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NEWS
Unlikely
alliance forged in N.J.
Monday, October 23, 2006
By ELIZABETH LLORENTE
STAFF WRITER
Like many in his native Venezuela, Hector Contreras of Fort Lee saw
Cuban leader Fidel Castro as a romantic figure – a Robin Hood in
military fatigues who wanted to take from Cuba's privileged and give to
its poor.
They admired Castro for condemning the United States as a meddler in
Latin American affairs, a global bully that looked down upon its
neighbors to the south.
But now, Contreras and many other Venezuelans are denouncing Castro with
a disdain that perhaps is second only to that of Cuban exiles.
"He's nothing but a dictator," Contreras said. "His grand promises were
only propaganda. He's caused a lot of suffering in Cuba, and he has
achieved no real improvement for the country."
And so, Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants have formed an alliance that was
unthinkable just a few years ago.
The catalyst was leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a Castro
protege who Venezuelans fear is going to turn Venezuela -- with its
long-standing democracy and U.S. ties -- into another Cuba. They fear
that Chavez is stripping away freedoms by cracking down on dissenters
and media outlets that criticize his policies and actions.
The similarities between Chavez's restrictions on civil liberties and
the erosion of rights in the Castro regime have bred a political and
social affinity among Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants. Venezuelans
attend anti-Castro rallies in significant numbers, and Cuban exiles
abound at anti-Chavez demonstrations. Cuban exile organizations have
allowed Venezuelan groups to operate out of their offices, many of which
now display Venezuelan flags and other symbols of the South American
nation on their walls.
And just as Castro has mentored Chavez, Cuban exiles are showing
Venezuelans how to become a potent lobbying group in the United States.
They are introducing Venezuelans to their many friends in the U.S.
Congress and the media. They are also helping anti-Chavez groups in
Venezuela by providing funding, political campaign advice and firsthand
stories to the media about oppression in Cuba and the ineptitude of the
Castro regime.
"They are masters of getting the movers and shakers in Washington, D.C.,
to listen to their concerns and support their cause," Manuel Kohn said
of the Cuban exiles as he sat in a meeting room at the Union City
headquarters of the Union of Cuban Ex-Political Prisoners. "They have
formed one of the most effective exile lobby organizations in this
country. We respect that, and we're so grateful that they are taking us
by the hand and teaching us the ropes, how to make our case for a change
in Venezuela in a diplomatic way."
Standing nearby, listening to Kohn's words, Cuban exile Jose Alfredo
Gutierrezsolana was moved.
"We don't pass up the chance to join efforts with others who fight
against dictatorships and fight for democracy and liberty," said
Gutierrezsolana, who was a political prisoner in Cuba before fleeing to
Venezuela, where he lived for several years before settling in New
Jersey. "Getting Chavez out of power will weaken Castro, because it will
cut off the petroleum Chavez is providing to Cuba and that helps the
Castro regime. Getting rid of Castro will help weaken Chavez, because he
won't have all of Castro's influence to depend on."
The exile bond stands in stark contrast to relations between the two
groups before Chavez became president in 1998. Discussions about Castro
between Cuban exiles and Venezuelans often resulted in red faces and
loud arguments.
Many Venezuelans viewed Cuban exiles' intense loathing of Castro -- and
their obsession with ending his regime -- as sour grapes from a group
that had enjoyed power and privilege in Cuba. Cubans denounced as
"commies" any Venezuelan or other Latin American who praised the Cuban
revolution and applauded Castro's anti-U.S. tirades.
Now, Venezuelans find themselves expressing the same frustrations
against other Latin American immigrants who wax quixotic about Castro
and Chavez.
"It took getting stung by the same terrible experience with a
dictator-wannabe to get us to finally listen, really listen, to what
Cuban exiles have been trying to get us and the rest of Latin America to
see for a long time," said Hector Perdomo, who lives in Union City. "We
believed propaganda from the Cuban government about their communist
system having created a paradise in Cuba where everyone had a shot at
resources and opportunities. We turned a deaf ear to stories about human
rights violations and the failures of Castro's rule."
Kohn, who now lives in Manhattan, recalled taking to the streets of his
South American homeland to raise money for the Cuban revolution.
"He was an icon to us," he said of Castro. "We believed what he said --
about Cuba, about creating an idealistic society, about capitalism,
about the United States.
"What we didn't see, what most people who glorify dictators like Castro
never see, is this," he said, pointing to a wall in the room of the
Ex-Political Prisoners headquarters that was covered with framed
pictures of men and a few women said to have died before Castro's firing
squads. "When I saw all these faces and what they represented, I was
speechless. I never knew."
Cuban exile Osvildo Pradera nodded knowingly, and lifted his shirt to
reveal a lump on his back.
"I show them this," he said, pointing to the lump. "It's a bullet that's
still there, fired at me by Castro's officers when I was a political
prisoner in Cuba, for 19 years, just for saying I was against his
dictatorship and for liberty."
Contreras said he and other Venezuelans long could afford to overlook
the horror stories Castro's critics told.
"We enjoyed a democracy, even though it had its problems, its corrupt
leaders and other flaws," Contreras said. "I'd hear the rumblings about
oppression in Cuba, but I didn't really listen. I dismissed it as
something that had nothing to do with me, something that was their
problem, the problem of Cubans and whoever else had an issue with the
communist system there."
Many Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants agree that the United States is not
blameless. The United States has often looked down on Latin America and
not given it the attention it has given to other nations, they say,
adding that savvy leaders like Castro and Chavez have tapped into this
resentment.
For now, the two immigrant groups are busy at work on other objectives –
getting Chavez voted out in the December presidential elections and
urging Chavez opponents in Venezuela to keep close tabs on the polls.
"And there's the ultimate goal that we work for," Kohn said. "Una Cuba
libre" -- a free Cuba.
E-mail: llorente@northjersey.com
Collaboration: Manuel Kohn
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