Friday, February 22, 2008 Wenceslao: End of an era in Cuba By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
BECAUSE I idolized China's Mao Zedong and Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh in my younger years, Cuba's Fidel Castro (and his pal Ernesto “Che” Guevarra) was therefore not far behind. It was with great interest then that I followed report on Castro's retirement from politics in Cuba after five decades of heading the country. Another era has closed.
One could not mention the Cuban revolution without talking about Che. When I was a grade school pupil at City Central School, the words “Bloody Che” were scrawled in red letters on the fence. Schoolbags in the form of backpacks had Che's face painted on them, the same image printed on t-shirts in the recent resurgence of the Che craze.
“Bloody Che” was some gang, “bloody” referring to its members professed intent. I realized later that was not the way to honor a revolutionary hero's name. Che was a man who was dogmatic in most instances but who was nevertheless daring enough to put his theories into practice. He was summarily executed in Bolivia in pursuit of his goals.
The Argentina-born Marxist joined Castro's 26th of July Movement that waged guerilla warfare against United States-supported Fulgencio Batista using the Sierra Maestra mountains as base. Six years after Batista was toppled in 1959, Che left Cuba to continue waging war against imperialism. He was captured in Bolivia and killed in 1967.
Castro, meanwhile, presided over the transformation of Cuba into a socialist country, a move that the US frowned upon in the context of its Cold War with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Cuba is a neighbor of the US). But despite attempts by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to oust him or kill him, he ruled Cuba for 50 years.
Cuba and Castro figured most prominently in history during the US-initiated Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961 and the subsequent Cuban Missile Crisis it spawned. It brought the world on the brink of a nuclear war. Bay of Pigs is an inlet on the south coast of Cuba where more than a thousand CIA-backed Cuban exiles in the US landed during the failed offensive.
Castro’s fear of direct US intervention prompted Soviet premier Nikita Kruschev to supply Cuba with surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles a year after the Bay of Pigs Invasion. That sparked a crisis that only ended when US president John F. Kennedy agreed not to touch Cuba and Kruschev pulled their nuclear weapons out of the country.
Assessing Castro’s rule is difficult considering the times. During the Cold War, it was difficult to separate truth from propaganda. Even his fellow Marxists are divided on his contribution to socialism. But Castro’s longevity despite attacks from within and without Cuba means he was not alienated from his people, unlike many other dictators.
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Charles Rojas, who described himself as an unpaid patriotic citizen, reacted to my Wednesday column by noting that he loves the Philippines “because it is the only country I have.” Here’s a portion of his letter about “patriotic money” and Rodolfo Lozada Jr.:
“How much patriotic money did Lozada get from rich patriots? If Romulo Neri was offered P20 million to leave the administration and testify in the Senate, how much was offered to Lozada? Neri refused but Lozada conceded.”
