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La Alborada
Washington, D.C.
nuevas@earthlink.net
Dawn -- Our hope for a new era in U.S./Cuba Relations
Cuban American Alliance Education Fund
NEWS SUMMARY // RESUMEN DE NOTICIAS
[For previous articles click on News Articles]
La Alborada is taking a break. We wish our readers a great Spring. We'll be back in July.
Jun 29, 2009 1:57 pm US/Pacific
Continental Offers Direct Flights From LAX To Cuba
LOS ANGELES (CBS)-- Direct flights from Los Angeles to Havana, Cuba, will resume Tuesday, two months after President Barack Obama vowed to ease travel restrictions to the country.
Orbitz Petitions Obama To End Cuba Restrictions
OPINIONS
Submit comments or opinions to nuevas@earthlink.net or caaef@hughes.net
[For previous opinion articles click HERE]
EVENTS // ACTIVIDADES
For events click on EVENTS
End the Travel Ban on Cuba
June 3, 2009
Dear Cuba Policy Advocates,
We're soooo close! We are within reach of changing "travel-to-Cuba" policy. Now we just need YOU to get us one more co-sponsor. Will you? There are specific members that we need; read on for details.
Within the last few short weeks we've seen some promising developments in U.S.-Cuba policy coming from the White House - on travel and remittances for Cuban Americans and on some limited diplomatic re-engagement. This is good news, and we hope to see these changes continue in a positive direction.
But, as you probably know, only an act of Congress can actually end the full travel ban. That's why we are asking you to contact your members of Congress AGAIN today using a new advocacy tool that presents you with either a letter thanking your member of Congress for cosponsoring the "Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act"; or, if they have not yet cosponsored the bill, the letter urges them to do so.
Contact all your members of Congress at once here!
In the last months you have made incredible progress with getting your members to cosponsor both H.R. 874 and S. 428. It has been the phone calls, emails, and office visits that you have made that has gotten us this far. Today we have 159 cosponsors in the House, and 29 cosponsors in the Senate. Very respectable, indeed. But these numbers won't pass the bills and get them to the President's desk to be signed into law.
Send a message to your members of Congress here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/625/t/8560/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1015
We apologize for sounding like a broken record, always asking you to do the same thing - to contact your representative's and senators' offices; but we are so close and your efforts have gotten us to this point. We need the extra push now to get us over the top. Our goal is another 20+ cosponsors in the House and another dozen in the Senate, plus we need members' commitments to vote for the bills to reach 218 in the House and 60 in the Senate. This is no slam dunk yet. Our work is not done.
Here is where you can see if your members have cosponsored the bills:
Senate , House
Especially if your members don't appear on these lists, we urge you to take action now.
Send a message to your members of Congress here!
And please forward this message NOW to at least three people who you think would take action - with your personal endorsement.
If you are not yet part of our grassroots Cuba advocacy e-mail list, please join here.
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Big Changes in Cuba Policy
On Monday, June 1, The United States and Cuba agreed to reengage on issues of mutual interest. Talks are scheduled to resume on issues of migration and direct mail service. These talks are not entirely novel aspects of the bilateral relationship; actually up until 2003, they were the center piece of a very limited bilateral relationship. Cuba is also ready to engage in talks on fighting terrorism, drug trafficking, and hurricane preparedness. See an article here.
The Organization of American States (OAS) is having its 39th General Assembly meeting as we speak, in Honduras. The meeting, much like the Summit of the Americas just weeks ago, is making the issue of the U.S.'s attempted isolation of Cuba a center piece on the two day agenda, centered primarily on the question of Cuba's suspension from the hemisphere's oldest multilateral institution. Already, several countries have submitted resolutions calling on the Assembly to lift the suspension, and the United States, through Secretary of State Clinton, has expressed a willingness to consider agenda item, albeit incrementally. See a Miami Herald report here.
Other reports say that no decision was made at the OAS meeting on Cuba's readmission to the OAS. See an early article here (certainly more news will be forthcoming). Scroll down on the page to see the Cuba article.
