Musings of a Blind Man (1)

Musings of a Blind Man (1) / Angel Santiesteban
Posted on February 19, 2015

Angel Santiesteban, 2 January 2015 — It finally happened, what a part of
Cuban society desired and another share feared: Cuba and the United
States resumed diplomatic relations. To criticize President Obama would
be an innocuous, ungrateful, and useless, if we learned from José Martí
that in politics what isn't seen is bigger.

Obama has charted a course and we have no option but to watch from the
stands. that some remember that they gave him their vote isn't elegant,
especially because we must be grateful for the sheltering of several
generations of Cubans. It's a glaring mistake to think that Obama should
defend the rights of Cubans when his only obligation is to guarantee the
prosperity of the United States.

After having done that, he can — as he has done up to now — support the
reality of Cubans: but the political, economic and strategic interests,
at the presidential level, outweigh what a good part of we Cubans
consider best for our nation.

We all know that the embargo was mild when compared — for example — with
the sanctions applied to Russia right now. With the tiny totalitarian
government of the Castros, we are now writing history, perhaps the worst
since the Special Period, and where the only sustained human casualties
were the most economically vulnerable Cubans unable to face the extreme
hunger.

We might think that the United States never wanted to carry this guilt,
because — needless to say — the leaders, their power structure and their
minions, have not reached the rigor of that escalation that, ultimately,
even the most extremist had criticized. On the other hand, it is not OK
to demand constant turns of the screw to the impoverished Cuban economy
when it is so distant and you know that you won't experience even a
single drop of the misery caused.

Most particularly, I continue against the lifting of the embargo,
because — as I've said before — to the extent the dictatorship is
strengthened, the arbitrary executions, illegal and abusive treatment
against the dissidents. But to avoid our own suffering, more than is our
usual share, we shouldn't desire it for the rest of the population of
the archipelago.

Now our minds are overwhelmed trying to unravel the intention of the
American president. In the next post I will share my musings with
respect to, where — perhaps — we could all be mistaken, because finding
myself isolated I don't hear what the specialist say on the topic.
Perhaps what I consider an inconvenience, is an advantage, because the
blind here the chords of the instrument better.

Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Written in December 2014, Jaimanitas Coastguard Prison Unit, Havana
Posted in January 2015

Source: Musings of a Blind Man (1) / Angel Santiesteban | Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/musings-of-a-blind-man-1-angel-santiesteban/