See below for update.
The year almost over saw many pivotal events in and related to Cuba, and people who shaped them, from the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo to the release of many — but far from all — of his fellow political prisoners.
Here is my attempt to recognize those Cubans who made a difference in 2010.
No. 10 — The American politician.
The results of the 2010 elections gave Cuban American politicians unprecedeneted preeminence in Washington, offering them a chance to shape the American approach to the Castro dictatorship in Havana.
Veteran Rep. Illena Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., will be chairwoman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, giving her the clout to block any softening in the approach to Cuba that might emerge from the Obama White House.
And Florida's newly elected Republican senator, Marco Rubio, the son of former refugees from the island, almost immediately will be many shortlists for his party's vice presidential nomination in 2012, if not for the top spot on the ticket. Along with Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., Rubio will have a platform to argue for a continued hardline against the Castros.
U.S. Rep. Illena Ros-Lehtinen, Sen.-elect Marco Rubio and Sen. Robert Menendez
|———|
No. 9 — Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino.
The Catholic prelate's top accomplishment of the year — negotiating a deal with the dictatorship and the Spanish government for the release of the "black spring" dissidents imprisoned since 2003 — might have merited Cardinal Jaime Ortega a higher spot on the list. But he is being penalized for how severely he has disappointed those who might hope the church might take the vanguard in demanding change in Cuba.
On the prisoner-release agreement, he has acted more as a spokesman or lobbyist for the regime, and not an advocate for the prisoners and their families — especially those 11 prisoners still in jail because of their refusal to leave Cuba in exchange for their "freedom."
As flawed as the deal was, Ortega does deserve credit for finally acting on the question of the prisoners. It gave Castros political and moral cover in the wake of the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Guillermo Fariñas' subsequent hunger strike and assaults by Castroite goon squads, on the Damas De Blanco.
But it also help reunite more than three dozen prisoners with their families — albeit overseas.
|———|
Cardinal Ortega on Friday said he is confident the 11 prisoners will be released, and that they will be allowed to stay in Cuba, because "promises" have been made.
Considering it is the Castro dictatorship that made those "promises," Ortega's confidence is not enough to move him up the list.
Stay tuned for the rest of the list in coming days. I welcome your ideas on who should — or shouldn't — be on the list. Leave the comments here, on Twitter @marcmasferrer or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UncommonSenseCuba.
Recent Comments