Fidel Castro and Ozzie Guillen: Evasion of Truth
by Solomon Comissiong
“Ozzie Guillen has shown a lot of cowardice as he has allowed the US media, and many Miami Cubans, to fold him up like a cheap suit.”
On April 10, 2012, Ozzie Guillen, the manager of the Miami Marlins major league baseball team, “decided” to hold a press conference to “clear up” some statements he made to a reporter from Time magazine. What were Guillen’s comments that would warrant him to feel compelled to state that he was embarrassed, and fly back to Miami to hold a press conference regarding the issue? And what “reprehensible” comments did he make that would cause his employer/overseer to suspend him for five days? Mr. Guillen made statements that included love and admiration for Fidel Castro, that he respected the way Castro had survived in power for 60 years. Yes – this statement set off a firestorm within the pre-programmed minds of millions of oblivious Americans. This firestorm was started by the right wing Cubans that continue to make Miami their home, long after their brutal dictator was toppled in 1959. No, I am clearly not referring to Fidel Castro – I am referring to none other than Fulgencio Batista. These right wing Cubans, along with the amoral American corporate media, carefully made sure not to mention these significant facts as they carried out their mass false propaganda campaign.
Corporate media very well know that myriad Americans will mentally consume whatever slop is fed to them. They know that many Americans, akin to lab animals, have been trained to not recognize blatant contradictions regarding their own country and its long history of supporting terror. And since most Americans lack vital critical thinking skills, the media can prop a Cuban face on a screen that is willing to vilify Fidel Castro, and they will believe it as if these people represent all Cubans, or better yet – all Latinos. The corporate media were clever when they opened their airwaves, for political commentary, from a Cuban-American sports writer by the name of Dan Le Batard.
The disingenuous Le Batard had the temerity to refer to Fidel Castro as “Hitler” for the Cubans. Despite this being a patently false statement, it was used to conjure up one of the most heinous images Americans have been trained to picture when they think of terror and evil. After all, if most Americans had any kind of historical point of reference, they would think of the likes of Christopher Columbus when they thought of terror – this devil did things that would make Hitler blush. Instead of cursing his name, America celebrates Columbus each October with a federal holiday."The disingenuous Le Batard had the temerity to refer to Fidel Castro as ‘Hitler’ for the Cubans.”
If Dan Le Batard were an honest man he would have described Fidel Castro as an individual who helped save Cuba from an actual murderous dictator: Fulgencio Batista. If Dan Le Batard was concerned with being truthful he would have disclosed the fact about the thousands of people Batista murdered and how he willingly allowed the United States to plunder Cuba’s natural resources. While we are being honest, let’s be completely candid about why the US despises Fidel Castro – it has nothing to do with human rights or so-called dictators.
The US loathes Castro because he came to power in a popular revolution that put a swift end to the United States’ plundering of that Caribbean nation. Castro rightfully nationalized Cuba’s natural resources, such as its sugar cane plantations, and put them in state control. When the US privately controlled these resources it was for the sole benefit of the US and its corporations – not the people of Cuba. Under this nefarious arrangement a relatively small number of Cubans benefitted – mainly elites – mostly white Cubans. Dan Le Batard’s family was among this class, thus the false propaganda he and some other Miami Cubans are spreading. These people have no scruples and are hell-bent on returning Cuba to a capitalist playground. Cuban-Americans of this ilk are known as Gusanos – Spanish for worm. Worms like Le Batard slither above ground in the US, spreading false and out of context propaganda about Fidel Castro – aimed at regime change. These folks don’t give a damn about the “average” Cuban, and especially not Afro-Cubans (Spanish speaking Africans who are from Cuba). Afro-Cubans, by the way, live approximately 5 years longer [7] than African-Americans. They have something most African-Americans don’t have – access to free, quality healthcare.
“The US loathes Castro because he came to power in a popular revolution that put a swift end to the United States’ plundering of that Caribbean nation.”
While the likes of Dan Le Batard parade around acting as if they speak on behalf of all Cubans worldwide, millions upon millions of Africans extoll Castro and the Cuban revolution. Had it not been for the likes of Fidel Castro, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, and the good people of the Cuban revolution, much of Southern Africa would have endured the evil of European colonization a lot longer. As leader of an anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist free Cuba, Castro sent over 300,000 Cuban troops into Southern Africa to assist native Africans in liberating themselves from brutal European colonization. While Castro was doing this, the United States was supporting governments like the white minority apartheid regime in Azania (South Africa), as well as funding terrorist groups like UNITA (The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola).
Africans know very well about the contributions of Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution. This is why one of the first countries Nelson Mandela visited after being freed from the bowels of Robben Island was that of Cuba. Why? He went there to thank Fidel Castro and the good Cuban people [8] for their selfless internationalism. Since then, Cuba has gone on to send literally tens of thousands of Cuban doctors throughout the Global South, including Africa – for free. These doctors went as part of their internationalist duty to assist people from those countries, as well as to help them establish stronger medical institutions. Where was the damn US corporate media in telling these stories or talking to the innumerable people who routinely give glowing praise to Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution? Fidel Castro even offered up well over 1,000 medical and hurricane relief specialists immediately after hurricane Katrina. However George W. Bush and the US government placed their egos well before the lives of people dying throughout the Gulf Region, and swiftly declined the humanitarian offer. Castro is revered around the globe no matter how much the US government, corporate media pundits, and many Miami Cubans, lie to try to cover that fact up.
“Fidel Castro even offered up well over 1,000 medical and hurricane relief specialists immediately after hurricane Katrina.”
