The proof of Castro's pudding is that one in five Cubans lives outside Cuba. One among these 2 million, novelist Jesus Diaz, wrote recently that the paradox of Castro as an acceptable figure in international diplomatic circles can only be explained by what he calls a political synecdoche, the confusion of the man with the people. The irony of Castro's position was underscored in Havana late last month with the start of the trial of dissident journalist Mario Viera. Viera faces jail for pointing out that these are qualities Cuban justice does not guarantee Cubans. His is hardly an isolated case.
Offense is a big word in Cuba.
After Dr. Desi Mendoza Rivero, president of the Independent Medical Association, criticized government media statements on the extent of an outbreak of dengue fever he was given eight years jail in 1997 for, yes, propaganda enemiga. He has just been released at the bidding of Spain's Foreign Minister, Abel Matutes, who visited Cuba last month. The capitalist imperialists he denounced with such fervor are now his best amigos, especially the foreign hotel groups. The Marxist-Leninist now wears Armani blue as often as jungle green. The sugar his father and thousands of other Cubans grew has long been replaced by prostitution as the island's growth industry.