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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Cubans Begin to Just Say No |
| 2006-10-29 |
| by Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Wall Street Journal Did Brazilian President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva misspeak when he said recently that it's a pity that Fidel Castro did not democratize the island while "he was still alive"? Or did he inadvertently blurt out a secret that only friends of the Cuban regime are supposed to know? Lula has corrected himself. "'E's not dead, merely resting . . . pinin' for the fijords." But the rumor mills are in overdrive since the utterance of those four little words, in part because the last time Cubans were shown proof of life was more than a month ago, and the patient looked pretty bad. "Psst! You know, they nailed him to his prech." Whenever the old man finally passes away, Faster, please. a public statement is likely to be delayed until Fidel's little brother Raul, who as of now is only the "temporary" despot, feels sure he has the upper hand. That effort appears to be a work in progress. At this time the military seems to be loyal to Raul. Nevertheless, the dictator in waiting has at least two reasons to be worried. The first is Hugo Chávez, who pours an estimated $2 billion into the Cuban economy annually and seems to believe that he is the rightful revolutionary successor to Fidel. Rumor has it that attitude is not going down too well with Raul or his men. . . . Fold into this mix the tension that already exists between elements of the regime that see themselves as ideologically pure and loyal to Fidel and Raul's army, which seems to enjoy making money--as Mr. Latell describes so well in his book--and all kinds of complications arise. Yet Hugo and the fidelistas might be the least of Raul's troubles. Less noticed by the international press but at least as threatening are the island's dissidents, who are once again stirring things up, this time with their "non-cooperation campaign." While conventional wisdom discounts the movement as weak, disorganized and easily infiltrated, every action of the government suggests that popular resistance to the regime is spreading, even after a brutal wave of repression was unleashed more than a year ago. It is also worth noting that Lula, a left-wing president of a country that has traditionally supported the Cuban dictatorship, has publicly lamented Castro's failure to democratize. That doesn't augur well for continued international support for the island slave plantation. Non-cooperation is a strategy aimed at whittling away at the most fundamental tool of every totalitarian regime: fear. The system can survive only if each Cuban believes he is greatly outnumbered by lovers of the revolution and that in speaking out, he is doomed. This is why the regime risked so much bad press to crush the dissidents in March of 2003 in a brutal islandwide crackdown. Intense, debilitating fear must be kept alive if the regime is to survive. Opponents of the regime also understand the power of fear, and it is why they are hopeful about the non-cooperation campaign, which provides a passive way for Cubans to quietly discover solidarity. Rather than calling on citizens to actively rebel against the government, "non-cooperation" asks them simply to refuse to participate in the oppression. . . . Go read the rest of it. Essay question (10pts): compare and contrast the Cuban dissidents in this article with the Dixie Chicks. Which group is more intimately familiar with being "silenced," and why? |
| Posted by:Mike |