As always, "mil gracias" for your hard work. While the task is not yet accomplished, we are closer than we have been in more than eight years. Let's not stop now.
Sincerely,
Mavis Anderson
Paulo Gusmao
Latin America Working Group
202.546.7010
Latin America Working Group
424 C Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Phone: (202) 546-7010 Email: lawg@lawg.org
NEWS // NOTICIAS
OAS 'agrees to let Cuba rejoin'
BBC - June 3, 2009
Link to video and text
Foreign ministers of the Organization of American States have voted to lift Cuba's suspension, apparently paving the way for it to rejoin the group.
Cuba was suspended from the 34-member OAS in 1962 over its "incompatible" adherence to Marxism-Leninism.
The US secretary of state, who left Honduras before the vote, had urged democratic reforms as a condition.
The move came hours after former president Fidel Castro again said Cuba had no interest in rejoining the OAS.
Ecuador's Foreign Minister, Fander Falconí, said the decision was made "without conditions" but that it set mechanisms for Cuba's return including its agreement to comply with OAS conventions on human rights and other issues.
Clarifying terms
The group's foreign ministers and ambassadors, who met in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, were expected to clarify the terms of their agreement in the coming hours.
Immediately following the announcement, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said: "The Cold War has ended this day in San Pedro Sula."
The news came as former Cuban leader Fidel Castro reiterated that Cuba had no desire to rejoin.
Writing in state newspapers on Wednesday, he said the OAS should not exist and historically had "opened the doors to the Trojan horse" of the US to "wreak havoc in Latin America".
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left Honduras before the final vote, saying the organisation had been unable to reach consensus on Cuba.
While the US looked forward to Cuba rejoining the group eventually, she said on the first day of the summit, "membership in the OAS must come with responsibilities".
"It's not about reliving the past," she added. "It's about the future and being true to the founding principles of this organisation."
Many Latin American countries have pushed to readmit Cuba without preconditions, but the US wants Havana to undertake democratic reforms as a condition of re-admission.
Since taking office, President Barack Obama has sought to ease tension between the US and Cuba, including ending restrictions on Cuban-Americans visiting and sending money to relatives.
Washington and Havana have also agreed to resume regular talks on migration issues.
Frases del debate sobre Cuba en la OEA
Por Efe | - Agencia - 3/06/2009
SAN PEDRO SULA |
Frases pronunciadas durante la sesión final de la 39na Asamblea General de cancilleres de la OEA luego de aprobarse por aclamación el revocar una resolución de 1962 que suspendió los derechos de Cuba en el organismo por su régimen marxista-leninista:
Manuel Zelaya, presidente de Honduras: -- "La Guerra Fría ha terminado hoy. Fidel Castro dijo hace más de 40 años que la historia lo absolvería, y hoy la historia lo absolvió".
Daniel Ortega, presidente de Nicaragua -- "Hoy estamos en esta reunión logrando simplemente lavar una mancha que pesaba en todos".
Hillary Clinton, secretaria de Estado de Estados Unidos: -- "Debemos ahora construir sobre este éxito cumpliendo nuestros propósitos y acciones que nos lleven de la retórica a los hechos".
Thomas A. Shannon, subsecretario de Estado norteamericano para el Hemsferio Occidental: -- "El arte de gobernar requiere de visión, madurez y persistencia. La resolución de hoy fue un acto de ese arte".
Nicolás Maduro, canciller de Venezuela: -- "Esto no es suficiente porque a Cuba se le persigue todavía.
Es tiempo de avanzar hacia un nuevo tipo de relaciones respetuosas".
Bruno Stagno, canciller de Costa Rica: -- "Llegó el momento de extender la mano a Cuba. Pasamos por el mejor momento para construir un hemisferio democrático".
Gonzalo Fernández, canciller de Uruguay: -- "Hoy se produjo el milagro de la fraternidad de los pueblos y del multilateralismo".
