[NYTr] Another Failed Tool in the Anti-Cuba Arsenal

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

The Cuban Nation 4:13 - Jul 25, 2007
http://www.thecubannation.com

Editorial

Another Failed Tool in the Anti-Cuba Arsenal

By Alberto N. Jones
Senior Political Editor

Every four years and as a prelude of the Olympic games, amateur sports
fans in our continent celebrate with great enthusiasm the Pan American
games which is hosted in different countries of our regions, providing
each of our nations  the pride and glory of seeing the best and
brightest of their athletes, compete fairly, honestly in the selection
process of the stars that will represent them two years after, in that
magnificent world sport gathering that was born in Olympia, Greece,
776 BC.

Cuba, a very poor, underdeveloped country in our hemisphere, that have
had to live under siege for half a century, have devoted since 1959 a
substantial amount of its GNP to education, health, culture, sports and
other fields of human  development.

Each of these fields have yielded incredible results, which have placed
this small island of less than 12 million inhabitants on the world map
and have earned it the respect, love and admiration of millions of
people around the world.

Still this unparallel human achievement, that is an example and guiding
light for all other poor and underdeveloped nation in the world, has not
been greeted and celebrated by some rich and powerful nations, instead,
they have dedicated substantial human and financial resources, to
undermine and disrupt the fruits of these efforts.

To fulfill their reprehensive tasks, hundreds of modern pirates,
corsairs and buccaneers, are once again sailing the waters of the
Caribbean, assaulting, slaughtering and destroying everything in their
path, just as Henry Morgan, Francis Drake, Blackbeard and other well
known murderers, terrorized defenseless ships, crews and those living
on the shoreline of their respective countries.

Contrary to those easily identifiable pirates brandishing their sword,
one eye and dirty bearded face, today’s buccaneers looks like
respectable CEO’s, cruising in expensive sports cars, don only designer
garments and live in secluded, gated communities, without ever having
to hold up a schooner at gunpoint.

Instead, like hyenas, viper and most other animal of prey, they lurk in
the dark, cowardly waiting to strike by surprise, with their bulging
bags of ill gotten money, ready to buy the conscience of a Cuban
Doctor, Musician or Sportsman.

Ironically, these are the same monsters that have spent a lifetime
belittling everyone living in Cuba, who have encouraged the US
administration to impose greater draconian measures on their country of
birth, rejoiced during the special period when Cubans were literally
starving,  have openly questioned the Bush administration about, why
Iraq and not Cuba and who proudly exhibit as victories of their making,
the Torricelli Bill, the Helms-Burton Act and the abominable 500 pages
of the Commission For a Transition to a Free Cuba, that have had a
devastating effect on the Cuban family.

Yet, instead of working with and salvaging millions of school children
in the United States that are threatened by a sea of drugs, relentless
violence, early pregnancy, producing high school graduates that are
incapable of filling out a job application, their focus is an every
outstanding individual that Cuba have educated or trained in each of
life’s endeavor.

But this monstrosity of depriving the poor of their best minds and
abilities is nothing new.  Millions of the best and brightest from
around the world fill every vacancy in the United States and the rest
of the developed world, at the expense of their own nations.

There ought to be far more Physicians from Pakistan and India working in
the England, Australia, United States and Canada, than in their
countries of birth.  Thousands of Filipino nurses constitute the
backbone of most medical centers in the US.  Professional Baseball
teams in the US, looks more like a Latin America match.

These outrageous commercialization of sports, boosting salaries in the
millions, have become an overwhelming magnet that has replaced all
sense of community or nationhood, for the millions contained in each
individual contract.

This environment and its strong dose of anti-Cuba political component
have hatched a formidable flock of bird of prey that can be found
marauding around every event where Cubans sports, cultural or medical
professionals are participating in.

So far, this human excretion must feel rewarded, after luring away
Rigondeaux and Lara, two of Cuba’s top boxers and sure medalist at the
Pan American games in Brazil.

This repugnant behavior may be news for others, not so for Cubans. It is
just more of the same!  These criminal actions were instituted during
the Central American Games in Jamaica in 1962.  Cuba’s only hope for a
medal was a potential Silver medal, ironically in the arms of another
boxer, who they enticed to defect.

Tens of others have since followed a similar path in search of wealth.
Since the year 2000, these pirates have centered their attention on the
Cuban National Baseball team, from where they successfully pry away, the
best and most promising players.

Blinded by money and devoid of all moral principles, these pirates have
failed to reflect on a striking, irrefutable fact.  No matter how many
sportsmen or physicians they lure away, the larger the number of
graduates in their respective fields will be, the better the Cuban team
will become and the greater the amount of medals they will continue to
win.

A case in point has been the longstanding duel between the United States
and the Cuban National Baseball teams.  After suffering its greatest
loss of its most promising players at the hands of the Morgan’s and
Drake’s of our times,  most  assumed that the Cuban-US match at the Pan
American games in Brazil, was a sure win for the US.  Surprise,
surprise, the US team ended up with a consolation Silver medal!

A quick review of the most outstanding and best known players,
musicians, physicians and others (myself included) that have abandoned
our country, some of whom have found material goods or achieved wealth,
are all acutely aware that we will never  be a master in another
person’s home.

Cuba will continue to develop, advance and share its programs with the
rest of humanity.  We selfishly will continue on the sidelines, trying
to enjoy those rewarding but unsatisfying material goods that will
always be incapable of filling the moral vacuum that will live within
us forever.  May all the newcomers be prepared for the longing,
bitterness and tons of tears that lies ahead, incapable of forgetting
the land that we so desperately wanted to leave behind, which cruelly
reminds us of the green lawn of our neighbors.