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Latin America
Castro’s execution of 3 raises specter of racism
2003-06-16
The execution of three blacks by a Cuban government firing squad in April for attempting to hijack a boat to Miami is raising questions about racism on the communist island. It was the first time anyone, black or white, had been executed for trying to flee Cuba. Cuban President Fidel Castro justified the executions of Jorge Luis Martinez Isaac, Lorenzo Enrique Copello Castillo and Barbaro Leodan Sevilla Garcia as a deterrent to another mass exodus.
"We can't let people leave! They might go elsewhere and have good lives! That would be counter-revolutionary!"
But some Cuba watchers, on and off the island, doubt that the three would have been put to death had they been white. "By executing [three young blacks], Castro was sending a clear message to the Afro-Cuban population" that dissent will not be tolerated, said Jaime Suchlicki, director of Cuban studies at the University of Miami, in a report on Cuban racism released this week.
I'm just sure Oliver Stone covered this in his documentary on Fidel.
It takes more than three deaders to make that case. Fidel is many things, but I've always been under the impression he oppresses everyone equally — meaning the poor guys (and a girl) would have ended up counting muzzle blasts regardless of their color. An example was desired, and they were available. I think Suchlicki is doing some cultural transference...
"I was a Fidelista. I love my nation," Ramona Copello told wire service reporters in Cuba on April 11, the day her son was executed. "I no longer love Fidel. He assassinated my son. Now I have no faith in the revolution."
Careful, Ramona, or Fidel will bring the number of executed to four.
Washington Times usually carries better writing than this. She's his Mom, fergawdsake! What the hell was she supposed to say? "He was a lousy kid. I never liked him, anyway!"? Or maybe: "No worries. We have a large family. There's more where he came from!"?
On March 18, two days before the beginning of the U.S.-led war with Iraq, Cuban officials began a crackdown by arresting 35 opposition figures.
What, um, interesting timing, Fidel.
A day later, six men hijacked an airplane to Key West, and less than two weeks later, a second plane was hijacked. The three Afro-Cuban men tried to commandeer a Havana ferry to take them to Florida days before the Castro regime jailed 43 dissidents. The ferry hijackers were executed April 11, nine days after their capture. Cubans of African descent, who make up 62 percent of the island's population, live in the worst, most dilapidated Havana neighborhoods: Cerro, Luyano and Guanabacoa. Afro-Cubans have the worst jobs and are increasingly disenfranchised, according to the University of Miami report.
Sounds worse than Detroit.
In 1997, the Cuban government passed laws preventing citizens from moving to Havana in search of high-paying tourist jobs, but according to the State Department, the law "was targeted at individuals and families from the poorer, predominantly black and mulatto eastern provinces." The report notes that none of the top 10 generals or senior military leaders in Cuba is black. None of the 15 presidents of provincial assemblies is black. Two of the 40-person Council of Ministers is black, and three of the 15 provincial heads of the Cuban Communist Party are black.
Amazing coincidence.
Cuban blacks, according to government reports, have 5 percent of the lucrative tourism jobs, but Afro-Cubans constitute 85 percent of Cuba's prison population.
Wasn't Jesse Jackson upset about the numbers of black prisoners in the US? I'm sure he'll be all over this one.
Afro-Cubans and black tourists increasingly complain about "racial profiling" by state security officials, according to the report.
Yo, Jesse, over here!
Mr. Castro, a white revolutionary from an upper-class background, overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, a corrupt leader of mixed race, in 1959.
Funny how revolutionary leaders never experience any of the poverty that "the masses" suffer through.
One of the pillars of faith in the Cuban revolution is that Mr. Castro freed poor black Cubans, giving them schools, jobs and health care. Today, Afro-Cubans who turn their backs on the "gains of the revolution" are considered traitors unappreciative. "There are a growing number of black Cubans in the opposition movement. The leadership is almost entirely black or mulatto," said Frank Calzon of the Center for a Free Cuba, noting that the ferry hijackers could not have been executed without Mr. Castro's specific order. "No white Cuban has ever been executed for trying to leave. The message is clear: If you are white and speak out, it is bad. If you are black and speak out, you are ungrateful and watch out." But Wayne Smith, at the Center for International Policy, though acknowledging that racism exists in Cuba, said it did not play a part in the executions. "It was wrong. They didn't harm anyone, but the Cuban government said they had to do it to prevent a mass exodus. My sense is that they were not executed because they were black," said Mr. Smith, who has extensive contacts within the Cuban government.
And they assured Mr. Smith of this personally, you know.
Uva de Aragon of Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute agreed. "There is racism in Cuba, but I think if they were white, they would have been executed just the same," she said.
I'm waiting for the mass protests in the Peoples Republics of Berkeley and Cambridge.
Posted by:Steve White

