Paul Greenberg has never been to Havana, but he did visit St. Petersburg when it was still Leningrad. Reading Oswaldo Paya’s work, he was struck by the similarities.
“…But by 1983, when I was there, the city had been overtaken by war, revolution and the greatest scourge of all: Marxism-Leninism, a criminal conspiracy in the guise of a socio-economic philosophy. It held sway for the better part of a century. Or rather the worse part.”
To think, this is the capital of what was once the Pearl of the Antilles — a center of commerce and education. There was a time when Havana was a magnet for refugees from Europe’s tyrannies; now its own people flee on flimsy rafts.
To quote Paya: “It is worth recalling that there was once another Havana, one that possessed 10 daily newspapers and many more radio stations. It was a place that had a huge, reliable system of public transportation. The poor had a few pesos in their pockets that could be used to buy something. Havana was never a place that scorned people from the provinces, although today the government prohibits Cubans from moving into the city. The government tells us that Havana is better today. Those of us who know otherwise should raise our voices against such denigration. We have a right to defend our parents. …”
One day, because of voices like Oswaldo Paya’s, Cuba will be free. That day may come sooner than anyone dares hope. Because of voices like Andrei Sakharov’s, Leningrad is St. Petersburg again. And one day Havana will be Havana again, and Cuba Libre will be more than the name of an old-fashioned cocktail.
Please read the rest of his article at Jewish World Review.
“Leningrad is St. Petersburg again. And one day Havana will be Havana again, and Cuba Libre will be more than the name of an old-fashioned cocktail.”
Eso.
I’ll drink to that, as well.