Cuba Yes, Yankees No

Published in Excélsior
(Mexico) on 28 November 2016
by Félix Cortés Camarillo (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Robert Sullivan. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
Dear Commander:

I proudly belong to a generation that when we were both young, we and the Cuban Revolution marched, singing with all the enthusiasm and ingenuity, "Cuba yes, Yankees no." We also sang “Fidel, Fidel, what does Fidel have that the Americans can’t defeat?" and “Cuba, how beautiful is Cuba, whoever defends you loves you more." We recited from memory the verses of the black poet Nicolas Guillen and the songs of Carlos Puebla.

Now that you have granted the long-cherished dream of old Miami exiles, it is worth asking which Cuba is yes and which Yankees are no, because there are many Cubas and many Yankees, from the rum drinks to the baseball players.

Yes to the Cuba that came out of the most ominous underdevelopment and ended illiteracy in a spectacular campaign, a mixture of enthusiasm and social coercion. Yes to the Cuba that promoted an exceptional world-renowned system of medical care. Yes to the Cuba that got rid of the very rich and the very poor, spreading poverty more evenly even if it preserved a high-level bureaucracy in the positions – and houses – of the previously rich.

No to the Cuba that led to the betrayal and the spying of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, a system of neighborhood espionage that opened the door to settling scores and personal quarrels under the disguise of patriotic duty. No to the Cuba that replaced the prostitution of before with the prostitution of now, providing the girls and boys the price of jeans from tourists, and providing many Mexicans with $20 bills in their pockets; an ominous combination that led you to say that the whores of Cuba were the most prepared in the world. No to the Cuba that repressed dissidents even to the point of the firing squad, which ended every possibility of free expression and which sent writers as brilliant as Reinaldo Arenas into exile.

That Cuba is the one that is necessary to end now, now that you no longer obstruct the view with an enormous shadow of being the unquestioned protagonist of modern world history.

Yankees no.

But Yankees yes. Yes to those in the novel by Burdick and Lederer, which was made into a film in 1963 with Marlon Brando.* Yes to the naive Yankee who tries to understand other cultures and societies. No to the racist and obtuse intolerance that will put its hand on a Bible next January on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington. Those Yankees: No.

Without pretending that the problems we have caused ourselves with our inertia will be solved abroad, these Yankees, no.

Strangely, esteemed commander, your rise to world popularity and widespread admiration was largely caused by the obsessive hostility of 10 consecutive U.S. presidents who could not stand the affront that a small Caribbean island and its bearded ones were inflicting – a rebellion and a new dependency that almost caused nuclear war, a hostility that paved the way for the inefficiency of the high bureaucracy that caused the economic backwardness of Cuba and consumption problems for the masses.

It is obvious that Donald Trump will continue on the path that these 10 presidents laid out for him. One more obstacle so that we can again say enthusiastically, “Cuba, yes.”

* Editor’s note: The author is referring to the novel The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer.


Estimado comandante:

Yo pertenezco orgullosamente a una generación que, cuando ambos éramos jóvenes —nosotros y la Revolución Cubana—, marchó cantando con todo su entusiasmo e ingenuidad lo de “Cuba sí, yanquis no”; también aquello de “Fidel, Fidel, qué tiene Fidel, que los americanos no pueden con él”, o lo de “Cuba qué linda es Cuba, quien te defiende te quiere más”. Recitábamos de memoria los versos del negro Guillén y las canciones de Carlos Puebla.

Ahora que usted les ha concedido el sueño tanto tiempo acariciado a los viejos exiliados de Miami, vale preguntarse cuál Cuba sí. Y cuáles yanquis no. Porque hay muchas Cubas y muchos yanquis. Desde la bebida con ron hasta los beisbolistas.

Sí a la Cuba que salió del más ominoso subdesarrollo y acabó con el analfabetismo en una campaña espectacular, mezcla de entusiasmo y coerción social. Sí a la Cuba que impulsó un excepcional sistema de atención médica de reconocimiento mundial. Sí a la Cuba que acabó con los muy ricos y los miserables, haciendo la pobreza más pareja, aunque conservara la burocracia de alto nivel en las posiciones —y las casas— de los ricos de antes.

No a la Cuba que propició la delación y el chivatazo de los Comités de Defensa de la Revolución, sistema de espionaje por barrio que daban la oportunidad de dirimir envidias y pleitos personales con el disfraz del deber patriótico. No a la Cuba que sustituyó la prostitución de antes por la prostitución de ahora, poniéndoles a las muchachas y muchachos el precio de unos pantalones jeans para los turistas —muchos mexicanos— con billetes de veinte dólares en el bolsillo. Una combinación ominosa que le llevó a usted a decir que las putas de Cuba eran las más preparadas del mundo. No a la Cuba que reprimió, hasta al paredón, a los disidentes, que acabó con toda posibilidad de expresión libre y que mandó al exilio a escritores tan brillantes como Reinaldo Arenas.

Con esa Cuba es con la que hay que acabar ahora que usted ya no está para estorbar con su enorme sombra de protagonista indudable de la historia moderna del mundo.

Yanquis no.

Pero yanquis sí. A aquellos como el de la novela de Burdick y Lederer hecha película en 1963 con Marlon Brando. Sí al yanqui ingenuo que trata de entender a las otras culturas y sociedades. No a la intolerancia racista y obtusa que pondrá su mano sobre una Biblia a mediados de enero próximo en la escalinata del capitolio en Washington. Esos yanquis no. Sin pretender que los problemas que nos hemos provocado nosotros mismos con nuestra inercia sean resueltos en el extranjero, esos yanquis no.

Extrañamente, estimado comandante, el ascenso suyo a la popularidad mundial y la admiración generalizada fue causada en mucho por la obcecada hostilidad de diez presidentes consecutivos de Estados Unidos que no podían soportar el agravio que una pequeña isla caribeña y sus barbudos le estaban infligiendo con su rebeldía y una nueva dependencia que casi ocasiona la guerra nuclear. Una hostilidad que abonó el terreno para la ineficiencia de su alta burocracia que ocasionaron el atraso económico de Cuba y los problemas para el consumo de las masas.

Es obvio que el señor Trump seguirá en el camino que esos diez presidentes le marcaron. Un obstáculo más para que podamos volver a decir con entusiasmo Cuba sí.
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