On Manuel Benito del Valle

Meet Manuel Benito del Valle. He’s a 29 year old Spaniard. He had an internship at the Spanish Institute of Exterior Commerce which entitled him to a diplomatic passport.
He broke the cardinal rule of a Spaniard in Cuba, he broke the Apartheid Rule. He mingled and got friendly with the natives. According to his father, he had been warned not to mix with the “population and their sad circumstances”.
He befriended some Cubans. Maybe fell in love with a Cuban woman-who wouldn’t? He certainly fell in love with that island-who can resist? Once he noticed that Cubans, including his new friends, were second class citizens in their own country, his social conscience awakened. It is very difficult for some people, when faced with an immoral situation that goes against what they know to be right and wrong, to turn and look the other way. Manuel helped expose the Apartheid in Cuba in this video.
Manuel returned to his native Sevilla. His father says he knew something was troubling him. He used his diplomatic passport to re-enter Cuba.
Manuel took a stand on December 10, 2007. He bore witness to the oppression, brutality and exposed it. When he walked into that park, surrounded by Cuban State Security agents and a trained mob of thugs, he did not know if he would make it out alive.

He did. Manuel is back in Spain. He’s lost his scholarship, but gained the eternal gratitude of a people and a place in its history. He’s lost his diplomatic Spanish passport, but as you can see, his body is stamped with a visa that will always guarantee him a Cuban passport.

Gracias, Manuel.
CAMBIO
H/T to Penultimos Dias, Uncommon Sense AND Manuel’s parents.