Time, and Fidel Castro?s own body, are finally succeeding where brave Cuban patriots and the CIA failed. For a despot, relinquishing power, even if it?s only “temporary” and to a close relative, is to be feared more than death.
To themegalomaniac, death at least brings continued adoration in all its vulgar trappings ? bad omnipresent portraits and overbearing statues, a burial site befitting his place in history ? which, of course, revolves around him.
For 47 years, Fidel Castro has held an iron grip (no opposition, no free press, 300 prisons) on what is now one of the few remaining communist countries.
His surgery this week left many wondering whether he will make it to his 80th birthday on Aug. 13.
His younger brother Raul, whose hands are equally blood-soaked, turned 75 in June, and now holds the reins of power.
Their reign of terror over the island nation may best be summarized by the caustic paraphrase, “To save the island, they had to destroy it.”
President Bush on Aug 1. said the United States would help the Cuban people find a better way post-Castro.
Cubans already know there is a better way.
Curiously, despite Castro routinely claiming 99.999 percent of the “vote” for decades, Cubans have tried by the thousands to flee.
They leave via any possible means ? old Chevys converted to “boats,” leaky rafts or old tires lashed together. These Cubans faced ? and frequently succumbed to ? drowning, death by sharks and dying from exposure rather than live in Castro?s island “utopia.”
Let?s see what a Cuba Libre might look like: No more families separated for years, sometimes forever, by a paranoid police state.
No more forced attendance at rallies where the great leader rants on and on … and on in the broiling tropical sun.
Instead of an economy that criminalizes entrepreneurs and turns once-grand buildings into crumbling shells, a free market economy would attract investors and tourists.
Much of that investment and tourism would come from America and the exiled Cuban population. Average Cubans wouldgain access to running water, dependable electricity and food and goods only available to foreigners.
It?s time to make these two very disparate Cubas one.
And it?s time that the Straits of Florida lose the sobriquet of “Cuba?s Private Cemetery,” for all those who fled a murderous, inhumane regime seeking freedom.
It?s time for Fidel, that man of the people, whom Forbes Magazine estimates holds a fortune of close to $1 billion, to return the stolen loot to his people.
It?s long past due that his time has come, and when it does, let?s all enjoy a Cuba Libre!
For more information on life under Castro, visit www.thereal cuba.com, or read “Tocayo: A Cuban Resistance Leader?s True Story,” by Antonio Navarro.
Brooke Gunning is the author of several regional bestsellers, including “Maryland Thoroughbred Racing,” “Baltimore?s Halcyon Days” and “Towson and the Villages of Ruxton and Lutherville.” She currently is at work on her next book.
