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Stories of Cuba’s history, Cuban exiles, and life in Cuba are front and center on many online news sites this year end, as Cuba attempts to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Castro’s revolution that occurred on New Year's Day.
 Like other communist countries, the reality of life in Cuba points to the colossal failure of the revolution and imposed communistic police state. Tyranny and injustice, impoverishment and shortages, human misery and abject suffering all abound in what could have been an island paradise, with its abundance of several natural resources.
But the lies of communism were believed 50 years ago, and are still believed, oddly enough, by some who now have never known freedom.
Recalling life before Castro’s revolution, Communist Party member Amanda Gonzalez said from her 19th century home in Havana, "Poor people at that time had nothing, and there were many poor. The rich only cared about profits and wealth."
But 50 years later, economic hardship remains in place, something Gonzalez would like to end. "On balance, the revolution has been positive, but what hits me is the economic situation. We are forced to do illegal things to improve our lives," she continued.
The government has outlawed any free enterprise — everything is state owned under the government’s central planning scheme — and continues to effectively crackdown on thriving black markets. The average salary for skilled or unskilled workers — welcome to socialism’s economic justice — is $20 a month and forces the people to go underground for basic necessities.
Stealing is a common tactic for surviving. Everything from cigars, to be resold again and again, to shoes to fruits and vegetables. “We make the mercado negro [a cigar] or we don’t have anything,” said a Santa Clareno resident. “Mostly we steal from work. If it’s a shoe factory, then we take something to make shoes at home and sell them. If it’s building, then we steal cement. We carry what we can; the poor man on his back, the rich man in his truck.”
Cuban shops, the ones the natives use, not the spruced up tourist places, are a strange mix of the primitive and modern. One British journalist reported that one modern food store contained nothing but cooking oil. Outside, men cleared and cut the grass verges with sickles — no weed whackers or brush hogs in sight — quite apropos for a communist dictatorship.
Factories lay idle or the technology to run them is 1940s era. The infrastructure is crumbling at best. Horse and carriage is still used by small towns for mass transit. And for some, a ten-mile walking commute before and after a 24-hour shift is normal. Productivity is poor, as there is no incentive under the communist regime to improve.
Given all of this, there are still some who wouldn’t have it any other way. Many still clamor for their “free” health care and education. And change? "I don't want any," said 61-year-old Argelio Gonzalez. "I want everything to stay like Fidel wants it."
Contrast all of that with the stories of Cuban exiles, many who live in Miami, Florida, and who are committed to seeing Cuba free one day. The exiles all live in relative comfort and prosperity, and have a firm grasp on the realities of life during the revolution and after.
Huber Matos was a commander of Castro’s ninth column. For two years leading up to the culmination of the revolution and take-over by Castro, Matos worked to defeat Fulgencio Batista along side Castro. Matos believed Castro’s lies about agrarian reforms and his democratic, “Never again will there be a dictatorship on Cuba!” line.
But Matos soon became entirely disenchanted and disillusioned with Castro. He knew Che Guevara and Raul Castro were communists and he refused to accept their rule. Matos wrote a letter to Fidel asking to be left to go home and resume his former life of teacher and farmer. Raul was furious and asked that Matos be shot. When a favorite military commander, Cienfuegos came to Matos’ defense, Cienfuegos disappeared without a trace, and Matos was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In October 1979 with the help of the government of Costa Rica, Matos was released after suffering physical and psychological torture. He traveled to Miami and lives with his family there. A remarkably strong man, he calls Fidel “that wimp” and awaits Fidel’s death with relish. He maintains that Castro’s subjects are forced to pretend that they support the failed system, and dreams of returning to the island to spread the word of the “moral values of the republic.”
Another exile is Miguel Castillo who left Cuba on a raft in 1999, after four previously unsuccessful attempts. Upon his arrival after being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, Castillo knelt down and kissed the ground saying, “Long Live a Free Cuba without Castro.” Today he is a successful musician and rapper and also works in construction.
Diana Contreras arrived in the United States in 1980, leaving Cuba during the Mariel boat lift. She is a sales manager, and is married with a daughter. For many years Contreras was ashamed of her “marielitos” status, but now knows that Fidel manipulated the image of marielitos, saying they were criminals and the insane.
Arriving at Miami’s airport in 1971 as a little girl, Ester Elena San Martin remembers the green slickers worn by airport workers because it was raining. Reminiscent of the green worn by the Cuban military, little Ester turned to her father and said, “If this is Cuba, I’m not getting off,” — out of the mouths of babes. She knew the terror of the revolution, having had a gun held to her young head as she lay on the floor when Castro’s thugs entered her parents' home and eventually threw them all out.
Carlos Alberto Montaner was 15 years old when Castro took power. Castro was a frequent visitor to the Montaner home, so the Montaner’s were elated on New Year’s Day, 1959. He and a brother happily donned Castrol’s red and black armbands in support of the new regime.
But after witnessing how a people’s tribunal had sentenced his high school principal to 10 years in prison for no crime, Montaner was shocked by the injustice of it all. Familiar with the tactics of the Soviet Union during the crackdown in Hungary, and seeing the Revolution unveil its real agenda of Marxism, Montaner soon joined the anti-Castro guerillas in the mountains. Captured as a 17-year-old, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. As security was lax in the juvenile prison, Montaner escaped and hid out in the Venezuelan embassy until he could be flown out.
Now a writer and founder of Miami’s Union Liberal Cubana, a political party, he too, waits for Castro’s death and hopes that Cubans will start to question communism.
Presently, there is some evidence that Cubans are indeed doing more than questioning communism.
Dissident Oswaldo Pava recently said, "We Cubans want freedom. Changes mean freedom. To deny changes is to close the doors of the future to the Cuban people."
Manny Garcia belittled changes suggested by Raul, such as allowing Cubans to buy computers and cell phones. "To allow Cubans to have cellular phones, I don't see that as a change. When you lack everything else, a cellular is a luxury. I have to save for months if I just want to buy a pair of tennis shoes," he said.
Most courageous are the Internet bloggers whose voices for freedom and openness are heard far and wide, regardless of the political ramifications they may suffer. One such is Yoani Sanchez. Her blog, “Generation Y” also in English, is well written, poignant, informative, and occasionally suffers unexplained blackouts. It’s enthralling — everyone should check it out.
The socialistic system implemented by Castro, with occasional help along the way from both the U.S.S.R and the U.S., destroyed the third most prosperous nation in Latin America. It is a failed revolution in that the promises of freedom from dictatorship and prosperity never materialized.
It is not an “aging revolution,” neither is it a “channeled process,” as the state-owned newspaper claims. Cuba is a living and operating lie.
There can be no starker lesson on the realities of dictatorship and communism than the one 90 miles to our south.
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