Cuban Exiles in Miami Furious as Fellow Rebel Stays to Fight in Havana

[kskiska]

Castro opponent decides he will serve his cause better by remaining in his homeland

Cuban exiles in Miami yesterday condemned a dissident politician for his surprise decision to move to Havana and attempt to lead peaceful opposition to Fidel Castro's regime.

Eloy Gutierrez-Menoyo, 68, announced his decision to live in Cuba at Havana airport where he had been expected to board a plane back to Miami with his wife and three sons after a short visit to the island.

Instead the dissident - who spent 22 years in a Cuban jail after trying to lead an armed rising against Mr Castro in 1964 - told journalists: "I'm publicly declaring my right to stay in Cuban territory."

(snip)

But news of the decision caused uproar in the rest of the Cuban exile community in Miami.

"I'm very disappointed with Menoyo," Huber Matos, another fellow rebel leader told the Miami Herald.

"He is not the man he used to be. To me, he is allowing himself to be used by Fidel to make it look to the world that the opposition is allowed to exist in Cuba, while we know that those who oppose the government are punished."

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cuba/story/0,11983,1015260,00.html

[IndianaGreen]

1. The Miami gusanos want nothing short of a rightwing takeover in Cuba

They despise the very Cubans for whose "freedom" they claim to fight for.

I don't know how many bombings and assassinations have taken place in Florida to take out those Cuban-Americans that refuse to toe CANF's line.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Most unexpected, no doubt!

To an outsider, this looks like one of the most interesting things to happen in Miami's "exile" population.

From your article:

(snip) "My decision to not go back to exile and instead settle in Cuba definitely comes as direct result of a careful and profound analysis of the country's situation and from an understanding that I can be more useful here than abroad," the document said. He denied that he was being manipulated, and implied that the exiles in Miami were doing Washington's bidding.

"I reject any kind of destabilising movements or those that act for the interests of foreign powers or governments," Mr Gutierrez-Menoyo said. (snip)

(snip) Some Cuban moderates were more supportive. Alfredo Duranz, the secretary of the Cuban Committee for Democracy, which opposes US sanctions on Cuba, said: "He is a Cuban patriot, as he always has been.

"You have to take your hat off to his courage. He is there non-violently and simply wants to exercise his civil rights and to live in his country." (snip)

Concerning I.G.'s remark about the intense violence in Miami's CANF'ers and paramilitary groups, I'd sure hope they won't send someone to Cuba to zap Menoyo, as they did when one of the "spies" from Cuba returned to Cuba after living in Miami, trying to learn what violence they had planned against Cuba, in order to block it. They knew where he lives, and sent someone there who shot him.

Hope they leave Mr. Menoyo the hell alone.

You can see how much damage all these years of hatred has done to their reasoning ability when they accuse this man who was a prisoner for 22 years of secretly working for Cuba's interests. Whenever anyone does anything which doesn't put them first, they accuse that person of being a traitor, and their mortal enemy. Classy, huh?
:silly: :crazy:

[Mika]

3. One has to wonder..

Although Mr. Gutierrez-Menoyo is currently advocating non violence he has conducted terrorist operations in Cuba in the past. He served time in the Cuban prison system for it.

It is unusual for any government, including the government of the evil Dr Castro, to allow a convicted former terrorist to return to live and form an "opposition" movement.

Is it that the Cuban government is more conciliatory and accommodating than we Americans have been led to believe for all of these years?

[Judi Lynn]

6. There's no question that his actions in Cuba

which lead to his serving time in prison were deemed VERY SERIOUS by the Cuban government.

He put a lot more of himself on the line than any of them (Miami Batistianos), other than their bombers and assorted other assassins.

[guajira]

4. Havana is a Better City than Miami in Many Ways!!

Maybe he just prefers living in Havana.
Havana has much less crime and drugs, friendly people not filled with hate like Miami batistianos, beautiful old Spanish architecture, museums and brand new buildings interspersed. For Cubans, the ballet costs a couple of pesos, there are street festivals and vendors, constant music, etc.

For someone who has a place to live in Havana and a steady income, the choice would not be as difficult as we Americans are led to believe!!!

[Mika]

5. Agreed

How true.

Beautiful post, guajira. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[guajira]

7. Thanx, Mika. US Stops Social Security Payments for Americans While

they are in Cuba, so Americans can't even consider retiring in Cuba.

This is just one more VERY SICK!!! facet of the US/Cuba policy!!

[Judi Lynn]

8. His move is confounding lots of folks, it seems,

Reminding you of the tale from India of the blind men trying to describe the elephant!

From the Miami Herald I noted, after reading Mika's article on his thread, came this interesting information:

(snip) Six months ago, Eloy Gutiérrez-Menoyo confided to a close friend that he wanted to go to Cuba permanently to form an opposition movement because he believed that he would not be able to accomplish any effective change in Cuba from Miami.

The disclosure was made at Gutiérrez-Menoyo's South Miami home over cigarettes and cafecitos, both of which Menoyo loves, said Antonio Veciana, who co-founded Alpha 66 with Menoyo in the early 1960s and has remained close to him.

'He said to me, `The process for change is not in Miami or on Calle Ocho, but in Cuba. I will be there in the opportune moment,' '' Veciana said. 'I told him that he would fall into disfavor in the exile community. And he said, `That's part of the plan. Pretty soon, everyone will know about me.' (snip)


This is an interesting point, considering how we've been told that the "state" in Cuba took everything from the people after the Revolution:
(snip) The logistics of Gutiérrez-Menoyo's decision are still being worked out, friends say. But for now, he will stay with friends, or at his childhood home in Havana, which is still occupied by a family member. (snip)


For people who STILL don't grasp that Cuba does not prohibit religious practice:
(snip) Gutiérrez-Menoyo's friends said he has met with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the head of the Catholic Church in Cuba, on previous visits to the island, and he spent several hours in Havana's Cathedral on Thursday. (snip)


The Cuban dissidents are confused by Menoyo's move. Could this mean they fear he'll steal their thunder?
(snip) Prominent dissidents in Cuba on Friday gave foreign journalists mixed reactions to Gutiérrez-Menoyo's announcement. While Oswaldo Paya, Cuba's best known opposition leader, told The Herald on Thursday that he welcomed Gutiérrez-Menoyo's help in opposition, Elizardo Sánchez, another prominent dissident, expressed more caution during an interview with the EFE news service.
''He is a brave man,'' Sanchez said, but ``during the last few years, he tried to discredit the internal opposition and has not shown expected solidarity on crucial issues like political prisoners.'' (snip)


Truly hilarious:
(snip) Some exiles in Miami also accused Gutiérrez-Menoyo of being soft on Fidel Castro, and some even labeled him a ''communist.'' Ernesto Díaz, who co-founded Alpha 66 with Gutiérrez-Menoyo and Veciana in 1961, said he could not fathom dialogue with Castro and claimed Menoyo was merely ``surrendering his integrity.'' (snip)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/6493470.htm

Yep, the Miami Keystone Gusanos are a laugh a minute, aren't they?