Jorge Taiana, canciller de Argentina: -- "El éxito es parte de un renovado espíritu de diálogo, de revalorización, de multilateralismo, y aquí lo hemos alcanzado porque muchos hicieron su esfuerzo".
Patricia Rodas, canciller de Honduras y presidente de las deliberaciones: -- "Recogimos toda la pasión que nuestros pueblos llevaban en el alma".
Mariano Fernández, canciller de Chile: -- "La OEA está contribuyendo a un punto de encuentro, de diálogo para las Américas".
Hugo Martínez, canciller de El Salvador: -- "Con esta resolución, la OEA supera su deuda con la historia y abre una nueva etapa en el hemisferio".
Fander Falconí, canciller de Ecuador: -- "La resolución es importante, pero no suficiente: Hay que levantar el bloqueo a Cuba".
David Choquehuanca, canciller de Bolivia: -- "Desde lo profundo de mi corazón expreso al pueblo cubano: ¡Gracias por existir!
Arístides Royo, embajador ante la OEA, ex presidente de Panamá: -- "Hacemos votos para que en un futuro cercano Cuba se reincorpore a la OEA, donde será bienvenida"
TEXTO:
La Asamblea General: Reconociendo el interés compartido en la plena
participación de todos los Estados miembros; guiada por los propósitos y
principios establecidos de la Organización de los Estados Americanos
contenidos en la Carta de la Organización y en sus demás instrumentos
fundamentales relacionados con la seguridad, la democracia, la
autodeterminación, la no intervención, los derechos humanos y el
desarrollo; considerando la apertura que caracterizó el diálogo de los
Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno en la Quinta Cumbre de las Américas, en
Puerto España, y que con ese mismo espíritu los Estados Miembros desean
establecer un marco amplio y revitalizado de cooperación en las
relaciones hemisféricas; y teniendo presente que de conformidad con el
artículo 54 de la Carta de la Organización de los Estados Americanos, la
Asamblea General es el órgano supremo de la Organización, resuleve:
1. Que la Resolución VI adoptada el 31 de enero de 1962 en la Octava
Reunión de Consulta de Ministros de Relaciones Exteriores, mediante la
cual se excluyó al Gobierno de Cuba de su participación en el Sistema
Interamericano, queda sin efecto en la Organización de los Estados
Americanos.
2. Que la participación de Cuba en la OEA será el resultado de un
proceso de diálogo iniciado a solicitud del Gobierno de Cuba y de
conformidad con las prácticas, los propósitos y principios de la OEA.
OEA anula la suspensión de Cuba
BBC Mundo -- 3 de junio de 2009
El canciller de Ecuador, Fander Falconí, informó que la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) decidió por consenso anular la "resolución 7" aprobada en 1962 que suspendió a Cuba como miembro activo de la organización.
Falconí no brindó detalles sobre la negociación o sobre el acuerdo alcanzado pero señaló que "se estaba haciendo una corrección histórica".
Según ha trascendido a la prensa, la nueva resolución contendrá dos partes: la primera en la que se suspenderán los efectos de la sanción y otra en la que se dejará en manos del Consejo Permanente de la OEA decidir el procedimiento que se usará en caso de que Cuba decidiera reingresar al organismo.
Se espera que en cualquier momento el presidente hondureño y anfitrión de la XXXIX Asamblea General, Manuel Zelaya, o el secretario general de la OEA, José Miguel Insulza, hagan el anuncio oficial.
Ampliaremos con más información en breve
CUBANS IN THE US - OPINIONS
Operation Pedro Pan: A horrible black mark on (U.S.) history
By Alvaro F. Fernández
>Read Spanish Version
alfernandez@the-beach.net
“… There are some difficult stories associated with this operation but there are also stories of human solidarity and survival. I learned tosurvive against all odds… I will always respect my family’s decision to send me abroad…”
--Silvia Wilhelm, one of more than 14,000 children sent to the U.S., parentless, during Operation Pedro Pan.
