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Artists 'continue to pay
a horrendous price for seeking freedom'
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By Frank Calzon, www.cubacenter.org.
Posted on Fri, Dec. 10, 2004 in The
Miami Herald.
What a thrill to learn that of
Washington's prestigious Corcoran Gallery
were ''curious about the real Cuba and its
people.'' How discouraging to discover that
their curiosity was limited to a $70-$90
evening of propaganda -- a reception, film
and ''firsthand'' conversation with Section
Chief Dagoberto Rodrguez about U.S.-Cuba
relations.
Scheduled for the last day of November,
in the elegant, grand ballroom of the Cuban
Interests Section, the soiree was ultimately
postponed after Cuban Americans complained
and the media took an interest. A spokesman
for the Corcoran told the paper that its
real purpose was "to have a dialogue
about art.''
Having a dialogue of any kind with Fidel
Castro's regime is difficult, if not impossible.
Ask the European Union whose ''common position''
of opening its nations' Havana embassies
to all Cubans, including dissidents, has
led to a diplomatic crisis. Ask any of the
Latin American or European presidents who
have tried engaging Castro only to be rebuffed
as ''interlopers,'' ''traitors,'' ''fascists''
or ''bootlickers'' of the United States.
Or ask Cuba's bishops or of Cuba's
courageous human-rights organizations. If
the Corcoran is ignorant about ''the real''
Cuba and Cubans, it must be by design.
The regime's bankruptcy, cruelty and tyrannical
nature have been well documented. Before
befriending Castro's diplomats, did the
Corcoran ask any questions? Consult any
of the four Cuban-American of the
House of Representatives? Florida's
Cuban-American senator-elect?
When I initially heard about the Corcoran's
curiosity about Cuba, I was elated. I thought
Corcoran's voice might be added to those
of Amnesty International and the growing
number of world leaders, including former
Czech President Vaclav Havel and John Paul
II, who have urged Havana to cease its repression,
release its political prisoners and reform.
To my dismay, I found the Corcoran dancing
down the same discredited path taken by
the Western elites who remained silent about
Stalin's gulags while dropping dollars on
his henchmen and traveling to Leningrad
to bathe in the splendor of its museums
and enjoy Russian ballet. Since then, many
have discovered the basic human decency
of distancing themselves from murderous
rulers. To their credit, U.S. cultural institutions
did not lend their names to the likes of
Augusto Pinochet, and their response to
the South African white supremacist regime
was not to engage in artistic ''dialogues''
but to demand that apartheid be dismantled.
Why not focus curiosity about Cuba on the
issue of artistic freedom? Only a few days
ago, a group of Cuban dancers and musicians
sought artistic asylum in Las Vegas where
they are performing. The reality is that
Cuban artists and intellectuals run the
risk of Cuban government reprisals and long
prison if they are unwilling to remain
silent about Havana's repression and a despicable
apartheid that denies Cubans access to hotels,
beaches, restaurants and clinics set aside
for foreign tourists,
In the United States people meet, talk
and associate with whomever they want. Among
them is a significant Cuban-American community,
including elected political leaders, judges,
university presidents, scientists, business
leaders, intellectuals, painters, sculptors
and writers, that had to leave Cuba to exercise
such basic rights. In Cuba, their counterparts
continue to pay a horrendous price for seeking
freedom and truth. Many of these people
hold in their hearts a poem by Heberto Padilla,
a great Cuban poet who died in exile:
Say the truth/ Say at the very least, your
truth/ And later/ Let anything happen/ Let
them tear your cherished page/ Let them
stone your door down/ Let the people gather
before your body/ As if you were a prodigy
or a corpse.
Frank Calzn is
executive director of the Center
for a Free Cuba, which is based in Washington,
D.C.
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