Freedom is something that we now take for granted.
The nation’s public schools do a poor job of educating American children on what it took to secure our freedom. Even worse, our textbooks gloss over the evils of communism and totalitarian dictatorships – such as the one just 90 miles off our shore.
It is not surprising that May 20 – the day we helped the Cuban people win their independence from Spain 101 years ago – came and went here with little more than a yawn.
It is not surprising that President Bush chose to mark the occasion by privately visiting with some of Castro’s former prisoners and relatives of his current captives, rather than making a public pronouncement. Why spend political capital on Cuba? There is more interest in Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden than the terrorist within spitting distance of Florida.
It also is not surprising that so many of our citizens have bought into the lies of stars like Ed Asner and Danny Glover or politicians like Maxine Waters, who would have us believe that everything is just peachy for the Cuban people.
It is not surprising that the American people simply do not understand the significance of sending little Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba – not to his father, but to be brainwashed and controlled by “Papa Castro.”
It is not surprising that there is little interest or outrage over the fact that Castro just executed three people who were attempting to flee his slave island or sentenced 75 others to long prison terms for crimes such as using a fax machine, having a home library or visiting the U.S. Interest Section without state supervision.
It is time – past time – that the American people wake up and smell the Cuban coffee or cigar smoke, if there is anyone left with the stomach for it!
If we have no understanding or compassion for the oppressed people of Cuba, we must recognize that Cuba, under Castro, poses a real and present danger to the United States.
Over the last 40 years, we have managed to dodge several bullets, but do we seriously think we can outlast this coddled dictator and those who will come after him? Castro has cuddled up to all of our enemies. He has provided a listening base for them. He has provided a staging area for their weapons – both conventional and non-conventional.
Ninety miles – for many, it’s the distance from their home to the next town! Yet the dictator of this tiny island has been allowed to continually thumb his nose at us.
In 1959, Castro seized American-owned sugar estates and cattle ranches. In 1960, Castro took over American oil refineries and all American businesses. Just seven years ago, over international waters, Cuban fighters boldly shot down two civilian Brothers To The Rescue planes that were on a humanitarian mission, killing American citizens.
On May 20, President Bush taped a 40-second message to the people of Cuba to be broadcast on Radio Marti which we beam toward the island, though it is often blocked. “My hope is for the Cuban people to soon enjoy the same freedoms and rights as we do,” Bush said. “Dictatorships have no place in the Americas.”
However, a picture is worth a thousand words. With Castro’s recent crackdown, if the Cuban people are to find the courage to continue their struggle, they must be able to see how freedom looks.
Last year, at a public ceremony in Miami, Mr. Bush promised to strengthen both Radio and TV Marti, our Spanish-language stations. However, TV Marti has been successfully blocked by Castro since it began 14 years ago. Over $150 million U.S. taxpayer dollars later, instead of becoming a beacon of hope, it has become a laughing stock.
How is it that the United States can put men on the moon, but we can’t get a TV signal to Cuba?
On Feb. 24, seven years to the day that Castro ordered his MIGs to shoot down those Brothers To The Rescue planes, Jose Basulto, the lone survivor of the attack, took another plane up and made his own TV broadcast to Cuba, using what he described as “Radio Shack technology.” It was so successful that Castro lodged a protest with our State Department and, in turn, the Federal Communications Commission issued a warning to Basulto.
Obviously, where there is a will there is a way!
Obviously, there has been no will behind all the money we have spent on TV Marti. Obviously, there is no will behind all the rhetoric of our presidents, past and present.
