The Cuba Yell for Freedom!

 

By Antonio Benedi

“Oh Liberty, Liberty, your waters appease the thirst of those who die of hunger. Don’t see in death the end of your dreams and ideals.” These are words written by my late father, Dr. Claudio F. Benedi. How true these words ring out from Cuba today!
 
The Biden administration was slammed for barring Cubans fleeing Cuba by sea. Those were the headlines yesterday to President Biden regarding the humanitarian crisis facing the people in Cuba. Is this the reaction of a sane and freedom loving Nation? I think not. For the last 60 plus years we have had a brutal Communist regime that oppresses its people with neglect and abandonment.
 
The world has watched the horrific atrocities perpetrated by the Castros and their thugs on the Island Nation ninety miles from our shores. There is much history to learn about the hows and whys of the United States turning its back on Cuban people. There is a reason this horrible situation has lasted so long.
 
During the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Cuban Patriots were trained by the United States for a mass invasion to thwart Castro’s regime. Under the watch of President John F. Kennedy, these freedom fighters disembarked from U.S. Naval ships and as they reached the shore of The Bay of Pigs. Then, Castro’s Soviet made planes brutally attacked the Cuban liberating force with bombs and bullets. The brave liberators where part of the 2506 Brigade. Most were killed on the beach. Others were captured and tortured by the Revolutionary criminals and held for ransom. President Kennedy and his Attorney General Robert Kennedy decided to pull back the U.S. Naval ships that had brought the 2506 Brigade to Cuba and left them defenseless. The ransom was paid and the survivors were released. Many joined the U.S. Military and served with distinction for multiple tours in Vietnam, where they continued to fight against communism.
 
Shortly after the Bay of Pigs, the Soviet Union installed offensive missiles in Cuba pointing towards the United States, under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev. Kennedy found himself facing a Nuclear War against the Soviet Union. The stalemate ended with the Kennedy Khrushchev Accord. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in Cuba if the United States would remove its missiles from Turkey and would not attempt to overthrow the Communist Revolution in Cuba ever again. The removal of the Soviet missiles from Cuba was never verified!
 
We had, in the Western Hemisphere, a foreign power occupying a country against the long- standing Monroe Doctrine that was issued on December 2, 1823. The Doctrine warned European and other foreign powers against interfering in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere. Obviously, the Monroe Doctrine is being violated to this day.
 
Today we find ourselves facing a new type of revolution in Cuba. The revolution for freedom of the oppressed Cuban people who are desperate, starving, and without hope. We have seen brave demonstrations in the streets of Cuba, where, for over 60 years, no such assembly of people has been
permitted. This at the risk of being beaten and arrested.
 
In many cases documented from sources in Cuba, these demonstrators, many holding the U.S. flag symbolizing Freedom and Liberty, have vanished and it is speculated killed for their quest to be free. One such case involves a Catholic Priest, Father Castro Jose Alvarez Devesa.
 
The question we have is WWBD. What will Biden do? It is time for the United States to stand firm against the oppressive and brutal Communist Dictatorship that has plagued our neighbor, the Island Nation just ninety miles from our shores, for over six Decades.
 
My late father, a patriot who loved this country and fought his whole life for the people of his native land of Cuba, wrote these powerful words:

“Only those who are willing to give their lives for their cause are worthy of having one.

To be fulfilled you have to give yourself fully.

He who loses their identity with God, with his country and with himself has lost everything,”
 
Antonio Benedi

Former Commissioned Officer and Special Assistant to President George H.W. Bush.
Former Member of the Board of Directors of the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty.
Member of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Advisory Council.

U.S. Naturalized Citizen