Monday, April 19, 2010

Not One, But Two Days of Infamy

"Not One, but Two Days of Infamy"
Alberto N Jones
April 18, 2010
 
At 5:00 PM on April 19, 1961, the Cuban government sent out its third and final military statement announcing, that all invading forces holed-up in their last outpost in Cay Largo, had surrendered to the Cuban Armed Forces and the Militia.

This apparently simple military communiqué would become a world -wide symbol of the United States vulnerability, since it had invested endless military, political, intelligence and financial resources, only to see them evaporate before their eyes less than 72 hours after it began.




For approximately 18 months, hundreds of Cuban exiles had been trained by the US Army, CIA and the State Department at Useppa Island , Homestead AFB, Opa Locka and Miami International Airport in Florida , Ft. Gluck and Ft. Clayton in Panama , by the Alabama National Guard, at Ft. Knox , Kentucky . Ft Benning , GA , at Belle Chase, New Orleans , Vieques, Puerto Rico, Puerto Cabezas , Nicaragua , Quetzaltenango base in Guatemala and others.


The CIA had created hundreds of counterrevolutionary groups in Cuba and charged them with spreading diversionary rumors, bombing public buildings, terrorizing teachers, fomenting uprisings across the country and sabotaging industrial and farming facilities. Many CIA funded radio stations pumped scare-tactics news and false military actions throughout the country, in a failed effort to break the will of the Cuban people.




Underreported by the media is the important role played by Guantanamo Naval Base, which in fact, acted as a safe heaven and beachhead in Cuba where millions of useless pesos in the hands of Batista supporters, rich Cubans and early dissenters were laundered in broad daylight, meetings with CIA operatives and Cuban counterrevolutionaries employed or hiding on the base took place unhindered, and counterrevolutionary agents were regularly flown in and out of that military enclave.

The most important, dangerous and unforeseeable consequence from the use of Guantanamo Naval Base during its infamous history stemmed from the receiving, harboring and allowing a group of Cuban counterrevolutionary men, armed with Russian weapons and dressed in Cuban military fatigue to enter Cuba through its gates, charged with executing an auto-attack on this facility -Remember the Maine, Gulf of Tonkin- which would be followed by the US self defense reaction to this enclave, by bombing Cuba back into the stone ages. Operation Northwoods provided an in depth description of this and other sinister plans of the US government.
 
Yet most Cubanologists, mainstream media and historians, have devoted hundreds of articles attempting to determine if the failure of the reprehensive and treacherous 1961 invasion was due to a lack of air support and fire power or the choice of a wrong landing site, without ever questioning the morality of this action or condemning its perpetrators.

Much in tune with the overall, rotten principle of this enterprise was the sleazy bombing raid on Cuba ’s three air fields two days before the invasion, using B-26´s disguised with fake Cuban Air Force markings in the hope of neutralizing their Air Force. They presented to the media in Miami a B-26 littered with fake anti-aircraft bullets and its crew, as a defecting Cuban Air Force plane with its personnel, – this was later shamefully presented by Adlai Stevenson to the UN Security Council.






How can anyone plan and execute such a treacherous act, when precisely twenty years before, the Japanese Air Force attacked and destroyed the US fleet in Pearl Harbor, leading president Franklin Roosevelt to declare December 7th, as A Day of Infamy, declaring war on Japan and entering into WW II?





And today, 49 years after this heinous act, the perpetrators and intellectual authors have not come to grips with their disgraceful behavior, accepted their responsibility, apologized to the Cuban people, the wounded and dead, but rather, they are actively hosting a series of events in south Florida to honor the victimizers and strengthen the punishing 50 year old embargo on innocent Cubans, because the Cubans dared to defend their homeland.



As a survivor and on behalf of tens of thousands of friends, family and neighbors living in Guantanamo, a mere 12 miles away from the US Naval Base or Ground Zero, we have no doubts, our city would have been pulverized and we would have occasionally been remembered like the victims of Coventry, Dresden, Lidice, Mi Lay or Nagasaki.

To those whose defensive actions saved the lives of tens of thousands of fellow citizens in Guantanamo , Santiago de Cuba , Havana and everything in between, we can humbly say Thank You Very Much for all you have done.


Friday, April 9, 2010

Una Batalla Mundial de Vida o Muerte, Segundo Parte

"Una Batalla Mundial de Vida o Muerte, Segunda Parte"

Alberto N. Jones

4 de Abril del año 2010



El gobierno Cubano acusado de racismo en ¨Actuando sobre nuestra Conciencia¨

Las históricas acusaciones de racismo promovidas por grupos anti-Cubanos radicados en la Florida y en Europa en contra del gobierno Cubano; las graves imputaciones del Dr. Carlos Moore que han sido profusamente diseminadas en países y comunidades predominantemente negro durante los últimos 25 años y el documento espurio recientemente circulado y firmado por decenas de intelectuales Afro-Americanos, Caribeños y Afro-Latinoamericanos, debía constituir la alquimia que detonara la explosión social que barriera al gobierno de Cuba del poder y re-instalara otro, en la imagen y semejanza del gobierno de los Estados Unidos.



