CNBC and their Pedro Pan documentary
Every once in a while I like to put aside my cynicism and distrust and listen quietly to the arguments of those who have through their words and actions historically sided--directly and indirectly--with the Cuban dictatorship. I do this not so much to be fair, or because I believe any of their points may be valid, but because it serves to vindicate my cynicism and distrust.
Listening to these people parrot the propaganda provided by the Castro regime justifies the five decades of distrust harbored by Cubans and others who have fought long and hard for Cuba's freedom and provides the impetus for the unique battle in which freedom loving Cubans are engaged. It is an idiosyncratic and treacherous war fought on more than just one front; not only do we battle against the diabolical forces in Havana, but also against a world that through ignorance, willful blindness, and at times explicit support, becomes complicit with the brutal Cuban dictatorship.
I admit that last night I harbored a glimmer of hope that the CNBC documentary of the Pedro Pan children, "Escape from Havana: An American Story," would not follow the path most documentaries produced by the media follow and fall victim to Castroite propaganda. I honestly felt that the topic of the film--the story of 14,000 innocent children sent by themselves to another country to escape tyranny--would be too sensitive and heartbreaking of a topic that even those who do not despise the Castro regime and the atrocities it has committed against the Cuban people would have the common decency to not allow it to be mangled, distorted, and poisoned by a dictator's propaganda.
I was wrong.
Last night's documentary left me feeling sick to my stomach. It was, in my opinion, an exercise in anti-American sentiment aimed at disparaging both the US and the Cubans who fought and continue to fight for their families and against the Castro dictatorship. The story was not presented as a tale of desperate and courageous parents doing the unthinkable to save their children from tyranny. Instead, the parents of these children were depicted as paranoid and knee-jerk reactionaries who fell victim to CIA lies and deceptions.
For 60 minutes the film attempted to drive home the premise that the Pedro Pan exodus was unnecessary, and that the harrowing escape from a life of slavery ended up doing the children more harm than good. It ignored the reality of the regime's 51-year-long history of indoctrinating innocent children and forcing them to attend summer labor camps, and put forth the notion that the fears felt by those Cuban parents who spared their children from this horrible experience were unfounded and imaginary. To repeat the lies of a murderous dictatorship is bad enough, but to use the tale of innocent children and parents who suffered years of separation as a vehicle to disseminate these lies is downright evil.
The film contained a myriad of falsehoods, inaccuracies, and omissions of important and pertinent facts that did not fit with the storyline the producers and the writers wanted to advance. I will not devote any time to list them all here for two reasons: 1)There were too many of them; 2)I do not want to get sick to my stomach again.
The only redeeming element in this documentary, and the reason behind my glimmer of hope that it would be accurate, was Carlos Eire. As always, he clearly articulated his story, and consequently the truth, in the time they allotted him, defying the editors in the editing room. Tomas Regalado, on the other hand, was given short shrift while dubious characters like Silvia Wilhem enjoyed a sympathetic treatment and portrayed as one of the true representatives of the 14,000 Pedro Pan children.
There are many words that can be used to describe how this CNBC documentary distorted and mangled beyond all recognition the saga of the Pedro Pan children, but if I had to use just one, that word would be "offensive."
I admire your attempt to be fair. Not me, though. I'm done being fair.
The moment I saw the documentary was on NBC I decided to stay away. Why? Because I know that these media companies, NBC in particular, have done all they could to besmirch, insult, lie and offend Cuban exiles who, for fifty one years, have been pretty much the only group in America (other than anti-Communist conservatives) who have told the TRUTH about fidel, his regime, and our diaspora away from Communism. They can all go to hell.
For almost a decade Jews in Germany who had fled warned the world about Hitler. Nobody listened. Since 1959 the truth about fidel has been out there for anyone to see who had eyes and hear who had ears. That they are still pushing the lies says more about them than about us. If there were only one reason to be a hardliner, this is it.
It was also basically an infomercial for ending the embargo.
As was entirely predictable, this was a bait-and-switch scenario. These people would never go near a topic like this unless they figured they could use it to further their agenda, which is obviously VERY different from that the Cuban exile community. The show was certainly not meant for us, but to manipulate the opinion of those far more ignorant and unwary, not to mention far less invested in Cuba and its future.
And by the way, this sort of typically offensive media maneuver reminds me, yet again, that one big problem with Cubans is that they're not more like Jews. If something like this had been done with a Holocaust-related topic, can you imagine the fallout? Of course, the media never would have dared to do it in the first place, but there are reasons for that, and that's my point.
Alberto is right-on-the-dime with his analysis of the documentary. The only saving grace was Carlos Eire, but then Silvia Wilhem was given an enormous segment to present her lift-the-embargo-spiel. And I was asking myself, what on earth does this have to do with the Peter Pans?!?!? It was totally gratuitous and opportunistic. And that professor from Chicago [I forget her name], she is a well-known figure in the Peter Pan moment. Her never-ending research [and I know because she is a "Cuba expert" who is widely quoted by the MSM] is to discredit the Peter Pan moment as CIA manipulation. Her research also rests on how traumatic and unnecessary it was.
