May 5, 1997

FUJIMORI IN HAVANA

We all know that sometimes we need to personally experience certain events before believing that they actually occurred. That's what happened to me a few days ago when Cuban radio stations spread the news about the ending of the siege of the Japanese embassy in Peru, when it was taken over by police commandos. There was a lot of stirring in the building where I live, and as it often happens, a neighbor knocked at my door to inform me.

I say that you need to personally experience the event because for weeks, no one knew what was going on in Peru. It was the reverse now. Neighbors talked about it incessantly, and scanned the short-wave radio searching for additional information. What amazed me, though, was the atmosphere of joy caused by the success of the military rescue operation.

I did not want to limit my sources to the building where I live, so I took to the streets in search of other opinions. The people standing in line for long hours, typical of the area where I live, would be a good source of finding out how others felt.

It didn't take me long to get comments from the people standing in line to buy a whitish homemade ice-cream confection served in a paper container. A ninth grader told me: "I am glad it's all over". He added: "That Chinese (President Fujimori) knows how to deal with terrorists". A friend of the student's said: "If the guerrillas were really courageous, they would have kidnapped the President, or a high-ranking member of the armed forces. But they captured many innocent victims, who had nothing to do with what was happening in the country".

Other young people with whom I was able to talk, expressed their satisfaction with the way it all ended. None of them had any sympathy or compassion for the death of those who took over the embassy. What would those kids think, I asked myself, about the accounts, compiled in a book, and published by the newspaper "Granma", of the participation of Cuban generals in subversive action in other countries? I only dared to ask about this a couple of times, and the response always was: "I am not interested", or " I have not read about it".

The comments offered by older folks were a little different. A woman, who looked very distinguished, told me that the guerrillas were justified in their action because of the inhuman treatment of those 400-plus from their ranks who were in prison. "I think they should have continued to negotiate, to prevent the bloodshed", she concluded.

Next to a keg of beer, men become more talkative. "It looks like the Chinese (Fujimori) took lessons from Fidel", said one who was wearing work clothes. "You cannot make any concessions to blackmailers. Otherwise the blackmail will continue. When the French and Vatican City embassies were taken over, those who did it ended up dead. And the only thing they ever wanted was to leave the country."

Another one, who slowly sipped from his mug told me, as he smiled slyly: "I think the Cuban government did not like how it ended; they imagined themselves as mediators in solving the crisis, and sending a bill for services rendered. I don't doubt that the Chancellor gave them a bill in advance when he visited Japan a few days ago.

The group quickly dispersed when one of them, motivated by the previous comment said: "Hey guys: if Fujimori runs for office tomorrow in Cuba, he will surely win the election."

Translated for CubaNet by Lorenzo Rodriguez