Cubaverdad

Posted on Tuesday, 03.09.10
Fight against Cuban regime knows no skin color

In his Feb. 28 Other Views column, Blacks bear the brunt of Cuba's
brutality, Carlos Moore has miscast the issue of race in the struggle to
rid Cuba of its totalitarian regime. He mentions the tragic death of
Orlando Zapata Tamayo and says that “he became the first black Cuban
dissident during Fidel Castro's 51-year regime to surrender his life in
such protest.''

He says nary a word about at least 10 other Cubans who have died in
hunger strikes in Cuba's political prisons (Pedro Luis Boitel, Roberto
Lopez Chavez, Luis Alvarez Rios, Carmelo Cuadra Hernandez, Enrique
Garcia Cuevas, Reinaldo Cordero Izquierdo, Santiago de Jesus Roche
Valle, Nicolas Gonzalez Regueiro, Jose Barrios Perez and Olegario
Charlot Spileta).

Thousands have died in front of firing squads, trying to escape Cuba or
lingered for decades in Cuba's prisons. Never has the Cuban exile
community referred to the issue of race of those killed or suffering in
Cuba during the last half century.

Moore attempts to lump in U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart's legitimate
indignation over the dictatorship's latest crime against a political
prisoner with dictator Raúl Castro's pretend regrets about Zapata's
death, calling it a “double farce.'' Worse, still, he calls Diaz-Balart
a “staunch supporter of the tiny white elite of wealth that was
overthrown in 1959'' and claims the embargo “has only hindered the
ability of black Cubans to improve their lot.''

He conveniently forgets all the votes Diaz-Balart, his brother Rep.
Mario Diaz-Balart and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen have cast in Congress on
behalf of the Haitian community and their support for civil rights.

Finally, Moore says that blacks bear the brunt of Cuba's brutality, and
that those who shared Zapata's aspirations for a free Cuba should not
allow “his brave, principled legacy to be hijacked — certainly not by
those who before 1959 despised him for being black and continue to do so
in spite of their hypocritical tears.''

Yet Orlando Zapata Tamayo was not even born before 1959. The
overwhelming majority of those jailed and killed by the Castro regime
have been white. Once again Moore chooses to ignore the facts.

Being white, black or mixed race has never been the issue in fighting
the regime. Human rights, democracy and freedom for all Cubans is at the
heart of our struggle.

CESAR PIZARRO, chairman, Facts About Cuban Exiles, Miami

Fight against Cuban regime knows no skin color – Letters to the Editor -
MiamiHerald.com (9 March 2010)
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/09/1519740/fight-against-cuban-regime-knows.html