If you're American and under the age of 45, chances are you've never stepped foot in Cuba—at least not legally. Unless you've ever lived in the south Florida area, or have ever known someone who has, firsthand knowledge of visiting the largest of the Greater Antilles islands—less than 100 miles off the coast of Florida—might only be in the context of an old college friends' trip there via Canada. That could all change once the fast-deteriorating Cuban leader of 48 years Fidel Castro finally breathes his last. Although Castro officially ceded power to his brother Rahul in the summer as his health took a turn for the worse, it is still hard to say what hue the communist-ruled island will take once Castro's shadow falls away from the earth.
Already, the City of Miami, where many Cuban exiles live, is planning an official celebration at the Orange Bowl whenever Castro does die. And there is much to celebrate. Castro has been at the helm of Cuba's government for the last almost 50 years, depriving his people of the ability to question his authority, travel outside Cuba, or even use the Internet.
The list of human rights abuses is not short in Cuba, where according to the Cuban constitution, "Citizens have freedom of speech and of the press," but of course only "in keeping with the objectives of socialist society." Any members of any political, human rights, or labor rights group (in fact pretty much any group that doesn't have its head appointed by the Communist Party) is routinely monitored, harassed, and arrested. All property owned by any religion was taken away in 1961, and holding an anti-abortion sign could easily land you behind bars.
In the words of a Cuban tour guide, who preferred to be referred to only as Raphael: "Life is hard. We make from 12 to 24 dollars in salary a month. For me, with my family, I spend 19 on food. That's no restaurants, just beans, rice, bread, and some meat. Some of us, who work for tips, make more than the maximum. But very few of us—in fact, only the prostitutes, believe it or not—make as much in a month as Americans or Canadians or British, make in a day … half a day."
Remember, Cuba is just 100 miles away from the coast of Florida. Why not create a bustling beach resort and vacation destination and feed your people? This is one of the failures of Castro. This is a failure of communism.
The U.S.-Cuba Book
U.S.-Cuba relations have had a long and bitter history, stretching all the way back to the 1950s, when U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower chose not to meet with the young lawyer-turned-mountain-dwelling revolutionary Fidel Castro. Castro's communist revolution in 1959 was not welcomed by the U.S. government or the rest of the free world.
Since then, there have been many chapters in the U.S.-Cuba book, including the Bay of Pigs Invasion, for which the U.S. armed and trained Cuban exiles in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Castro's regime in 1961, all the way up until Feb. 24, 1996, when the Cuban military shot down two U.S. civil aircraft in international airspace, killing four Americans.
The U.S. government has continued to demand freedom and human rights in Cuba, while Castro and his communist regime have demanded that the United States end its suffocating embargo. And meanwhile, many Cuban people and children (let's not forget Elian Gonzalez) have made every attempt to flee the land where communism has failed. We're again reminded of Raphael, actually a rather patriotic Cuban, who blamed Cuba's troubles on President George Bush: "The Cuban people love American people. We feel like we are your cousins, we feel kinship. But we hate—HATE— Bush. He is a monster. We are waiting for the American people to put a better leader in the presidency, who will help us mend the relationship." And yet how many U.S. presidents has Castro lived through? Ten, actually—and still no change. And who has most recently toughened U.S.-Cuba relations? Not President Bush, but former president Bill Clinton, when he passed the Libertad Act, imposing further sanctions on Cuba following the aircraft shooting in 1996.
Now, it seems that a new chapter is opening in the U.S.-Cuba book. While many Americans are probably today wondering why we keep up our bitter old trade and travel embargo with Cuba, when people can travel to Cuba easily from Canada and Mexico, I think the next few pages in the U.S.-Cuba book will provide the reason why. The picture in the book will look something like a new beach for teenage Spring breakers to enjoy the beautiful Cuban sun, but the words will read something like "a heroic triumph of the human spirit over communism's bankrupt ideas and twisted practices."
Additional reporting by Gus Garcia-Roberts
Feeds