Havana reportedly is abuzz with speculation about whether The Mummy today will make his first live appearance since last summer, when he was knocked out of service by a bad stomach.
As a journalist, I am curious whether he shows or no-shows for May Day festivities, even if it won't make a difference in the lives of the people his dictatorship has been oppressing more than 48 years.
But don't be mistaken, Fidel Castro's possible reappearance and even moreso, the raping of the Cuban working man under socialism, make today nothing to celebrate.
I'm saving my energy for Thursday, May 3, World Press Freedom Day, which draws attention to how one of man's essential freedoms — the freedom to report and write about the world around them, and in their own neighborhood — is repressed around the globe.
One of the biggest violators of press freedoms is the Castro dictatorship, as evidenced by the more than two dozen journalists locked up in its gulag. Only China has imprisoned more journalists than Cuba.
When these brave men are released from their jail cells, and freed to resume their work as journalists, now that will be something to celebrate.
On Thursday, I will remember:
Pedro Argüelles
Victor Arroyo
Armando Betancourt
Mijail Bárzaga
José Caraballo
José Castillo
Guillermo Espinosa
Adolfo Fernández
José Ferrer
Alfredo Fuentes
Miguel Galván
Julio Gálvez
José García
Alejandro González
Lester González
Ricardo González
Roberto Guerra
Iván Hernández
Normándo Hernández
Juan Herrera
José Izquierdo
Héctor Maseda
Pablo Pacheco
Raimundo Perdigón
Fabio Prieto
Alfredo Pulido
Omar Rodríguez
Omar Ruíz
Oscar Sanchez
Alberto Triay
Ramón Velázquez
Read more about these men by clicking on the links on the left, under "March 18 Project," and pray this is the last World Press Freedom Day on which they are imprisoned.
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