but miami news was keeping close track of it all, and my father stopped watching Ben Hur with us to go to his computer for updates. i just watched a recorded feed that came directly from a cuban broadcast where the official document regarding his responsibilities proclaimed nearly all of them to be passed on to raúl, and the rest to other comrades.
fidel wanted it recorded...he wanted it read by his personal secretary and not by raúl himself...why? because he's afraid...he can't trust anyone not to simply kill him and take all his power...including his brother. this is why he clearly stated before each of the official clauses regarding those responsibilities that the power shift was temporary. he said it about eight times....TEM-PO-RA-RY...in most official documents, you tend to use the word only once and then proceed to list off the decrees. i don't doubt that news feed will someday make it onto a documentary..."the beginning of the end", it might be called...i know it's a historical moment, and i'm right in the middle of it...but it's not nearly the end just yet...
castro's birthday is the thirteenth of august, but since he'll be in recovery then, he went as far as to add a note in this official document about how the country shall celebrate his 80th birthday in december. he's coming back, all right. the man thinks himself invinsible. he had to list off various reasons attributing to his illness, too... to make sense of it all...because of course there's nooo way he could get sick, right? it's implausible.
the guy honestly believes that he's a kind of god, and he expects everyone else to think the same of him. i don't doubt he'll be back. he's made a big enough spectacle of this to make sure his seat of power is kept nice and warm for him on return...
still...i find it surreal...when my mother repeated my aunt's words over the phone "fidel is dying and has passed all his power to raúl" ...time just seemed to stop for me. any other cuban would know exactly what i'm talking about. it's what we've been hoping for, some of us going as far as praying for it...i, myself, still think it's awful to pray for the harm of others...no matter how much they "deserve" it. what's even more stomach-churning, though, besides the thought of millions of cubans having discreet parties back home and wild, open celebrations in miami and wherever else they ended up...is the fact that none of us are entirely sure what will happen once this common "wish" of ours is granted...
in my opinion: chaos
the country will hit rock bottom before the people's way of life will allow them to recover...it's not as though they need a forceful leader, but that's all they've ever known...they're raised with the tactics to weave their way around government and law and anything that gives them that "them vs. us" complex...we're not ready for civilized living as the rest of the world knows that term...not yet, anyway...everything will go to ruins before we start learning how to organize ourselves, but we'll have to teach ourselves from our own mistakes because we're sure to refuse any outside help...if the U.S. thinks we'll gladly wrap the country in a bow and give it to them, there may be an Iraq sequel...
*sigh* horribly upseting, how violence begets violence....i should hope that Americans will learn from their mistakes as well what with the chaos they've caused...
whatever happens, it starts now...but the end is nowhere in sight...and all i can do is watch, while my father writes heart-stirring papers and gives speeches at conferences in hopes of reconciling cubans (and other latin americans) so they actually stand a chance of re-establishing themselves in the modern world once the end is upon them....it won't be an armageddon for cuba. or at least...that's what we hope to prevent
the disturbing thing is, it's possible that only through chaos will we be likely to find peace
and so i leave you with an anecdote
The picture of peace
There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains too, but these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest... perfect peace. Which picture do you think won the prize? The King chose the second picture. Do you know why? "Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."
- author unknown
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preoccupied - Music:"La Jaula de Oro" - Julieta Venegas
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Comments
*peers into darkness* c..cousin eddy?
there's no such thing as bad press, you know...
in any case, something seems to bother you about it...most miami university students thought it was darned insightful, but i
never meant for it to be read by so many people; you can thank my old man for that.
it's just a personal reflection. if it appears dense in some way then perhaps i've yet to reach this level of enlightenment you seem so thoroughly in tune with - what colour is the sky in your world, pray tell? never mind...i'll buy an atlas
If you'll excuse me for sounding patronizing, allow me to respectfully walk you through some facts:
- The blockade you refer to is not a naval circle of war ships. Castro received 8 billion dollars every year from the USSR for several decades and was able to trade with the whole world except the US. But ever since the Clinton Administration, Cuba can import food and medicines from the US and presently depends on the US for a great deal of supplies; (it in fact ranks third in the Western Hemisphere of countries that import food from the US). you're right about one thing, cubans suffer terribly, but you can't lay the whole of the blame on Americans. And why Castro would decided to make the food pipeline depend on his archenemy if he really expects to be invaded by them is something that eludes me.
- Luckily for me I do not live in Cuba with all the media owned entirely by the same proprietor (incidentally, that's the State, not the People).
- You think Castro's not out to invade anyone? Perhaps you've missed the reports about him sending expeditionary forces -regular and irregular- to Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia while supporting individuals like Carlitos the Jackal and his terrorists activities in Europe. Yes, the US is more widely known for its marauding, but neither theirs nor Castro's offences can be justified. There is no such thing as a good invasion versus a bad invasion or a good crime versus a bad crime. Keep that in mind.
- In Miami and wherever else Cubans have ended up in a kind of exile from their homeland, Castro is quite understandably not the most popular fellow - among other things, it's largely because of the fact that if they decide they want to try living somewhere else, for *whatever* reason, Castro will not allow them to return to their own country unless they have his government's permission, and he takes away every and all their belongings when they leave. they get this kind of treatment even if they're not the least bit political. (something I'm sure you do not wish for Scotland.) to give you an idea of how far it can go, just consider the fact that my mother wasn’t allowed to return for her father’s funeral, when she’s of absolutely no threat to the government or anyone – and her case is most certainly NOT unique.
but even in giving you facts that express my opinion on the matter, the point here isn’t to persuade you of anything.
listen, you speak of a world of equality and fraternity, yet the first thing you do when you happen upon my post is insult me for the opinion i've formed. what kind of liberty is that? i don't exactly have the right to convince you about matters concerning cuba the way I see them, (though i may have more authority on the subject), but what i want is, PRECISELY, a world where i can have my own opinion without being hassled for it. that's what i left cuba for.
i can live with clashing opinions, but the world isn’t so black and white that we can mouth off about being completely right or wrong, much less force our opinions on others. It’s just the same as if I were to try and convert other people’s religions because of my absolute certainty that I’m the one worshipping the one “true” god. We’re perfectly allowed to criticize, but we need to respect different ideas even when we find them utterly disagreeable – and there’s certainly no grounds for insults when we’re talking about respect. If you simply can’t bring yourself to agree with this one point, then our dictionaries must be quite different because my definition of liberty doesn't match yours.
Now if you don’t mind, this is in fact my journal you’ve, in a sense, invaded…and I’d hate to let a churlish remark or two force me to switch on the ‘private’ setting.
see you later, deliberator.
OK, apologies for the insult Elana.
Over and out.
congrats len :)
i love how the moment i get back you educate me in ways that the news has yet to :P
and i very much love that story :) i shall remember it
*le hugs*!
Good site ! ;)