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(Part Two)
One of the most hostile U.S. newspapers when it
comes to Cuba, headquartered in Florida, offers
the following report:
“Taking advantage of the negotiations to free
the Bay of Pigs’ prisoners, the CIA tried to use
a key person in the talks, American lawyer James
B. Donovan, to deliver a lethal gift to Fidel
Castro: a wetsuit contaminated with a fungus
that lacerates the skin and an underwater
breathing device infected with
tuberculosis...the gear in fact was given to the
Cuban leader in November 1962.
“The revelation is one of many anecdotes in
After the Bay of Pigs, a book on the
negotiations held between the Committee of
Relatives for the Liberation of Prisoners and
Havana from April to December 1962.
“The 238-page book, published late last year,
was written by Cuban exile Pablo Pérez-Cisneros
with businessman John B. Donovan, son of the
late negotiator, and Jeff Koenreich, a veteran
member of the Red Cross who has promoted
humanitarian missions between the United States
and Cuba.
“Pérez-Cisneros is the son of Berta Barreto de
los Heros, who was coordinator in Cuba of the
Families Committee and interceded with Castro to
trade off the 1,113 prisoners from the failed
April 1961 invasion.
“Barreto de los Heros started the book but died
in March of 1993. Her son, who spent eight years
researching and finishing the book, was the
person who bought the wetsuit and scuba gear at
the end of 1962, not knowing that both were
destined for Castro.
“In June 1962, Pérez-Cisneros visited James B.
Donovan's office in Brooklyn for the first time
to request his intervention in the negotiations
with Cuba. The meeting was arranged by Robert W.
Kean, son of a former congressman and
brother-in-law of Joaquín Silverio, a jailed
member of Brigade 2506. Donovan agreed to work
for the Families Committee at no charge.
“Two months later, Donovan made the first of 11
trips to Havana for mediation with the Cuban
government.
''When Donovan returns to Cuba in October 1962,
Castro tells him he wants to have an aqualung
(scuba gear) and wetsuit for diving,'' Pérez-Cisneros
told El Nuevo Herald in an interview to expand
on the case. “So, Donovan tells me he wants to
get quality equipment for a person, but without
telling me they are for Castro.''
“Pérez-Cisneros, who had been a champion
underwater spearfisherman in Cuba, bought a $130
wetsuit and scuba equipment for $215 in a
well-known store in Times Square, New York.
“Castro received them in November 1962, and some
weeks later, on another one of Donovan's trips,
the Cuban President told the lawyer that he had
used them.
“Only months after the negotiations had
concluded did Pérez-Cisneros learn all the
details about the real story.
“During World War II, James Donovan had worked
for the Office of Strategic Services, which
preceded the CIA. He was later named one of the
prosecutors in the Nazi war-crimes trials in
Nuremberg. In February 1962, he was the chief
mediator in the most spectacular spy trade of
the Cold War: the trade of Russian Col. Rudolf
Abel for Americans Frederick Prior and captured
U-2 pilot Gary F. Powers.
“When Donovan informed the CIA that Castro had
requested diving equipment, the U.S. agency said
it would take care of it. But the lawyer
rejected any involvement in the proposal to
contaminate the wetsuit and scuba equipment and
preferred to give Castro the equipment bought in
Times Square.
“In May of 1963, Castro invited Donovan and
lawyer John E. Nolan, who represented
then-Justice Secretary Robert Kennedy, to a day
of diving in the Bay of Pigs area and again used
the U.S. equipment.
“In late 1963, ''Donovan told me that the idea
of an attempt against Castro gave him goose
bumps, and he refused to take the equipment from
the CIA, thinking that if Cuba detected the
operation, all the negotiations could be ruined
and that he could be executed,'' …
“The book, sprinkled with curious and unexpected
events, is a tense story of how love,
determination and cleverness made possible the
exchange of the Brigade 2506 prisoners for $53
million in food, medicine and medical equipment.
“The efforts of Donovan and the Families
Committee came at a moment of uncertainty over
the prisoners' fates…
“The committee's first meeting with Castro took
place in Barreto de los Heros' house in Miramar
on April 10, 1962. Four days later, 60 wounded
Brigade members were flown to Miami.
“Donovan's entry into the negotiations
accelerated the release process.
“Knowing that Barreto de los Heros' telephone
was tapped, Donovan arranged a secret code for
communications.
“In mid-December, Castro agreed to an exchange
and handed over a 29-page list of food and
medicine that was to be sent to Cuba by the
American Red Cross. The last 10 days of
negotiations were very intense because Donovan
brought in a group of 60 lawyers in order to
ensure all of the donations promised by 157
American companies.
“On
Dec. 23, 1962, the first five planes left for
Miami, carrying 484 members of the brigade. A
day later, the 719 prisoners that remained flew
in nine more flights.”
