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 Center of South Central Kansas
to 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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