La trágica, dolorosa e irreparable inmolación de Orlando Tamayo Zapata, debido a su decisión de rechazar la ingestión de alimentos, ha desencadenado una ola de protesta sin precedentes alrededor del mundo, con lo que se pretende estimular a otros llamados disidentes en Cuba, no a los que residen en el exterior, a imitar y repetir esta tragedia, como si nuestra cultura fuese Sunni, Shiita, o Taliban.



Sin pretender minimizar, cuestionar y menos aun denigrar esta fatal decisión que enlútese, mancha y avergüenza a todos, llama la atención sin embargo, que una reacción similar no se produjo cuando una decena de presos políticos se inmolaron de igual manera en Irlanda del Norte, ni despues las masacres de Sharpville, Ruanda y Soweto, las golpizas de miles de negros en Alabama, Mississippi o Tennessee durante la lucha por los derechos civiles, los miles de linchamientos a lo largo y ancho de los Estados Unidos o ante la diaria brutalidad policíaca en contra de la comunidad Afro-Americana.



Esta táctica dirigida a fomentar la división racial en Cuba, tuvo sus antecedentes en 1910 y reapareció pocos días después de producirse el asalto al Cuartel Moncada el 26 de Julio de 1953 en Santiago de Cuba, cuando los voceros del régimen echaron a rodar rumores que sugerían, que dicha acción estaba motivado por los prejuicios raciales de los atacantes blancos procedentes del occidente del país, en contra del Presidente Fulgencio Batista, debido a su condición de mulato.



Las primeras imágenes recogidas en la prensa afianzaron esta falacia, ya que todos los detenidos y muertos eran blancos. No fue hasta la celebración del juicio en contra de los atacantes meses después, que se vieron las primeras fotos de personas no blancas.



Meses despues, los estudiantes de las escuelas secundarias, instituto de segunda enseñanza, artes y oficios, maestros normalistas y de la universidad de Oriente, se vieron envueltos en intensos debates acerca de la problemática nacional y la necesidad de enfrentar al gobierno golpista. Nuevamente los apologistas del régimen hicieron grandes esfuerzos por demostrar que no existía una crisis constitucional sino, un deliberado intento por parte de los blancos para recobrar el poder.



Paradojicamente, esta táctica no tuvo resonancia dentro del estudiantado de Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba y otras comunidades con grandes asentamientos de población negra. Las fotos de los revolucionarios a la salida del Presidio Modelo de Isla de Pinos, otras a raíz del desembarco del Granma en las Coloradas en 1956, los contactos con Willy, Cauce, Zúñiga, Temistocles, Newton, Richard, Thompson, Manfugas y otros insurrectos, constituyeron un rotundo mentis para esta patraña.



Entre las primeras leyes introducidas por la Revolución triunfante en Enero de 1959 estuvo, la desinstitucionalizacion del racismo. Todas las asociaciones recreacionales basadas en principios raciales fueron desintegradas y convertidas en círculos sociales, las escuelas privadas fueron nacionalizadas e incorporadas al sistema nacional de educación y la matricula quedo sujeto al lugar de residencia del alumno. Las playas, empleos, clubs y barriadas fueron igualmente integrados sin distingo racial.



Se aprobaron las Leyes de Reforma Agraria, Reforma Urbana, reducción de la tarifa Eléctrica, Telefónica y del 50% del costo de los medicamentos, beneficiando a las clases más desposeídas del país, del cual los negros constituían la mayoría absoluta.



La campaña de Alfabetización, Seguimiento, la Batalla por el Sexto Grado, la formación de Maestros Primarios, la apertura de Escuelas Tecnológicas, los Planes de Nivelación Educacional y el plan de Becas Universitarias, posibilitaron la incorporación al estudio de decenas de miles de estudiantes pobres.



Al mismo tiempo, cientos de estudiantes de nivel medio y superior procedentes de América Latina, África, Asia y el Caribe, recibieron becas para realizar estudios en Cuba, lo que ha permitido que graduados de estas aulas, ocupen posiciones clave en sus respectivos países en beneficios de sus pueblos.



Estas drásticas medidas en favor de los marginados, las intervenciones y las confiscaciones de los bienes de las clases dominantes, convirtió a los mas en enemigos de la Revolución, quienes acuñaron el término peyorativo eslavoide de SOLOVANNICHE a sus playas y otros centros de recreo, lo que una vez descifrado significaba SOLO VAN NICHE, donde nunca más pusieron los pies hasta que abandonaron el país, afiliándose a numerosos grupos contrarrevolucionarios.



