Yesterday, Henry´s post produced a pretty heated exchange about the U.S. role in castro´s takeover of Cuba. Talk about timing, Reuters reports that Cuba unveiled a marble plaque commemorating Herbert Matthews.
Read it here.
28 thoughts on “Cuba honors American who made castro a legend”
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Well, that says it all.
I guess you could say that at least it’s now official, the debate is over about the NYTimes complicity in the oppression of Cubans.
Well, another piece of crap we’ll have to throw in the garbage when we return.
Well, it’s much more honest than the John Lennon statue!
Another useful idiot, courtesy of the New York Times, who brought us Walter Duranty.
Herbert Matthews was highly honored last year by New York Times reporter Anthony DePalma in his book “The Man Who Invented Fidel: Castro, Cuba, and Herbert L. Matthews of the New York Times.”
Here is my review of this apologetic hagiography
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/academic/cuban-affairs.pdf
The lies of Herbert Matthews would some day cause 2 million Cubans to take refuge in the U.S. and one American to take refuge in Australia. That American was Herbert Matthews himself, who died there in 1975.
Matthews lived and died in dread fear that one of the millions whom he had condemned to slavery with his lies might one day disturb his none too quiet sleep. He knew the nature of his crime (for he could not conceal it from himself) and of the terrible retribution it merited. That he never actually received it is irrelevant. He lived his punishment as only a coward can, every day of his worthless life until its conclusion.
I am sure Mr. Matthews is writing a great op-ed piece in the Hades Daily Journal titled “Coming Home” I am sure that he and many others will greet fidel upon his arrival in hell.
As we all know, it wasn´t just Herbert Matthews, and his employer the NYT. It was also Jean-Paul Sartre, C. Wright Mills, Norman Mailer- who said of castro, ¨the first and greatest hero to appear in the world since the Second War.¨ Damning of all, the communist infiltrated U.S. Dept of State who decided Batista had to go. In charge of that project were Roy Rubottom, Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, and William Wieland, director of the Office of Caribbean and Mexican Affairs, both had been in Columbia during the Bogotazo riots and they withheld their knowledge of castro´s communist sympathies. And so it goes, on and on during the next 45 plus years. The U.S. owes the Cuban people big time, and I say that as an American who loves my country.
ahh such great testimonials first Kerry,Fonda et al lionized in Vietnam and now Matthews. What took the Cuban gov’t so long? Perhaps it was a lack of cement?
Castro also erected a monument to the Rosenbergs in Cuba.
I remember reading Mr. Mathiews’ stories in microfilm in the late 1960′ in my high school library.
I am not a great judger from the beyond…but
However…if someone were to judge…there could very well would be a warm place for Mr. Mathiwes in the nether world.
Help me here Mauuel…
God, forgive me..please.
Fidel Castro was the answer to Herbert Matthews’ mid-life crisis and latent homosexuality. Because a man in his 60s, who had been a reporter since the days of the Spanish Civil War, hadn’t figured out who he was or what he wanted from life, 11 million Cubans had to pay the price and are still paying the price.
~ gag me with a spoon ~
Ziva,
If what you say is true, then it is another mistake in a long list of mistakes made by the US in relation to Cuba, no question.
The fact is still that we Cubans bear the brunt of the fault for bringing this evil caudillo to power and were duped. I am proud to be Cuban, but I am not proud of our record in governing ourselves, lets be honest.
Having said that, I do agree the U.S. should recognize their mistakes and help us accordingly, and I hope they will when the time comes.
Still, I can’t think of another country or people that has given an opportunty to live in Freedom as this one, not to mention this is the ONLY country that has had any semblance of correct moral stance in relation to Cuba in this hemisphere. The rest of them have stood silent, and even supported the tyranny openly, including our latin “brethren”.
Max,
The time has come and past.
“I am proud to be a Cuban, but I am not proud of our record in governing ourselves, let’s be honest.” — Max
Yes, let’s be honest. There is much for you to be proud about Cuba’s pre-revolutionary history (1902-1958). During that half-century there were at least ten presidential elections in Cuba whose results were never disputed. In Cuba, it was not a rare event for the opposition to unseat the ruling party. Cubans governed themselves at least as well or better than any other people in Latin America. Even the dictators had democratic periods and adhered to the Rule of Law. Although not perfect, and saddled with many limitations that were not of our own doing, the Cuban Republic was a mecca of democracy in a sea of authoritarianism for most of its history. Indeed, Cuba was the mecca for Latin American democrats who were toppled or persecuted by dictatorial regimes at home. Before 1959, practically every Latin American politician at one time sought asylum in democratic Cuba. Many of these, incidentally, would later embrace Fidel Castro when he extinguished his own country’s democracy.
Cubans have every reason to cherish and embrace our democratic past. We should be grateful that we do have a foundation in democracy and won’t be starting from scratch when Cuba is again free. The greatest monument of Cuban democracy is the Constitution of 1940 and it will be the means by which we restore democracy to Cuba, thereby linking our democratic past with out democratic future.
Pototo,
Yes, the time has ocme and past, but when Cuba is free, I feel the US will infuse massive amounts of capital in the rebuilding process. That will be key to a stable democracy once the regime falls. I am hopeful it will.
Manuel,
We may have been better than the rest of Latin America politically, but we still had a long way to go .. We have had our share of coup de’etats. Everyone agree our model for democracy should be the United States? I agree that the constitution of 1940 was a great thing. To bad we let someone overthrow a president (Prio) and not have the wherewithall as a nation to have that constitution honored. The one in the US has been upheld for 200 plus years.
Guys, its just not fair to blame America for all our problems (and yes, I agree the US made crucial mistakes) without looking in the mirror.
This will hopefully make us a better nation when the regime falls.
