My Brother Antonio Rodiles

My Brother Antonio Rodiles / Gladys Rodiles-Haney
By Gladys Rodiles-Haney

My brother Antonio Enrique González-Rodiles Fernández was born in Havana
on July 21, 1972.
He attended primary and secondary school in Havana, and graduated from
the "Marcelo Salado" National School of Swimming where he belonged to
the National Team.

From when he was little, arbitrariness bothered him. When he was a boy
at "December 2nd" school a second grade teacher wanted him to do
something he didn't want to do. He asked the teacher why he was obliged
to do it and she told him because she said so, and now. My brother laid
on floor and said he wouldn't get up until they called my parents and he
began to sing a song from a children's cartoon with the refrain: "What?
Me worry?"

In his childhood he represented Cuba in various international swimming
competitions, including the Central American and Caribbean Games, where
he earned multiple gold, silver and bronze medals. My father was a
fundamental part of his training and often my brother swam in open water
behind our house and also trained in deep water wearing a life jacket to
exercise his legs, wearing shoes with several pounds of weights.

On multiple occasions speedboats approached him and asked him why he was
so far from shore, because this was the time when many Cubans were
throwing themselves into the sea to reach the United States. But they
realized they were making fools of themselves when he showed them the
weights on his legs.

When he finished junior high school, despite the refusal of many of his
teachers, my brother presented himself to take the entrance exams for
the "Martyrs of Humboldt 7" High School of Exact Sciences where he
wanted to study physics. Despite the poor academic preparation offered
in "Marcelo Salado," my brother studied extra and was one of three
selected from Playa municipality to enroll in this school for elite
students.

In that school were Angel Castro and Mirtha Castro (son and
granddaughter of Fidel Castro, respectively). My brother once told
"Angelito" that his father was corrupt and this triggered a movement to
not let him graduate from high school.

He received great support from the majority of students in his class
despite the immense pressure exerted on them to deny my brother the
chance to graduate, and they didn't fold.

However he was expelled from Humboldt high school and graduated from
"Pablo de la Torriente Brau" in 1990.

He began career in Physics at the University of Havana in 1991, yet also
struggled again with "political" problems, so in 1992 he went to Mexico
to live for a while, with the Permit to Reside Abroad (PRE).

He returned to Cuba in 1994 and graduated with degree in Physics in 1998.

Then he decided to return to Mexico where he received the title of PhD
candidate in physics at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of the
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 2002.

In 2003 he emigrated to America and settled in Tallahassee, Florida. He
earned a Master's degree in Mathematics in 2005 from Florida State
University (FSU).

He worked as a professor at FSU and Tallahassee Community College before
returning to Cuba.

In 2010 he founded Estado de Sats with the aim of creating "a plural
space for participation and debate" between various members of Cuban
society. The initiative soon began to be targeted by propaganda
orchestrated by State Security, which threatened to withdraw his Permit
to Reside Abroad and so prevent him from leaving Cuba again.

In 2011 they took away his PRE and he continued his activism. His first
arrest came during the funeral Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, leader of the
Christian Liberation Movement, on July 24. On November 8, he was
arrested again when he went to inquire about the fate of the lawyer
Yaremis Flores, arrested the previous day.

My brother is an honest, intelligent man, respectful of the rights and
opinions of others. He likes to converse and to look for logical
solutions through objective analysis of the things that are happening.

He has always had a vision of a better Cuba for all Cubans and the right
of Cubans to be heard and the responsibility to take the reins with
regards to which direction our country should follow.

He is a man of integrity, he knows how to present his ideas clearly at
all levels to be understood both by the Doctor of Science and by the
high school student. He knows how to pay attention without
discriminating against anyone's opinion, because everyone has different
experiences in life and all are valid and enrich the perspective from
which we see the problem.

Translated from Cafe Fuerte

14 November 2012

http://translatingcuba.com/my-brother-antonio-rodiles-gladys-rodiles-haney/