A few of the Pedro Pan children became great successes. In the U.S., these cases are always highlighted. They include Willy Chirino and Lissette, both musical artists; the first Cuban U.S. senator, Mel Martinez; and the wildly successful Miami businessman Armando Codina. Hardly ever mentioned is that every single one of the 14,000-plus Pedro Pan children was scarred -- for life. Understandably so: Close your eyes and imagine a 9-year-old son or daughter. Then, from one day to the next mysteriously heading to the airport and putting your child on an airplane, sending him or her into a future that’s unknown… alone.
I’ve wanted to write about Operation Pedro Pan since May 18, 2001. I’ve decided to write about it on Monday, May 18, 2009. Personally, May 18th is significant. On that date in 2001, my father died here in Miami. After reading all the hoopla The Miami Herald created surrounding Pedro Pan this past weekend, I decided it was time to write my side of this horrible black mark on history.
The Cuban revolutionary movement had triumphed in January 1959, and many Cubans fled the island for numerous reasons. In the early 1960s, a sense of instability was the order of the day in the island nation; external pressures, especially from the United States government, had much to do with the disorder. Changes taking place alarmed many Cubans. But what set off a panic among a large number of parents was a rumor that the new revolutionary government was in the process of drafting and implementing a new law that would remove parental rights over their children from Cuban parents. These children would then be taken and sent to the USSR for indoctrination.
Thus was born Operation Pedro Pan. At the time, the CIA, with the help of the Catholic Church, drew up a plan that if successful, would help destabilize an insecure and young government and lead to its undoing and eventual overthrow. The pawns in this high stakes game of political chess were 14,048 Cuban children -- and their parents.
My father, Angel Fernández Varela, used to love to watch James Bond movies. “Oh, if it was only so…” he’d say to me as beautiful movie stars seemed a dime a dozen in Bond’s arms. You see, Angel Fernández Varela was probably the most important CIA agent of Cuban origin of that failed 1960s era that led to the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Years before his death, in Miami Beach in the presence of my mother, my sister Maria, her husband and me, he told us that he was one of the persons responsible for redacting the fake law that caused the “removal of parental rights” hysteria. It is why I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Operation Pedro Pan was a sinister immorality play designed and dreamt up by the CIA before the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.
Angel Fernández Varela was also a fervent Catholic. Not like Padre Alberto Cutie, the paparazzi-loving and now paparazzi-hating Miami priest who was recently photographed handling a 35-year-old attractive woman’s derrière. My ‘old man’ was the type who spent his whole life trying to help others in need -- never seeking the limelight when performing good deeds. When he died in 2001, I know his heart felt heavy with guilt over Operation Pedro Pan.
I’ve lived in Miami since April 1960. It gives me some form of expertise over things that are of Miami. And I have always been amazed about how this city loves to distort history, the truth (often), and anything that might affect its next scheme. I say this because when you read of Operation Pedro Pan in Miami, and the United States, you get the feeling that the Cuban government should shoulder full blame and responsibility for this sordid plot -- devised on U.S. soil and by operatives answering to the U.S. government.
And surely, the Cuban government and its leaders have made some horrible mistakes in their 50-year, revolutionary history. But, Operation Pedro Pan -- the first time family division was used as a strategy during never ending war between the U.S. and Cuba -- was not the brainchild of Fidel Castro or any of his people.
This mortal sin belongs to the U.S. government and the Catholic Church. It’s time they came clean and repented. The grief they’ve wrought was bad enough; it might even be worse to have so many believe it was somebody else’s fault.
The Cuban 5
A video report from Canada about René González of the Cuban Five.
Click here to send your comments
Apology to the Congressional Black Caucus
Alberto Jones is an Afro-Cuban of Jamaican ancestry who runs the Caribbean American Children Foundation in Palm Coast, Florida
Please allow me to express my disgust and apologize publicly to the United States Congressional Black Caucus on behalf of Cubans in general, Afro-Cubans in particular and especially in the name of those lured to Cuba from the English Speaking Caribbean islands at the turn of the XX Century, who were subjected to brutal racism, segregation, exploitation and forced to live in Soweto-type slu ms across that country….
