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| Castro with Pinochet in Chile, 1971 |
My essay "Fidel Castro is not Augusto Pinochet" is the traditional
story of the Third World’s apathy towards the Cuban Dictatorship...For
many reasons, I think that Castro is much worse dictator than Augusto
Pinochet...
INTRODUCTION:
Since 1960 Fidel and Raul Castro have send a sinister example to Third
World nations. The number of countries which democratically governed and
respect human rights is decreasing since 2004. Today there are many
dictatorships: Thailand [2006], Venezuela, Zimbabwe…
OPPOSITION BY ANTI-PINOCHET GROUPS
Miss Chile, Jenny Purtho Arap, was eliminated in the first round at the
Miss Universe Pageant on July 26, 1982, in Lima, Peru’s capital city.
Certainly, she, a girl with charming personality and beautiful eyes, was
the big favorite by the international journalism. I think that Chile
should have been crowned Miss Universe in my country. I believe that she
was robbed of title for political reasons.
One of the major problems which Chilean dictatorship had to face was the
international boycott campaign. From 1973 to 1989 Chile suffered
international sanctions. Different from Cuba, many countries did not
have diplomatic relations with Augusto Ramon Pinochet Ugarte, who ruled
from 1973 to 1990. Many Chileans did not get VISA, an example was
Claudio Arrau, one of the best pianists in the history. The same history
of Israel, Taiwan, Rhodesia (currently Zimbabwe) and South Africa
(Apartheid).
Ironically, The People’s Republic of China and Romania recognized the
Chilean dictatorship. Under the leadership of Mao Tse-tung and Jiang
Qing, First Lady of the Chinese Revolution, China and Chile had
maintained good diplomatic relations. However, Pinochet Ugarte was
harshly attacked by the USSR, Cuba, East Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Italy
and Norway.
In 1980 Ferdinand Marcos, dictator of Philippines, invited Augusto
Pinochet to come to his country. On March, 1980, he left Santiago de
Chile for Philippines and made transit stops in Fidji, an ex British
colony, and Tahiti. When Augusto Pinochet arrived Suva, the capital city
of Fiji, a small country in the South Pacific, some human rights
activists were waiting for him. There were protests against Chilean
dictator’s visit. His tour had already begun when the tour was cancelled
abruptly at the last moment by the dictatorship Ferdinand and Imelda
Marcos.
1976: In the Davis Cup final match, the Chileans lost to Italy, but the
team from Chile had a particularly difficult tournament. In Rome, a
group of people blocked the entrance to stadium before the match between
Chile and Italy, chanting: "Pinochet is a dictator"…"He is a
genocide"…Pinochet is Hitler"…and "Pinochet is the worst dictator in the
history". Certainly, Chile’s participation again became an issue.
Many famous people went to Festival Internacional de la Canción Viña del
Mar, but they were criticized by human rights activists and
journalists. Camilo Sesto, Spanish singer, was called "Camilochet". In
July 1978, the Mexican government objected to the presence of Miss
Chile, Marianne Muller, in the Miss Universe Pageant beauty in Acapulco,
Mexico. Another example: Jorge Luis Borges was considered one of the
best writers in the 20th Century. He was nominated several times for the
Nobel Prize for Literature, but Borges was never awarded the Noble
Prize by Swedish Academy. Why? In 1976 Argentinean writer Jorge Luis
Borges visited Chile. Cuba would have wanted to have a writer like him…
The Chilean dictator Augusto Jose Ramon Pinochet never was accepted by
the Latin America Community and Third World countries. Pinochet became
notorious for human rights abuses and corruption. From 1973 to 1989,
more than 3,000 Chileans were killed by Pinochet’s Secret Police Force.
His autocratic and anti-communism style of rule earned him many enemies.
THE STUDENT SURPASS THE TEACHER
In comparison to Augusto Pinochet and Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina,
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, whose father was a Spanish immigrant, is not
famous like dictator… He is called "Third World spokesman" Why?
Unfortunately people that don’t know Cuba very much think that Castro is
a "good man". Honestly, he never has been compared to Francois "Papa
Doc" Duvalier, former dictator of Haiti, and Charles Taylord. "The
student always surpass the teacher" is my favorite slogan. In my
opinion, I think that Castro´s Communist dictatorship is worse than the
former Chilean. Dictatorship.
Cuba is one of the few nations in the world in which a family controls
the government. From 1960 to 2006 Fidel Castro was President of the
Council of State and Council of Ministers, First Secretary of the
Communist Party of Cuba…Currently, Raul Castro Ruz, Fidel’s brother, is
the Head of State. They claim that Cuba has the most highest human
development rate in the Third world and that Cubans live better in the
Island than in South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and India. During Cold
War, Cuba received more money per capita than the Socialist Republic of
Ethiopia, one of the most poorest nations on Earth.
