By
Barbara Cusack Read Spanish Version
I agree that Senator McCain’s view of the Americas is out of touch, but so is telling the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), sons and daughters of forces ousted from Cuba for crimes against humanity, that theirs is a legacy of conviction, commitment to freedom, and hard-earned prosperity.
Your message of freedom must first stand the constitutional test in Miami.
You
spoke of freedom from fear, leaving out acts of terrorism perpetrated
with absolute impunity against the people of Cuba. Some were financed
by members and former members of CANF (by convicted terrorist Posada
Carriles’s own account to the New York Times), costing more than
3,000 lives, and countless suffering.
You
spoke of dissidents treated unfairly, yet this very week Cuba has put
forth irrefutable evidence of convicted terrorists from South Florida
sending those “dissidents” hefty contributions through the U.S.
Interests Section in Havana. That was a missed golden opportunity to
attack the duality of Bush’s bogus war on terror.
You
said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Five Cuban
political prisoners languish in U.S. federal prisons for infiltrating
organizations in Miami, such as CANF, in order to avert acts of
terrorism. They were unfairly tried in Miami and sentenced from 15
years to two consecutive life terms. This Administration continues to
deprive them of basic human rights, while politicizing their case and
squandering resources, in order to appease some who applaud you in
Miami.
You
vowed to be a relentless advocate for democracy, but like Bush and
McCain failed to define it, preferring instead to speak to fascists
about Roosevelt’s speech on the Nazis.
You
called Hugo Chavez a demagogue. Yet, while Exxon makes record
profits, Chavez sells natural gas to the poorest in our country at
modest prices. Maybe you shouldn’t spend too much time with
extremists Miami.
You
spoke of freedom from fear in the America of Marti. Yet it was U.S.
meddlesome policies and expansionism that Marti taught us to fear the
most.
While
you are forced to raise millions of dollars to run for public office,
Cubans can run for public office for free. While you promise to make
health insurance available to all, Cubans enjoy one of the best
healthcare systems on the planet, for free. While you promise to make
college loans available, Cubans enjoy free education.
When
I look at the coffee mug with your photo on it at work next week,
I’ll blush.
Barbara Cusack is an attorney and a Barack Obama for president supporter.
