ONCE UPON A TIME
MANUEL CEREIJO
Once upon a time there was a very prosperous nation. Where peace,
justice, harmony prevailed. Its people were happy. It was a down to
earth, friendly country. It was third in this Hemisphere in per capita
income. And second in distributed per capita income. It was a country
with hard working people. A large and strong middle class. A country
that only after 56 years of achieving its independence had obtained
outstanding economic and social achievements.
Once upon a time there was a country where its inhabitants knew how to
balance hard work, responsibility, with leisure, good humor. A country
of immigrants, not emigrants. A country still in search of a permanent
political democratic system. A country still politically immature, but
in a continuous search for freedom and justice. But a country with a
free enterprise system. A country where the dollar and the peso had a
par value.
A country with no external debt. With a flourishing tourism.
Agricultural and animal husbandry were modern and plentiful. Enough to
feed its own people and to export. Light industry was growing. Foreign
investment, as well as domestic investment, were large, because there
was faith and hope in the future of the country.
Once upon a time there was a country with a telecommunications industry
only second in this Continent. Maker of artists. Exporter of music. A
brave and brilliant press. Art and culture second to none. Tropical
fruits, rum, artifacts, sea, sun, beautiful cities, with soul, with
life.
Once upon a time there was a country with Christian values. Traditions.
Religious fervor. Education available to everyone. Good quality
medicine. And with health plans not even achieved today in this
Hemisphere by any other nation. A country of physicians, engineers,
architects, dentists, lawyers, physicists, mathematicians, educators,
writers, reporters, newsmen, entrepreneurs, businessmen, industrialists,
salesmen, workers, farmers, students, but above all, friendly, humane,
happy, loyal, merciful.
Once upon a time there was a country friend of all other countries in
this Continent. Artists, newsmen, writers, professionals, businessmen
from all Latin-American countries, as well as the United States, visited
this country. And they all were welcome like brothers. A country that
respected the United States, and its people, its system.
This country was Cuba.
And then, 1959 arrived. And Castro took power. An opportunist. A person
with a complete lack of values. Absolutely no moral, no ethics. No
conscience. An inept and irresponsible person. A very poor
administrator.
With an absolute quest for total power. And Cuba, as a nation, ended.
The friendliness, the good humor, the hard working qualities
disappeared. The Cuba where friendship was the norm ceased to exist. And
the Cuba of the "paredones" started.
The Cuba of the political prisoners. The Cuba of oppression, torture.
The Cuba of the exiles. The Cuba of the family separations. The Cuba of
the confiscations. The Cuba of the obedience to the Soviet imperialism.
The Cuba of the guerilla wars to subvert the people and the countries
that before were friends.
The Cuba of the informers. Of the Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution.. The Cuba enemy of God. The Cuba of the interventions in
Angola, Ethiopia, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, Salvador, Guatemala,
Peru, Bolivia, Honduras, Mexico, and, yes, the United States. The Cuba
that supports terrorism. The Cuba that represents an asymmetric war
threat to the United States. The Cuba with the capacity to produce WMD.
The Cuba of the misery. The Cuba where the State, the Revolution, are
above men. The Cuba where either you are with the Revolution or against
it. The Cuba where the family is controlled by the State. The Cuba of
the
purging of University students. Where the prerequisite to study a career
is not the academic knowledge but the unconditional support to the
government.
The Cuba where there has not been free elections, independent elections,
with the participation of several political parties, at any level, for
39 years.
The Cuba where for 44 years there has not been free unions. Neither
private proprietors. Neither private property. Neither freedom of
religion.
The Cuba of today, the Cuba that exists since 1959, represents the
antithesis of all that political freedom and democracy sweeping the
World now.. Of all what the people that have elected governments into
office, by means of free elections, have worked so hard to obtain and
maintain. Governments of the free democratic countries, this is enough.
Cuba is bleeding. Cuba can not stand any longer. Cuba needs democracy,
freedom, free enterprise, law and order. Cuba claims for justice.
Without Castro. The regime must be abolished. No more sympathy toward
who do not deserve any.
Isn't it time? For Cuba, it is. |
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INFOCUBA
