Another lost opportunity

By
Germán Piniella                                                                    Read Spanish Version
ps.german@gmail.com

I
have always relished Bill Press’ articles on Progreso Weekly.
Additionally, I have had the privilege of translating his column for
Progreso Semanal, the magazine’s Spanish version. Press is a
quick-witted polemicist; his comments are intelligent and informed;
he writes with clarity and ease – often with a laconic sense of
humor — and offers readers a vision of the U.S. establishment rarely
found in U.S. media. Sometimes I don’t agree with him, but even so I
always read his column with interest and pleasure.

This
week on "A Lost Opportunity in Cuba" Press complains about
the Bush administration’s contradictory stance regarding the island
nation, and rightly points out how the present and previous U.S.
administrations have been hostage to the Cuban-American extreme right
in Miami (that Press equals to the "Miami Cuban community")
regarding their Cuban policy. The difference is important, because
although the Chinese community in the United States is much larger
than the Cuban, there has not been among U.S. Chinese residents a
powerful sector bent on undermining attempts to promote political and
trade relations between both countries, and on pressuring politicians
or threatening them with withdrawing financial support or voting for
the opposite contender if their demands are not met. But it is not
this disagreement that prompts me to write a commentary (nor the
mistake about "at least 16 clumsy attempts […] to assassinate
or overthrow the Cuban leader" — actually the assassination
plots were close to 600.)

I
was disappointed by "An Opportunity Lost in Cuba". I
expected more from that title, and from Bill Press. This time it is
not about disagreements. I know that after almost fifty years of
demonization of Cuba and its leaders, of God knows how many tons of
money spent on black, white — and all kinds of color — propaganda,
of hiding truths and displaying techniques in mendacity, it would be
naïve of me to expect that everybody, no matter how honest,
would have an assessment of my country and its president similar to
mine (and to the one of millions of others, Cubans and otherwise).
Unfortunately Press echoes tendentious claims by U.S.
administrations, corporate media and enemies of Cuba labeling Fidel
Castro as a dictator. At least he drew the line there and did not
fantasize about mass murders and jails crammed with prisoners of
conscience in infrahuman conditions. Although he did not go to such
extremes, he claims that Fidel Castro throws "political
opponents in jail." But if it were true that in Cuba the
government imprisons anyone who is not unconditional, those who
disagree, those who at any moment show their displeasure, those who
are not sympathetic to a given official, those who dissent in some
form (I have always believed that it was a serious mistake to have
made the gift of the term "dissident" to the enemy), those
who reject unanimous thought, there would be less people out of jail
than those of us inside them. Many legends are fabricated based on
repetitions and quoting unverifiable sources, more often than not
cooked up in some infamous office. Or manipulating facts: mainstream
media constantly omits from the equation that many of the so called
"prisoners of conscience" are paid by a foreign power for
their opposition.

In
spite of the above, that is not the reason I have decided to comment
on some aspects of the column. It is particularly about the final
recommendations, the suggestions that Press makes for the Cuban
solution.

"Establish
foreign study programs."

That
would be interesting — depending on the conditions — as reciprocity
for what Cuba has been doing for students from other countries. At
the Latin American School of Medicine, thousands of young men and
women from three continents who count on scant resources, some of
them Americans, receive full scholarships to become doctors. The only
condition Cuba asks for is that upon returning with their degrees to
their respective countries, they go back to their communities and
serve their fellow citizens, not exploit their pain. Would a U.S.
administration, Democratic or Republican, do something similar?

"Schedule
Major League baseball games."

Why
don’t we do it the other way around and schedule Cuban League
baseball games in the U.S.? After all, it was Cuba, and not the
United States, who played Japan for the title in the inaugural World
Classic Cup in 2006. In case anyone claims that Cuba would not allow
it because Cuban players might defect, remember none of the players
defected during the Classic. Surely some players have defected, but
have you ever read, heard or seen in a newspaper article, talk show,
sports broadcast or any other printed, radio or TV medium that the
only way in which a Cuban player can be signed by a Major League club
is if he definitely leaves his country? Have you ever been told that
Cubans play, coach, train and manage in other countries such as
Japan, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela and dozens of others, without
giving up their residence in Cuba?

"Send
in American cruise ships."

They
would be welcomed, but Press forgets that cruise ship tourists hardly
ever see much at their ports of calls. A few hours on land buying
handicrafts, maybe a drink or two, and back to the ship. (A word of
advice, until the blockade/embargo is finally lifted, they should be
told not to buy Cuban rum or Havana cigars.) And what would be their
influence in Cuba? What benefits would they have from the contact?

"Let
them see how freedom works …"

How
would Cubans see how freedom works? Could it be through the visit of
American cruise ships or through Major League baseball games?

"…and
let Americans discover the beauty of Cuban music, dance and
literature."

Well,
finally we have something to offer. ("Well, we know they have
music and dance, but also literature?" some could ask. "What
do you know!") Well, if it weren’t for the U.S. blockade on its
own people, we could also supply them with biotechnological and
genetic engineering medical products, vaccines only produced in Cuba,
high-tech medical attention at a fraction of the cost they usually
pay, graduate and post-graduate courses, exchange of professors and
academics, top scientific congresses, and many other things that you
find in this, "one of the (…) least developed islands of the
Caribbean."

"And
then, send in American farmers and businessmen."

That
could be mutually beneficial. But only if they also come to buy, not
just to sell. And invest too, if they want to, but keeping in mind
that there are certain rules, because times have changed.

"Build
a Costco in every town."

I
suppose that would raise our commercial culture. Although I doubt
they would find enough clients, because in Cuba there are no private
retail stores. Wouldn’t Wal-Mart be better? They also could take
advantage of the cheap labor in this underdeveloped little island.
That way we could see how freedom works.

"Open
a McDonald’s on every corner."

And
right next door a movie house screening Supersize Me all day long.

"Let
them see how the free market works, and let us profit from a major
new market just 90 miles off our coast."

It’s
not worth commenting on this last remark. I would like to believe
that Press used it is an argument to convince U.S. readers that the
present administration’s policy is wrong and a change could promote
two principles that are dear to American society: global
dissemination of the free market and profit from a practically virgin
market. Because after reading Bill Press for almost five years,
having seen his positions that I believe sincere, and having read his
passionate defense of just causes, I don’t think that those two lines
summarize his philosophy or what he believes the Cuban people
deserve. At least I hope so.