The US seems to enjoy dedicating its time and resources to killing people rather than saving lives. This is why the US Empire can be found waging war throughout the globe. Meanwhile, sadly, 44,000 Americans die each year simply due to a lack of health insurance. While countries such as Cuba and Venezuela spend much of their budgets on universal healthcare programs, the US spends taxpayer money towards the nefarious expansion of an empire.
Unfortunately Ozzie Guillen has shown a lot of cowardice as he has allowed the US media, and many Miami Cubans, to fold him up like a cheap suit. Like an angry parent, they have made a grown man retract his rightfully sincere words about Fidel Castro. It was a gross understatement when Guillen said, “I love Fidel Castro . . . I respect Fidel Castro . . .” for surviving “when a lot of people have wanted to kill him.” What Guillen may or may not know, is that it was the US government which has made numerous attempts on Fidel Castro’s life. However, these assassination attempts on Castro’s life are nothing new to the US. The US government, mainly through its CIA, has assassinated, funded assassinations of political figures, and orchestrated coups aimed at destabilizing various nations such as Congo, Guatemala, and Chile. The US has a strong track record at committing actual crimes against humanity, however through its almost perfect programs of mass indoctrination, scores of Americans are completely oblivious to these facts.
The US is a scalding hot cauldron of institutional racism and white supremacy. However, some fraudulent Cuban-Americans, like Dan Le Batard, have the audacity to masquerade around as if they give a damn about human rights. Where has his voice been in challenging the US government’s illegal and destructive military campaigns in places like Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan? Don’t hold your breath awaiting someone who, if they had their feeble ways,
would return Cuba to the dark days when it was controlled by their favorite murderous dictator, Fulgencio Batista, as well as US corporations. Where is Dan Le Batard, and the talentless Cuban-American rapper, “Pitbull,” when it comes to speaking out about the scores of black political prisoners that continue to languish within the America gulag prison system? Where are these Cuban-Americans when it comes to confronting the fact that the US government harbors known terrorists like Luis Posada Carriles [9]? They are nowhere whatsoever, because they don’t given a damn about justice – they care about returning Cuba to capitalist rule, which is why these Cuban-Americans support the ongoing 50 year economic embargo on the island nation. This embargo has cost the good Cuban people over 100 billion dollars. [10]“They would return Cuba to the dark days when it was controlled by their favorite murderous dictator, Fulgencio Batista, as well as US corporations.”
Those who attempt to label Fidel Castro as some sort of tyrant and even comparing him to Adolf Hitler are selective frauds, at best. As noted within this article, Cuba, under Fidel Castro’s leadership, has helped dozens of nations by providing doctors, nurses and has even helped liberate African nations from the brutal yoke of white colonization. These things mean very little to “Gusanos.” They could not give a damn about the millions of people worldwide who have been aided by Castro’s humanitarianism. And they most certainly don’t give a damn about the millions of people who have lost their lives and homes because of US wars, imperialism, and state sponsored terrorism.
US officials, and those who wish to blindly or disingenuously champion America as a paragon of social justice, are mouthpieces for the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, in one way or another. The country they choose to selectively extoll as a beacon of light for the whole world to admire and model itself after, has built a strong reputation as a global thug. If Fidel Castro and his Cuban government did even a fraction of the reprehensible things the US has done, they would justly be worthy of the vilification Castro receives from their relatively small number of detractors. If they went on murderous campaigns throughout the world causing wars of imperialist aggression, criticism would be justified. And if Cuba went from country to country orchestrating coups to take out democratically elected leaders, such as Patrice Lumumba, Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán, and Mohammad Mosaddegh (to name a few), world condemnation would be roundly warranted. However, the monster that does those things is not Fidel Castro or Cuba – it is the United States itself.
“Where are Castro’s outspoken critics when it comes to America’s gigantic shop of horrors?”
And all of this talk of the US being opposed to so-called dictators is pure subterfuge. The United States government adores dictators, no matter how brutal they are, as long as they support America’s “interests.” The American government, for decades, has installed and supported brutal dictator after brutal dictator. Whether it was Cuba’s Fulgencio Batista, Congo’s Mobutu Sese Seko, the Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi), or Augusto Pinochet of Chile, America has embraced cozy relationships with individuals with enough blood on their collective hands for the world to swim in. And when it comes to folks like Saddam Hussein and Manuel Noriega, the US government uses them as long as they conveniently can, no matter how much evil they are responsible for. Where are Castro’s outspoken critics when it comes to America’s gigantic shop of horrors? Can you hear that? It’s the sound of pin dropping within the filthy crowds of those hypocritical individuals. When will a large collective of American voices step up, in unison, and demand an end to the countless domestic and international injustices that are orchestrated by their own government?
Many more Americans need to detach the governmentally programmed strings from their minds. Stop pointing your collective fingers at whomever your government and corporate media tell you who is the enemy. Think for yourself and better yet, research for yourself. If you do these things, you will find out that many of people they have taught you to hate and label as dictators, are not so. And if you take an honest look at your own government, you will find out that it is not what you have been programmed to believe either. Sometimes the truth is painful to swallow – especially for those who have blindly trumpeted false propaganda that has been force fed to them. Nonetheless, it’s time to take your truth serum – drink up. A world free of social injustice, imperialism, and colonization depend on the erasure of your mental malady – delusion.
“The propaganda system allows the U.S. leadership to commit crimes without limit and with no suggestion of misbehavior or criminality; in fact, major war criminals like Henry Kissinger appear regularly on TV to comment on the crimes of the derivative butchers.” – Edward S. Herman, political economist and author.
Solomon Comissiong is an educator, community activist, author, public speaker and the host of the Your World News media collective (www.yourworldnews.org [11]). He can be reached at solo@yourworldnews.org [12]
