Cuba and Ukraine: Thirty silver pieces for advancement towards democracy
April 15, 2005
What will be the feelings of parents of those eighteen thousand Ukrainian children, who used to get and keep on getting today, despite cynicism of its government, disinterested help of Cuba, when on their behalf and approved by their government, American tanks and missiles continue “to promote democracy in Cuba”? Are the Ukrainian troops, withdrawn from Iraq, preparing themselves for more distant mission in composition of the routine “international forces”? Or is Ukraine this time only ready to train the armed forces personnel for the next puppet regime?
Timeserving that is habitually called nowadays pragmatism, makes Yushchenko, who has just returned from a friendly meeting with Turkmenbashi, get concerned of the fates of the Cuban democracy...
The politicians suffer from a professional disease, revealing itself in loss of historical memory, let alone morals, ethics and other atavisms of little compatibility with their genuine goals. Peoples actions, which brought Yushchenko to power to replace the criminal regime of Kuchma, were not originated from political but rather ethical needs and sound desire of our citizens not to live in gangster but in the civilized society, where the call of duty and honor has always been superseding somebody's selfish and cheap interests. Have the millions of our countrymen, that demonstrated courage and brought the present president to power, fought for construction of new relations of the citizens with the same power or for thirty silver pieces from the imperial table?
Everyone has to admit that regardless of the fact whether somebody likes or dislikes Fidel Castro, for 40 years Cuba has been the target of hypocritical and criminal economic blockade by the USA. It is not Fidel, but millions of ordinary Cuban civilians who have become the main victim of the blockade. This unselfish and heroic people, despite all its difficulties and problems, more than once used to prove in practice, that fraternity and human dignity is valued neither in dollars, nor in euros, nor in hryvnas.
Many of us were not always in accord with the Cuban government actions, but a friendly criticism was direct and open. All internal political issues of Cuba have always been the domestic issues of the Cubans themselves, but not of their shady benefactors from Miami, Washington or present Kiev. Hymns to freedom and democracy, performed in duet with Bush, more and more resemble military marches to the majority of this planet population.
When I write these words, feeling pain and shame for our “peoples president”, I hope, that many of my countrymen experience similar feelings, and if it is true – it means, that not everything is gone... Our citizens have already proved that they are bigger and better than their today's and yesterday's politicians, whose conscience cannot be cured by any medicine, even the Cuban one.
Oleg Yasinsky
Santiago, Chile