It has been fashionable to bash America lately. Even with all its faults and shortcomings, it is the last bastion of freedom, and the last hope in the war against the islamofascists.
Lets focus on our current and real enemies. We cannot correct what was done incorrectly in the past, but we can look to the future.
Guys, we agree on almost everything. Let’s not alienate our friends and allies by bashing them, especially when our predicament is mostly our problem.
You are my “brothers”, and when it comes down to it, we all want the same thing.
Make no mistake, I am not bashing America. This is my country and I am fiercely loyal and patriotic. But rather, I´m just telling the truth about historical events and there is a long history of a commnunist presence in the State Department giving bad advice and worse. There have been betrayals and lies that have been devastating to Cuba. There is no doubt that Cuba is responsible for the current situation and it´s Cuba who will have to free herself, but the U.S. shares in that blame and responsibility. I don´t have to cite Cuba U.S. history to any of you, we all know that. Part of that history is genuine friendship for each other. Cuba helped the U.S. win her independence, and I have no doubt the U.S.will help rebuild Cuba.
Ziva,
I agree with you. Unfortunately even to this day we have people in the US Government that actually work against the interests of a free Cuba.
I don’t feel these individuals represent the true sentiment of America or what it stands for.
Unfortunately its the reality. Aside from the state department, you now have the Rangels, the Serranos, the Maxine Waters, Dodds and their ilk in power now. Even the GOP has their idiots such as Flake.
Max,
I do not believe that the US is the only reason. I have often put the onus on we refugees who left.
Yes we did our large part, but the US did as well. I agree that we are on the same side. But I sympathize with Manuel as I would consider myself very patriotic to Cuba to the point that I will move there once Cuba is free. While I love the US I love Cuba so much more. You are not anyone of our’s enemy. I never considered you that. I just want to make sure that Cuba belongs to Cubans and not US interests some of who just want to prostitute Cuba for their gain. Not all mind you, but there are plenty.
I once heard Carlos Alberto Montaner say on a talk show here in Miami that that despite its wonderful accomplishments in culture, the arts, music, business ventures, medicine, technology, etc., the Cuban people AS A GROUP have never displayed political maturity on the same level as the American people. Not once did he mention any role the U.S. may or may not have played in this.
Keep in mind, this was Carlos Alberto Montaner talking here. This is pretty much what Max is saying as well. We can be proud of our people’s accomplishments, but at the same time be honest about our shortcomings. Otherwise, we’ll never resolve our problems.
Thanks for the support Robert, I think you understand where I come from. We never matured to the point where we came up with such a wonderful constitution, only to allow it to be wiped out by Batista’s takeover of the government in 1952. This was the seed that gave the tyrant an opening.
The left and those that ally themselves with the regime harp on the adage that the US was exploiting Cuba, to the point that they attempt to us that to credit Fidel for ridding Cuba of “yankee imperialism”. Yet Fidel allowed the Soviets to rape our country.
I love Cuba and America equally. I actually hope to have homes in both places before I die.
There can be no question that American imperialism, as practiced in Cuba, was of a decidedly benign kind between the abrogation of the Platt Amendment (1934) and the fall of the Republic in 1959. During those 25 years, the U.S. behaved more like an ally than an overlord. It was only at the end that it exerted its influence on behalf of Castro, and even then it acted in the belief that he represented the best alternative for Cuba. This was a monumental and inexcusable mistake but not a malicious one. I do not believe that the U.S. intended to install Communism in Cuba any more than the Cuban people did. However, after Castro assumed power, the U.S. did everything in its power to keep him there, from betraying the Brigade 2506 to becaming the guarantor of Communism in Cuba. This is history and very recent history at that for us to forget it. It should not, however, color our future relations with the U.S. These relations must be based on mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and mutual cooperation when our interests coincide. I do not say affection, because I believe the affection has always been there in the best and the worst of times.
Manuel,
I agree that the conduct of some US officials that shaped US policy at crucial times, whether intentional or not (probably poor judgement and lack of “balls” in the case of Kennedy), actually helped the regime obtain power (by cutting off military aid to Batista), and then by the accords made later between the Soviet Union and the U.S. guaranteeing no invasion from US shores. I think even Jack can agree to that. We must remember this is not an “attack” on the U.S. just historical fact. It is also a recognition of mistakes WE made, in the hopes they are not repeated.
At the time of the denying of funds to Batista, I think a good portion of the Cuban people supported that, not knowing what they were getting themselves into.
In this article, published in TIME MAGAZINE, on Oct. 6, 1961, Herbert Matthews is exposed for the lying sycophant that he always was. What is extraordinary is that even this early his colleagues had Matthews’ number and knew enough never to call it with a question on Castro.
Enjoy the biting sarcasm at Matthews’ expense:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827834,00.html
Whatever personal issues, weaknesses or biases Matthews had, the real point is that the great-and-mighty NYT, that supposed bastion of journalistic excellence and integrity, let him get away with fraud–intentional or not, malicious or not: it doesn’t matter–it was still fraud, and it did serious harm.
To this day, half a century later, the NYT has not done a damn thing to even pretend to make amends to the Cuban people for its shameful role in Cuba’s tragedy. That is all I need to know to hold the NYT in utter disdain and disrespect, because as far as I’m concerned, any newspaper that acts this way is neither trustworthy nor honorable.
Asombra:
The New York Times concealed Stalin’s crimes; refused to report on information it had received on the systematic extermination of European Jewry; was instrumental in the rise of Mao to power and performed the same service for Castro. Everything about The Times is a fraud. Trust and honor are not part of its political lexicon. 100 years ago there were 30 daily newspapers in New York and The Times was considered the worst. By simply outlasting the others it has become “the newspaper of record.” But all that it really records is the chronicle of its own follies. Wisdom is not an unavoidable consequence of old age in humans or newspapers.