Fifty years ago, Cuba began its descent into hell, lead there by the promises, and then the lies, of a devilish dictator who charmed Cubans with his rhetoric, and then frightened them with his actions.
Fifty years ago, Cuba began its descent into tyranny, still held there by a dictatorship that, despite the propaganda to the contrary, has impoverished its people and repressed all their efforts to live as God intended, as free men and women.
Fifty years ago, my family, and millions more like us, began their forced journey from their home, from their Cuba. It is a diaspora that continues today as Cubans risk their lives to escape the horrors of the Castro dictatorship — the hunger, the oppression — to find freedom.
It is enough to make you sad.
I am not sad, however, because to give into the sorrow would be to give into the evil that triumphed in Cuba 50 years ago today and to acknowledge that there really is something for the dictatorship to celebrate today in the streets of Santiago de Cuba and of Havana.
Cuban Americans do feel the pain of their countrymen, and we should act on that sentiment.
But today is also a day to celebrate our own victory over tyranny. Fidel Castro may have boasted that he has rid Cuba of "worms" who would only undermine the revolution. However, in escaping the Cuba of his destruction, our families found freedom, and used all the liberties it promises to build new, successful lives, whether in the United States or somewhere else.
I am sad that my grandfather Raimundo Masferrer is buried in Miami, and not in his native Holguín or in Antilla, where my father was raised. But I smile when I think of the life, fueled by the freedom found only in the United States Abaray built for himself and his family. It is a legacy I am proud to continue today.
We didn't let the evil win.
With our freedom, comes a responsibility for Cuban Americans to aid the cause of liberty in Cuba. From the island today, we will see the usual images of marching soldiers and singing children honoring their slave masters. We may even be curious about whether the decaying dictator, Castro No. 1, makes an appearance.
What you won't see are the independent journalists and human rights activists, the democracy advocates and the political prisoners, on the front lines against the evil that triumphed 50 years ago today. They are deserving of all Americans' support, tangible and otherwise, they are deserving of all Americans' prayers — especially from Cuban Americans who today enjoy the freedom they are fighting so hard to attain for their homeland.
Fifty years ago, my family lost its home.
But the sadness is tempered — in fact, I hardly feel it at all — because I am free.
My only disappointment, one I hope is shared by fellow Cuban Americans, is that that same freedom does not prevail today on the island.
Until it does, our journey from the hell Castro created is not complete.
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