'Three Little Blacks' © 2003 ABIP

Agustin Blazquez and Jaums Sutton
Friday, May 23, 2003

“The word on the streets is that Castro referred to them as ‘tres negritos’ (three little blacks). Even if you ignore the alleged racism (which I won’t), the hijackers committed the crime of wanting freedom.” (Manuel J. Coto, in his article in the Orlando Sentinel, May 7, 2003)

The names of these expendable “little blacks” are Barbaro Sevilla Garcia, 21, Lorenzo Copello Castillo, 31, and Jorge Luis Martinez Isaac, 43.

The Association of Black Cubans in Miami held a protest on May 10 at the Bayfront Park in Miami to protest the arbitrary executions. Cubans of many ethnic roots attended.

Blacks in Cuba have long suffered under Castro’s regime and have unfairly carried the burden of discrimination. While Castro’s tyranny is 100 percent white, the pro-democracy movement in Cuba includes thousands of blacks.

Castro’s black prison population is at a staggering 80 percent. Among them is the valiant figure of human rights activist Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, detained uncountable times.

Dr. Biscet has already served prison terms for his belief in democracy and was released in October 2002. In December 2002 he was detained again and was kept in prison until the recent wave of kangaroo trials, and on April 10, 2003, he was arbitrarily sentenced to 25 years in prison.

He now languishes in solitary confinement in Castro’s dungeons, suffering all kinds of humiliations and tortures, receiving no medical attention.

The Web site www.free-Biscet.org says:

“On Friday, May 2, Elsa Morejon Hernandez, wife of Dr. Oscar E. Biscet, traveled to the Provincial Prison in Pinar del Rio province called Kilo Cinco y Medio where her husband was transferred on April 24, 2003. Not permitted to see him, she was informed by the director of the prison of her husband's critical situation. Dr. Biscet, founder of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, was being applied the strictest prison code regulations because he refused to wear the common prisoners' uniform.”

Hardly anyone in America (specially back America) knows about Dr. Biscet. His case, as well as those of thousands of black and white pro-democracy activists in Cuba, is simply declared “not newsworthy” by the U.S. media. It is not “politically correct” to show the inhumanities of a criminal fascist-communist tyranny like the one that has oppressed Cuba for 44 years.

We have all seen the reporting from Iraq in which CNN withheld – chose not to release – crucial information about Saddam Hussein’s tyranny, its decision causing unimaginable suffering and casualties for the victims of that regime and contributing to the deaths of American soldiers.

The problem is that in order for media operators like CNN to get permission from tyrannical regimes such as those in Iraq and Cuba to have bureaus inside such countries, the operators must conform to rules issued by the host country. If they reveal information damaging to the regime, they are expelled.

The price of the privilege to be there is high, but so are the ratings from having the presence there that other operators don’t have. But of course, ideology also comes into play.

We have the example of CNN’s reporter in Havana, Lucia Newman.

Miss Newman’s history is that she was a sympathizer of the communist Sandinistas in Nicaragua as well as the Marxist (communist) government of the late Salvador Allende.

At the time of Allende’s demise there were thousands of Cuban advisers organizing the repressive forces in Chile. Why was Allende so interested in having a Cuban-style repressive system? Why did Miss Newman, a Chilean, admire this type of government that was getting ready to rule by fear in Chile, a carbon copy of that in Cuba?

Whatever the answer to those questions, her history easily answers the question as to why Miss Newman was OK’d by Castro for CNN’s Havana bureau.

But to be fair, this bias (or political agenda) not only pervades CNN (known to Cuban Americans for years as Castro News Network), but to other American networks, as well.

The anti-American opposition to the war in Iraq reported at the beginning of the conflict was unmistakably evident to the American public, anxious for valid information about the challenge to liberate the Iraqis from a despicable regime. We saw the obvious displays of disapproving reports from “respectable” luminaries like Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw and other lesser-paid TV types.

From the beginning they all confidently sided with the anti-war and anti-American crowd without revealing the nature of the communist organizations behind the so-called “peace movement.” There is plenty of information revealing what these front organizations are all about, but the media chose to withhold that information from the public.

And the media made these organizations appear as well-meaning “soccer moms” and other genuinely concerned citizens, rather than as the professional, violent fanatics they are.

Using the same criteria, the U.S. media decide to send the oppressed little blacks in Cuba to hell in darkness. They compromise the truth and are rendering a disservice to the victims of oppression and to the American public in order not to offend Castro and lose a coveted interview with the “Maximum” Tyrant … oops, “Leader” or “President,” as they love to call him – though he has never been democratically elected to anything.

We have all seen what a “profound and accurate” interview has done for the ratings and careers of Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Maria Shriver, Bernard Shaw and other minor reporters.

And as a sample of the power of the media, let’s not forget that Castro is in power today oppressing blacks and whites thanks to articles by the New York Times’ Herbert Matthews in February 1957 – the beginning of the reckless reports that launched his herodom.

