Frank Calzon. Published Wednesday, June 14, 2000, in the Miami Herald
On the day that three members of the Congressional Black Caucus visiting Havana announced that Fidel Castro had offered to send Cuban doctors to Mississippi to help reduce the infant mortality rate there, two of Cuba's ``doctor diplomats'' were trying to defect in Zimbabwe.
The saga of the two physicians seeking asylum, then being kidnapped and jailed while the Cuban ambassador pressured the government to return them to Cuba, is not unique. Although Castro insists that Cubans flee on inner tubes because of the allure of America's consumerism, history shows
otherwise. As an Ottawa Sun headline told the Cuban dictator last year as Cuban athletes defected in Winnipeg: Hey Fidel, nobody has to defect from a free country.
It is one of Cuba's best-kept secrets that Cubans will try to defect anywhere in the world. The Ottawa Sun stated a fundamental truth: Since the collapse of communism and the establishment of democracy in Central Europe, not one Hungarian, Pole or Czech has defected. The East Germans now are
simply Germans; the Berlin Wall, the hated secret police, Stasi, and other parts of 20th Century history, Germans would rather forget.
The case of the doctors in Zimbabwe is reminiscent of other cases:
Two Cuban soldiers, part of Castro's expeditionary force in the Horn of Africa, sought asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia, but several weeks later were tricked into walking outside the American compound to meet with relatives. They were promptly captured and reportedly executed.
Andy Morales, a star of Cuba's national baseball team, who hit a three-run homer against the Orioles at Camden Yards last year, was picked up, with 31 other refugees, by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter in international waters and ``returned home'' to Castro's police, according to nearly identical
statements by Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meisner and Havana TV and radio broadcasts.
Documents released in response to a freedom-of-information request lamentably indicate that INS coordinated with Havana on how to deal with the media regarding the Elián González case. Baseball star
Andy Morales was 'returned home' to Castro's police.
Over the years, I have received desperate calls from Cubans attempting to reach freedom: One official called from a public telephone in East Berlin, a ballet dancer from Italy, two nuns in Central America who were hiding a sailor who was afraid he would be taken back to Cuba after jumping ship
in the Panama Canal. Others have asked for help from Shannon Airport in Ireland, Gander in Canada, Barajas in Spain, and virtually every refueling stop for Cuba's airline.
Nevertheless, Castro's offer to send Cuban doctors to Mississippi is not such a bad idea. But let's keep in mind, that Cuba's much-celebrated, low infant-mortality rate is in large part due to Cuba's high abortion rates. Cuban doctors encourage women to abort whenever there is a problem
pregnancy. Castro does not mind a very high abortion rate, but reducing infant-mortality is one of his most important propaganda claims.
Be that as it may, there is no need to pay Havana thousands of dollars for physicians who will receive a meager stipend from the Cuban government, which confiscates most of their salaries. The Black Caucus needs to call Zimbabwe quickly and offer the Cuban doctors a job.
I am sure they will be grateful and will make a serious effort to learn to speak English -- with a Southern accent, so as not to inconvenience their Mississippi neighbors.
Frank Calzón is the executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba in Washington, D.C.
Copyright 2000 Miami Herald |