Re: Fidel Castro (1926-2016)
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:10 pmIn 1959, a military jeep with 4 Cuban Revolutionary guard members drove onto a privately-owned farm near Agramonte, Cuba. The farm was owned by a family who both worked the farm themselves (2 parents, 9 children, 5 extended family members) along with roughly 20 employed workers. The military men informed the family that the farm, including the farmhouse and all of its contents, no longer belonged to the family. They were told that they should collect such clothes as they could carry, along with any personal items that they could grab in under 1 hour.
When that hour expired, the family was forced, at gunpoint, to leave the house. Then, as they watched, the house was burnt to the ground by the military men.
The family was forcibly split up. Then men were taken to Havana, where they were told to begin working in jobs selected for them. The women were similarly taken to Havana, but were kept separated from the men for over 2 months, while also being forced into jobs they had no choice in taking. At least one of the men was forced to become an auto mechanic and work on military and government-owned vehicles. This man worked for over 5 years in this job before he was allowed to leave and come to America, eventually getting a job in a steel mill. To the day of his death in 2015, he never set foot back in Cuba and never saw the majority of his family ever again.
Another of the men of that family whose home and life was forcibly taken from him on that day began a life where he spoke out against the abuses of the Castro regime. He never took up violence as a tool, but rather promoted education and dialogue to make his point. Regardless, he was thrown into prison in 1963 as a political prisoner of the Castro regime. He spent years serving time in some of the worst conditions in the world, including prison cells where the floors were dirt, there were no beds, and the toilets were simple holes in the corner of the cell. In 1979, he immigrated to America as a political refugee, where he has been an outspoken critic of Fidel Castro and his government.
The first man was my father-in-law. The second was his brother, Lazaro Abreu, who has written a book about his life.
Castro was a monster - pure and simple. Much as Stalin's death had very little impact on the outcome of the Cold War, it is nevertheless a very good thing that he is finally gone.
edit - changed to allow Philly to focus on the real point of the post
When that hour expired, the family was forced, at gunpoint, to leave the house. Then, as they watched, the house was burnt to the ground by the military men.
The family was forcibly split up. Then men were taken to Havana, where they were told to begin working in jobs selected for them. The women were similarly taken to Havana, but were kept separated from the men for over 2 months, while also being forced into jobs they had no choice in taking. At least one of the men was forced to become an auto mechanic and work on military and government-owned vehicles. This man worked for over 5 years in this job before he was allowed to leave and come to America, eventually getting a job in a steel mill. To the day of his death in 2015, he never set foot back in Cuba and never saw the majority of his family ever again.
Another of the men of that family whose home and life was forcibly taken from him on that day began a life where he spoke out against the abuses of the Castro regime. He never took up violence as a tool, but rather promoted education and dialogue to make his point. Regardless, he was thrown into prison in 1963 as a political prisoner of the Castro regime. He spent years serving time in some of the worst conditions in the world, including prison cells where the floors were dirt, there were no beds, and the toilets were simple holes in the corner of the cell. In 1979, he immigrated to America as a political refugee, where he has been an outspoken critic of Fidel Castro and his government.
The first man was my father-in-law. The second was his brother, Lazaro Abreu, who has written a book about his life.
Castro was a monster - pure and simple. Much as Stalin's death had very little impact on the outcome of the Cold War, it is nevertheless a very good thing that he is finally gone.
edit - changed to allow Philly to focus on the real point of the post