Posted on Sat, Mar. 18, 2006
Baseball brings out Cuba's contradictions
BY ALEX BURGOS
www.RaicesDeEsperanza.org
Every now and then, the average American outside of South Florida
catches a glimpse of Cuba in the news.
In 2000, for example, it was Elián González.
Three years ago today, it was the Cuban government's latest offensive in
its 47-year war against freedom.
Beginning March 18, 2003, 75 dissidents and human-rights activists were
arrested, summarily tried and imprisoned for sentences of up to 28 years
for ''attempting to subvert state authority.'' As evidence, the
government offered typewriters, newsletters and other writings
incompatible with Cuba's state-issued propaganda.
More recently, Cuba returned to the American consciousness at the World
Baseball Classic (WBC), as one of sixteen participants.
Cuba, however, is not like every other participant. What those familiar
with the real Cuba see in its baseball team is the living contradiction
that Cuba is.
• On the ball field, the Cubans play by an established set of
internationally accepted rules. On the island, Cuba's 11 million people
live under rules established by a dictator that violate every
fundamental freedom and human right embraced by the international community.
• On the field, hitting and pitching are the means to winning and
success. On the island, hitting and pitching are tactics invoked by the
government to repress its people and keep its firm grip on power.
Instead of hitting and pitching baseballs, the Cuban government hits its
own people -- brutally and unmercifully in actos de repudio -- and
pitches rocks, eggs and threats at those who challenge the government's
injustices.
• On the field, umpires are independent and fair-minded. On the island,
the umpires in Cuba's courts are under government control.
• When it comes to baseball, a worldwide audience can see all of Cuba's
games. But when it comes to human rights, inspectors are forbidden from
investigating widely reported violations and abuses, while international
observers are not allowed to sit in at Cuba's kangaroo-court proceedings.
• Cuba's press and independent journalists are free to cover their
baseball team's successes, but will find themselves threatened, censored
or imprisoned if the topic shifts to the failures of the government.
Three years after the March 18 crackdown, about 60 of the original 75
dissidents remain incarcerated, while others are in exile or under
licencia extrapenal (conditional release). In total, there are some 350
political prisoners in Cuba being held in substandard and inhumane
conditions. In the 47 years since Castro took power, thousands more have
shared their fate, or worse.
Not knowing this, one would think that the Cuba on ESPN is just a
baseball team. However, when it comes to Fidel Castro and his
government, nothing is that simple. Everything is political, especially
baseball because it is the pride of the government.
For those who know the real Cuba, it's too hard to just play ball when
350 of Cuba's true heroes are languishing in Cuba's gulags as prisoners
of conscience.
Today, Cuba is playing in the WBC's semifinal on the third anniversary
of its government's crackdown on democracy. As a Cuban American who
cherishes democracy, I was torn about whether I wanted the Cuban team to
advance that far in the tournament.
But by advancing, my hope is that this occasional glimpse that Americans
get of Cuba will coincide with an infamous anniversary that just might
overshadow anything this team, as an instrument of the government,
accomplishes.
Perhaps only this coincidence could compel the general public and media
to reflect on what's more relevant and newsworthy, especially on March
18 -- that more than 11 million Cubans live in tyranny just 90 miles
south of the United States, and not that 29 ballplayers are playing a game.
Alex Burgos is a member of Raíces de Esperanza, a nonprofit organization
that promotes an active youth role in a democratic transition in Cuba.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/14127820.htm
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