Carlos J. Reyes. Published Sunday, April 30, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Ronald Reagan looked squarely at the camera and announced, ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!''
With that, the President of the United States made it clear -- America stood for freedom, democracy and liberty. Period.
The Berlin Wall represented the difference between the way of life enjoyed by free men everywhere and those nations that bring oppression, enslavement and misery.
Thousands of East Germans experienced this distinction as they made runs for freedom over the years in hopes of getting over the wall. Some successfully made the climb over to freedom, but many others died trying. The Berlin Wall and the Communist regimes in power served to separate families and
friends and to enslave several generations.
Yet, it is hard for many to see that the Florida Straits act as a modern-day Berlin Wall for the Cuban people.
During the past five months of the Elian Gonzalez struggle, some people with an appreciation for history have shared with me thoughts about that wall. To my amazement, surveys reflect that most Americans do not support keeping Elian in the United States. They would throw this child, who
successfully was pushed over the ``wall'' by his dying mother, back to Fidel Castro's Communist side.
More revealing is that Americans still do not understand the Cuban-American struggle against Castro. Politics aside, if the Elian case were simply about father and son, there would be no debate. The law is clear. The real and larger issue is what does America truly stand for today?
America seems to have lost its compass as to what are the core ideals and values that made this country great.
There seems to be an underlying tone that right and wrong are relative and that freedom and liberty are just words.
America is more than 50 years removed from experiencing the fear and reality of having our borders threatened and knowing what it means to fight for your survival. The Elian experience seems odd to most Americans, and they can't understand why Cuban-Americans are so passionate.
Cuban-Americans have been constantly reminded of their exile status during the past 40 years. Bay of Pigs, the Freedom Flights, the Mariel boatlifts, the rafters, civilian planes shot down. These reminders have made South Florida's Cuban-American community very sensitive, knowledgeable and
committed.
It is painful to see your homeland under the shackles of a dictator for more than 40 years, while you live in a country that enjoys personal freedoms and liberty, and yet, seems complacent.
Americans should stand up in unison with the Cuban-American community for the ideals that made this country great by insisting on an end to the hypocritical double standard that exists with respect to Cuba. No one can deny we went to the brink of war in Haiti to overthrow a dictatorship. Before
that, we maintained an economic embargo against South Africa over apartheid.
In the name of freedom, we have sent troops around the world and maintained a Cold War against the Soviet Union for more than 40 years. Yet, when it comes to Cuba, American foreign policy hypocritically looks the other way.
Today, Cuba continues to ignore basic human rights (according to the United Nations), with outright repression and oppression of its people. American foreign policy stands by with a callous disregard for the suffering and inhumanity that is a mere 90 miles off our shores.
Many politicians would have you believe that Cuba merely has another system of government and that we shouldn't get involved. If that were true, how have we justified sending troops to Serbia and Kuwait? As an American of Cuban descent, I have been raised to believe that America stood for
freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, the deafening silence of most Americans on what is going on in Cuba has been disturbing. America is greater than this. The American people do have a moral compass that the current administration and political times cannot bury.
Americans must stand against politicians and those who seek to engage and do business with ruthless dictatorships.
I urge Americans to contact their Congress members. Let them know you, too, believe that freedom and liberty are not negotiable commodities or irrelevant.
Join the Cuban-American cause that calls for the restoration of freedom and liberty. The America we have grown up in has, must and should always stand for freedom.
Otherwise, we make liars of many that died for this country, including one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, who said, ``Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.'' What do we stand for, America?
Carlos J. Reyes of Weston is an attorney and a commissioner on the South Broward Hospital District.
Copyright 2000 Miami Herald |