Click here for full letter
50 Years of the Cuban Revolution
By Silvia Wilhelm, "a native of Havana, Cuba, came to the United States as an unaccompanied child in January 1961 through the Operacion Pedro Pan.
"After returning to Cuba for the first time after thirty-three years in the States, Mrs. Wilhelm became an active advocate for changing US policy towards Cuba. Mrs. Wilhelm is the founder and serves as executive director of Puentes Cubanos, an NGO once licensed to conduct educational, professional and cultural exchanges between the people of Cuba and the United States.
Queens College
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
THE CUBAN COMMUNITY ABROAD
“Crossing borders…..still Cuban”
I have been asked to speak about Cubans living abroad as we reflect on 50 years of the Cuban Revolution. This will not be an easy task for the Cuban Revolution forever changed the course of our lives.
Unlike most of you attending and presenting at this conference, I am not an academic but a political activist and community organizer. This last “title” gives me enormous pride as our President Obama has truly raised its social connotation. So don‘t expect an academic paper but a sincere talk from the heart. A talk that I truly hope represents the feelings and realities of the vast majority of Cubans living abroad. Cubans who have never forgotten que la Patria es la de Marti, que es la Patria de todos.
Being that I live in ground zero, better known as Miami, my talk will concentrate on those of us Cubans living in South Florida. Who are we the Cubans who have crossed the border, who are now known as Cuban Americans and who primarily reside in South Florida? What is our relationship to the country of our birth? What have been our challenges, successes and contradictions? What lies ahead in our relationship with Cuba?
The stories of us Cubans who have crossed the border since 1959 are as varied as the number of Cubans living abroad. So I will start my telling my story.
In the summer of 1960, after enthusiastically supporting the Cuban revolution, my family got concerned about the changes taking place in Cuba. Specifically they were alarmed when rumors started spreading that the new revolutionary government was going to take away la Patria Potestad or parental rights. This turned out to be misinformation that had been deliberately planted by organizations interested in destabilizing the new process taking place in Cuba.
Nevertheless, in January of 1961 my mother and grandparents bid me goodbye at the Jose Marti airport in Havana for what they considered to be a nine to twelve month separation. They obviously misread what was occurring on the ground in Cuba. I left for the United States as an unaccompanied child in what was eventually known as Operacion Pedro Pan, or Operation Peter Pan. I was one of 14,000 Cuban children who eventually left Cuba.
After spending time in an orphanage in Buffalo, New York and in a Catholic girls’ boarding school in Olean, NY, I finally reunited with my family 10 months later in Miami. Many of the Pedro Pans were not so lucky. There are some difficult stories associated with this operation but there are also stories of human solidarity and survival. I learned to survive against all odds and it has helped me in my 15 years of work in the trenches of Miami trying to change US policy towards Cuba. I will always honor my family’s decision to send me abroad but in May of 1994 I made the difficult decision to return, a decision that forever changed my life, this time on my own terms.
Cuban emigration to the United States did not start with the triumph of the Cuban revolution but during the first half of the 1800. This emigration was largely white and professional. A more diverse emigration took place during the end of the 19th century as a result of Cuba’s Ten Year’s War (1868-1878). Emigration continued on to the first half of the next century, but this emigration came from all different classes and had several motivating factors, political exile or looking for a better way of life but either way these immigrants came with the idea of one day returning to their homeland.
With the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959 the majority of the Cuban population was ecstatic that the Batista dictatorship had finally come to an end. But soon afterwards many Cubans became disillusioned with the communist orientation their revolution turned into.
