By Steve Otto
I try not to send a lot of letters to The Wichita Eagle. Most writers I know consider the letters to be armature writing. And I think it is. However there are a few times when I think it is important to respond to opinions that are dangerous to us. A recent article our local paper ran is just such a danger. As with other comments I have seen, this article, “KC, Wichita, US must stand up, step up for Cuban Friends,” seems to me, to imply that we Americans must actively take part in overthrowing the Cuban Marxist-Leninist government. I even got the impression this writer believes the US should go to war, although he doesn’t actually say that. I take the prospect of our country going to one more unnecessary war very seriously. So I wrote a lengthy letter to the editor only to be told that it was way too long. That letter/ article/ etc., is featured below. So I wrote a much shorter letter. It is also posted below:
CUBA
This letter in response to“KC, Wichita, US must stand up, step up for Cuban Friends,” (July 18 Eagle)
Three years ago I spent two weeks traveling across Cuba to see for myself what the island and its government were really like. I was stunned at all the things I have heard or read about Cuba which are simply untrue. They have internet service, some of them have cell phones, some people have old cars that are kept up really well. I have read that everyone there is miserable. That is not true at all. I rarely saw a cop or a soldier the entire time I was there The biggest lie is from those who claim those sanctions aren’t causing problems. They are. And if they aren’t affecting anything, lets lift them and stop punishing the common people of Cuba.
And for those who want this country to invade Cuba — get a gun and do your own dirty work. Leave the rest of us out of it.
Steve Otto, Maize
And here is what I originally wrote:
For years I have worked with the Peace and Social Justice Centerof South Central Kansasto try and stop what we believe are unnecessary wars. We, as a country, are just now leaving Afghanistan. Now I see Cuban Americans and their allies calling for war with Cuba. I have seen at least two comments, on Facebook, of Cuban Americans calling for the US to send troops into Cuba. I find that very alarming.
It is for that reason that I am writing this letter in response to “KC, Wichita, US must stand up, step up for Cuban Friends.” On top of that, these people are either supporting Cuba’s suffocating sanctions or they want heavier sanctions.
Three years ago, I went to Cuba. I went all over the island, including a lot of working class neighborhoods. I went by myself to some working class bars. I was stunned at all the lies that I have read of and heard politicians repeat here in this country, over the years. One of the biggest lies is that the US sanctions aren’t affecting Cubans. Only socialism is doing that, pundits keep saying. People everywhere in that country told me they hate those sanctions. I didn’t meet a single person who wanted those sanctions. I have seen comments from nurses on Facebook complaining that they can’t get medicines they need because of the blockade.
I had read just a month before that no one in Cuba has a cell phone—wrong.
I saw a woman in the park with a cell phone. She had pink hair. It seems that people here have the same rights to different hair cuts and styles as we have here in the US. That debunks another image I got from all the anti-communist propaganda—everyone is supposed to dress and look alike. I saw a few people with cell phones. At least some people own them. I had read were almost none of the people here had cell phones.
I keep reading over and over that no one in Cuba can access the internet—wrong again.
I was also informed that there is an internet café where ANYONE can buy time on a computer and access the internet. There is also a Wi-Fi park where people can access the internet. A few people own their own computers. I was surprised that the government does not seem worried about its people accessing the internet and viewing foreign opinions.
Another statement I’ve heard is that people who live under socialism are miserable. Again I had two weeks to test that theory out and I found it totally wrong. The people I saw and met did not seem to me to be miserable. I saw many people doing all the things I expect people to do in a country, they go to work in the morning, some sit outside their homes after work and I saw people enjoying themselves at their favorite bars in the evening.
One thing I didn’t see very often was cops or soldiers. If that government is so repressive why did I see so few cops.
One line that stands out in that article, “People who have freedom love it, and no one clutches freedom like an American.” The irony for me is that Facebook, on the day I read this, took out a comment I made, posting a link to an article, because it violated their community standards. The bottom line here is that they claim I posted something misleader, but in reality the censored my opinion. So I wish that statement is true, but I’m not convinced.
Also a few years ago, some Cuban Americans physically attacked some protesters who wanted then President Ronald Reagan to stop attacking Nicaragua and the Sandinista government back in the 1980s. That’s not what I call respecting free speech.
We have allowed some Cuban Americans to dictate our treatment of Cuba, since 1959. Most of these people lost property after the Fidel Castro government there came to power. If they win what they want they will go back to Cuba and take back all their property, adding to homelessness and unemployment.
We don’t need to be at war with Cuba. Let the people who live there decide what they want. And we need to stop strangling their economy with those sanctions. Socialism could work if this country stops sabotaging it. If that is not the case, lift the sanctions and there will be no doubt as to what has kept them poor. Let’s find out. Socialism is no longer a dirty word.
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