Miles de Afro-Cubanos fueron empleados por primera vez en trabajos de administración, oficinas de la compañía de electricidad, teléfonos y similares; tiendas de ropa, ómnibus interprovinciales e incluso en algunas locales como la ruta 30 en la Habana; en cafeterías y restaurantes del Vedado, Miramar, Centro Habana y acceso a centros médicos como el Sagrado Corazón, Clínica de Miramar, Marfan, Hijas de Galicia, La Covadonga y otros.



La celebración en Cuba de la Conferencia Tri Continental y la creación de la OSPAAAL en 1966, fue motivo de orgullo nacional y símbolo inequívoco del compromiso de Cuba con los países del Tercer Mundo, lo que convirtió a Cuba en una escala obligada de decenas de líderes y jefes de estado de los países en vías de desarrollo.



El incondicional apoyo de Cuba a los movimientos de liberación de Argelia, Angola, Congo y Etiopia en África, el masivo apoyo a lucha del pueblo de Viet Nam y a los grupos de liberación nacional de Venezuela, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Chile y otros, estableció de manera definitiva la posición del gobierno Cubano ante el mundo.



Una y otra vez, Cuba no vacilo en poner en riesgo su seguridad nacional al ofrecerle abrigo a decenas de revolucionarios Afro-Americanos, Africanos, Latino-Americanos y de otras partes del mundo, perseguidos por sus gobernantes.



La epopeya militar que Cuba libro durante mas de una década en el cono sur de África en el cual, unos 300,000 militares Cubanos lucharon hombro con hombro con sus hermanos Africanos, consolidando la independencia de Angola, demoliendo el Apartheid, contribuyendo a la independencia de Namibia, Zimbabwe y Sur África y la heroica liberación de Nelson Mandela y sus compañeros de armas, es sin duda, el mayor honor que se le ha podido conferir a los descendientes de África en todo el mundo, al liberar la tierra de donde fueron arrancados en cadenas sus antecesores siglos atrás.



No obstante, el aporte de decenas de miles de Médicos, Enfermeros y otros trabajadores de la salud que han asistido a millones de pacientes y salvado a miles de una muerte segura en todos los rincones del planeta, es sin lugar a dudas, la obra cumbre de Cuba a favor de los ignorados.



Todo lo anterior y mucho mas, fue realizado con una generosidad sin precedentes en los anales de historia humana, en la que Cuba no condiciono su ayuda al estado de la relaciones bilaterales con ningún país, jamas acepto retribución económica alguna o mediante la extracción de recursos naturales de alguno de esos países.



El cúmulo de las contribuciones de Cuba en favor de los desposeídos, abusados e ignorados en general y el de los negros en particular en todo el mundo, demuestra en forma concluyente, irrebatible y refuta categóricamente todo intento mezquino por parte de enemigos confesos, asalariados y oportunistas de toda laya, que tratan de endilgarle el repulsivo calificativo de racista, como parte de una amplia campana internacional dirigida, orquestada y financiada por probados racistas Cubano-Americanos, gobiernos colonizadores, ex-esclavistas y xenofobicos Europeos, lidereados por los Estados Unidos.



Es comparable el expediente de 50 anos del gobierno de Cuba con cualquier periodo similar de los gobiernos de España, Holanda, Francia, Bélgica o Inglaterra durante los siglos XVI-XXI o el de los Estados Unidos, Alemania, Japón y otros durante los siglos XX-XXI ?



Confiando quizás excesivamente en esta colosal hoja de servicios, el gobierno de Cuba ha cometido serios errores en la administración de sus recursos nacionales, sociales, laborales, salariales, salud, vivienda, educación y otros, al someter al pueblo a severos e injustificados sacrificios materiales durante décadas, ha coartado aspiraciones básicas de la población, se ha fosilizado el desarrollo de la infra-estructura nacional, se ha perdido el sentido de pertenencia mediante la imposición de medidas inconsulta y los mecanismos de desaprobación o quejas de la población se han transformado en centros de catarsis colectivo, promotores de cinismo y de corrupción oficial.



Un factor crucial en la perpetuación de estos males ha sido, la falta de medios masivo de comunicación crítico, denunciando y desenmascarando el delito, la ausencia de un periodismo sagaz, investigativo en constante vigilia, que mida el sentimiento popular y rehuya de un falso triunfalismo creador de imagenes ficticias.



Cuba es culpable de negligencia y de una imperdonable dilación en enfrentar las crónicas injusticias y desigualdades sociales que han plagado, desmoralizado y literalmente diezmado a la comunidad Afro-Cubana especialmente a partir del periodo especial, en el que fueron excluidos intencionalmente de todo acceso a moneda convertible en un mercado dolarizado; forzándolos a delinquir, prostituirse y desmoronarse moralmente.



