Thursday, February 6, 1997
CUBA:
Politically-weak policy forces millions to go without food,
suppliesBy Michael Karl Schuessler
Recently, during what would become a revolutionary (and
revelatory) visit to Castro’s Cuba, I was taken by a close friend
to a museum that was  according to this young "habanero"
 utterly representative of life in Cuba today. As we strolled
along the 19th century Paseo del Prado, admiring the community
housing and cultural centers that had once been the ostentatious
homes of the ruling classes, I visualized adult education,
socialized health care and defiant anti-imperialist propaganda,
preparing myself for some of the themes which undoubtedly would
confront me at the museum. Upon leaving the tree-lined boulevard,
we crossed a street void of automobile traffic, dodging numerous
Chinese-made bicycles and their riders, and entered into
labyrinthine Old Havana, proceeding down Cuba Street toward the
cathedral with its two distinctive (and disproportionate)
spires.
Unexpectedly, my host stopped in front of an apparently
abandoned building covered with peeling red and white paint, a
sawdust-covered floor and numerous empty glass cases on each side
of a flimsy wooden counter. Hardly visible within the squalid
interior, an elderly man smoked a "Popular" cigarette, propping up
his elbows on the counter, looking directly through us as if
searching for something far beyond. "El Museo de la Carne" ("The
Meat Museum") murmured my friend, hanging his head low as he
considered the harsh reality which has now become the tragic fate
of his country. As he searched for a way to express his feelings
 a sense of helplessness mixed with rage  he looked
around desperately and stammered: "I can no longer cry, ‘chico,’ I
can only laugh. Laugh at what has become of me … of us." He kept
his promise  throughout our nightly conversations of the
daily trauma of life in Cuba, the hunger accompanied by acute
emotional exhaustion bordering on paranoia  not a tear was
shed. He never laughed, either, or even smiled.
Later that afternoon, I was introduced to Gloria, an Afro-Cuban
who holds a doctoral degree in naval engineering from the
University of Moscow, an unrelenting theater-goer who can recite
the "Romances" of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca with a
tenderness of understanding that is almost uncanny. After long
discussions regarding Cuba’s present economic state, racism in a
Communist nation and world events, she abruptly turned to me with a
look in her eyes that I can only describe as fierce and asked in a
low voice: "Do you know what it is like to be obsessed with food? I
can think of nothing else … where will I find enough for my
daughter to eat? Will there be milk this month? I am an educated
and cultured human being who is slowly degenerating into a creature
whose only worldly concern is her next plate of rice. Do you
understand what this is doing to me … can I express what this
feels like? No, I know you cannot understand."
The preceding are neither the most nor the least extreme cases
of the daily plight of the vast majority of Cubans during the worst
crisis ever to afflict the country since 1959, when Fidel Castro
and his revolutionary forces defeated the U.S.-supported Fulgencio
Batista. These anecdotes do, however, serve as fleeting images of
an unnecessary, cruel and entirely avoidable situation being
experienced by 10 million Cubans at this very moment  right
now while you are reading this article and sipping your morning
coffee. Coffee will again be severely rationed next month in Havana
and the only newspaper, "El Granma" Â controlled by the
Communist Party  will only be available to be read taped to
the windows of empty kiosks due to a perennial paper shortage.
For the last three decades, the Cuban people have been the
innocent victims of an inhuman, ineffective and utterly absurd
trade embargo imposed upon their country by the United States when,
in the early 1960s, Castro  instead of accepting his role as
the puppet-leader of a country historically dominated and exploited
by its northern neighbor  reached out to the Soviet Union for
much needed economic and political support. Obviously, the material
aid had ideological strings attached. Through a thoughtful (and
somewhat original) interpretation of the basic tenets of
Marxist-Leninism, undeniable advances were made in the areas of
social welfare, education, health and culture. At the same time, it
must be pointed out that a strict (and in many ways repressive)
political regime was instituted. The level of repression, although
inexcusable, is nothing compared to the repression embodied in the
organized assault perpetrated by the U.S. State Department upon the
people of Cuba. By refusing to lift a trade embargo from a country
whose major trading partner no longer exists, thus denying the
residents of an entire nation the most basic elements of nutrition,
hygiene and medicine, the United States constitutes the direct
sponsor of one of the cruelest and most inhumane assaults upon the
basic rights of man.
