by Rick Lowe
The Love 97 Issues of the Day talk show of Tuesday, October 3, 2006 featured the Cuban Ambassador, Mr. Felix Wilson, Mr. Errington Watkins and Ms. Irma Gonzalez. They were there to discuss the merits of the case of the Cuban Five.
Ms. Gonzalez is the daughter of one of the five men jailed in the US on charges of espionage and she is reportedly on a world tour in an attempt to garner support in Cuba's effort to retry their case in the court of public opinion.
After listening intently for quite some time I called in to express that it was wonderful that they could challenge the US government in this way, and one of the good qualities of America was that if the courts found the government wanting, they might one day be released.
However, lost in all of this is the fact that Cuba reportedly has hundreds of political prisoners languishing in Cuban jails, far from their families and subjected to various types of psychological torture, without the possibility of appeal.
I named three of these prisoners of conscience but the Ambassador said he knew nothing of them, and he skirted around the issue of appeal for prisoners.
Mr. Wilson, getting agitated with my questions suggested that I should visit him in his office, or he should visit mine, as he did not wish to discuss the issue with me on the radio. At this point he suggested that I had an ideological agenda.
Of course I agreed I do have an ideological agenda but it was different than his ideological agenda.
At this point Mr. Jones, the host of the show indicated that my time was up.
So why is my ideological agenda wrong and his right?
Can I go to Cuba and express my desire that his government release political prisoners or Cuban's charged with "treason" over the Cuban radio system?
Can I go to Cuba and suggest over the airwaves that his government is mistreating prisoners by denying their wives visitation rights?
I could go on but you get the picture I think.
When all is said and done I will defend Mr. Wilson's right to say what he says over the free airwaves of The Bahamas. I doubt that he would defend the rights of Cuban citizens to do the same in his homeland though.
In The Bahamas we are thankful that we do not live under the rule of a despot. But the Cuban people know all to well that "To live by one man's will became the cause of all men's misery." (Richard Hooker: The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, I, 1594). That is why Cuban's continue to leave the country at the risk of death on the high seas for a mere chance at the opportunities Capitalism provides.
Castro might have started out as a "freedom fighter", but has he brought his people freedom?
In any event, I understand Mr. Wilson's indignation. It's difficult defending Cuba's ideological agenda and human rights record while attempting to accuse the US of the similar transgressions.
