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i agree with you,our brothers and sisters are being incarcerated for absolutly no reasons except luchar for freedom
my father has been sentenced for 10 years back in 1973 for counter revolucion activities,wich means nothing,he hasn t done anything else than trying to feed his family properly
we all cuban exiles show support to our fellows rather than supporting republicans hard liners in the US
anyway,i pray god for freedom,that our island become again a land of free,that we can go back home,to see our beloved,and make cuba a strong nation,taking benefits of the few good things the revolution has done,education,medical care mostly
Que no lo mata engorda

cris,

It's those republican hardliners that have worked like no others for change in Cuba.

Cris:

Educate yourself. Your heart is in the right place but you don't have the facts, or, rather, you have all the wrong "facts."

Before the Revolution Cubans enjoyed the highest standard of living in Latin America (higher than Japan and many countries in Europe). Health and education were the hallmarks of Cuban progress before Castro, not now.

As for Republican hardliners, Val is right: they are the ones who have worked the hardest for change in Cuba. But now there are also Republican moderates who are doing their worst to scrap the embargo and recognize Castro's regime before he expires in his bed of crap.

Indeed a brave soul!
May God protect all victims of this failed revolution. The effects and consequences of castro's revolution have been appalling to say the least!

My opinion is that to see some positive results of 48 years of a regime which induces fear, hunger and envy, it's inexcusable. The revolution was done "for human beings", at the expense of human beings ... we must be able to differentiate between those who to this day, believe in the revolution and are only disillusioned because of material needs, versus those like Prospero Gainza, for whom basic human rights and freedom are more important than a piece of bread.

One of the poignant ironies, is that most of these dissidents, jailed and deprived of basic human rights under castro's regime, are younger than the revolution ... many are "children of the revolution"

Being a Republican, Libertarian, or Democrat is an example of exercising the freedom of choice non-existent in Cuba. That said, it's also irrelevant to this post, which is to express our solidarity for brave Cuban men and women in castro's gulags.

:) I wish you well - Melek

"Man is not free to watch impassively the enslavement and dishonor of men, nor their struggles for liberty and honor." ~ Jose Marti

Personally, I don't believe in self-mutilation as a means to effect change. Hurt the enemy, don't hurt yourself.

This act renders every performance art piece ever done absolutely meaningless and trite. It reminds me of the great symbolic acts of some of the prophets in the Old Testament, not so much for the use of self-mutilation (for this is not truly self-mutilation, but a powerful symbolic gesture), but for showing the eloquence of action without words. This man is filled with as much spiritual power. It is humbling to say the least. The image is riveting, even though it does not represent the real Próspero Gaínza...who painted it?

His act is reminiscent of, although not quite as drastic as, the Buddhist monks' who set themselves on fire to protest the Vietnam War. After the Viet-Cong took over, the monks were burned out of their temples, murdered or re-educated; so much for the practical results of their symbolic act.

I don't quite understand the symbolism of Gaínza's act. One of the only weapons which he or any Cuban has against the regime is his mouth. He can still denounce injustice, at least until the inevitable crackdown; and I think it is far more useful to the cause to do so than to sew his own mouth up, which most rational people would consider an insane act. As I said, self-mutilation is never the answer: Hurt the enemy, don't hurt yourself. Let the truth be the answer to the enemies lies, not such a silence.

At the time of the Holocaust, Gandhi advised the Jewish people to commit collective suicide to show the world their moral conviction and teach it a lesson it would not soon forget. In other words: kill yourselves before the enemy kills you, the ultimate act of "passive resistance."

It seems to me that what the Cuban people need is less passive resistance and more active resistance.

Manuel :We need both type of resistance and if there is a third,that one too.Not all people were born to fight with the sword (ex: Marti).We need all avenues available to reach our goal of a free CUBA.

PLP:

Martí was not born to fight with a sword, but he nonetheless did.

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