#10  S.W. - I agree with you that racism played a huge part of this castro powerplay. I think it was a message to the dark skinned to stay put and shut up, or this could happen to you. The darker skinned, including the mestizo, are discriminated against throughout Latin America. When's the last time you saw a Mexican President that had even a hint of Indian/Aztec/Mayan blood? Try never, cuz it won't happen, at least in our lifetimes. Cuba - People's Paradise© indeed. As long as they stay passive and know their place....cutting cane and living in shacks... but, oh! that free healthcare is to die for
Posted by: Frank G   2003-06-16 20:18:19  

#9  Steve, I don't know enough about Cuba to decide whether racism was involved or not. I can imagine the "trial". The "defense lawyer" probably asked for the death penalty as well.
I think Castro was just afraid that more people could try this, hence the swift execution.
Posted by: True German Ally   2003-06-16 19:40:59  

#8  As the person who posted this, a few comments:

TGA -- I have no quarrel whatsoever about protecting innocent people on a ferry. Have a trial, prove the case, and dish the punishment. Executing these guys 9 whole days after the act, without any real kind of trial, seems awfully convenient. Was their race an issue? Again, seems awfully convenient.

I agree with TGA about how despicable it is to put people in such desparate situations.

Frank: I suspect that if they had made it to the US, we would have jugged them and tried to give them back to the Cubans (after making sure that they would have a proper trial). We certainly jailed a lot of Marielitos when it became clear that they were just common criminals.

Fred notes that Fidel is an equal opportunity oppressor. I've always thought that, but this article makes me wonder.
Posted by: Steve White   2003-06-16 18:07:40  

#7  Ever notice in all those videos and movies of Fidel how many blacks occupy positions of authority and power? How many are senior party members? Party of the people - right!
Posted by: Anonymous   2003-06-16 17:06:48  

#6  TGA is right, we can't encourage hijackings even for those seeking freedom. We also should really think hard about whether we would want these 3 who would willingly put so many others in harms way for their own personal motives, no matter how pure
Posted by: Frank G   2003-06-16 14:56:39  

#5  "It was the first time anyone, black or white, had been executed for trying to flee Cuba."

No sympathies for Fidel whatsoever, but this is bending the truth a little. They were executed for hijacking a non sea worthy harbor ferry with many people on board. They seriously put the lives of the hijacked in danger. Had one of the passengers died during the enterprise they would probably have received the death penalty in the U.S. for a similar offense.

As nobody was obviously hurt the execution was extremely exaggerated. Actually I do think that white hijackers would have met the same fate although I might be wrong on that one.

Of course there is no excuse for putting people in such a desperate situation that they don't see any other solution than what they did. Along with the jailed dissidents it's very amazing that anyone could still defend the Cuban totalitarian regime.
Posted by: True German Ally   2003-06-16 14:29:41  

#4  Hey, Danny? Think if Fidel was a New York cabbie he'd stop to pick you up? And would you bitch about it to the Daily News when he didn't?
Posted by: tu3031   2003-06-16 09:20:11  

#3  And paging Harry Belafonte, too. Where's the outrage?
Posted by: Dar   2003-06-16 08:29:15  

#2  Let me get this straight... Castro isn't revolutionary enough?
Posted by: Chuck (not Taylor)   2003-06-16 08:27:24  

#1  Paging Danny Glover.
Posted by: raptor   2003-06-16 07:14:15  

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