Happy Castroversary

Yesterday was 50 years. The NYTimes commemorates with a sobering account. It begins with a woman who fled 14 years ago awaiting DNA testing to see if a decomposed, shark-eaten body pulled out of the ocean near the Keys is the son she left behind.

Fifty years ago today, many Cubans cheered when Fidel Castro seized power in Havana, and even now, the revolution attracts many fans — as evidenced by the Canadian tour agencies advertising trips “to celebrate five decades of resilience.”

But the bodies speak to a different legacy.

The son who stayed behind spoke multiple languages and tried to influence Cuba from within as a journalist -- until he was fired and targeted.

Mr. Garcia’s relatives said that on the night of Aug. 15, he climbed aboard a boat with no motor and seven or eight other people, pushing off from an area near Havana with hopes of reaching Florida within a few days.

The pace mattered; the sea was churning. By early Monday morning, Tropical Storm Fay had moved through Cuba into the Florida Straits, bringing nearly a foot of rain, swells of several feet and winds that would strengthen to 60 miles per hour.

Ms. Garcia, 64, a home health aide, said she was not sure if her son had known the storm was coming. Even if he had, she said, “he was desperate and needed to go.”

She said her son had done all he could to change Cuba from the inside. “How can Cubans confront the government, with rocks and sticks?” Ms. Garcia said. “Everyone has nothing, and the people are afraid.”

As my interest in weather has piqued of late, I have spent too much time (any non-zero amount) looking at local TV news. You can put me down as extremely tired of the defeatism and hopelessness surrounding "this economy" and "these tough times." I'm sorry your 401K has lost value and feel for those who have lost work. But if you woke up this New Year's Day as a free citizen in America, I really don't want to hear a lot of bellyaching.

Hat-tip: Instapundit

Cuba Posted by John Kranz at January 1, 2009 4:41 PM