The Shadow of Cuba

...from the fervor of a democratic, humanistic revolution to the status of a Soviet satellite...

...4. Of all the lessons Fidel Castro has taught us, the bitterest and most obvious is this: He who proclaims himself a Communist can count on help from the Soviet Union even though he is 9,000 miles from its borders, while he who proclaims himself a democrat can fight and die 90 miles from the shores of the United States and no one will come to his aid...

...One of the most distinguished of Cuban exiled intellectuals, Aguilar L?©on consistently opposed the Batista regime and criticized the Fidel Castro Government at an early stage in 1959...

...Mass emigration has seen more than 200,000 Cubans leave their country...

...Hunger and rebellion stalk the countryside...

...It was thought that there were certain vital, inviolable areas in the cold war...

...Into the bright light of day there have emerged groups which had hitherto preferred to carry on their activities in strategic obscurity...

...Cuba, unfortunately, has shown that the second part was altogether false...

...3. After four years, the struggle for Cuba continues to be between well-organized Communists and disorganized democrats...

...their adversaries barely whisper the truth...

...The effect of the Castro regime can be seen, too, in the confusion and vacillation of several non-Communist parties and groups...

...It is as if the world did not know by now that any lie-whether that of Aryan racial superiority, of Stalin's benevolence or of Fidel Castro's humanitarianism-can be transformed into an article of faith for millions of people if it is repeated constantly and allowed to go unanswered...

...Wealth has been destroyed which can never be regained...

...2. The vaunted principle of "Hemispheric solidarity" has proved to be largely a sham...

...Although it has been obvious for many years that one of the prime factors in Communism's success is its skillful, tireless propaganda, little if anything has been done to counteract it...

...The firing squad, at first defended as a necessary expedient, has become a regular instrument of government authority...

...Instead of opening their doors wide to the destitute Cuban refugees, some countries have flatly refused to admit them, while others have placed all sorts of legalistic obstacles in their path...

...The Shadow of Cuba By Luis Aguilar Leon It is almost four years since Fidel Castro's rise to power and the changes that have taken place in Cuba in this brief period are startling: The country has passed from the bright dawn of freedom to totalitarian darkness...

...Hungary demonstrated the iron-clad validity of the first part of this assumption...

...Yet, great though Communism's failures have been in Cuba, four basic facts emerge which make Castro's four years in power bleak ones indeed for American democracy: 1. A Communist regime has been able to maintain itself in power in the Western Hemisphere...

...The Cuban tragedy, it turns out, is being selfishly and blindly exploited by the very people who should be most deeply moved by it...

...At the same time, there has been a general scramble among Latin American countries for Cuba's former sugar quota, as well as for its place in foreign markets generally...

...Today many of them are no longer willing to put up bold resistance to the Communists, lest one day they should find themselves standing alone against a Communist government supported by the Soviets...

...In the heated debate precipitated by increased Soviet domination of Castro's Cuba, the voice of the Cuban democrat is too seldom heard...

...Gone is the arrogant propaganda of Castro's first two years-the glowing promises, the publication of rising production figures, the boastful talk of Cuba's "economic liberation," the sarcastic comments about "decaying imperialism...

...What the continued existence of the Communist government of Cuba has meant to Latin American Communists in terms of concrete encouragement can be seen in the new boldness and violence of party activities everywhere on the Continent...

...from redemption to oppression...

...Only a few have responded to the cry for help...

...While Cuba's most valuable goods and machinery are sent to the Soviet Union behind the people's backs, the rest of Latin America is told of the "nationalist revolution" that is under way...

...Politicians and businessmen are using Castro as a bogey to get more financial aid from the United States...

...The Communists shout their lies...

...Chaos and misery are apparent in nearly every sector of national life...

...In the meantime, amid demands for ever greater sacrifices on the part of the Cuban people, the country has been ruthlessly looted of its national wealth by the two great Communist powers on whose aid it has come to depend for survival...

...The negative character of the regime's achievements is even reflected in its own pronouncements...

...Today the Cuban Government freely concedes the gravity of its present economic crisis in the statements it makes for internal consumption, but its broadcasts to the outside world continue to promulgate the myth that Cuba is a "paradise" in which abundance reigns...

...It was assumed that just as a democratic government could not be installed in Latvia or Estonia without waging war against the Soviet Union, any attempt to set up a Communist regime in Latin America would mean an armed clash with the United States...

...Faced with the greatest mass emigration in Latin American history, many of Cuba's "sister nations" have reacted with heartrending inhumanity...

...Luis Aguilar Leon's statement here reflects the mood and thought of a large part of the Cuban emigre community in the United States...

...Both those who sympathize with Castroism and those who fear it are preventing any action against a regime which not only bars free elections and tramples on democratic liberties, but also makes clear -by word and deed-its intention to interfere in the affairs of all Latin America and one day plant the Red flag on the Andes...

...Finally, the principle of "non-intervention" has been effectively invoked...

...Five years ago it was regarded as axiomatic that a Communist regime could not be established in the Americas...

...As the jails keep filling up and the firing squad is used more and more indiscriminately, streams of publicity are sent abroad depicting a happy, smiling Cuban people living in what is referred to as "the free territory of America.' These lies continue to reach their audience virtually uncontradicted...

...It has given way to endless lamentation, constant admission of error and failure, increasingly harsh threats and penalties, and attempts to blame "imperialism" (which has suddenly become "ferocious and powerful") for all that has gone wrong...

...Moreover, the frankness with which Communists proclaim their intention of taking power by force is increasing daily...

...There is nothing more disheartening than listening to Cuban radio stations transmit their highly effective propaganda to all the peoples of Latin America and knowing there is no voice proclaiming the truth about Cuba's tragedy with equal tenacity, fervor and effectiveness...