The Cuban migration to the United States since then has occurred in several “waves”. For the purpose of this presentation I have opted to list them in this fashion:
The first wave to arrive in the United States consisted of persons closely associated with the Batista regime, high government officials, political leaders, military officers. They feared retribution from the new
Revolutionary government in many instances in the form of execution known as facing the “paredon”.
The next wave which arrived shortly after the Batistianos at the beginning of the 60’s and 70s consisted primarily of an elite group of professionals disenchanted with the new measures instituted by the revolutionary government of Cuba. Some had relatives who had served prison, some had businesses confiscated and some left thinking that the United States would once again solve a Cuban problem. They saw this “exile” as a temporary one. They did not leave for the United States looking for the land of “milk and honey”, they left Cuba in the middle of a Cold War fleeing the onset of Communism in their homeland. All in all close to 458,000 Cubans left prior to 1980. These two groups are commonly known as the “exilio historico”.
As a generality they left no relatives behind, they do not travel to Cuba and they do not send remittances. They still exercise considerable control over both the written press and TV and radio coverage in Miami with any news having to do with Cuba. They dream of one day when Cuba will be “free” and they will go back to power in the Cuba they once knew.
Many of them have become true American success stories occupying leading positions in key institutions in South Florida, in labor unions, universities, politics, the news media and cultural organizations.
The next wave of Cuban immigrants consists of those who left during the Mariel boatlift, approximately 125,000 and the balsero exodus of 1994 which brought another 40,000 to the Florida peninsula, not to mention the Cubans who arrive as a result of migratory accords.
These Cuban Americans, unlike the “exilio historico” spent part of their formative years in Cuba under the current system; the majority of them left family behind, they have a strong bond with the Cuba of today and they currently represent the vast majority of Cubans who travel to the island to visit family left behind. As a generality they oppose US policy towards Cuba and want a peaceful solution to the Cuban dilemma. To a large extent these Cuban Americans left for the United States for economic reasons especially those that emigrated after the fall of the Soviet Union during Cuba’s difficult Periodo Especial, or special period. Census numbers tell us that from 1980 to the present close to 430,000 Cubans have arrived in Florida.
The next group is the new generation of Cuban Americans born in the United States of Cuban parents. They are young, energetic, and ambitious and have assimilated to American culture. A great majority of them do not forget their Cuban roots; in fact they thrive in calling themselves Cuban Americans. Their political stance vis-à-vis the Cuba of today is often a reflection of their parents and grandparents’ stance. Yet, they are coming of age; they are interested in the issue and they are demanding to be heard on their own terms.
As you can see, the landscape of the Cuban American community of South Florida is in a state of flux between those considered the “exilio historico”, the newer arrivals and younger generations. It has never been a monolithic community; it is constantly renovating itself; it is drastically changing, I would say moderating, in its position relating to the reality of the Cuba of today.
The first generation to arrive, or “exile generation”, those who came in the first wave and were old enough to have made the decision to leave, very clearly identify with their homeland, the one pre 1959. They are Cubans first and Spanish continues to be their primary language.
The next generation, what sometimes is referred to as the “one and a half generation”, my generation, born in Cuba but coming of age in the US regard themselves as Cubans and as Americans, they feel equally comfortable with both cultures and languages and easily maneuver between the two.
The so called second generation, the first to be born in the United States, feels a connection to their Cuban roots because parents and grandparents have taught them to but they are not as intense to either the politics of the issue or to Cuba.
All in all a sense of pride, a sense of having been chosen “maybe by the grace of God” to be Cubans permeates all generations, all groups of Cubans who have crossed the border and reside in South Florida.
In 1978 a group of Cubans residing abroad were permitted to return to the island and hold conversations with Cuban officials on issues dealing with the role, rights and responsibilities of Cubans who no longer lived in the island. Without a doubt that reunion 30 years ago paved the way for the changes we see taking place in our communities today. This panel would have never taken place if that reunion had not occurred.
