14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, July 22, 2023 — The topic that I will address below is an issue that has not been dealt with much, if at all, by the so-called Cubanologists in exile, a very complex curia that brings together academics and experts in the Cuban plot, as well as explorers and posh opportunists, not to mention other specimens, part of the congregation, who provide services to the enemies of Cuba’s freedom.
In the United States, there is a significant number of Cuban citizens who are threatened with deportation, for having violated some legislation in force in their fight against the totalitarian Castro regime, the real threat to this nation and to those who defend freedom and citizen rights.
These people did not commit crimes for personal gain, but rather to destroy the staunchest enemy of democracy and freedom in the hemisphere. They are fighting the main promoter of a political model that violates all the rights of the citizens of the country that ensnares, as is the case in Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia and is a real threat to many of our republics, such as Honduras, Argentina, Brazil or Mexico, without the rest of the countries ceasing to be among their objectives.
The deportation of any citizen to Cuba entails serious dangers for their well-being and life, but when that extradition is of a staunch enemy of the regime, as is the case of Ramón Saúl Sánchez and other compatriots residing in this country, we can be sure that they will be subjected to the most criminal and abusive practices that the henchmen of Castroism are capable of carrying out, without excluding death from their extensive recipes of terror.
Ramón left the Cuba he loves so much, although he barely knew it, when he was only 12 years old. His life has always been marked by exile with all that this implies of uprooting and family separation, and taking precedence over all conditions is his commitment to fight for freedom and democracy for his country.
That obligation led him to be during his youth to become one of the most notable and committed activists in the confrontation with totalitarianism, getting involved in the only form of struggle that the dictatorship made possible, overthrowing the dictator by violent methods.
Sánchez told a journalist from the EFE agency the causes of the setbacks he suffered in such a precise way that no one should have any doubts about his integrity and commitment to the rights of all. His truth is reiterated in Cuba despite the decades that have elapsed: “My homeland lives the terrible solitude of oppression, the tearing of families and the violation of its sovereignty.”
Sánchez, for acting in accordance with his convictions, went to prison for four and a half years. He refused to testify before a federal grand jury investigating an alleged 1980 attack on despot Fidel Castro in New York. Ramón’s civic conscience led him to be a conscientious objector to the denunciation that was demanded of him. He simply acted like so many other citizens who are opposed to participating in a war for reasons of conscience.
Ramón spent more time in prison than many criminals, but it did not affect his spirit, on the contrary, he came out of prison strengthened in his ideals and with a new vision of the fight for democracy that many did not understand at first. His perseverance and sacrifice have been well received by those who do not make concessions to the insular tyranny.
Sánchez has become a remarkable civic leader, with a hemispheric vision of freedom that sets him apart. He is in solidarity with all the oppressed regardless of the border where he was born, he fervently believes in non-violence and, to make public the demand for his rights and those of others, he has carried out several hunger strikes and returned to prison.
This conscientious objector risks being deported. His activism for many years is shown in civil disobedience and in public demands in favor of those who seek protection in this country and in organizing flotillas of boats to protest in the vicinity of Cuba, because his enemy is Castro’s totalitarianism, not the United States of America.
________________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.