Did you notice how the documentary claimed [quoting the professor] that the fact that the regime takes away a parent's rights over his child is a lie?
The documentary was propaganda with a few truths sprinkled here and there thanks to Eire.
By the way, when I see something like this I ask myself, what is it about the MSM? With so many well-known Peter Pans such as Willie Chirino, Lissette, Mel Martinez, etc...they have to find the few dissenting voices that mimic the regime's party line! What a crock of shit.
Rayarena, again, this was perfectly predictable, textbook-case example of agenda-driven MSM Cuba coverage. The point was NOT to inform or educate in a real sense, but to gain support for the so-called liberal approach to the Cuba problem, hence the palpable bias and distortion. Cubans themselves were not the target audience or even the point. Cubans, as usual, were merely a means to an end.
I didn't even CONSIDER watching it!
I knew what was coming, so why sit there and get pissed?
Listen, after the infamous Barbara Walters interview of Fidel Castro many years ago, I learned my lesson: the game is rigged. In other words, don't even begin to look to the MSM for anything resembling accurate, responsible Cuba coverage. There is ALWAYS a (barely) hidden agenda. Herbert Matthews lives indeed.
Asombra,
You’re right on with all of your posts.
I did not see the program because I’m like George, if it comes from the MSM and relates to Cuba, I immediately know that it will be sympathetic to the Castro tyranny and critical of the Cuban exiles.
The MSM has become so predictable in their behavior toward us that you don’t need a crystal ball to figure out that every time they have a program related to the Cuba issue it’ll be one that favors the Castro tyranny and attack us.
I usually stay away from documentaries about Pedro Pan, I don't need to watch them, I was there.
and so was my wife we were 11 years old.
So F*** CNBC.
I was not a Pedro Pan , but my sister and I left Cuba with out our parents in 67, I always wonder why the story of other children that left is not told or documented, maybe it has to do with the political spin on how these where the children of the privileged.
You know, it occurs to me that if the MSM simply cannot bring itself to tell it like it really was (and is) regarding Cuba, why can't it at least have the minimal decency to shut the fuck up? Why not just leave the matter alone and deal with issues of far more interest to the average American (who does NOT really care about Cuba one way or the other)?
Asombra- "Why not just leave the matter alone...?" Because their brains are filled with kool-aid utopian dreaming mush and they worship at the altar of el che and company. They must denounce the enemy and promote their heroes murderous anti-American ideology. It they stop, they risk reality setting in, couldn't have that.
Asombra:
In my opinion, Cubans are too easy a target to ignore. They are mostly conservative, successful without kowtowing to the liberal establishment, and very vocal about their beliefs. Cubans in general have refused to allow themselves to be assimilated into the "Latino" community and will not behave as they are told to behave, and for that, they must pay dearly.
If I were a latino maybe I would assimilate, LOL
I'm a Cuban not a hispanic either, I'm not in panic about anything, LMAO
F the labels.
MY REVIEW
THE GOOD
- That they mentioned the firing squads and showed limited footage of them
- That they retold the candy stories about the revolution providing food/candy
- Carlos Eire's testament about revolutionary Cuba still being a festering tumor etc
- That they showed how a poor Pedro Pan could rise to be a Millionaire in America
- That they told the truth about how the blessed "white dove" crapped on Fidel's shoulder
- The fact they mentioned that there are no elections currently and that "thousands of political prisoners" still rot in Castro's jails
THE BAD
- They made the CIA look like evil propagandists
- They gave Che Guevara a free pass and didn't mention him at all, except for showing his Plaza stencil at the every end that I could have lived without
- That they portrayed the adoptive American parents as being pedophiles who molested the Pedro pan girl (I'm sure Fidel LOVED that bit)
- Batista was described as a "brutal dictator" which is ok, but Fidel was not!
- The last 10 minutes were anti-embargo drivel that could have been produced by Granma
- They showed many exiles as intolerant maniacs who make death threats against exiles who go back
- They have a Pedro pan girl question whether she should have just stayed in Cuba! Then say her brother is in an asylum - blaming the US for that by inference!
- They described current day Cuba as a musical colorful wonderland of dancing, sun and fun - they made it look attractive
- They made Carlos Eire look bitter and unreasonable by contrasting him with the anti-embargo traitors
- They said the 2506 got "routed" at Playa Giron without any mention of Kennedy's betrayal
- No mention of Fidel/Che wanting to push the button during the missile crisis
- Gave Raul Castro a free pass altogether
- When they showed anti-Embargo crowds they were angry foaming at the mouth screamers - versus the educated Pedro panistas who went back to "quaint Cuba" and want to normalize relations
= Overall I'd give it a C-/D+
The program scoffed at the fact that Silvia "Flippity" Wilhelm had been accused of being a Castro spy. It didn't mention that the public accusation came from renown spy-catcher Chris Simmons. Wilhelm sued Simmons for slander, but after she got caught in a few lies in her deposition (read it here)
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/espionage/Wilhelm.pdf
and when Simmons' attorney legally requested copies of her bank accounts
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/espionage/Wilhelm-7-08-09a.pdf
Flippity did not proceed with the lawsuit against Simmons.
