Alan B:
Be careful not to swallow whole a lot of the misinformation about Cuba which is passed as fact. The following was written by a friend of mine, who writes for
http://www.apbnews.com
He is a former Navy Intelligence and CIA career officer, who spent most of his career in ugly places around the world, fighting the encroachment of communism and repressive regimes. He is not a frothing liberal. He has spent time in Cuba on this story, and I trust his opinion more than a bunch of people... liberal OR conservative... who have an axe to grind. Here's the column:
"Outside the Box" - commentary by Chip Beck
Column Authorized for Reprint
email: BeckChip@aol.com
_____________________________________________
TIME TO UNITE A FATHER AND SON, AND TWO NATIONS
Commentary by CDR Chip Beck, USNR (ret)
Political Graphics & News Service
Arlington, Virginia
April 17, 2000
WASHINGTON D.C. - In December of last year, when the Elian Gonzales saga was
just beginning, I wrote that ordeals such as his, and similar ones that
affect many Cuban families, could be avoided if the United States and Cuba
had normal relations.
Normal relations, full travel channels, reciprocity, and an end to the
embargo would allow families to visit each other on both sides of the Florida
Straits on weekends, holidays, summertime, or anytime they wanted. It would
allow students to attend schools here on F-1 visas, travel, and participate
in exchange programs.
In short, the same courtesies that America extends to nearly every other
country in the world would be available to Cuba, a nation that has
historically been close to the U.S., and needs to be so again.
It would allow two countries to regain their sanity.
If there is any bright spot to this sorry affair, it is that months of pol
itical exploitation of 6-year old Elian, and the continued withholding of the
little boy from his natural father has resulted in consequences that the
Cuban exile leaders in Miami may not have counted on. It has demonstrated to
an increasing number of “other Americans” that the Cuban-American community
in Miami, or at least its leadership, are not so much interested in the
welfare of Elian Gonzales as they are in exacting revenge and vengeance for
defeats suffered 40 years ago.
One does not have to be a communist or a socialist to recognize right
from wrong in Elian’s case or understand that the Cold War is over. The
policies that were in place during that time with regard to Cuba seriously
need to discarded and replaced with new ones that will benefit the general
populations of both countries.
What still concerns many Americans, unnecessarily I believe, is the
presumed political and social climate in Cuba. Since 1998, I have visited
Cuba three times, and have led a total of 54 editorial writers, newspaper
publishers, and political cartoonists to the island for a firsthand view of
life on the island. At least 53 of them returned to the U.S. convinced that
Cuba represents no threat to the U.S., and that life, politics, and attitudes
on the island is drastically different (i.e. more positive) than the American
public is led to believe through the filters of isolation and the Miami
exiles.
As a former combat veteran and intelligence officer who fought against
Soviet hegemony and political interests around the world during the Cold War,
I believe my “credentials” are as solid as any Miami exile when it comes to
having served the United States in time of need.
However, the time has come for those of us who fought the hardest during
that time of Superpower strife to extend the hand of friendship to Cuba, its
people, and even the leadership at all levels of its government. During the
Cold War, our countries were at odds with each other. We both scored
“points” in the game of international brinkmanship, and each side has its
share of “victories and defeats.”
Fortunately, when we look back on the adversity and the struggles that
took place in the Cold War between Cuba and the U.S., we can be thankful that
neither side inflicted on the other the vast carnage that took place in the
Korean or Vietnam Wars.
That is not to say that along the way, in some of the secret conflicts as
well as the more public skirmishes, Americans and Cubans did not inflict harm
against each other. But it was not the wholesale physical destruction that I
have seen in Indochina, Afghanistan, Angola, Lebanon, and a dozen other
places where politics have gotten far out of hand during both internal civil
wars and international conflicts.
In my travels to Cuba, I don’t see a country that will persecute Elian or
harm the rest of its children. Instead, I see a nation where the principles
of Jose Martí and La Edad De Oro (“The Golden Age”) still stand as solid
family values for parents of both societies.
I no longer see a nation that has to be America’s adversary, but one that
could be not only a sovereign neighbor, but even a partner in resolving some
of the problems that exist in this hemisphere.
Whatever the politics of our two countries, be it socialism or
American-style democracy, both nations deserve the honor of
self-determination and sovereignty with regard to making their own choices on
how to live. If we have people in our societies who disagree on issues or
politics, the proper manifestation for those disagreements is through open
discussions, direct negotiations, calm talks, friendly debates, and mutual
contact.
The separation between Elian Gonzales and his father, Juan Miguel, has
gone on for five months too long. The separation between the U.S. and Cuba
and the psychological damage that has occurred over 40 years, has also gone
on far too long.
It is time to reunite father and son, and Cuba and the United States.
_____________________________________________
Chip Beck is a retired Navy Commander, former CIA officer, and veteran of
foreign wars.
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[This message has been edited by Covert Mission (edited April 19, 2000).]
