A Lifetime of Waiting

First off, let me explain something about the way I look at politics. I am NOT by any means a Republican (Too many countries invaded) but neither am I a Democrat (Too many blow jobs in the White House). I am not a Libertarian (Wayy too much freedom and chaos) nor an Independent (They will never win an election). Like Chris Rock, I feel that I need to examine issues individually and not blindly and automatically adhere to whatever my party or my church or my ethnic group is backing. I am intrinsically afraid and wary of bunches of people deciding things for me.

So basically I don't feel I belong to any political group or follow any particular thought. What I do is think about each thing that happens (or that doesn't and should) and I make up my mind whether I'm for it or against it, and vote accordingly or email my congressman, etc.

All that preamble just to say the following: I know that a lot of people around the world revere Fidel Castro. I never understood this. Yes, he did stand up to the US proving he's either got big balls or he's insane, possibly both things. Yes, he did set up a system where there is social medicine , but there are no medicines and the hospitals have no equipment nor supplies unless you are a tourist and are coming to get breast implants. The Castro regime did build schools even in the most remote and rural areas in Cuba, but folks, if you're not a member of the Communist Party your kid does not go to the university, he cuts cane. He did a few good things, but to me that is like saying that Hitler got all the European Jews together and gave them jobs.

These are not meant to be political ramblings by a person that cannot even follow Vicus's posts nor the comments on them. This is just how I feel about the guy. First, he lied about not being Communist, then he took my country and made it into his own little fiefdom. So many people killed, silenced, tortured, imprisoned, intimidated, bullied, starved, worked to death, forced to flee into shark-infested waters. All of this so he could rule uncontested and unopposed.

In November 1960, my family and I left La Habana and took a 1/2 hour flight to Miami. Like any refugees, we got here with no money, no jobs. Just the 17 pieces of luggage that my mother packed. We had blankets, photo albums, clothing for my sister and me for the next year or two, some of my dad's books, and a Spanish/English dictionary that family and friends borrowed endlessly. I was six and my sister was five. My whole family, even while embracing life in the US and thanking our lucky stars that we were able to make it here, always dreamed and talked about when we would return to Cuba. What we would do, what a wonderful thing it would be to see the rest of our family, live in a free Cuba again. We never thought that we would be here 46 YEARS waiting for the insanity to end.

So when I heard the news that he was sick and that he was handing over power to his brother, my first thoughts were about the members of my family that died waiting for Castro to fall. My grandmother, who died without seeing her brothers and sisters in Cuba. My father, who at 36 years of age left his wife and two daughters in a strange country to fight in the Bay of Pigs invasion, and who later came back to us and would sit at home crying, his nerves shot by what he had experienced and the realization that his country was lost.

Needlesss to say, I took to the streets on Monday night, bringing my pots and pans to celebrate at La Carreta on 87th Avenue and Bird Road along with hundreds of other Cuban people. I hope he dies and I hope it's painful.