Pat Dollard | Young Americans

I have had this growing affection for our Cuban-Americans in this country. While they have come here, grown and raised their families in the American ways and beliefs in democracy and freedom, they still hold out hope for their beautiful little diamond-in-the-rough in the Caribbean. Unlike [others] who come here and expect the United states to bend and break our standing ways, customs, and laws for their personal cultures, Cuban-Americans, while holding onto their Cuban culture and traditions within their communities, HAVE integrated and become a very strong part of the American fabric. And I thank them for that.

As the grandchild of grandparents who fled post-WWI Europe because they knew worse things were coming, and growing up hearing their stories, and their comparisons to post-WWII communist Hungary from correspondences from their relatives still there, I knew it was not the wonderful Utopia Communism promises with forked-tongue and crossed-fingers behind the back.

As with ANY country, ‘old’ Cuba had its problems … Problems a good leader could have and would have resolved … But going from Batista to Castro and Che, the beautiful island country of Cuba went from the cauldron into the furnace … and her people went with it. As much levity that has been made over the decades about Cubans building make-shift crafts to float to Florida in the desperate pursuet for life and freedom for themselves and their families, one needs to take a step back and realize this …

For all it’s crushing control and infliction of the pain of Communism, the spirit and soul of the Cuban people has NOT been tainted. They have an inborn desire for freedom and liberty … and choice, and for all the pre-Castro Revolution Regime propaganda about Batista’s Cuba and The United States being so ‘friendly’ and influential, in the decades since the “Revolution” Cuba has been the proverbial time capsule of the unchanged and non-progress … as seen in the video. Communist ‘influence’ has done very little to nothing for the Cuban people.

I know this … I know I am NOT alone in saying when the Communist regime that has crippled Cuba all these decades finally falls, and the people there can freely build and rebuild, Cuba will become one huge sparkling diamond in the Caribbean that will finally see people eagerly flocking to her shores … instead of desperately away from them. And I will be one.

One thing that has grown amid the stagnation, is the arrogance and indignation for preserving the hateful spirit of the two men who drove this country and her people into ruin … and it can be seen in such public displays as Russia storming into a free and democrat Georgia, and in the displeasure of a Cuban athlete in the Olympics …

(h/t Babalu for the video)

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HAVANA - Fidel Castro on Monday defended the Cuban taekwondo athlete who kicked a referee in the face at the Beijing Olympics, saying Angel Matos was rightfully indignant over his disqualification from the bronze-medal match.

Taekwondo officials want Matos and his coach banned for life from the sport. But Castro expressed “our total solidarity” for both Matos and his coach Leudis Gonzalez.

Matos was winning 3-2 in the second round when he fell to the mat after being hit by his opponent, Kazakhstan’s Arman Chilmanov, and was disqualified for taking more than his one minute of injury time.

Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge and then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden, who needed stiches to repair his lip. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.

Taekwondo officials called Matos’ behavior an insult to the Olympic vision. Matos’ coach countered that the match was fixed and accused the Kazakhs of offering him money.

Castro said the alleged bribery attempt gave Matos good reason to expect the judges to treat him unfairly.

“They had tried to buy his own coach,” Castro wrote in his essay published in state media. “He could not contain himself.”

Cuba is accustomed to winning golds in boxing, but settled this year for four silver and four bronze medals. Overall, Cuba took home only two golds, down from nine in Athens four years ago.

“I saw when the judges blatantly stole fights from two Cuban boxers in the semifinals,” Castro wrote. “Our fighters … had hopes of winning, despite the judges, but it was useless. They were condemned beforehand.”

The ailing, 82-year-old ex-president also noted that defections have taken their toll, blaming “the repugnant mercenary actions” of promoters who lure Cuban boxers off the island with lucrative contracts.

And Castro hinted that big changes could be in order for Cuban sports, pledging a serious review of “every discipline, every human and material resource that we dedicate to sport.”

“Cuba has never bought an athlete or judge,” Castro wrote, adding that Cubans need to begin preparing now for London in 2012. “There will be European chauvinism, judge corruption, buying of brawn and brains … and a strong dose of racism,” he predicted.
(AP)