Statement by Silvia Wilhelm
This
note is in response to the recent appearance of Lieutenant Colonel
Chris Simons in the Miami TV program, A Mano Limpia with Oscar Haza
(Channel 41), which took place on Wednesday, October 8th,
and follow up articles published in El Nuevo Herald on October 9 and
10.
During
Mr. Simmons’ presentation on the above mentioned local TV program,
he stated that I had been a Cuban agent, now retired after the FBI
convinced me to change my “ways”. He also stated that I had had
multiple sessions with the FBI on this issue and had subsequently
cooperated with and followed instructions from U.S. government
officials on Cuba related issues.
For
the record ALL
of
these statements by Mr. Simmons are completely false.
I
have never worked for the government of Cuba or followed instructions
by said government. On the issue of the FBI meetings, several
years ago I had to contact the FBI point person in Miami in charge of
overseeing Cuban American groups. The reason for my phone call had to
do with my own protection after having received threats over the
phone of impending bodily harm for trying to change U.S. policy
towards Cuba. I have not had a meeting with anyone from the FBI
since then. Nor have I followed instructions from U.S.
government agents on my Cuba work.
I
found it quite interesting when Mr. Haza asked Mr. Simmons if he knew
that I was married to a high ranking officer in the U.S.
military. The high ranking officer he was alluding to, who
happens to have my husband’s same name, is the former Head of the
Southern Command, General Charles Wilhelm. My husband, Dr. Charles
Wilhelm, a physician, is a decorated Vietnam flight surgeon who has
not been in the military since the Vietnam War ended. Is
it possible that Mr. Haza could be so misinformed?
For
the past 15 years I have worked in programs that promote people to
people contacts between the people of the United States and those of
Cuba, humanitarian projects that assist the people of Cuba, and as a
community activist both in Miami and Washington advocating against
the travel restrictions that separate Cuban families and travel
restrictions that limit the rights of all Americans to travel.
You
must ask why I do the work I do when it obviously causes such
personal and professional heartache, when it is a constant battle
against personal defamation, when it is a daily struggle to defend
one of the greatest gifts of our U.S. constitution, our freedom of
speech in Miami, a city I call home? When I returned to Cuba in
1994, after a 33 year absence, it became obvious to me that the deep
and painful schism in the Cuban family caused by both governments’
counterproductive policies had resulted in a family feud of enormous
proportions. I saw then as I continue to see today the horrendous
results of this pain in the Cuban family. I believe deeply that this
family feud can only come to an end through engagement, unrestricted
travel, joint educational exchanges, serious people to people work
and respectful dialogue. This family feud has kept both countries’
policies hostage and this must change. My
work will not cease until U.S. policy changes and Cubans find a way
through the painful but necessary process of national reconciliation.
The
politics of personal assassination to silence voices of dissent in
the South Florida community are a well known and established reality.
Is
this another example of
attempts
to silence moderate voices in our community by using the new label
“agent”
(which in our community immediately translates to spies) instead of
the past labels of Dialogueros and Communists? These
tactics
must
cease in our community, especially when one of the vehicles used to
conduct such character assassination is through the use of a
federally regulated entity. Perhaps the time has come to take legal
action to accomplish this goal.
Silvia
Wilhelm
October
12, 2008
