Ricardo Bofill, an icon of Cuban resistance
BY JOE CARDONA
jccigar@
Because of geographical proximity, a continuous succession of mass
migrations and palpable social, cultural and political links, Miami is a
treasure trove of Cuban history. Several days ago, I met with an
unappreciated icon in the modern history of that country.
Human rights activist Ricardo Bofill helped redefine the struggle
against Fidel Castro. He is a beacon to present-day opposition leaders
within the island, yet to many exiles, the soft-spoken, mild-tempered
Bofill remains an enigma.
Over 20 years ago, opposition to the Castro regime took a seismic shift.
The burgeoning, nonviolent dissident movement that grew within the
island turned the paradigm of anti-Castro exile politics upside down.
In 1976, Bofill, a former philosophy tutor at the University of Havana,
founded and led El Comite Cubano Pro Derechos Humanos (The Cuban
Committee for Human Rights — CCPDH).
I first met him when fellow film maker Alex Anton and I were doing
research more than 20 years ago for what became our first documentary,
Rompiendo el Silencio (Breaking the Silence).
It highlighted the development of this new resistance movement within Cuba.
Bofill challenged stereotypes. He personified the classic anti-hero.
His fragile physique, even-keeled demeanor and political maturity defied
the über-macho, domineering, Latino caudillo (chieftain). Yet to many
Cuban exiles and political powerbrokers, Bofill's nonviolent methods
were — and remain — unsettling. He has no personal political ambition
nor has he ever taken sides in partisan American politics.
His struggle has always remained the respect for human rights in Cuba as
per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document created by the
General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948 in an attempt to prevent
a repetition of the horrors of World War II. Cuba was a signatory of the
document.
All the prominent opposition leaders within Cuba hail Bofill, who spent
years in Castro's prisons, as the father of their movement.
Perhaps it's time exile leaders recognize his contributions and tap into
the vast amount of wisdom he can lend.
Bofill's humble Shenandoah home — which he shares with his wife,
Yolanda, and their six cats — stands as a bastion of the Cuban
human-rights movement. On my recent visit, I noted that the furnishings
had not changed much over the past two decades. The imposing bookshelf
that greets visitors near the front door is slowly crumbling under the
weight of the books that it sustains. The decaying walls somehow still
have the strength to hold pictures of deceased friends and
collaborators. And while the newspaper clippings and photographs are
yielding to a slight sepia tone, Ricardo and Yolanda's abode still
remains a fortress of ideas — a repository of dignity and compassion.
Inspired by the works of Soviet dissidents Alexander Solzhenitsyn and
Yuri Orlov, Bofill created the Cuban Committee for Human Rights at a
time when the Carter administration brought the concept of human rights
to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy.
Ironically, the two first heads of the U.S. Interests Section (which
opened in 1977), Lyle Lane and Wayne Smith, were too busy trying to
normalize relations with Cuba's dictator to pay attention to Bofill's
reports of human-rights abuses. It was not until the Reagan
administration came to power that Bofill's name and cause gained the
recognition they merited.
Bofill's CCPDH was a unique, clever and daring creation. Before he died,
Georgetown professor Luis Aguilar Leon once told me that Bofill's
approach was so effective because "Castro knew how to react to violence,
but he had no idea what to do with Cubans who simply disagreed and did
nothing more than peacefully, yet consistently, report human-rights abuses."
During one of my first conversations with Ricardo Bofill, he pointed out
that "heroes were not born." He explained that, "men and women react to
given circumstances, and sometimes the situation is so unbearable that
one has no choice but to raise one's voice."
Bofill may have been forgotten here, but his heroic actions still
inspire Cuba's growing opposition, which continues to fight for the
principles he introduced to the Cuban political landscape 35 years ago —
human rights and dignity.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/12/2356768/ricardo-bofill-an-icon-of-cuban.html
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