Cuba no puede explicarle de manera convincente a su pueblo, que las autoridades de nuestro país desconocían que Cubanos procedentes del Oriente del país eran llamados Palestinos por sus hermanos de Occidente, detenidos vergonzosamente en la calle Obispo, Parque Central o Varadero y devueltos a su lugar de residencia, tal cual ocurría en Pretoria, Ciudad del Cabo o Windhoek, antes que estos mismos Afro-Cubanos liberaron con su sangre y sus vidas a sus hermanos Africanos de tan monstruosa infamia.



Como explicarnos sin connotaciones raciales, el escandaloso y desproporcionado índice de Afro-Cubanos encarcelados en Cuba, cuya etiogenia radica en parte, en el trágico resurgimiento del racismo, segregación y las catastróficas regulaciones administrativas de muchas empresas, que han colimado y excluido a un amplio sector de la sociedad de las áreas con acceso a moneda convertible, sin que este crimen hubiera sido denunciado por académicos, centros de estudio, los medios de comunicación masiva o sometidos a acción judicial por las instituciones pertinentes?



Como racionalizar en forma desapasionada, que Santiago de Cuba con una población predominantemente negro, haya dejado de ser la segunda ciudad en importancia en el país?



Santiago de Cuba, hasta la reciente re-estructuracion politica de la provincia, se habia convertido en una ciudad frustrada, sin perspectiva, un severo desempleo, alto mentalidad migratoria en la juventud, limitado desarrollo socio-económico-cultural y relegado a una posición de menor importancia que Holguín, Cienfuegos o la Habana Vieja ?



Puede alguien explicar en forma razonable, porque el British West Indian Welfare Center, una ONG que fue fundada en 1946 en Guantánamo y que fuera encargada de fomentar, desarrollar y preservar la cultura de unos 500,000 emigrantes y descendientes de cada uno de las Islas Caribenas de habla Ingles residiendo en Cuba, ocupe hoy un edificio semi-derruido, lleno de goteras, al cual con pena, visitan decenas de investigadores foraneos de historia negra, diplomaticos y personalidades del alrededor del mundo para hurgar entre sus paginas llenas de historia en riesgo de perderse, debido el calamitoso estado del edificio?



Dolorosamente y de manera incompresible, la direccion del Ministerio de Justicia de la Provincia de Guantanamo les denego el uso de un edificio aledano apropiado, vacio por mas de una decada, en el cual la membresia podria haber construido las facilidades que satisfagan las necesidades historicas, cientificas y culturales de esta entidad, al mismo tiempo que, la direccion del Ministerio de Justicia de la provincia de la Habana, le otorgo a la Asociacion Asturiana con menos de 1000 descendientes en Cuba, un edifcio en la Avenida del Prado frente al antiguo Capitolio, donde esta ubicado el restaurant Los Nardos?



Que reglas especiales determinaron que el Ministerio de Justicia le otorgara a la pequena comunidad Hebrea residente en Cuba, todo el material de construccion requerido para remodelar sus sinagogas y para operar el bello hotel Raquel, en tanto, el Jamaican Club de Banes, fundado bajo los mismos principios que los del British West Indian Welfare Center de Guantanamo, no ha podido recobrar su local convertido en bodega, mientras la historia y cultura de esta comunidad se desvanece por minutos?



Cuales nociones preconcebidas del Ministerio de Turismo, los ha llevado a promover intensamente este sector mediante ferias de turismo en sur America, Europa, Asia, Norteamerica y Australia, en tanto han ignorado abiertamente el poder adquisitivo y la proximidad geografica de millones de turistas potenciales Afro-Americanos y Caribenos, quienes empatizarian inmediatamente con el entorno de Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo y otras areas de Cuba, con quienes tienen un fuerte vinculo etnico, historico, cultural y familiar?



Porque sorprendernos ante las crecientes manifestaciones de racismo en Cuba, sabiendo que los planes de estudio del Ministerio de Educación han omitido o soslayado importantes contribuciones históricas de los Africanos y sus descendientes?



Porque el ICAIC ha archivado películas y otras manifestaciones culturales que reflejan a negros en actividades positivas o logros historicos, mientras muestran infinidad de películas, novelas y obras de teatro hechas en Cuba o importadas, que tienden a presentar a los negros en papeles de dependencia, servilismo o delictivos, en contraste con las expresiones de Caballero, Señoríto y Damas de otros grupos étnicos?



Como se entiende que el ICAIC disponga de tiempo y recursos para honrar la memoria de Yarine, un vulgar proxeneta convertido en fabula social, pero ha carecido al mismo tiempo de recursos o interés, para rendir homenaje a la vida de Jesús Menéndez, José Maceo o Juan Gualberto Gómez?