At present, when compared to any other country in Latin America,
Cuba boasts the lowest infant mortality rate as well as the highest
literacy rate for its population. In Cuba, as opposed to in the
United States (and not to mention in every one of its southern
neighbors), there are no beggars and all children  black or
white, male or female  have the right to education. There is
also unconditional free health care and, above all, a spirit of
"companerismo" (comradeship) that immediately makes itself known to
the unsuspecting visitor. It is this comradeship which has helped
the Cubans endure up until now. Considering that the country could
have easily become another Haiti or Dominican Republic, this is
nothing short of miraculous. Nor is it mere coincidence that this
island nation has achieved such extraordinary standards of living
for its citizens while constituting the sole country in the region
not dependent upon the United States, both economically and
politically.
As I speak, Cuba and its basic social and political fabric is
being further unraveled by the "Ley Torricelli" Â named after
the Democrat who authored the bill. Aside from the existing
economic blockade, the bill also places severe sanctions upon those
countries that trade with Cuba, while at the same time prohibiting
international subsidiaries of American companies to sell their much
needed products (food, medicine, clothing, etc.) to Cuba. This
"law" represents the most terrifying example of U.S. imperialism in
the "Third World" (a world it created, by the way) since the Platt
Amendment, which gave the United States the right to intervene
militarily at will in Cuba’s affairs.
According to the State Department, one of the main reasons for
this tough position is based upon a bad record of human rights
abuses. In his article ominously titled "Cuba: A Threat to Peace
and Security in Our Hemisphere," Michael G. Kozac points out the
following:
The Cuban government is one of the worst violators of human
rights in this hemisphere. Since the 1959 revolution, Cuba, under
Fidel Castro, has authorized political executions, torture,
arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, and inhumane prison conditions.
Cuban citizens have been denied the most (20) basic democratic
rights and processes in both political and judicial domains.
I fully admit the validity of such accusations, but what happens
if we replace, for example, the word "Cuba" with "Chile,"
"Argentina," "Guatemala" or any other of the right-wing
dictatorships historically supported by the United States? Sadly
enough, the sentence would retain its accuracy, requiring no
alterations. The point to be taken is that these simply do not
constitute substantive reasons to justify the United State’s
actions toward Cuba. The major threat  that of the U.S.S.R.
 no longer exists, so what remains? Ten million human beings
living on a substandard diet of rice and beans without medicine or
clothing, suffering cruel punishment for a crime they never
committed. Perhaps this is why the United Nations immediately
repudiated the Torricelli Law, creating an outpouring of solidarity
in the form of much needed material goods and human labor from
Canada, Norway, India and other countries.
I cannot find the words to express my shame, outrage and utter
indignation caused by the behavior of the U.S. government vis-a-vis
Cuba. All I can do is sincerely and desperately urge that a more
intelligent solution be found to deal with the "severe threat"
posed by this small Caribbean nation, 90 miles from the Florida
Keys. Obviously, the despised leaders of this regime are the least
affected by U.S. policy while the vast majority of Cubans are
forced to subsist on a diet of one piece of tasteless "daily
bread," three eggs every 10 days, as well as 5 pounds of rice and 1
pound of black beans per month. No one I spoke to had eaten meat
for months and milk, which previously was only available to the
very young and old, has become extremely hard to obtain for anyone,
anywhere.
Pharmaceutical products, once a major export of the country and
a source of income, are now severely limited. Consequently, an
intricate and abusive black market has appeared in which one can
buy a pair of cheaply made plastic shoes for 600 pesos, a pair of
sunglasses for 300 pesos or an egg for 3 pesos. The monthly wage
for an average Cuban is 250 pesos.
How long will the people of an entire nation be forced to live
on a meager diet, deprived of their innate right to live as human
beings, stripped of their dignity and pride, until the U.S.
government understands that this policy  imposed for 30-odd
years  has simply not been successful in overthrowing this
"terrible menace" that threatens to attack the "soft underbelly" of
our nation. Castro continues eating well, he has toilet paper; it
has even been rumored that he wears a corset in order not to appear
overweight. I sincerely (perhaps innocently) ask, myself what is to
be feared from the Cuban way of life: a society in which all have
the right to a college education? A country in which the elderly
are treated with respect and care? A nation that provides free
health care to its citizens? I applaud the manner in which Cuba has
refused to be yet another "Third World" nation. At the same time, I
challenge President Clinton to react in an intelligent, effective
and humane manner with respect to Cuba.