Oops, let's not do it again

The videotape apparently does not lie: Fidel Castro is still alive and creaking.

But does it really matter?

Alive or dead, Fidel Castro is done, although the difference does matter to Cuba and its future.

I admit, I jumped the gun last month, when I repeated rumors of Castro's death. Whether the product of over-exuberant wishful thinking in Miami, or something nefarious hatched in Havana, clearly, the rumors were not true. As a journalist, and as a blogger who has tried to instill my site with journalistic quality and integrity, I should have been more careful, more skeptical, in the absence of a proof of death.

The lesson to be learned is simple: Be careful with rumors. If you are going to report them, make clear that you don't have anything more to go on. Don't stake your credibility on something you don't know, can't know, for sure. Don't let your wishful thinking, the pain you and your family have felt for decades, get the better of you. I know many of you detest the "mainstream media," but the standards of the MSM — verify all your information, report only what you know, what you can verify — might serve all of us well in these turbulent times. Obviously, people are paying attention to us, so we all need to act accordingly.

For now, we have a proof of life, but I still think most of what I wrote last month, in response to the rumors, still holds:

Now that my initial euphoria has been tempered by the facts we know, which aren't always the facts we hope for, I find my mind flooded with so many thoughts, so many memories. I keep thinking about those for whom Castro's death — or more precisely, the announcement of his death — will mean so much.

The political prisoners. The ones I have been privileged to write about here, and many more.

And those who love them.

Other dissidents, like Martha Beatriz Roque and Oswaldo Payá. And those who have been able to escape, like Armando Valladares and Raul Rivero.

Independent journalists like Carlos Serpa, Aini Martín Valero and the amazing Guillermo Fariñas. The stories Castro's death will allow them to tell about the past 50 years — especially after democracy and liberty finally prevail on the island — may shock the world.

Shame on those who will be surprised by those stories. You obviously haven't been paying attention.

I think about the balseros, those who have made it to our shores, and how many long to return to their homes. And the too many who have died.

I remember the Brothers to the Rescue.

I remember all who have died because of Castro and his tyranny.

I remember all my fellow Cubans waiting for freedom.

All those mentioned deserve our support and prayers.

And they deserve that we get our stories right.