Como explicable sin dobleces a nuestros hijos, que despues de medio siglo de Revolucion solidaria con el mundo, nuestro pais ha tenido difficultades en replicar en cientos de jovenes Afro-Cubanos, las excepcionales cualidades humanas del General Antonio Maceo, Mariana Grajales, Brindis de Salas, Comandante Juan Almeida, Nicolas Guillen o Regino Boti, formados en las abyectas condiciones coloniales o de la seudorepublica?



Complicando aun mas este cuadro atroz ha sido, el que ningun pais u organización social, humanitaria o religiosa predominantemente negro en el mundo, ha sabido extenderle una mano solidaria a la comunidad Afro-Cubana cautiva, renuente a emigrar, esperanzada en ese mañana mejor que los ha eludido, debido a los crudos rigores de bloqueo y las férreas restricciones internas que estrangulan toda gestión económica no-gubernamental, resquebrajando sus principios éticos, estremeciendo sus valores morales y situando a millones de víctimas al borde del colapso social.



Otros grupos étnicos en Cuba, han hecho un amplio uso de las posibilidades migratorias, se agenciaron los mejores empleos con acceso a moneda convertible, ocupan las mejores áreas residenciales, viajes al exterior, son promovidos y han recibido además, un sustancial apoyo monetario por parte de los países de procedencia de sus ancestros, como es el caso de España, Israel, China y algunos países Árabes, profundizando aun mas, las divisiones de clase.



En nuestro intento por crear una patria con todos y para el bien de todos en el siglo XIX, los Afro-Cubanos se incorporaron masivamente y constituyeron el grueso del ejército libertador y de sus bajas en combate. Nuestro esfuerzo fue escatimado con la humillante intervención militar de los Estados Unidos en 1898, castrando las aspiraciones sociales de nuestro país, re-introduciendo el racismo y segregación, suspendiendo la inmigración negra del Caribe, mientras introdujeron clandestinamente a mas de 100,000 Canarios en el occidente del país, entregándoles tierras y distribuyendo el grueso de los recursos del país entre los intervencionistas y los que fueron derrotados en el campo de batalla.



Traicionados, frustrados y sin otra opción a su alcance, los negros fundaron el Partido Independiente de Color a fin de demandar justicia, equidad y los derechos conculcados, siguiendo las normas políticas establecidas.



La respuesta a esta noble acción, fue la brutal masacre de mas de 6000 miembros de dicho partido político y el de otros, cuyo único delito fue su condición de negro o mulato en Santiago de Cuba, Songo, La Maya, San Luís y Guantánamo.



Y hoy, a casi 100 años de aquel crimen, un monumento fastuoso en la Avenida de los Presidentes y la calle 27 en la Habana, honra la memoria del General José Miguel Gómez, autor intelectual de aquella cacería humana, en tanto, ha faltado el tiempo o la voluntad política para erigir una simple cruz en memoria de las victimas en el lugar del crimen.



Cuba, al igual que todos los países cuyo desarrollo, modo de vida y cuanto sea visible o invisible fue creado con el trabajo, sudor, sangre y la vida de millones de Africanos y sus descendientes, quienes fueron obligados a trabajar en las peores labores de sol a sol en forma gratuita por mas de 350 años, no puede desconocer, ignorar o dar por saldada esa deuda impagable con una parte de sus hijos.



No reconocer esa infamia, no comenzar a aplicar de inmediato medidas elementales de justicia que corrijan esa mancha imborrable de nuestra historia, ha impedido y continuara impidiendo que nuestro país alcance el sitial de honor que le corresponde entre la comunidad de naciones del mundo.



Una postura diferente, no podria corresponder con la Cuba martirizada durante la conspiración de la escalera, el cruel fusilamiento de los 7 estudiantes de medicina, la honrosa Protesta de Baragua, la criminal explosión de la Coubre, la Crisis de los Misiles y el heroísmo de Cuito-Cuanavale, no tolerara que nuestra nación continué arrastrando ese secreto que mancha a todos por igual.



Ninguno de los países que se enriquecieron con la sangre de nuestros ancestros es igual que Cuba? En Cuba existe una Revolución poseedora del carácter, fortaleza moral y principios éticos capaces de identificar los males, evaluar los hechos y tomar las medidas correctivas impostergables que nuestra sociedad demanda.



Solo Cuba dispone de la autoridad moral para enfrentar y motivar a otros deudores para asumir juntos o por separado, esta deuda colectiva con la humanidad.



Para el bien de todos, el capitulo final incluirá algunas conceptos, mecanismos simples, los cuales de ser considerados viables o merecedores de ser implementados aun en forma experimental, aspira a encontrar opciones, esperanzas, claves o direcciones que pudieran contribuir a crear la nacion que merecemos y con la que hemos venido sonando durante mas de 500 años.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

A Worldwide Battle of Life & Death

"A Worldwide Battle of Life and Death. Part II"
April 4th, 2010
Alberto Jones




The Cuban government accused of Racism in “Acting on our Conscience.”

Historically, anti-Cuba groups based in Florida and Europe, have systematically accused the Cuban government of being racist; the serious allegations of Dr. Carlos Moore, which have been profusely disseminated through predominantly black countries and communities for the past 25 years, and the spurious document that was circulated and signed by tens of prominent Afro-Americans, Caribbean and Afro-Latin America intellectuals, should constitute the perfect alchemy to detonate a social explosion that would sweep the Cuban government out of office and replace it with one in the image and semblance of the government of the United States of America.

The tragic, painful and irreparable loss of Orlando Tamayo Zapata through his decision to starve himself to death, has unleashed an unprecedented wave of denunciations around the world, with which some are hoping to encourage other dissidents in Cuba, not those living abroad, to imitate and repeat this tragedy, as if, our culture were Sunni, Shiite or Taliban.

Without pretending to minimize, question or denigrate this fatal decision that saddens, stains and shames our country, I would point out that a similar reaction did not occur when approximately ten political prisoners in northern Ireland took a similar action in the 80‘s, nor did one occur after the massacres in Sharpville, Ruanda and Soweto, the beatings of thousands of blacks in Alabama, Mississippi or Tennessee during the Civil Rights movement, the thousands of lynching across the United States or the daily police brutality against the Afro-American community.

This tactic, geared to promote racial divisions in Cuba, had its antecedent in 1910 with the campaign against the Independent Party of Color and re-appeared shortly after the attack on the Moncada Garrison in Santiago de Cuba on July 26, 1953, when the spokesperson of the regime spread rumors suggesting that this action was motivated by racial prejudices of white attackers from western Cuba against president Fulgencio Batista, a mulato.

The first images appearing in the press reinforced this fallacy since all prisoners as well as the dead were white. It was not until the court appearance of the attacker’s months later that the first images of non-whites became public.

Soon after, secondary schools, high schools, technical and teachers school and university students in the province of Oriente were involved in a intense national debate about ways to confront Batista‘s government. Once again, the regime apologists made great efforts to demonstrate there was no constitutional crisis, rather, it was a deliberate intent of white Cuba to retake over the government.

Paradoxically, this tactic had little resonance among students in Guantanamo , Santiago de Cuba and other communities with large Afro-Cuban population. The pictures of the insurgents as they exited the Model Prison on the Isle of Pines, others, after the landing of the Granma in Las Coloradas in 1956, contacts with Willy, Cauce, Zuniga, Temistocles, Newton, Richard, Thompson, and Manfugas became a resounding denial of this falsehood.

Among the first measures introduced by the victorious Revolution in January of 1959 was the des-institutionalization of racism. All recreational associations based upon racial principles were disbanded and turned into social circles, all private schools were nationalized, incorporated to the national education system and registration was dependent on the student’s home address. Beaches, jobs, clubs and neighborhoods were integrated without racial distinctions.

The Land and Urban reform laws were enacted; the electric and telephone bills were reduced and all prescription medications were slashed by 50%, benefiting the poor, of which Afro-Cubans were an absolute majority.

The literacy campaign, Follow-Up, the Battle for the Sixth Grade , the training of Primary Teachers, the opening of Technical Schools , the Education Leveling Program and the University Scholarships enabled tens of thousands of poor students to join different educational programs.

At the same time, hundreds of middle and higher education students from Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean received scholarships in Cuba , which allowed these graduates to occupy important positions in their countries, benefiting their people.

These drastic measures in favor of the marginalized, the interventions and confiscations of properties of the dominant class turned them into enemies of the Revolution who coined the pejorative term of SOLOVANNICHE to their beaches and other recreational centers, which once it was unscrambled meant SOLO VAN NICHE or WHERE ONLY NIGGERS GO, where they never put their feet again, as they abandoned the country and joined numerous counterrevolutionary groups.

Thousands of Afro-Cubans were employed for the first time in administrative jobs and office settings in the electric and telephone companies, garment stores, inter-provincial bus lines and even local lines such as route 30 in Havana, coffee shops and restaurants in Vedado, Miramar and Centro Havana neighborhoods and access to medical centers such as Sagrado Corazon, Clinica de Miramar, Marfan, Hijas de Galicia, La Covadonga and others.

Hosting the Tri Continental Conference and the founding of OSPAAAL in Havana in 1966 became a source of national pride and an unmistakable symbol of Cuba ’s commitment to the Third World, turning Cuba into a compelling stop for all leaders and heads of state of developing countries.

Cuba’s unconditional support of the liberation movements in Algeria, Angola, Congo and Ethiopia in Africa, the massive support it provided to the people of Viet Nam and to national liberation groups in Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Chile and others defined the position of the Cuban government in the world.

Over and over, Cuba did not hesitate to place its national security at risk, by offering safe haven to tens of Afro-Americans, Africans, Latin-Americans and other revolutionaries, persecuted by their governments.

The epic military battle that Cuba fought for over a decade in the southern cone of Africa, in which 300,000 Cuban soldiers took part shoulder to shoulder alongside their African brothers, resulted in the consolidation of Angola’s independence, the destruction of Apartheid and contributed to the independence of Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa and the heroic liberation of Nelson Mandela and his brothers in arms. This effort is without any doubt the greatest honor that has been conferred upon descendents of Africa around the world, freeing the lands from where their forefathers were ripped away in chains many centuries ago.

And yet, providing tens of thousands of physicians, nurses and other healthcare workers to millions of patients and saving thousands of people from a certain death in every corner of the globe is without any doubt the pinnacle of everything that Cuba has done on behalf of the forgotten.

All of the above and more was done with an unprecedented generosity in the annals of human history, in which Cuba did not conditioned its support to the state of bilateral relations with any country, never accepted payment, and never extracted raw material from any of these countries.

The cumulative contribution that Cuba has provided to the dispossessed, abused and ignored in general and to blacks in particular around the world demonstrates conclusively, without a nanogram of doubt, and refutes categorically every wretched attempt by confessed enemies, salaried or opportunists of any stripe, to lodge this repulsive racist epithet on Cuba as part of a broad international campaign directed, orchestrated and financed by proven racists Cuban-Americans, colonialists governments, ex-slave traders and xenophobic European, lead by the United States.

Can we compare Cuba ’s 50 year record with any similar period of the governments of Spain , Holland , France , Belgium or England during the XVI-XX centuries or that of the United States , Germany , Japan and others during the XX-XXI century?

Relying excessively on this colossal record, the Cuban government has made serious mistakes in the administration of its national resources in social, labor, salary, health, housing and education policies. The population have been subjected to severe and unjustifiable material shortages for decades, various basic aspirations of the population have been restricted, and numerous national infrastructure developments have been mismanaged or misconceived. There has been a heightened sense of disenfranchisement of the population through imposed regulations. Most mechanisms of complaints or remedy by the citizenry have become a collective catharsis center, promoting cynicism and official corruption.

A crucial factor in the perpetuation of these ills is the lack of a critical mass media denouncing wrongdoings, an effective investigative journalism policing our day-to-day activities and an overtly triumphal news reporting that masks deficiencies and creates a fictional reality.

Cuba is guilty of negligence and an unforgivable delay in confronting and addressing the chronic injustices and social inequalities that have plagued, demoralized and literally decimated the Afro-Cuban community, especially since the advent of the Special Period during which they were excluded intentionally from all access to hard currency in a dollar-governed economy; forcing many into prostitution, crime and demoralization.

Cuba cannot explain convincingly to its people that the government was not aware that citizens from the eastern provinces were called Palestinian by their fellow citizens in Havana, shamefully detained on Obispo street, Central Park or Varadero beach and returned to their place of residence, just as it happened in Pretoria, Cape City or Windhoek, before these same Afro-Cubans freed their African brothers from such an infamy with their blood or their lives.

How can we explain to ourselves without racial overtones, the scandalous and disproportionate index of Afro-Cubans incarcerated in Cuba, whose etiology lies with the tragic resurgence of racism, segregation and catastrophic management regulations in many enterprises, that targeted and excluded an ample sector of society from areas with access to convertible currency, without this crime being denounced by academics, research centers, mass media or subjected to judicial corrective measures?

How can anyone rationalize dispassionately that Santiago de Cuba with a predominantly black population is no longer the second city in importance in the country, which until a recent political shuffle, had become a frustrated, hopeless city with severe unemployment, high migratory mentality among youngsters, limited socio-cultural development and is relegated to a lesser importance than Holguin, Cienfuegos or Old Havana?

Can anyone reasonably explain why the British West Indian Welfare Center, an NGO that was founded in Guantanamo in 1946 to preserve, foster and develop the history and culture of approximately 500,000 emigrants and descendents from every English Speaking Caribbean islands living in Cuba, occupies today a crumbling, leaky building, where researchers of Black history, diplomats and personalities from around the world visit to glean through its historical documents at risk of vanishing, as it was denied a suitable, vacant building by the Department of Justice of the Province of Guantanamo, where its membership had hoped to build a facility to satisfy their needs and historical importance, while the same Department of Justice of the Province of Havana, provided the Asturian Association, with less than 1000 descendents in Cuba, a posh building on Central Park Blvd., across from the Old Capitol building in Havana that houses the Nardo’s Restaurant?

What special rules prompted the Justice Department in Havana to provide the tiny Jewish community with every bit of construction material to refurbish their synagogues and to own/operate the beautiful hotel Raquel?

What preconceived notion leads the Cuban Ministry of Tourism to promote heavily and organize trade fairs in south America, Europe, Asia and Australia, as it blatantly ignore the purchasing power and geographical proximity of millions of Afro-Americans and Caribbean potential tourists, who would readily feel at home in Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and other areas in Cuba, with whom they hold a strong ethnic, historical and family bonds?

How can we be surprised by rising racism in Cuba, knowing that the Ministry of Education curriculum has omitted or intentionally evaded important historical contributions of Africans and their descendents in the development of the Cuban nation, has shelved films and other cultural events depicting blacks in positive, historical accomplishments, while innumerable films, soap operas and plays made in Cuba or imported, tends to present black people in servility, dependency or unlawful activities, in contrast with the Gentleman, Lady or Mistress attributes conferred upon other ethic groups?

Can we plausibly explain how the ICAIC (Cuban Institute of Arts and Cinematography Industry) has the time and funds to honor the memory of Yarine, a vulgar pimp turned into a popular fable, but has not had the time, funds or interest to pay homage to the lives of Bartolome Maso, Jesus Menendez, Carlota, Jose Maceo or Juan Gualberto Gomez?

How can anyone convincingly convey to our children that after half a century of solidarity with the world, Cuba has been unable to replicate among Afro-Cuban youths, tens of General Antonio Maceo, Aponte, Brindis de Salas, Mariana Grajales, Nicolas Guillen or Regino Boti, originated in the abject social conditions of colonialism and the pseudo-republic?

Complicating even more this horrible scenario is the fact that no predominantly black country, social, humanitarian or religious institution in the world, has been able to extend a helping hand to a captive Afro-Cuban community, reluctant to migrate, dreaming about an elusive better tomorrow, while the crude rigors of the blockade and the severe internal restrictions that strangle all non-governmental economic activity are eroding societal ethics, shattering their moral values and placing millions on the verge of social collapse?

Other ethnic groups in Cuba, have widely used migratory possibilities and have controlled the best jobs with access to convertible money, while they occupy the best residential areas, undertake foreign travels, job promotion and have also received substantial monetary support from the countries of origin of their ancestors, as is the case of Spain, Israel, China and some Arab countries, widening Cuba’s class divisions.

In our intent of creating a country with all and for the betterment of all in the XIX century as was postulated by Jose Marti, Afro-Cubans joined massively, constituted the bulk of the Army of Independence and suffered most of its casualties. Our sacrifices were infringed upon by the humiliating military intervention of the United States in 1898, emasculating our country’s social aspirations, re-introducing segregation and racism, prohibiting black immigration from the Caribbean as they introduced 100,000 men, women and children in western Cuba from the Canary Islands to “bleach“ the country. They were given funds and farmlands while all of the country resources were distributed among the interventionists and those who were defeated on the battlefield.

Afro-Cubans received nothing material, were prohibited to rise above the rank of lieutenant in the army even though some had led victorious armies during the war of independence. They were barred from the police force and were confined to menial, jobs or unemployment.

Betrayed, frustrated and without any other option, blacks founded the Independent Party of Color in order to demand justice, equity and their brutally violated rights, following the established political norms.

The answer to this noble action was the monstrous massacre of over 6000 members of the party and others, whose only crime was being black or mulato, in Santiago de Cuba , Songo, La Maya, San Luis and Guantanamo .

And today, nearly 100 years after that horrific crime, a magnificent monument on Presidents Avenue and 27th Street in Havana honors the memory of General Jose Miguel Gomez, the intellectual author of this human turkey shoot, while there has been no time or political will to erect a simple cross at the site of the crime, in honor of its victims.

Cuba is like other countries whose development, life style and everything that is visible and invisible was created with the work, sweat, blood and the lives of millions of Africans and their descendents, who were forced to do the worst jobs from sunrise to sundown for free for more than 350 years. Cuba cannot ignore or presume it has addressed this un-payable debt with millions of its children.

To not recognize this infamy, to not begin to apply elementary corrective measures to address this un-erasable blot in our history, has impeded and will continue to impede our country to achieve the seat of honor it deserve among the community of nations in the world, as paid hypocrites are now trying to use.

No other position could correspond with a martyrized Cuba during the Ladder Conspiracy, the cruel execution of the 7 medical students, the Baragua Protest, the explosion of La Coubre, the Missile Crisis and the heroism of the battle of Cuito-Cuanavale, to tolerate our country to continue to drag or to hide this secret that stains us all alike.

None of the countries that enriched themselves with the blood of our ancestors is like Cuba . In Cuba there is an ongoing Revolution, with the character, moral fortitude and ethical principles that are a pre-requisite to identify these ills, evaluate them factually and introduce the corrective, un-deferrable measures our society demands.

Only Cuba has the moral authority to confront and motivate others to assume together or separately, this collective debt with humanity.

For the good of all, part III the final chapter, will include some honest thoughts, simple mechanisms, that if they were deemed worthy of implementing, even on an experimental basis, we hope may shed some options, clues and directions, that may help us heal this immoral scar and begin to create the nation we deserve and with which, we have dreamt for over 500 years.