Cuban immigrant questions Obama-Castro deal

Cuban immigrant questions Obama-Castro deal
By DAN SEUFERT
Union Leader Correspondent

PLYMOUTH — As Cuba and the United States restored full relations with
each other Monday, Plymouth State University professor emeritus Manuel
Marquez-Sterling wondered if America is getting duped by "the Castro
brothers," who have ruled his homeland with an oppressive government for
more than five decades.

Marquez-Sterling, 83, a former lawyer in Cuba, escaped the island nation
with his wife and infant child to America in 1960, months before Fidel
Castro declared Cuba a socialist state. He has taught history at
Plymouth State University and other schools since then, remaining an
outspoken critic of Castro's policies.

He is not pleased with what he calls "the hasty restoring of relations"
with Cuba, though it means he may be able to return easily to his
homeland to visit if he wishes.

"The Obama administration did not think this through, or at least there
is no evidence that they did," Marquez-Sterling said. "There is so much
secrecy involved, we know so little about what they have agreed to. I
don't know why they did this."

"Honestly, there was no rush to do this, there was no life-or-death
feeling that this had to be done on either side, and whether it's going
to be better now is not clear at all. I fear for the lives of Cuban
people, the (U.S. government) did nothing good for Cuba from what I can
see."

As Marquez-Sterling was fleeing Cuba in 1960, Fidel Castro was taking
control of the country, nationalizing U.S. companies, beginning what
Marquez-Sterling calls a dictatorial government that has continued its
oppression under Fidel Castro's brother, Raul Castro, in recent years.

The PSU professor emeritus said the Castros gave no indication that they
had changed their ways prior to the agreement reached in December. He
worries that the agreement will benefit Cuba's government but not its
people.

"The Castro brothers are very shrewd, I think they may feel secure in
this deal," he said.

Marquez-Sterling, who was born in Havana, said the agreement causes him
to worry about the dissidents in his country, whose safety has been
somewhat protected in the past by U.S. government pressure on the Castros.

"The presence of the U.S. protected them, and now President Obama and
the Castro brothers are friends," he said. "I have not been able to find
anything anywhere in the agreements that say these people will be
protected."

"And there is nothing anywhere that says people in America who opposed
the Castros will be protected if they return to Cuba, either," he said.

The expected economic benefits to American companies from the agreement
will come at a price to civil and human rights in Cuba, he said.

"Is the U.S. now going to become an exploiter of labor? It looks to me
like this U.S. government is getting in line to oppress the Cuban
people," he said. "Have the American people been asked if they want to
do this? There was no polling that showed Americans wanted to do this."

"Yes, it's been 50 years, I can see people wanting to do something
different, but this should have been discussed at great length. I don't
know why this was done this way, it could have been done with conditions
on the Cuban government, but there don't appear to be many."

dseufert@newstote.com

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