Why has Fidel Castro been still marching on?

By: Ibrahim Hajj

Melbourne, Australia

To answer that question, we may need to look back in to Cuba’s recent political history.

It all started in 1961 when the Americans with aid of some Cuban mercenaries landed their forces, illegally, on the Bay of Pigs with the aim of toppling the regime there. It was an act which ended in an embarrassing failure.

By 1962 things got worse following what has come to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

 It involved Fidel Castro and Khrushchev on one side and President Kennedy on the other.

The crisis was averted, but the two countries had been at a loggerheads ever since. The Americans still have a military presence in part of Cuba. Illegally.

As far as the people of Cuba were concerned, the issue was not about Castro, but a matter of national sovereignty and pride.

President Kennedy had vowed to get rid of the Cuban regime and teach Fidel Castro a lesson, and in pursuance of that unholy goal, subsequent American Administrations have resorted to various tactics.

• They imposed a trade embargo and boycotted Cuba’s biggest money earner commodity, namely, sugar.

• They tried to tighten the grip round Castro’s regime with the help of some South American countries.
• Cuban refugees living in Miami have been exploited and encouraged to stage annual demonstrations against Castro demanding “political reforms” and the “freedom of speech”.
• Opposition groups have been asked to forge unholy alliances and asked to incite people in Cuba to dissent against Castro. Propaganda-driven radio broadcast has been used for that purpose.

These tactics have been going on for over forty years now. But still and to the dismay of the Americans, those groups have been unsuccessful.

 Castro is marching on.

But why have the Cuban opposition groups stationed in Miami have so far failed?

The answer is simple.

The Cubans in Cuba would not accept any political changes brought about by an opposition group backed by a foreign power. Especially when that foreign power is still occupying part of their land..

They failed because they underestimated the depth of the Cuban people’s sense of pride.

True, the Cuban regime is not renowned for its democratic rule, and its records of human rights is not among the best in the world. But they have huge pride.

They have a strong belief that a change, if necessary, should have come from within Cuba and by the Cubans in Cuba and not by some hypocrites who have lost touch with the reality in Cuba and who  would have no idea as to what months of the year that rainy season falls in.

They have rejected any party that would compromise the sovereignty of the country just for the sake of getting to power or those who would not care if the country plunged into anarchy and lawlessness or those who would be happy if Cuba emerged as another Somalia or Iraq

That is why the opposition groups failed for over 40 years and no wonder Castro is still marching on!!!!!

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Posted by farajat on Jun 9 2005 Filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry