"The birth and death of a fake man-made feud"
Alberto N. Jones
June 20, 2011
In 1999, it became evident that the United States through its Cuban-American surrogates in south Florida, was introducing a new strategy in their efforts to undermine the Cuban government.
Having identified a substantial demographic shift in favor of Afro-Cubans in the early 90’s, a growing economical crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the existence of only a nominal amount of Afro-Cubans living abroad able to help family members with remittances, created the perfect mix for their proselytizing projects to take root in Cuba.
Aggravating these factors, was a forceful push by Cubans of Hispanic ancestry to co-opt every job earning hard currency in Cuba, monopolize most promotions, travels abroad, improved living conditions, cars and all other material benefits, further deepening the racial and social divide.
Coincidentally, a well intended program in the 2000’s with an unforeseen adverse consequence, consisted of providing emigrants and descendent from Spain, China, Arabs and Israel with humanitarian assistance from their respective countries or organizations abroad, while no similar humanitarian assistance existed for those of African ancestry.
These combined factors created the right broth in which, a number of anti-Castro Afro-Cubans in and outside of Cuba proliferated exuberantly, some of whom, were recruited as US-AID operatives and front foundations, all with a multiprong, heavily funded, subversive program, determined to exacerbate racial divisions, civil unrest and to erode the Cuban government support base.
Tens of unknown Afro-Cubans until then, such as Dr. Elias Biscet, Dr. Darsi Ferrer, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, Vladimiro Roca, Guillermo Farinas and others, replaced well established White Cuban dissidents Osvaldo Paya, Elizardo Sanchez and others.
Suddenly, the Cuban American National Foundation, Alpha 66, Unidad Cubana, Cuban Liberty Council and other lily white counterrevolutionary groups, failed the melanin litmus test and were pushed aside by the US State Department.
Many Afro-Cubans living in Cuba, were acutely aware of these growing inequalities, which they confronted initially through intellectual gatherings, writings and visual arts, as they navigated a slippery slope, by avoiding all confrontation with the Cuban government or for creating a perception of being a resonance box for those bent on fomenting internal conflict.
Tens of thousands of people in this hemisphere, who may have escaped death or injury in a potential race war, shall forever be grateful to the vision and tireless work of Dr. Wayne Smith, Senior Fellow at the Center For International Policy, Washington, D.C., who organized a number of educational seminars on these burning and potentially dangerous issues in the United States.
The first International Conference on this matter, “Views of the Afro-Cuban Community, was organized at Barry University, Miami, 1998.
An expanded and more complex second International Conference, “Afro-Cubans in Cuban society, Past, Present and Future” took place at the John Hopkins University, Washington D. C. in 1999.
The Third International Conference, “Questions on Racial Identity, Racism and Anti-Racist Policies in Cuba Today“, was hosted by the Center For International Policy at the University of California, Washington Center on June 2, 2011, which lived up to the highest expectation of participants from Cuba and from across the United States, after a twelve year hiatus.
A profound and thorough historical description about the evolution of racism in Cuba by two excellent, well documented visiting Cuban scholars, was enlightening and defining. A myriad of questions from the audience followed each panel, requiring at times, that questions had to be grouped, in order to fit within our tight time constraints.
The past was discussed, the present was dissected and the future has begun to be plotted with all factors in Cuba, knowing that it success is contingent on our ability to bring together every person of goodwill from around the world, in this unprecedented, corrective, transformative, far reaching project, which will inexorably turn Cuba into a beacon of social equality and road map for others to follow.
Cuba, like no other country in the world, have contributed enormous human and material resources for the development of health, education, sports and culture in tens of countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and on Blacks in Cuba.
Much, much more must be done, if the victims of slavery, colonialism, ignorance, segregation and other forms of injustices, are ever to achieve their full emancipation, development and equality, new concepts must be developed and implemented immediately.
The new economical development direction that was presented and approved by the VI Congress of the Communist Party in Cuba, laid out the groundwork for what may become, a complete restructuring of its political, administrative and management of the nation’s economy.
The convergence of these separate national and international interests, may become the catalyst our nation needs to achieve its full potential, by joining forces with the underdeveloped world in unleashing the enormous human resource capabilities accumulated in Cuba and elsewhere, on behalf of millions of people who have been victimized for five centuries.
For years, millions of our nation most loyal and unconditional supporters, have been overlooked and ignored, presumably because of their limited financial resources and therefore, their inability to participate in large joint ventures with which, the country has been engaged for more than two decades.
Today, these new development opens our country, to its most interesting development opportunity ever, in which, tens of thousands of minorities from around the world, who have stood steadfast by our nation during its most challenging times, are enthused, willing and waiting to be called upon, to share their modest resources and expertise, with our incipient Mom and Pop, small and medium size enterprises in Cuba.
Here too, Cuba can conceive a new transnational, minority enterprise development in which, the forgotten and excluded of this world, may find a head-start, a true affirmative action that is capable of breaking the yoke of dependency for themselves and their country, by turning this fake, sick, man-made racial feud into a true international solidarity movement.
Unable to thank publicly thousands of intellectuals and ordinary peace loving people in and outside of Cuba, who dedicated their lives to this just cause of building bridges of understanding, harmony and respect among the US and Cuba, they can rejoice, as the fruits of their sacrifice is now within reach.
