Wes Vernon. Saturday, June 16, 2001.
NewsMax.com
WASHINGTON - The "Embassy of Free Cuba," as it bills itself, has
pinpointed the main enemy of freedom for its island nation: the New York Times,
CNN, the big TV networks and other mainstream U.S. media outlets. And the
younger Cuban exiles are waging war on what they see as this powerful threat to
any effort to help the Cuban people from the chains that bind them to Fidel
Castros communist police state.
Cuban-Americans unveiled Wednesday night a new powerful film documentary, "Covering
Cuba 2: The New Generation," from producer-director Agustin Blazquez.
These are second-generation Cuban-Americans whose parents fled to this
country from the tyranny of Castros regime.
Speaking in perfect English, these "Americanized" adults recounted
the Castro-coddling they detect in establishment outlets. And they detailed
Castros cruelties.
Among other atrocities cited was Castros having ordered a tugboat sunk
in 1994, killing 41, including 12 children. Castro even refused to retrieve the
dead bodies.
The film is a prelude to an upcoming "book in progress," titled "The
High Cost of Social Revolutions: The Black Book of Cuban Communism," by
Armando Lago. That tome will detail how Castro has killed more than 105,000
innocent people from 1959 to 2000.
The squalor shown on the island belies the glowing reports from Castros
minions.
"What good is a free education when there isnt
anything you can do with it, other than to place a piece of paper on your wall,
if that?" asked an embittered exile.
The U.S. media are pictured by the Cuban-Americans as being "obsessed"
with "this isolated island" and having adopted Castro as their "cause
celebre." "And it makes me sick," said an incredulous son of a
refugee.
The New York Times is excoriated for championing Castros cause, going
all the way back to 1957 when Times reporter Herbert Mathews glorified the
then-rebel whose troops were in the mountains fighting to topple the regime of
Fulgencio Battista.
In the early years after Castros takeover, New York City subways
displayed a paid anti-Castro ad, picturing the Cuban communist dictator over the
caption, "I got my job through the New York Times," a takeoff on the
Times advertising campaign of that era alluding to the supposed effectiveness of
its "Jobs Wanted" ads.
Over the film of suffering Cubans and desolate refugees fleeing to freedom
in crude makeshift boats, there is the voice of Bill Clinton joking that the
real story in the whole Elian Gonzales case was the fact that "we finally
found the one immigrant that Pat Buchanan wants to keep in this country."
That was followed by laughter over the continuing pictures of suffering Cubans.
A second-generation refugee speculated the New York Times is against the
Cuban-Americans because "they tend to be conservative politically."
"But they ought to consider this," he said. "How would we
like it to have Bill Clinton running this country for 40 years?"
The documentary is critical of the reporting of Katie Couric on NBCs "Today"
show, as well as NBC reporter Jim Avila and CNNs Lucia Newman. Geraldo
Rivera was a disappointment especially, given his Hispanic and Jewish heritage.
"You would think that he would understand the plight of these people."
Heavily emphasized was the fact that Castro effectively controls any U.S.
media reporting from Havana. It is not complicated. You either report the
stories as the Cuban government hands them to you, or your visa is pulled. U.S.
reporters in Cuba never leave Havana. They dont get to see what life in
Cuba is really like.
Reference was made to Courics interview with the female cleric who
accompanied the Cuban grandmothers on their visit to Elian Gonzales when the
6-year-old refugee was living with Miami relatives. When she told Couric of the
fear she saw in their eyes, Courics first reaction was to ask if the fear
was caused by the crowds of Cuban-Americans outside. The correspondent was
obviously unprepared for the response, which was that the fear was caused by the
Castro regime, which was ready to retaliate against relatives left behind if the
grandmothers stepped out of line during their visit to the U.S.
Considerable time was spent discussing the Cuban "diplomats" in
Washington who roughed up Cuban-American demonstrators peacefully protesting the
kidnapping of Elian.
These "thugs," opined one demonstrator, "seemed to be
provoked by the fact that our demonstration was peaceful. And thats
something they didnt know how to deal with because they dont know
how to deal with anything in any way other than violence."
The demonstration was peaceful, but the reaction to it was violent, right
here on American soil.
Notwithstanding the fact that such powerful media elite figures as Ted
Turner are against them, and notwithstanding that some of President Bushs
nominees for State Department posts are in hot water with the new Senate
Democrat plurality because of their anti-Castro beliefs, these second-generation
Cuban-Americans are determined to see that their story is told.
As one of them succinctly stated: "We are more than anti-Castro. Much,
much more than just that. We are pro-freedom."
Their faith lies in what they see as the innate good will of the American
people. If they can get past the perceived media barrier between themselves and
the great mass of Americans, they believe the U.S., which has historically been
a beacon of hope for freedom-lovers everywhere, will live up to its historic
role.
All Rights Reserved © NewsMax.com |