Dado que CubaNet dice ser pluralista y estar abierta al dialogo, quizas
podrian reproducir un articulo de Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, titulado "My Old
Enemy, My New Hope", publicado en "The Washington Post" el 29 de junio
(p. A21).
Para quienes no lo conozcan, Gutierrez Menoyo dirigio uno de los frentes
guerrilleros en el Escambray en contra de Batista, pero luego formo
Alpha-66, un grupo armado anti-castrista que formo guerrillas en 1964.
Fue capturado y paso 22 a~nos en la carcel en Cuba. Por ello, afirma que
"my revolutionary credentials, my anti-Castro credentials, would fare
better than most".
Pese a ello, su articulo se~nala lo siguiente (solo reproduzco algunos
parrafos, con la esperanza de que CubaNet lo difunda en su integridad):
"I returned to Cuba on June 14. It was a difficult but deeply satisfying
homecoming, and, I believe, one that implies new hope for a more
tolerant, open systema in Cuba".
"Certainly I have more reason than most to hate. But I do not live in
the past. None of us should. It is time to put hatreds behind us, tu
put the past behind us. It is time to think of Cuba, our beloved island,
in her moment of crisis. Most of all, it is time to think of our loved
ones still on the island and how best we can help them".
"I have long been convinced that we who live outside the island can do
far more to help our loved ones -and far more to advance the cause of
change, tha cause of a more open society in Cuba- through dialogue with
the Cuban government than through confrontation and efforts to isolate
it. It was for that reason that in 1992 I founded Cambio Cubano (Cuban
Change), a moderate Cuban American organization that seeks renewed ties
with the island. It was for that reason that I returned on June 14".
"There are those in the United States who say no change is possible in
Cuba with Fidel Castro still in power. But change is already taking
place. I have returned to an island where I see it on all sides. With
farmers markets and user titles to the land passed out to those who till
it, the agricultural sector is moving towards privatization. Some
200,000 Cubans are already self-employed, and a new law will be issued
shortly to permit the establishment of small private businesses. Cuba is
moving, rapidly now, toward a thoroughly mixed economy".
"Political change is coming more slowly, but at least religious freedom
have been expanded, and there is a greater openness to new ideas on the
part of Cuban officials. The very fact that I was invited to return, and
that Fidel Castro and I, two bitter old enemies, could sit down together
for long discussions -as we did twice last week- is evidence of that
greater openness and will for reconciliation".
"Let me emphasize that though the conversations were cordial, Castro and
I did not agree on all aspects. Doubtless differences between us will
remain as to what kind of democracy best suits Cuba".
"Meanwhile, if the United States is to facilitate change in Cuba, it must
begin by changing its own policy. It must encourage travel to the
island, not restrict it. It must again allow Cuban Americans to visit
their families and to send them money (a good way, surely, of helping to
capitalize small businesses). It should expand cultural contacts of all
kinds. I would urge the lifting of the embargo as a whole, but at the
very least the United States should lift the embargo on the sale of foods
and medicines. Surely it does not wish to give the Cuban people the
impression that it intends to starve them out or deliberately add to
their suffering".
"And, of course, even worse than the Clinton administration's policy
toward Cuba is the Helms-Burton bill now being debated in Congress.
Aimed at further tightening the embargo and trying to force other
countries to cooperate with that embargo, Helms-Burton is being
interpreted by Cubans as a virtual declaration of war on the island and
an affront to its sovereignty. The new bill would not bring about the
downfall of the Castro government. That is an absurd illusion. It
would, however, impede the kind of peaceful change that is now gathering
momentum on the island. It is counterproductive and based on hatred. It
should therefore be rejected".
"It is time for President Clinton to address the Cuban issue with the
same courage he showed in ending the stalemate with Vietnam. The Cubans
who greeted me in the streets of Havana last week could be good neighbors
if we but put an end to this last chapter of the Cold War".