Mum’s the word for a reason
Friday afternoon's attack of Reinaldo Escobar by bused in castro Rapid Response Brigade mobs has the Cuban blogosphere, both in Cuba and in exile, abuzz. There are dozens of posts, a ton of pictures, videos of the attacks and hundreds and hundreds of comments. Commentary and news of the desperate act is posted all over Facebook and Twitter and other networking sites. And with good reason, as the lynch mob attacks were appalling, disgusting and enraging and much, much more.
Unsurprisingly, however, there is very little, a trickle, of coverage by the MSM. Few of the MSM entities that have covered Yoani Sanchez the past few years, that have gushingly reported on her numerous awards throughout the world and that heralded her having sent a letter to a US Congressman in support of the lifting of travel restrictions just a few days ago, have published any news of the brutal attack. But that is, unfortunately, par for the course.
Today's journalism is agenda driven and if some particular event can be construed as detrimental to said agenda, it will just be ignored or downplayed. The spirit of Murrow is long, long gone.
I, for one, am not a bit surprised over the lack of coverage. I mean, Yoani's opinions are perfectly in line with those of the MSM.: the embargo is archaic and anachronistic, the travel restrictions are an affront and should be lifted, etc. . .
So why such reticence from the purveyors of news?
It's quite simple actually.
Those laconic entities of the MSM understand the brutality of the attacks against Reinaldo. They, too, see them as dehumanizing and appalling and, most importantly to them, counterproductive. If the agenda is to get the US Congress to lift restrictions on travel by Americans to Cuba, and to garner support from the American people for same, then the very last thing they want or need is for Americans to see the true face of Cuba. What American will want to spend his hard earned money to travel to a place and witness the brutal beating and treatment of the natives?
Real Americans don't stand for that. What the castro regime did to Yoani a few weeks ago and to Reinaldo on Friday goes against the very nature, the very fiber of the American ideal.
And that, folks, doesn't buy congressional votes or sell airplane tickets.
Val, you are probably right, and I think the Castros did this in full view of the international press, just as congressional hearings on the embargo are reaching a high point, because they don't want the embargo lifted. They use the embargo as an excuse for their inepteness, it's a propaganda tool they have used to their advantage and they don't want to lose it. It's hard for them, they want the dollars but they also want the propaganda tool,and they can't have both.But we know, and I think they do too, that dollars won't solve their problems because they have one big problem they don't want to solve: Communism.
Their actions have made Moratinos (Desatinos some say) look like an idiot,and I think that is on purpose, the Castro don't want the EU to soften up.
The only thing that works well in Cuba is the repressive system and they are betting on that to keep them in power, meanwhile they scream about the embargo, even if those extra dollars are very tempting.