The program also did not mention the pro-Castro background of Professor Maria de los Angeles Torres Vigil who, since traveling to Cuba with her sister Alicia in 1978 as part of the Antonio Maceo Brigade (BAM),
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/dialogue/maria-torres.pdf
they have been rabid defenders of the Castro dictatorship.
The Torres Vigil sisters also participated in the farce of the so-called "dialogue" with the dictatorship in December 1978.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/dialogue/Dialogueros-lista.pdf
In July 1983, Cuban DGI intelligence defector Raul Perez Mendez, revealed to the FBI that the BAM is controlled by the DGI and that Alicia Torres Vigil is their primary agent in Chicago.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/espionage/Perez-Mendez-debriefing.pdf
Indeed, the program was a heavily-weighed pro-Castro propaganda piece. All the people interviewed had returned to visit Cuba, except Professor Carlos Eire and Tomas Regalado. Kudos to them for their patriotic stand and dignity.
Our friends at Breitbart, Townhall and American Thinker (perhaps Michael Savage Show, perhaps even Fox )will help us set the record (somewhat)straight on this outrage...
Alas, very, very few CNBC viewers will read or hear the intransigent and vitriolic counterpoints. "Meredith Vieria you ignorant sl*t!
We simply can not let this stand. As the saying goes: "A lie unanswered is a lie believed." Well this 60 minute MSM stage gave Castro and his agents (on the payroll and off) mucho time for mucho lies.... and 98 per cent of those he (and his agents, on the payroll and off) have issued for half a century are already regarded as gospel among all "enlightened" sectors!
Unreal.
Except the beginning did show a lot of the horrors, murders, imprisonments of other anti Batista people, Castro's broken promise of a free election and the hypocrisy of Castro saying he wanted to get out of the way as soon as possible and give the people the country back. Then he did not do that.
I can't believe that most non Cuban people watching this will respect that singer for showing anger at her mother especially after Castro agents were shown to have threatened her mother for going against their wishes to send her to Russia. And the only people who would believe the one who blamed the C.I.A. for everything are the America haters, anyway.
And I can't believe anyone seeing Professor Eire can come away unmoved by him.
So maybe despite all of the mangled history of this hour, they didn't succeed in their efforts at deception as much as they wished. Am I too optimistic?
I'm fed up at all the news outlets. They can't report shit, only what matters to them. (Did anyone see The Damas de Blanco march or The situation with the hunger strikers and the Human Rights crisis in Cuba, and all the other MSM? I didn't) We are alone, we don't have a definitive voice here that shakes the news outlets to their cores. My god! Hasta cuando? What will it take to be heard? To get the respect and dignity from these media morons that only pander to Castro's will? Dios mio, I know I was born here but I'm as much Cuban as my parents, and the generations before them, and I feel the pain of our community when we are made to look like buffoons and hard-liners. We need a English language Radio Mambi on Talk Radio, We need something like TVMarti in English that does not pander to the left on TV. We need to need to put our rich history to our tragic plight to regain the lost pearl of the antilles, and the atrocities, in the face of every day Americans. Enough with the MSM brainwashing tactics.
Excuse the tirade, I'm just tired of the same bullshit.
****on FOXNEWS, and all the other MSM
Felix,
I share your frustration; the MSM cannot longer be trusted.
All we can do is spread the word about this fact...
Unfortunately there are enough wealthy Cuban-Americans that could make a difference and do what you're suggesting.
Unfortunately they’re not doing so as they are more interested in becoming wealthy than spreading the truth...
Freedom, some of those "wealthy Cubans" like the Estefans are traitors and aid the regime. We've always had enemies in our ranks in South Florida, and now more of these rats are coming out of the wood work. How can we expect non-Cubans to help us, when we have so many opportunistic vultures within our own ranks - just waiting to profit from lifting the embargo ! Many of these hijo de putas were in the CNBC piece!
Felix, English language sourced could help a little perhaps - but the real problem is within the ranks of Cuban exiles themselves. We have a 5th column of "gusanos" (and yes I mean that word in the negative sense) who aid and abet Fidel & Co at every turn and want to position themselves to make $$$ off of the islands suffering and eventual "opening up"!
Many of the recent arrivals are either indifferent or outright shills for the regime that they fled who voluntarilly go back with plasma TV's and sip mojitos in Veradero while publicly bashing Fidel here at Versailles!
= Look no further than Little Havana for why the regime is still in Havana.
As usual, Prof. Tony provides the documentation to slice and dice the CNBC producers, as dupes, as Castro propaganda auxiliaries, or as both. Take your pick.
Unreal
Mr. Mojito, you're right, but I was not referring to the Estefans this time (for the same exact reasons you mentioned).
I meant those many other wealthy Cuba-American families that do nothing to promote Cuba's freedom.