I have literally transcribed the article’s
words. I wasn’t aware of some of the specific
information. Nothing that I remember is far
from the truth.
My relationship with the Cienaga de Zapata
(Zapata Marsh) began very early. I learned
about the place thanks to some American visitors
who would talk to me about the “black fish",
a very dark trout that was very abundant in the
Laguna del Tesoro, at the heart of the marsh, at
a maximum depth of 6 meters. In those days we
were considering the development of tourism and
possibly ‘polders’ like the land reclaimed from
the sea by the Dutch.
The spot was famous from my days as a high
school student, when the marsh was populated by
tens of thousands of crocodiles. Indiscriminate
catch had almost exterminated the species. It
was necessary to protect it.
We were impelled above all by the desire to do
something for the charcoal burners of the marsh.
That was how my relationship with the Bay of
Pigs began, a bay that is so deep it reaches
almost a thousand meters. There I met old Finalé
and his son Quique, who were my teachers in
underwater fishing. I used to go all over those
keys. I came to know that area like the back of
my hand.
When the invaders landed there, three roads
crossed the marsh, some facilities had already
been built and others were being built for
tourism, even an airport in the vicinity of
Giron Beach, the last stronghold of the enemy
forces which our combatants took by assault on
the evening of April 19, 1961. I have told that
story before. We were at the point of recovering
it in less than 30 hours. Diversion maneuvers by
the U.S. Marines delayed our crushing tank
attack in the early morning of the 18th.
In order to deal with the issue of captured
prisoners, I met Donovan, who seemed to me –and
I am pleased to confirm it with his son’s
testimony– to be an honorable man; I indeed once
invited him to go fishing, and without a doubt I
talked to him about a wetsuit and diving
equipment. I cannot remember the other details
too clearly; I would have to make some
inquiries. I was never concerned with writing my
memoirs, and today I understand that was a
mistake.
For example, I was not able to remember the
exact number of wounded so precisely. What
stayed in my mind was the memory of those
hundreds of our wounded; quite a few died
because of a shortage of equipment, medicines,
specialists and the lack of suitable facilities
in those days. The wounded men who were sent
earlier surely required rehab or better care,
but that was not available to us.
From our first victorious battle, on January 17,
1957, it became our tradition to look after the
enemy’s wounded. The history of our Revolution
records that fact.
In the book of memoirs called “Faith of my
Fathers”, written by McCain with the
omnipresent help of Mark Salter, technically
very well written, the main author states:
“I was often accused of being an indifferent
student, and given some of my grades, I can
appreciate the charity in that remark. But I was
not so much indifferent as selective. I liked
English and history, and I usually did well in
those classes. I was less interested and less
successful in math and science.”
Further along, he assures us:
“A few months prior to graduation, I had taken
the Naval Academy entrance exams…did
surprisingly well, even on the math exam.
“My reputation as a rowdy and impetuous young
man was not, I’m embarrassed to confess,
confined to Academy circles. Many upstanding
residents of lovely Annapolis, witnesses to some
of our more extravagant acts of insubordination,
disapproved of me as did many Academy
officials.”
Earlier, upon describing some of the events of
his childhood, he tells us that:
“At the smallest provocation, I would go off in
a mad frenzy, and then, suddenly, crash to the
floor unconscious.
“The doctor prescribed a treatment that seems a
little severe by modern standards of child care.
He instructed my parents to fill a bathtub with
cold water whenever I commenced a tantrum, and
when I appeared to be holding my breath to drop
me, fully clothed, into it.
Upon reading this, one has the impression that
the methods that were applied to us in those
days –both in my case, living in that pre-war
era, just as in his –were not exactly the most
fitting to deal with children. In my case, there
was no doctor advising the family; they were
ordinary people, some were illiterate, and many
of them only applied traditional treatments.
Other episodes narrated by McCain relate to his
adventures as a cadet on training trips. I am
not mentioning them because they stray from the
contents of my analysis and they have nothing to
do with personal matters.
Naturally, McCain was not in the Congress hall
on the night of Bush’s speech last January 28th,
because some things in this man’s policies are
compromising to him. He was in Little Havana, at
the Versailles Restaurant, where he received the
tribute of the Cuban community. It is just as
well that we don’t look too closely into the
background of several people who were there.
McCain supports the war in Iraq. He believes
that the threat of Afghanistan, Iran and North
Korea and the growth of Russia and China oblige
the United States to strengthen its attack
force. He would work together with other
countries to protect the nation from Islamic
extremism and continue in Iraq until victory.
He recognizes the importance of keeping strong
relations with Mexico and the other Latin
American countries. He is in favor of continuing
the current aggressive Cuba policy.
He would reinforce security on United States
borders, not just for the entry and exit of
people, but also for the products that enter the
country. He thinks that immigrants ought to
learn English and the history and culture of the
United States.
