Editorial. Published Monday, December 31, 2001 in
The Miami Herald
The Cuban government couldn't resist harassing the dissidents one last time.
Berta Mexidor Vázquez and Ramón Humberto Colás, promoters
of free speech and books banned in Cuba, arrived in Miami last week to start new
lives. But not before being detained by state security in Havana.
Persecution is nothing new for them. Mr. Colás, a clinical
psychologist, lost his job after openly becoming a dissident in 1994. Pressured
to divorce him, Ms. Mexidor refused -- and eventually lost her job, too. Things
worsened after the couple founded Cuba's independent-library movement in 1998.
Inspiration for the library came from Fidel Castro himself when he declared
that Cuba didn't ban books. The couple opened their modest home in Las Tunas and
invited acquaintances to browse among their 800 books and discuss any subject.
Soon, the family was evicted. Mr. Colás was detained repeatedly.
Ultimately, incessant harassment of their two children persuaded them to leave.
Yet they won't be forgotten.
Today there remain in Cuba more than 70 independent libraries and
free-thinkers who persist despite continued repression. What Ms. Mexidor told
The Herald in 1998 still is true: "This is the seed of civil society in
Cuba, something that will help citizens live independently of what the
government teaches.''
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald | 