I have witnessed enormous changes in my community on how to deal with the realities of the Cuba of today. There was a period in the 70s, 80s and early 90s when advocating for a change of US policy towards Cuba put oneself at risk, not only personally but professionally. There have been numerous incidents of bombs being placed in workplaces and homes, of physical and verbal threats, of social and professional isolation. The anti Castro industry in Miami has been both a powerful and lucrative one but this industry is rapidly declining as it should.
The trend towards “moderation” that I am witnessing in South Florida is due, in my opinion, to two important factors; 1) the large number of recent arrivals from Cuba who understand the Cuba of today and have left family members behind who they relate to and want to keep a close connection with; 2) the emergence of a new generation of Cuban Americans or Americans of Cuban descent who are tired of the politics of war and isolation and are developing positions clearly in touch with engagement and reconciliation.
The recent election of Barack Obama as President of the US and his executive decision to allow unlimited travel by Cuban Americans to the island has been highlighted by the New York Times in an April 21st article as the “end of a 50 year stalemate period and a new dawn on US/Cuba relations”. Even though I enthusiastically applaud President Obama’s lifting of such cruel and draconian regulations I believe the time has come for him
to also use his executive power to reinstate the people to people categories of purposeful travel so prevalent during the Clinton Administration. I am cautiously optimistic that the US Congress will pass legislation in 2009 that will allow travel for all Americans to the island.
The recent poll of Cuban Americans conducted by Bendixen and Associates and published on April 20, 2009, soon after President Obama announced his new policy, shows not only widespread support for Mr. Obama, 64% supported his new policy on travel and remittances but even a larger majority, 67% said they had a favorable opinion of the new Democratic President, the highest rating amongst Cuban Americans since Ronald Reagan was in office. 67% of the 400 polled also supported travel by All Americans to Cuba.
As I stand here today commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, I would like to envision what the future could look like for the Cubans who left and those who live in the island. I envision a future where freedom of movement in both directions would be possible; where Cubans living abroad can choose to spend long periods of time in their “country of birth” and even some can retire there. I envision a future when both sides can applaud each other’s accomplishments proudly; when trust between us becomes the common denominator; and when working together on cultural, professional and business projects becomes the norm and not the exception.
As we reflect on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution Cubans both inside the island and outside must take pride in each other’s glorious accomplishments but must also reflect on some of the mistakes and injustices that are part of our past. We must strive to erase the lines that drew us apart and instead learn to draw circles that can bind us together. We must learn to celebrate as one. The road to reconciliation, which started long ago, is now accelerating. Let’s double the effort.
President Obama said it best on April 11, 2009 during his weekly address to the American people. A message that can certainly resonate with us Cubans:
‘With all that is at stake today, we cannot afford to talk past one another. We can’t afford to allow old differences to prevent us from making progress in areas of common concern. We can’t afford to let walls of mistrust stand. Instead, we have to find – and build on – our mutual interests. For it is only when people come together, and seek common ground, that some of that mistrust can begin to fade. And that is where progress begins.’
I would like to wrap up my presentation in Spanish with the words of a poet, Emilio Cossio. I believe that it eloquently states what most Cubans who have crossed the border feel about their native country.
VOLVER by Emilio Cossio
Volver?
Como puedo volver si no me he ido
Si llevo en mi alma sembrado mi pasado
Si no he cesado de sufrir lo que he sufrido
Ni dejado de amar lo que yo he amado?
Solo pueden volver los que han dejado
Perdidos en el polvo del olvido
Los suenos en la Patria aprisionados
Por el sueno en suelo extrano prometido
Solo pueden volver los que se han ido
Y en suelo extrano han enterrado
Sus recuerdos, sus anhelos y el pasado
YO NO PUEDO VOLVER!! YO NO ME HE IDO!
PBS Documentary: "Great Museums of Havana: Curious About Cuba"
Click on the link below:
"Great Museums of Havana: Curious About Cuba"
Comment: I just received the DVD (Great Museums of Havana: Curious about Cuba) and it exceed my expectations. Highly recommend it! To order click on www.greatmuseums.org/store.html
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