He wants the Latino vote, unfortunately most of
these don’t vote or do it exceptionally; they
are always fearful of deportation, of their
children being taken away or of losing their
jobs. On the Texas wall, more than 500 continue
to die each year. He is not promising an
‘adjustment act’ to those who go after the
“American dream”.
He supports Bush’s “The No Child Left Behind
Act”. He supports the allocation of more
federal funding for low interest scholarships
and university grants.
In Cuba we offer everyone solid knowledge, an
artistic education and the right to graduate
from university without paying any tuition. More
than 50 thousand children with learning
disabilities receive special education. Computer
science is extensively taught. Hundreds of
thousands of well qualified people are employed
in these tasks. But Cuba must be blockaded to
free it from such a terrible tyranny.
Like any other candidate, he has his little
government platform. He promises to reduce
dependence on foreign energy. It is easy to say,
but these days it is difficult to do.
He opposes subsidized ethanol production.
Fantastic: I suggested just that to Brazilian
President Lula Da Silva, that he demand the
United States to suspend the hefty agricultural
subsidies for corn and other cereals destined
for the production of ethanol from foods. But
that is not what is being proposed, on the
contrary, it’s to export U.S. ethanol to compete
with Brazil. Only he and his advisors know it,
because ethanol from corn can never compete in
cost with that of Brazil which comes from
sugarcane as the raw material, at the expense of
the tremendous efforts of its workers who in any
case improve their lot without the U.S. tariff
barriers and subsidies.
Many other Latin American nations were set on
the path of producing ethanol from sugarcane by
the United States. What would they do with the
new decisions coming down from the North?
And we can’t miss the promises ensuring quality
of air and water, the suitable use of green
areas, the protection of the national parks that
would become just a memory of what once used to
be the nation’s natural splendor, victim of the
unrelenting dictates of the market laws. The
Kyoto Protocol, nevertheless, would not be
signed.
These sound like the dreams of a castaway in the
middle of a storm.
He would reduce taxes for middle class families,
keeping the Bush policy of cutting back the
permanent taxes and leaving rates at their
current level.
He wants greater control over the costs of
Medicare and Medicaid. He thinks that families
should be in charge of their healthcare dollars.
He would carry out health and prevention
campaigns. He supports the plan of the current
President allowing workers to move money from
social security taxes to private retirement
funds.
Social security would suffer the same fate as
the stock market.
He is in favor of the death penalty, the growth
and build-up of the armed forces, and the
expansion of the FTAs.
Some McCain maxims:
“Things are tough now, but we're better off than
in 2000.” (Jan 2008)
“I'm well-versed in economics; I was at the
Reagan Revolution.” (Jan 2008)
“To avoid recession, stop unchecked spending.”
(Jan 2008)
“Loss of economic strength leads to losing
military strength.” (Dec 2007)
“Republicans have forgotten how to control
spending.” (Nov 2007)
“Certify border is secure; only then allow guest
workers.” (Jan 2008)
“2003 "amnesty" didn't mean rewarding illegal
behavior.” (Jan 2008)
“Round up and deport two million aliens who
committed crimes.” (Jan 2008)
“Do everything I can to help all immigrants
learn English.” (Dec 2007)
“No official English; Native Americans use own
languages.” (Jan 2007)
“Immigration reform needed for national
security.” (Jun 2007)
“Bipartisanship shows preparedness for
presidency.” (May 2007)
“Maintain Cuban embargo; indict Castro.” (Dec
2007)
“Cuba: No diplomatic and trade relations.” (Jul
1998)
“Naive to exclude nukes; naive to exclude
attacking Pakistan.” (Aug 2007)
“War in Iraq ‘we have diverted attention from
our hemisphere and we have paid a price for
that’.”(Mar 2007)
He promises to visit his properties on the
continent. He said that after being elected to
the White House in 2008, his first trip would be
to Mexico, Canada and Latin America to “reaffirm
my commitment to our hemisphere and the
importance of relations within our hemisphere."
In his entire book, an obligatory reference in
my Reflections, he states that he was good in
history. There is not one single reference to
any political philosopher, not even to one of
those who inspired the Declaration of
Independence of the Thirteen Colonies on July 4,
1776; in 4 months and 23 days it will celebrate
its 232nd birthday.
More than 2400 years ago, Socrates, the famous
Athenian wise man, celebrated for his method and
martyr to his ideas, conscious of human
limitations, said: “One thing only I know, and
that is that I know nothing.” Today, McCain, the
Republican candidate, proclaims before his
fellow citizens: “One thing only I know, and
that is that I know everything.”
I shall continue.
Fidel Castro Ruz
Date: February 11, 2008.
Time: 5:35 p.m.
Part 3 |
