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Ramon Saul Sanchez. Posted on Mon, Mar. 25, 2002 in
The Miami Herald
I confess that I'm going through one of the most difficult tests of my
struggle [on behalf of Cuba's freedom]. Although my conscience is at ease
because I do what I do out of love for my people, my heart is in pain because of
the brutal manner in which the truth is shamelessly adulterated.
I recently heard part of the radio show Round Table [WAQI-AM (710) Radio
Mambí] and felt embarrassed. The viciousness with which Armando Pérez
Roura and his co-host mercilessly insult me and others leaves no room for a
hoped-for conciliation and forces me to lay down a challenge.
I've meditated long and hard about why we lost Cuba to a ruffian, why we
exiles are mired in a sea of misunderstanding though we're the victims of a
tyranny, and why we could lose the Cuba of the future if we don't discard the
old attitudes and forge a new stance -- uniting Cubans of all generations -- for
the salvation of Cuba.
As I hear statements that wound Cubans, I think of how easy it is to poison
the souls of good people by distorting the truth, hurling insults and spewing
hatred.
Like judges on a high dais, Pérez Roura and company implacably
condemn the mote they see in someone else's eye, certain that people have
overlooked the beams in their eyes. To them, everyone else is wicked. They utter
no conciliatory words, nothing that isn't filled with verbal violence. Thus, José
Basulto, of Brothers to the Rescue, is wicked and so am I -- because we think on
our own, differently from them, and have taken steps not to fall into Fidel
Castro's trap.
But the list of the wicked does not end with us. The Directorio Demo- crático
Cubano and the Cuban American National Foundation are wicked; so is the Junta
Patriótica and even Cuba's political prisoners. Oswaldo Payá and
Elizardo Sánchez are wicked, and so are the other Cuban dissidents.
Wicked are Carlos Alberto Montaner, the Catholic Church and the Mexican people.
Spiritual leaders are wicked, and even the Varela Room at the Ermita de la
Caridad is wicked.
For Pérez Roura and company, the search for the truth is no longer
important, and democracy is a one-way street. They're not interested in
persuading others, not as long as they have the power to defeat them. They
censure coarsely if someone points out their inconsistencies. When someone
deviates from their narrow vision, they destructively brand him ''traitor'' and
start the machinery of slander that has ostracized so many people who might have
benefited Cuba.
Others and I know this well, because for years we have been suffering this
abuse in silence. An implacable campaign has been waged against us with the
clear objective of executing us -- using a microphone as the weapon -- before
the eyes of the people whom we dearly love.
Very well, Pérez Roura. Everyone's patience has a limit, and mine has
run out. You have tightened the screw so hard that you have stripped the thread,
despite my many efforts to dissuade you from your zealotry.
I challenge you to be consistent with your recriminations against us, with
your demands for ''steadfastness'' and bellicosity. You have accused us of being
''pansies'' and ''softies.'' Well, let's you and I grab a rifle and board a boat
for Cuba, and let's give an example to the world not only of leadership but also
of consistency with our avowals. If you don't have a rifle, I'll buy you one. If
you don't have a boat, use mine, the Democracia, whose southbound sailings you
have so often mocked.
However, because my purpose is not to humiliate you but to appeal to your
conscience, I instead offer you an olive branch: Out of love for Cuba and the
respect we owe to the enslaved nation's children, let us commit ourselves to sit
down at the table of brotherhood and send Cuba the message that will make it
smile proudly, despite its tragedy -- the news that its children have grown out
of their differences and found a formula to work toward its liberation.
Do you remember how often I knocked at your door to discuss the ill feelings
that your attitudes produced? Yet you thought that my desire not to expose our
wounds to our adversary was a sign of weakness on my part.
There are two ways for people to stand out: by destroying others, or by
surpassing others' virtues. I urge you to abandon the first formula. You have
talent to spare and a passion for Cuba. You can shine -- without plunging into
darkness the other Cubans who fight for their homeland with dignity.
Cuba needs many arms as well as many hearts. Here are mine. Please tell Cuba
whether, once again, it can count on yours.
Ramón Saúl Sánchez is president of Democracia Movement.
His commentary is excerpted from his March 15 radio talk on WWFE-AM (670) La
Poderosa. | 
