Uncommon Sense

The 10 most important Cubans of 2010

Here's a recap of my list of the 10 Cubans — well, it's more than 10, and they're not all Cuban — who in 2010 made a difference in the history of the island.

They are:

1. Orlando Zapata Tamayo.

2. Guillermo Fariñas.

3. Reina Luisa Tamayo and Damas De Blanco.

4. Political prisoners.

5. Fidel and Raúl Castro.

6. Patsy Feliciano.

7. Cuban bloggers.

8. Jordan Allott.

9. Cardinal Jaime Ortega.

10. The American politician.

2010 in Cuba: The year of Zapata

The events that made 2010 a pivotal year in Cuban history — the renewed scrutiny of the Castro regime's awful human rights record and the release of more than 40 political prisoners — would not have happened without the sacrfice, without the martyrdom of Orlando Zapata Tamayo.

The regime thought the world would ignore Zapata, that it wouldn't care if he died during his lengthy hunger strike — a miscalculation for which the regime continues to pay a price.

Zapata's death on Feb. 23 has not been in vain, for it renewed the purpose of the Damas De Blanco and introduced his mother, Reina Luisa Tamayo, to the world.

Zapata's death has not been in vain, for it inspired Guillermo Fariñas to assume his protest, almost dying as a result.

Zapata's death has not been in vain, for it was the first in a series of events that eventually forced the dictatorship to agree to release its best-known political prisoners.

Zapata's death has not be in vain, because more than ever, the world understands the horrors of the Castros' Cuba.

Zapata's death has not be in vain, because of the demonstrated willingness of Cubans and others around the world to make his cause, their cause.

In them, and in Cuba, ZAPATA VIVE!

Here is a  video tribute to Zapata I produced on on the one-month anniversary of his death:

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Read about others on the Uncommon Sense's list of the most important Cubans of 2010, here.

The 10 most important Cubans in 2010, No. 2

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.

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2. Guillermo Fariñas.

Even before he almost died this year during a lengthy hunger strike, independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas had established himself as a giant of the Cuban opposition. His latest protest not only reinforced that assessment, but it also helped force a response from the Castro dictatorship: An agreement to release 52 prisoners of conscience held since the "black spring" of 2003.

The thing I will remember about Fariñas' protest is that he never asked anything for himself, exhibiting a self-sacrifice essential to a successful struggle for freedom on the island. He again demonstrated that last week when he was awarded the European Parliament's top human rights prize. (His acceptance speech, delivered via videotape because the Castro regime denied him permission to travel to France to accept, is one of the more important writings to emerge from Cuba this year.)

Fortunately, Fariñas survived his hunger strike to lead another day.

Guillermo Fariñas (Reuters photo)

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Read about others on the list, here.

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.

The 10 most important Cubans in 2010, Nos. 3-4

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.

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4. Political prisoners.

The most significant event in Cuba this year was the July 7 deal between the Cuban Catholic Church, the Spanish government and the Castro dictatorship for the release of 52 political prisoners unjustly jailed since the "black spring" of 2003. Eleven of the prisoners remain imprisoned because of their refusal to accept overseas exile as a condition of their release.

As imperfect as an agreement as it was, it did highlight the pivotal role the status of political prisoners plays in Cuba today. As long as there are political prisoners, any normalization of relations with the dictatorship is impossible — or at least it should be — and the true nature of the Castro regime will be obvious to anyone paying attention.

Most of the "black spring" prisoners released have taken exile in Spain, and in their own ways assumed new roles in the struggle for Cuban liberty. For example, Pablo Pacheco has resumed blogging about his experiences — something he started while he was still in prison.

And after almost a year in jail with no charges ever filed, Darsi Ferrer, who was not one of the "black spring" prisoners, is again campaigning for human rights on the island.

The "black spring" prisoners are Cuba's best known political prisoners, but there are hundreds, if not thousands of other Cubans in jail because of their opposition to the Castro dictatorship. To learn their stories, just click on some of the days on the right sidebar.

3. Reina Luisa Tamyo and Damas De Blanco.

The Damas De Blanco, or "Ladies In White," has been the most effective dissident organization on the island this decade, campaigning tirelessly for the release of their husbands, fathers, sons, brothers and others imprisoned because of their political opposition to the Castro dictatorship. They — and not the Catholic Church or the Spanish government or the dictatorship itself — are most responsible for the deal that has lead to the release of more than 40 political prisoners this year.

For more than seven years, the Damas have marched through the streets of Havana, with a courage and grace to which the dictatorship had no response — until this past spring, when it unleashed its secret police and other goons to harass and threaten and attack them as they marched in peace. The images shocked even the conscience of the church hierarchy, which after years of ignoring them, intervened with the government on their behalf.

Each of the Damas is a hero, but special recognition is due to Reina Luisa Tamayo, the mother of prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died Feb. 23 after a lengthy hunger strike.

