Let Us Hold Hands, and Point Fingers.
April 25, 2011
A few months ago, I wrote about my time in Cuba for the Wall Street Journal. Well aware of the complicated history surrounding our relationship to that country, I tried to keep it lighthearted and apolitical. The simple act of traveling to Cuba as an American, though, is a political gesture, and nothing is observed in a vacuum. Even so, I was not prepared for the vitriolic comments that followed from readers who clearly used my writing as a platform for their own intractable, preexisting anger. It was frustrating to be misunderstood, but I chose to ignore the comments because, let’s be honest, the internet is a powerful tool sprinkled with asinine vomit. One thing worse than a pile of vomit, is an even larger pile of vomit.
Many of the responses struck me as unrelated to what I had described in my traveler’s journal. One reader raised the issue of human rights abuses under the Castro regime. He wrote, “Her article is littered with evidence about what is REALLY wrong with Cuba i.e. that it is a murderous, dictatorial, communist regime that robs people of human dignity and individual liberty.” I’d like to think my article wasn’t littered with anything of the sort, but you can be the judge- (Here). I wasn’t really writing about Cuba in general, more about Cuba as I saw it in two weeks. When I travel, I understand I am a guest in another country, and it takes time to experience the full range of nuance and complexity. I don’t travel to foreign countries to make sweeping indictments of them, particularly in print.
There certainly is evidence of injustice under the Castro regime, starting with the death of jailed hunger striker Zapata Tamayo. I didn’t feel it was within the scope of my experience or knowledge to include any of that in something for a Weekend Section. I have nothing to offer on the subject beyond what one could find elsewhere on the internet.
I bring this up now only because today’s New York Times covers the Wikileaks documentation on Guantanamo Bay, and includes an official response from the U.S. Government. What baffles me, is how we as Americans can condemn other governments for the flaws in their legal system, when our own seems to be showing signs of decay.
Statue of Jose Marti, Malecon, Havana.
