The star of the Miami Herald's Cuba section, Mr. Juan O. Tamayo, is working hard as usual. I wonder sometimes how hard it is for some people who are "experts" to keep going without worrying about their inconsistencies as they slant reality in a direction somewhat off to the realm of storytelling. The Herald works hard to keep it's readers in this false reality.
Today he decided to play church people against church people. Typical nonsense. That's how the game is played in the Miami wonderland. Of course he refers to comments made to El Nuevo Herald by what he calls "Cuba's most outspoken priest." A priest who is outspoken, why? Because he speaks the words that somewhat fit the storyline of the two Heralds. On top of that he chooses to speak to the news outlets most hostile to the Revolution. What about the storyline that people who speak out face "consequences?" Let's not focus on a silly detail like that though, that's not the point he tries to make in this article. The reason the Herald needs to find a "rebel" priest is that one of the bigger stories coming out of the island over the past year or so is that the Catholic Church appears to be taking a more cooperative role on the island. Ever since the Pope visited Cuba years ago, reactionary Miami has scrambled to figure out a response to this. Since hating the Pope, along with Nelson Mandela, was making them look ridiculous, they decided that a different approach would be necessary. A major part of the propaganda the Miami crowd had used in it's long and fruitless campaign against Cuba had been the "suppression" of religion. Had the Church not been actively working with the self-proclaimed enemies of the Revolution at the beginning, things may have been different. The "rebel" priest speaking to the Herald stated how Cardinal Ortega has "more access to the people who hold power" and how "it reflects an advantage for both the Cubans and Catholics."
“The church now does have a larger space, but to express ideas that do not affect the power,” Mr. Tamayo highlights. I know that there are many people who support the idea of religious states, but what right would a church have in affecting power? I would say that if the Church is affecting people and people are in power, then there is a chance that one's religious beliefs could affect the decisions of that individual. But what Mr. Tamayo is basically suggesting is that the fair thing to be done is to allow the Church to make desicions along with the state. The priest goes on to say that while on a visit to Krakow, he was told by a Polish Cardinal that the Church is on the side of the people as is God. So guess who isn't! The suggestion is that the government isn't. But isn't this the government that is "allowing the Church more space" and it would be reasonable to think that the people are not being prevented from having God on their side if they so choose? By the way, did he travel to another country? I'm just wondering what that says about the ability for people who aren't exactly aligned with the regime to travel. Another silly detail that goes against what we are supposed to believe about Cuba. Mr Tamayo is proud to tout the credibility of the priest who he says has long been a harsh critic writing letters to Fidel and Raul "blasting the government" in his comments to the media. My goodness Mr. Tamayo, why isn't he rotting away in a dingy cell somewhere in the island? Isn't that what happens to people like this? No, actually he is ending a three month trip to multiple countries including the U.S. Amazing isn't it? Well maybe he'll be dragged away once he gets home. Wouldn't that make for an interesting follow up article!
The priest went on to express his skepticism about everything from the release of prisoners to the new reforms being undertaken in Cuba. He also gets the impression that the church is gaining a presence in the media. How astute of him. He feels that Cubans are "losing their fear of retribution for speaking out", and nowhere does he mention that Raul Castro has repeatedly called on the people to do just that. The priest does mention that he welcomes more Americans being able to travel to Cuba on humanitarian visits, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and imagine that he isn't opposed to people visiting their relatives as often as they would like either. That's a position that is almost unacceptable by the never give up group of fascists in Miami. I guess that isn't a good sign for the Diaz-Balarts and Ros-Lehtinen types who would rather keep families separated for another fifty years.
All things said, we can see how the effort to twist our perspective a bit is being made on an almost constant basis by people like Mr. Tamayo. But it's to bad for them that they find themselves stuck in the island of Miami politics and can't conquer the minds of everyone just as they haven't been able to conquer Cuba's Revolution.
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