro’s are a legitimate government, we will somehow acknowledge it as sovereign
nation. That is just how I feel; it isn’t as if because of Castro the physical
presence of the island on our common planet went away just as if before 1948
Jews did not exist historically since there were no borders or a Jewish state
called Israel. That would almost imply that the holocaust probably didn’t
happen which would be completely wrong and malicious to assume. All this,
however, is beyond me because this should probably go to referendum amongst all
Cubans worldwide since we do have a diasporas similar to the Jews after 70 AD because
of Castro’s revolution. For some reason with relevance to Castro, I continue to
think of Dave Grohl’s lyrics: “hook me up a new revolution…cause this one was a
lie” which would be an understatement when speaking about the Castro brothers. CNN
already even took a poll, and the results were:
"About six
in 10 Americans favor diplomatic relations with Cuba and two-thirds want the
travel restrictions to the island lifted, according to the poll of 1,011
Americans conducted after Obama announced a landmark deal with Cuba to relax
sanctions and ease some travel restrictions ((http://www.cnn.com/)."
Obviously, two-thirds want the travel restrictions removed,
so maybe no one cares about the history we Cubans have endured, as long as Americans
get to enjoy the hundreds of natural beaches the island has to offer once
again. Whether Americans like it or not, I will perhaps on this issue alone agree
with something Senator Marco Rubio said which was:
"Cuba already enjoys access to
commerce, money and goods from other nations, and yet the Cuban people are
still not free. They are not free because the regime—just as it does with every
aspect of life—manipulates and controls to its own advantage all currency that
flows into the island (http://www.wsj.com/)."
But, I think the best article so far which reflects how I feel
was written by Carlos Eire, professor of history and religion at Yale
University, and his article is titled: As
a Cuban exile, I feel betrayed by President Obama. The article was
published by the Washington Post on December 22, 2014. I am sure that many of
the Americans polled by CNN will not feel the same as many of us Cubans
because simply they are NOT Cuban. I also would not assume that a poll
taken of only 1,011 Americans, although scientific, really represents
accurately how the 300 million plus of us Americans actually think on anything
depending on how and what questions are asked, not to criticize CNN, I enjoy
watching CNN often. Regardless, I highly recommend reading Carlos Eire’s
article at the following link:
Seemingly, I have gotten side-tracked, some would say right
about now because the title for this post is still The Vatican and US Cuba Relations. Well, not so fast, I did say I
was Cuban, so obviously I was going to rant on about the topic more than most.
Let us just say this was a much needed foundation and introduction to the post
from my perspective, since this is also my blog. I really never thought in a million
years that I would be writing about politics that are related to my own
countries (I am a citizen of the US, and I was born in Cuba). The idea for my
post was actually inspired by an article written by Bill Tammeus on his blog, Bill's
'Faith Matters' Blog. Bill’s article is titled: A long Vatican effort on Cuba:
12-20-21-14. I the article, Bill explains how,
"Pope
Francis has received considerable credit for influencing Obama's decision, but
as this piece correctly notes, several previous popes have lobbied for better
relations between the U.S. and Cuba (http://billtammeus.typepad.com/my_weblog/2014/12/12-20-21-14.html)."
As the whole story unfolds, we understand that secret meetings
were held in Canada between Cuba and the US.
“Canada hosted about seven meetings
between the U.S. and Cuba that helped lead to Barack Obama's announcement Wednesday that the
two countries will establish full diplomatic relations, a senior Canadian
government official said....The meetings were held in Ottawa and Toronto from
2013 to 2014(http://bigstory.ap.org/article/954643e6d99c481b8b919ddd84744a9e/canada-hosted-secret-meetings-between-cuba-and-us.).”
But, where does Pope Francis get in on this matter as
President Obama said? Pope Francis wrote a book back in 1998 titled: Dialogues
between John Paul II and Fidel Castro. Back then Pope Francis was Jorge Mario
Bergoglio, and when Pope John Paul II visited Cuba at the time, he also
attended and was present. Consequently, I am sure we can all put two and two
together and see this is not a new interest for the now Pope Francis. A Huffington Post article says the following about Pope
Francis’ 1998 book:
"Bergoglio harshly criticized
socialism and by extension Castro's atheist revolution for denying individuals
their "transcendent dignity" and putting them solely at the service
of the state. At the same time, he denounced the U.S. embargo and economic
isolation of Cuba that impoverished the island...Bergoglio fervently believes
as did John Paul that dialogue was the only way to end Cuba's isolation and its
hostility to the Catholic Church while promoting democracy (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/20/pope-francis-cuban-book-_n_6360274.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000051.)”
I personally have not read the book in reference: however,
it seems that the Pope’s interest is that the Cuban people eventually have a democracy
for a government instead of a tyranny, and this indeed is my wish as well. Since
this is an ecumenism blog, I believe and think that the interaction between various
church groups is and should be of utmost importance to the entire ordeal. However,
how dialogue is done and conducted in the future must somehow be
representational of all Cubans on this planet, as well, and how we feel should
be taken into consideration since this is the soil we were all born on. It
would be best if the matter could be put as a referendum vote for all Cubans, as I
said before, but obviously since Cuba is a dictatorship that would be
impossible under current conditions, so this whole thing is a very complex
matter as I have said to so many of my friends. To conclude, although I could
probably talk about this topic endlessly, no opinion of any Cuban that is
living should be disregarded, as Thomas Jefferson once said in a letter to
James Madison "the earth belongs in usufruct to the living."
Blessings and Merry Christmas! I hope
all those who celebrate Hannukah, as I also do, had a wonderful eight days!
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