Castro, laughing, said, “Thanks to the New York Times, I got the job.” But after the fact, when Castro soon became a fascist-communist tyrant, the Times did not apologize, retract the reports or fire Herbert Matthews, as they were forced to do recently with black reporter Jayson Blair after mounds of pressure.

Still, the pages of the New York Times are filled with disgraceful pro-Castro articles and anti-Cuban American portrayals.

No wonder Americans are in the boonies and generally ignorant of the fact that the three men recently executed by the jovially portrayed Castro are blacks. These three men sought freedom from the slavery that is Cuba, where a disproportionally high percentage of blacks are locked up, where many blacks are part of the pro-democracy movement and where Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet is a real hero in the history of the liberation of Cuba.

But you have the Congressional Black Caucus, Randall Robinson’s TransAfrica, the NAACP, proud Stalinists like Harry Belafonte, “humanitarian” and MCI pitchman Danny Glover and others still defending a tyranny that is oppressing, enslaving, jailing and executing black Cubans.

How pathetic for black Americans to be defending a tyrant who is singling out members of their own race.

Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, on May 8 called for “a boycott of telecommunications giant MCI after its spokesman, actor Danny Glover, signed an offensive document titled, ‘To the Conscience of the World’ which supports Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro and asks the United States to respect the island's sovereignty.”

Glover, along with Harry Belafonte and about 160 intellectuals and artists, signed a newspaper ad published by Castro’s official newspaper, Granma, calling the war in Iraq an unprovoked invasion and insinuating that the U.S. is engaged in a “strong campaign of destabilization” against Cuba that will justify an invasion.

Myles Kantor, in his article “The Strange Conscience of Danny Glover,” said, “Eusebio Peñalver, a black Cuban exile who was a political prisoner from 1960 until 1988 – longer than Nelson Mandela (a Castro admirer imprisoned from 1964 until 1990), observes, “There is no difference between the Cuban dictator and Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, or any of the dictators who have terrorized the peoples of the world.”

From May 17 through 20, there were demonstrations organized by Cuban exiles in various cities in the U.S. and abroad, condemning the executions and jailings and the ongoing violations of human rights in Cuba. One of them was in Washington, D.C., on May 17 in front of the Cuba Interests Section.

That same day at the same location there was a counterdemonstration supporting Castro’s regime. Their flier for the cattle call for this event says “Protest the Attack by the Right Wing Miami Mafia in Cuba.”

According to their “Press Kit,” their rally is sponsored by the “NO WAR ON CUBA Movement (NWC) and: All African Peoples Revolutionary Party, Azanian Peoples Organization, DC Anti-War network (DAWN), DC Committee of Correspondence, ANSWER-DC, FMLN, Institute for Policy Studies’ SALSA, Nicaragua Network, Pastors for Peace-DC, Social Welfare Action Alliance-DC, and many more.”

They appeared to be the anti-American activist organizations that participated in protests against the war in Iraq and in favor of Saddam Hussein. They are of the same political persuasion as the worldwide anti-war demonstrations held before and during the war with Iraq.

An Internet webmaster alerted the web host of the website promoting the demonstration saying, “Exodus.net is providing hosting services to a special interests group (www.nowaroncuba.org, IP 216.35.46.11) that supports a foreign government classified by the U.S. Department of State as sponsor of terrorism.

“Besides supporting a terrorist government, this group's website is posting messages [with the] kind of language [that] can be interpreted as instigation to violence. The promoters of this kind of agenda are known for their inclination for physical and verbal violence, harassment and intimidation. Libel and defamation referring to a sector of the South Florida Latino community as members of the organized crime is not only derogatory on the basis of national origin and political opinion, it is also a lie.

“I would recommend that exodus.net enforces its service policies particularly those that prohibits engaging ‘any activities that violates a law or regulation, including but not limited to libel, slander, harassment, etc.’ (Section 5, paragraph 1).” And he added that the “message is being kept in record in the event of violent incidents or law transgression originated by [the server’s] client.”

A Cuban American who was attacked by Cuban “diplomats” on U.S. soil outside the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., at a demonstration on April 14, 2000 (neither the Clinton or Bush administrations have done anything about it), said: “After the recent attack on April 24, 2003, by Cuban government officials against Reporters Without Borders demonstrating outside the Cuban Embassy in Paris, there is concern that once again Castro will use violence against demonstrators.

“A couple of days later, on Saturday, April 26, supporters of Castro were bused to the Cuban Embassy in Caracas to prevent an anti-Castro demonstration from taking place peacefully. According to Reuters, Castro's supporters 'rushed' those condemning repression in Cuba and succeeded in turning the demonstration into a violent riot that Venezuelan troops and police ended with tear gas and shotgun pellets.

