December 03, 2008

A Call to Protest

As Humberto posted a few days ago, Steven Soderbergh's Che movie will be premiering in--of all places--Miami this week at the Byron Carlyle Theater on Miami Beach. And as Humberto pointed out, any outcry from the Cuban American community in South Florida will be immediately labeled as censorship by the hard line, intransigent exile community.

But who cares what the liberal elite say? Last time I looked, America was still a free country and we have the right to express our opinions in public. We all know the liberal establishment likes to dole out that right only to those whose position and message they deem worthy, but while this country remains free, we will continue to express our opinions no matter how much it pisses off the liberals in this community.

Vigilia Mambisa is organizing a protest for tomorrow's premier. The call was released in Spanish, so below is my quick translation.

The Exile community is called to Protest this Thursday in Miami

“Executions? Yes, we have executed, we are executing, and we will continue to execute as long as it’s necessary. Our fight is a fight to the death.”
— Ernesto “Che” Guevara de la Serna

This Thursday, December 4th, at 6 pm, a movie will premier in Miami which portrays in a favorable light the assassin and Argentine communist Ernesto “Che” Guevara de la Serna, the man who executed with impunity hundreds of Cubans that openly opposed the dictatorial regime imposed on our homeland and responsible for oppression and the deaths of tens of thousands of Cubans throughout history. In addition, Che was a cofounder of the Concentration Camps and Labor Camps along with Raul and Fidel Castro.

The act of premiering such a movie in a city like Miami, full of victims of this black chapter suffered by our community under the bloody dictatorship of the Castros is a repugnant offense and a show of utter disrespect to the Cuban-American community.

For this reason we are calling for this protest, which will begin at the Versailles Restaurant in Miami with a caravan of cars that will travel to the theater where this shameful cinematic premier will take place. Once we arrive, we will demonstrate with all our Cuban legacy our repudiation and condemnation of this new affront and act of aggression in the name of all those that have died. This dignified response is being called for and organized by the exile organization Vigilia Mambisa, and will be supported by all the Cubans who choose to respond with honor to this insult.

Starting Point: Versailles Restaurant
Time: 4:30 pm
Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008

Theater Information:
BYRON CARLYLE THEATER
500 71 Street Miami Beach Fl
Teléfonos: (305) 867-4194 (305) 867-4192 (305) 358-5885
Director del Teatro: Mr. Gary Lund
E-MAIL: garylund@miamibeachfl.gov

Mayoral Information for Miami Beach:
Matti Herrera Bower
E-MAIL: mayorbower@miamibeach.fl.gov
Teléfono: (305) 673-7030 ó (305) 673-7035

The call to this protest is sent to the entire exile community.

Signed,

The Cuban Committee in Exile
Miami, FL

We encourage all who can attend to do so. We cannot allow revisionists to silence our voices and insult the memories of the tens of thousands that died at the hands of this assassin and his thugs.

A link to the Spanish protest page is HERE.

Posted by Alberto de la Cruz at December 3, 2008 08:20 AM

Comments

Too bad I'm on the other coast, otherwise I would've lend my voice to protest. I hope it gets it's results!

Posted by: j2tharome [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 3, 2008 09:46 AM

Any overt protest or attack against any liberal or leftist sacred cow will meet with the same automatic very negative response from the media and all the "progressive" or "enlightened" types. Of course, they can virulently and viciously attack anyone and anything with impunity, regardless of methods or propriety or truth. The game is very obviously rigged, so don't expect anything other than the absolutely predictable.

Posted by: asombra [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 3, 2008 10:03 AM

Cuban exile history repeats itself in cycles. Four decades ago, the movie "Che," starring Omar Sharif, was shown in a Miami Beach theater. Large crowds of Cuban exiles protested in front of barricades around the theater. One protester, Zacarias Acosta, the 76-year-old former mayor of Regla, was arrested while entering the theater with a concealed revolver. Acosta stated to police that as a protest, he was going to shoot at the image of Che on the screen during the movie. This publicized act of desperation by a septugenerian plummeted ticket sales. Acosta was sentenced to probation and psychological counseling for the concealed weapons charge.
Four years later, Acosta was arrested for possession of a bazooka. When told that he could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison, the 81-year-old told the Federal judge, "I'll never live that long." Acosta was sentenced to probation. His prediction proved right, Acosta passed away in Miami on October 31, 1980.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/zacarias-acosta.htm

Posted by: delacova [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 3, 2008 11:30 AM

The asswipe lefties believe the 1st amendment only applies to them.

I guess that its only ok to protest bans on gay marriage but not on films glorifying mass murderers.

Posted by: Cigar Mike Pancier [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 3, 2008 12:35 PM

this is a no win...we stay quiet and the left will pronounce a victory for the "moderation" of the Cuban exile community. you'll have some idiot saying something akin to "You could never have done this in Miami x years ago."

Make too much noise and the same lefties will be ripping us for our barbarism. Nonetheless I hope our voice is heard.

That being said I never thought I would ever see the day that the words "dignified" and "Vigilia Mambisa" would occupy the same sentence.

Posted by: theCardinal [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 3, 2008 01:09 PM

You are right, Cardinal, it is a lose/lose proposition for us. But since when did we ever care what the lefties say about us? Besides, the protest is to defend the memory of those killed by the murderous thug, not to score brownie points with the liberal elite.

And, at least in my book, doing anything that pisses off the left is worth doing.

Posted by: albertodelacruz [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 3, 2008 01:44 PM

Remember the Oliphant cartoon wherein Uncle Sam, acting on Mr. Obama's idea pushed off a boatload of Cuban Americans back to Cuba? that's the liberal view of CA's, so why give them consideration?

Posted by: Ziva Sahl [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 3, 2008 04:17 PM

Ziva: Here is the cartoon and the other one spoofing it.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba-07.htm

Posted by: delacova [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 3, 2008 05:40 PM

It's not the leftists we're trying to reach out to, it's the majority of Americans who reside comfortably somewhere between solid left and solid right. That's why we always have to be mindful of our tactics, not for the far-left, but for reasonable people.

Posted by: Robert [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 4, 2008 07:20 AM


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