During his protest, Sra. Tamayo was her son's chief advocate, and after his death, she proudly made his legacy her own, demanding justice with a grace and dignity and courage to which again, the Castro regime had no response except for more of its thuggery.

This is my tribute to them:

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Read about others on the list, here.

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.

The 10 most important Cubans in 2010, Nos. 5-6

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.

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6. Patsy Feliciano.

This one is personal for me.

Twice this past year in Tampa, I had the privilege of speaking about Cuban political prisoners and human rights within blocks of where José Martí in the late 1800s recruited support for the Cuban war of independence against Spain. (See here and here for details.)

It would be ridiculous to think I evoked Martí, but both speeches gave me a chance to extend to a new audience the message this blog has tried to send in the more than five years since I started writing about Cuba. And it gave me a chance to step away from the computer to share what I have learned.

For that I am grateful to the organizer of both events, Patsy Feliciano.

A leading Cuban American activist in Tampa, Patsy arrived in the United States in 1980, when she arrived in Florida as a teenager during the Mariel boatlift. (It's an incredible story.)

Patsy and her husband José are friends, but that's not enough to get a spot on this list.

An accomplished educator and administrator at the University of South Florida, Patsy has never forgotten her homeland, helping organize various events in Tampa this year designed to raise awareness of the reality of Cuba today — such as a street march and rally in support of Reina Luisa Tamayo (more about her later on this list) and a screening of "Oscar's Cuba."

Patsy's example, and that of others I have met because of my blogging, illustrate that the cause of Cuban freedom is alive and well in the United States — and not just in Miami and not just among the first-generation exiles who arrived here in the early 1960s.

My Cuba-related activities have been almost exclusively words as written on this blog. Hopefully, I have contributed something to the conversation.

Thanks to Patsy's leadership, I have been able to put some of that passion into action.

Patsy Feliciano

5. Fidel and Raúl Castro.

The dictators are on this list not because they did anything special this past year — except, in Fidel's case, to remind us he is still alive; and in Raúl's case, that he cares not for reform but to do whatever is neccessary to keep the family business in power.

Their presence on this list also reminds that the struggle for Cuban freedom has a ways to go to achieve success.

The dictators.

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Read about others on the list, here.

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.

The 10 most important Cubans in 2010, Nos. 7-8 (UPDATED)

See update below.

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. 8 — Jordan Allott.

If the Jews have their "righteous gentiles" who do a great service to the Jewish people, then we Cubans have our "righteous gringos," who although not Cuban, use their skills and interests to help the cause of Cuban freedom with a passion no less fervent than those of us with family roots on the island.

The Anglo-American filmmaker Jordan Allott has done just that with his documentary, "Oscar's Cuba," in which he tells the story of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, the island's best known political prisoner, and other Cubans on the front lines of the struggle for liberty.

The film, which deserves as wide a distribution and viewing as possible, is a poignant, sometimes maddening testament to Biscet and other courageous Cubans, and the reality of life in Cuba today.

And ironically, that the filmmaker is not Cuban, makes its message that much more powerful, that much more convincing, that much more righteous.

UPDATED, Dec. 22, 2010 — Pedazos de Cuba has published an outstanding interview with Allott.

Jordan Allot at screening of "Oscar's Cuba" at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Nov. 4, 2010.

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No. 7 — Cuban bloggers.

Like all tyrants, the Castro dictatorship held onto power for almost half a century by controlling the flow of news and information, shaping what and how it was delivered in whatever manner it took to keep the Cuban population in check, and its lies to the world intact.

The Internet has changed all of that.

The censors do what they can to restrict access. But the egalitarian quality of the 'Net has allowed Cubans with a little bit of ingenuity and a lot of guile and guts to take to the ether to break the dictatorship's information blockade.

Almost every week, a new blog is launched, with authors of different approaches and writing styles reporting on the reality of Cuban life, sharing their inner hopes and dreams and frustrations, criticizing the Castro regime — whatever they want!

The challenges — technological, political and otherwise — can be daunting but with the help of supporters overseas, and of each other, the blogueros have built a real community and shown what is possible with just a little bit of courage.

Yoani Sanchez, who has repeatedly been honored internationally for her blogging, is the godmother of Cuban bloggers, inspiring and sharing with her colleagues tips and strategies on how to use their blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to get their messages out, and to tweak the dictatorship.

But Sanchez is not the only one deserving of attention. My favorites include Claudia Cadelo, Iván García and Luis Felipe Rojas.

Each has done their part to ensure that what the world knows about Cuba is not limited to what the Castros want the world to know.

You will only embolden them if you take the time to read them.

 
Graduates of Yoani Sanchez's Blogger Academy.

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Read about others on the list, here.

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.

The 10 most important Cubans in 2010, Nos. 9-10 (UPDATED)

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

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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 Jaime Ortega

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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.