The country’s resources are used to build Olympic projects devised by
dictator’s megalomania. Cuba has one of the most highest suicide rates
in the world and the Island has the highest number of abortions in Latin
America in relation to its population. Ironically, the standard of
human development is going down. Ultimately the prostitution is
increasing alarmingly in the Island. The dictatorship restricts such
liberties as freedom speech and freedom of the press. Under the
socialism, the government has imposed sharp restrictions on artists who
criticize the dictatorial system. Reports Without Borders considers Cuba
one of the "15 enemies of the Internet". More than 300 artists and
writers have defected since 1960: Jose Manuel Carbonell (poet), Lydia
Cabrera (writer), Ernesto Caparros (photographer), Ernesto Lecuona
(pianist), Guillermo Cabrera Infante (writer), Enrique Labrador
(writer), Jesus Diaz (film maker) Nestor Almendros (film maker) and
Jorge Esquivel (dancer).
KILLINGS FIELDS AND GAYS
Cuba’s dictatorship was one of the first states in the world that
prohibited homosexuality. The general gays rights situation under Cuban
Revolution was catastrophic during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.Many gays
were jailed, tortured and exiled by Castro’s "Olympic Paradise"…Reynaldo
Arenas, a gay writer, was imprisoned several times because of his
longtime opposition to Cuban rule. After release, Arenas wrote his
autobiography, with the title "
Antes que anochezca" (Before night
falls).
The Cuban Secret Police is extensively used by Fidel and Raul Castro to
suppress and disrupt pro-democratics movements. However, a number of
protests against human rights violation are organized by
Las Damas de Blanco. Las Damas de Blanco have been compared to Las Madres de la Plaza
de Mayo (Argentina), who fought against the dictator Jorge Rafael
Videla.
Unfortunately, some Third World democracies support the Cuban government
for economical reasons. Cuba has sent more than 6,000 doctors, coaches,
technicians and teachers around the world. Furthermore there are 15,000
foreign students in the Island.
I would like to finish my essay "Fidel Castro is not Augusto Pinochet"
with my favorite personal motto: "Only oppression should fear the full
exercise of freedom" by Jose Marti.
By Alejandro Guevara Onofre
REFERENCES:
Alzota, Julio. "Hoy en el Perú surgirá la más bella del Universo", La Prensa, Lima, 26 de julio 1982.
-Bonilla, Juan José-Payan, Miguel-López, José-Villalba, Susana. Diccionario Mundial de Actores, Ediciones JC, Madrid, 1998
-Caputo, Robert. "Ethiopia Revolution in Ancient Empire"; National Geographic, Washington DC, may 1983
-Diccionario de Literatura Cubana (tomos I y II), Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 1980
-Diccionario Sopena de Literatura de Literatura (tomo I), Editorial Ramón Sopena, Barcelona, 1991
-Documental: El Caso Pinochet /Chile/ 2001
-Encyclopaedia Británica Book of The Year 1977, 1981, 1984, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Chicago
-Freedom in the World. The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1992-93, Freedom House, 1993
-Gasparini, Juan. Mujeres de Dictadores, Ediciones Península, Barcelona, 2002
-Grondona, Mariano. "La otra Cuba", Visión, Miami, diciembre de 1993
-Guevara Onofre, Alejandro. "Crisis de Supervivencia en Cuba", Diario El Peruano, Lima, 25 de agosto de 1992
-Guía del Mundo 1993-94, Instituto del Tercer Mundo, Montevideo, 1992
-Guzmán, Patricio. Documental: La Batalla de Chile (II)/Chile/ 1977
-Huntington, Samuel. The Third Wave. Democratization in the Latre Twentieth Century, University Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1991
-Informatodo 1970, Editorial Reader´s Digest, México, 1969
-Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano 1991-2006, PNUD, New York
-Jorge, Antonio. The Cuban Economy: Dependency and Development, University of Miami, Miami, 1989
-Lande, Carl. "The Return of People Power in The Philippines", Journal of Democracy, Washington DC, January 2001
-Miller, Nicola. Soviet Relations with Latin America 1959-1987, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989
-Roca, Ana. "Charlemos con Reinaldo Arenas: un escritor en el exilio", Americas, Washington DC, septiembre de 1981
-Roca, Sergio. Socialist Cuba: Past Interpretations and Future Challenges, Westview Press, London
-Rodriguez Elizondo, José. Crisis y Renovación de las Izquierdas, Editorial Andres Bello, Santiago, 1995
-Suchlicke, Jaime.
The Cuban Military under Castro, University of Miami, Miami, 1989
-Taufic, Camilo. Chile en la Hoguera, Ediciones Corregidor, Buenos Aires, 1974
-The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1975-2006, The World Almanac Books, New York, New Jersey
-Vargas Llosa, Mario. "El Lenguaje de la Pasión", Peisa, Lima, 2000
-Zandrox. "Una de ellas puede ser Miss Universo", Extra, Lima, 26 de julio 1982
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