“Then on April 30, Granma [Castro’s official newspaper] itself reported a similar attack by ‘hundreds of members of Nicaraguan sympathy groups’ against human rights demonstrators in front of the Cuban Embassy in Managua. The pro-Castro forces ‘took charge of sticks and placards with anti-revolutionary slogans’ and ‘after the provocation had been broken up, the diplomatic staff and other officials remaining within the embassy appeared and together with those present carried out a rally of support for the measures taken in Cuba to preserve the Revolution.

“These three recent attacks [not reported by the U.S. media] against peaceful demonstrations in front of Cuban embassies around the world and the preparations taking place to stage a similar confrontation in the nation's capital raise serious concerns that need to be addressed by the U.S. State Department and law enforcement community. Especially since Cuban diplomats have previously used violence against demonstrators in New York in 1995 and in D.C. in 2000.

“I agree with you that we must deny the Castro regime any opportunity to portray our peaceful demonstrations as ‘riots.’ Take all appropriate safety and legal precautions, ensure video recording of events, rely exclusively on non-violence and allow U.S. law enforcement to maintain the peace.”

Thanks to the forewarnings to the Cuban Americans and photo and video cameras, no violence took place.

Since the mainstream U.S. media do not inform the public about the real mechanism and manipulation of Castro’s goons outside Cuba, it is the job of the still-free Internet media to convey this information so the American people will wake up and evaluate the situation that all the citizens of this country are confronting with so many internal and external enemies. We must be vigilant and must hold the U.S. media accountable and demand unbiased reports of the facts.

We attended the demonstration in Washington, D.C., and were able to witness who these people really are. They were proudly displaying the banners of communist terrorist groups like the FMLN, who, in the past, were trained, armed and protected by Castro to cause havoc in El Salvador.

Also present was the communist pro-Sandinista Nicaragua Network that, according to a Central American there, used to “channel money” to the communist regime of Daniel Ortega created “as an arm of the far-left Institute for Policy Studies.”

There were banners of Castro’s “26 of July Movement,” the offensive-to-Cuban-victims images of the criminal Che, who executed so many in his Sierra Maestra Mountain days and in 1959 while in charge of the infamous Havana assembly-line-execution prison La Cabaña.

There were T-shirts with a picture of Castro. They were proud of their pro-Castro militancy and chanting “Cuba si, Yankees no!” “Long live socialist Cuba!” “Fidel, my friend, the people are with you!” But mostly in Spanish with American and other foreign accents, but no Cubans! What do they know about Cuba? We thought, if they hate America so much and like Castro’s Cuba so much, why don’t they go to live there?

They were shamelessly insulting Cuban Americans by calling them “worms,” “fascists,” “assassins,” “criminals,” “terrorists,” “Miami Mafia” and other unmentionables. I certainly cannot understand why this type of hate speech is allowed toward Cuban Americans when it is not allowed against black Americans or Jews. It is a very dangerous double standard.

It was crystal clear to me who these people are and how low they stand. What I cannot understand is why the U.S. media have failed (on purpose?) to notice these harmlessly presented groups.

Also very revealing was that while the Cuban Americans were carrying Cuban and American flags, the others – mainly Americans and Central and South Americans, were not carrying a single American flag.

This clearly exposes their anti-American sentiment in a land in which they are free, while in Cuba, the country they so blindly defend, no one can express their sentiments in an open forum! And Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet went to jail and suffered torture and humiliations for displaying a Cuban flag upside down in silent protest for the violations of human rights.

It was a sorrowful sight to see so many black Americans supporting a tyranny that oppresses their brothers.

Black Americans must wake up to the manipulation by the U.S. media and many of their leaders with a hidden far-left political agenda. A black Cuban is also a member of the same race, and those enslaved by Castro‘s tyranny deserve their support and solidarity.

The most dignified posture for black Americans is the same posture they took when they lent their hands to rid South Africa of the shameful apartheid, which also exists in Castro’s Cuba. We are all in the same boat and want to live in peace with dignity, freedom and equality.

The “three little blacks,” as Castro called them, Barbaro, Lorenzo and Jorge Luis, were not the first blacks executed by his criminal regime but, with your help, they could be the last.

Instead of joining Castro’s anti-American support network in the U.S. engaged in a hate-crime campaign, support the struggle for freedom and democracy for Cuba of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet.

Down with tyranny and long live freedom!

© 2003 ABIP

Agustin Blazquez, Producer/director of the documentaries “COVERING CUBA,” “CUBA: The Pearl of the Antilles,” “COVERING CUBA 2: The Next Generation” & “COVERING CUBA 3: Elian,” presented at the 2003 Miami Latin Film Festival.

Author with Carlos Wotzkow of the book “COVERING AND DISCOVERING” and translator with Jaums Sutton of the book by Luis Grave de Peralta Morell “THE MAFIA OF HAVANA: The Cuban Cosa Nostra.” For a preview and information on the documentary and books, click here.

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