Babalu Blog: No Más in LA

January 15, 2009

No Más in LA - corrected

I’m sure you’ve seen ads for them, little Cuba events presenting a book, a documentary, a panel discussion on some topic pertaining to Cuba. Sometimes they are well intentioned, and sometimes the topic is straight from Cuba’s propaganda bureau, such as the ridiculous documentary that made the rounds about how Cuba survived “peak oil,” as if there was such a thing. They are held in libraries, in universities, bookstores, in non-profit organization boardrooms etc., and I have never been interested in attending them. There are too many kool-aid drinking liberals out here on the left coast, and they will inject their world view onto anything about Cuba and the last thing I´ve wanted to do is to spend my free time listening to more lies about Cuba.

This week I changed my mind.

Thursday evening good friend, and long time Babalu commenter, Henry Agueros and I decided to attend an event sponsored by a local library group. Peter Moruzzi, author of “Havana Before Castro: When Cuba was a Tropical Playground,” presented his version of Havana during the forty-year period between World War I and the revolution from an American tourist point of view, a narrative of the accompanying slide show from the books illustrations.

It turned out to be quite an evening, complete with an earthquake strong enough to frighten many in the audience. (36:37 on the tape) I couldn’t help but think God was letting us know his opinion of the material. One of the opening slides was of an Afro-Cuban family standing in front of their bohio, circa 1880, shown to illustrate Mr. Moruzzi's point that before the revolution, rural Cubans lived forgotten in abject poverty. It was downhill from there, as the author presented a Havana where the only Cubans visible were the nightclub entertainers and ladies of the evening, with the rest of the population seemingly comprised of mobsters and tourists.

During the Q&A that followed, a gentlemen questioned Moruzzi’s recommendation to visit the capital as soon as the castro’s are gone. He was in Prague shortly after the fall of communism and found the lingering effects of the years of totalitarian rule oppressive and depressing.

Enter the local version of the regimes CDC, a few vocal castroite thugs from the back row, loudly insisting that Cuba is the most beautiful, happiest place on earth. I suspect they are in attendance at most, if not at all of these Cuba events, making sure those attending leave with the proper revolutionary impression. Not this time--we answered them, and let me tell you, they didn´t like it. No siree, they got up out of their seats, and in our faces.

The audio is here. The fun starts at 46:25.

We left just as the police were arriving. Henry and I have decided that these thugs will no longer go unanswered, we will be attending as many of these Cuba events as possible, and we will not be silent. No Más!

Posted by Ziva at January 15, 2009 01:40 AM

Comments

Might want to upload a more user-friendly audio format. CDA only can only be played on CD-roms.

Posted by: Mike at January 12, 2009 04:15 AM

I'm still in the process of editing the audio. I'm cleaning it up a bit.

Posted by: Universal Spectator at January 12, 2009 05:33 AM

Ziva,

I comment you on your activism! Here in the East Coast, I've been to a few "Cuba events," and, yes!!, you are right!!!, there is always a CDC backup!

A few years back, I went to a talk at a local college in NYC on Cuban architecture. One of the prominent names on Cuban architecture, he works with Cuba's official--so called-- restorer, Eusebio Leal Spengler--I forget his name--was giving a slide show talk about Castro's "wonderful" rescuing of Cuba's architectural patrimony.

I asked him a simple question: how many buildings have been restored to date? He diverted the question, and I replied: that's not what I asked you. I insisted on an answer. Enter the local CDC! There was a chorus of screaming and shouting from about 3 or 4 thugs in the background trying to shut me down. You could see that the American professor who had organized the event was getting nervous.

Naturally, the speaker couldn't answer the question and he told me the usual answer, "I don't have that information with me now."

But it just goes to show you, the regime's Modus operandi." It's the same everywhere. And my question was a simple, non-hostile question, but apparently, not even the most unaggressive question is tolerated by these goons.

Anyway, I comment you for confronting Peter Moruzzi. From what you say, it was disgusting. To show a black family in the 1880's [slavery was abolished in Cuba in 1886] and to try to say that they were typical of all Cubans, is like going to the antibellum south and showing a slave shack and insisting that's how all Southerners lived in the 1800s. It's amazing the kind of bullsh-t that these so-called scholars are allowed to get away with when it comes to Cuba. There is no limit!

Curiously enough, Moruzzi's book came out at the same time that Kevin Kwan's "I was Cuba" came out. "I was Cuba" is an excellent book that shows pre-revolutionary Cuba in a very simple way, with hundreds of photographs. As they say, "a picture tells a thousands words," and this book illustrates Cubans from all walks of life and it shows a vibrant, well-to-do society. Not the sick, anemic, "in-need-of-a-revolution" fantasy that people like Moruzzi show with their selective pictures and recycled lies. By the way, Moruzzi--despite having an inferior book-- has received more publicity than Kwan. Typical!

Again, thank you and Henry for your activism!

I'm curious, what did that propagandist for the regime, Moruzzi, say?

Posted by: Rayarena at January 12, 2009 07:27 AM

Looking forward to hearing that auido - I too am unable to hear it.

Anyhow - well done.

Posted by: CubaWatch at January 12, 2009 09:32 AM

Well good for you for going and speaking up! I, too, have done that at events in San Francisco. (I have not run into CDR plants.) I also counter-demonstrated at a "Free the Cuban Five" event. Some of my friends now understand the reality of Cuba, but most people are lazy and find it intellectually easier to just parrot the Party Line. Will look forward to watching the video.

Posted by: Mariana at January 12, 2009 06:28 PM

I was just chatting with my grandmother about this posting. She was listening to part of the recording, with my mother assisting with translation. One of many questions she had - translated from the Spanish:

"What the hell is this guy talking about? Santo Traficante owned San Souci?" Papito and I knew the owner of San Souci very well - and his name wasn't Santo Traficante. Do you think this man misspoke?"

Cracked me up.

Posted by: CubaWatch at January 15, 2009 02:06 PM