Back in 1959 the Cubans blindly followed the hollow promises of a charismatic populist who spoke with great eloquence, and whose speeches captivated the imagination of the citizenry. He filled their hearts with hope and promised to change the nation into an Utopic society that would become the envy of the world.
Since his first days in power, the would-be-savior wasted no time persecuting, incarcerating, exiling and executing members of the previous regime regardless of their levels of culpability. The captured were dealt severe sentences dispensed by revolutionary tribunals, who often times denied defense counsels to the accused.
Once convicted, the sentences were swiftly executed in a public and brutal manner for a duality of purposes, to eliminate the opposition and instill fear among the rest of the population. Unbeknown to most then, the fundamental transformation of Cuba had begun.
In true Stalinists fashion new lists of villains emerged on a daily basis. They started with the “dreaded” rich, then the business owners, the religious organizations, the private clubs, the media outlets, in short, all institutions became under attack. Everything needed to be destroyed and recreated in a manner that would please the leader’s messianic visions of the future.
One of the most hurtful aspects of this process was the silence and complicity with which many of our fellow citizens accepted the lawlessness of the regime. As the abuses increased and the repression grew unabated, large segments of the population out of fear, apathy and even envy, opted to look the other way. Even as the injustices intensified and became more blatant, the majority said nothing; lest they become targets themselves.
The Callus Revolution: As the government continued to trample over the civil society, a curious thing began to happen. Well known sycophants of the regime began to have overnight epiphanies that would transform them from supporters to dissidents the minute their own interests were at stake. This phenomenon did not go unnoticed by the populace, who began to call the Cuban revolution by the name of the Callus Revolution. The name was in honor of all the suddenly “enlighten souls” whose enlightenment had occurred only after their calluses (or toes) had been stepped on.
Those of us who lived the above events, never imagined that we would experience those moments again at the home of the brave and the land of the free. And yet, we have once again been forced to watch in disbelieve how the mainstream media and large segments of our population have remained indifferent to the relentless assault on our laws, values and institutions.
Many of our countrymen gazed at the administration’s theft of the GM bondholders’ property with a yawn. They remained aloof when informed about the abusive taxes and regulations levied against our industries. Uninterested about the government agencies’ overreach to silence and intimidate the opposition. Ignorant of the media’s under reporting and cover up of unabashed corruption, misappropriations, and provisioning of contracts and grants to companies belonging to cronies. And uninformed about the lack of transparency and oversight employed by a profoundly corrupt administration.
Our compatriots have shown little interest in the tyrannical way the IRS, EPA, DOJ, NSA, etc. have wielded their powers to harass citizens and journalists for the “crimes” of disagreeing or embarrassing the government. And they have not cared much about the Machiavelli handling of neither the Fast & Furious nor Benghazi scandals. Nor on the respective cover ups designed to hide the negligence that resulted in the tragic death of American patriots.
For some of us it has been difficult to see the shining city on the hill become dimmer and almost extinct, as an ever expanding transformational darkness continues to engulf all aspects of our lives. We have observed with dismay how the few valiant voices clamoring for our vanishing freedoms are drowned in a sea of misinformation emanating from our government, Hollywood, academia, and the mainstream media, in their unyielding efforts to dilute the truth and render many our citizens incapable of discerning facts from fiction.
It is said that it is always darkest before dawn and there does appear to be a glimmer of light in the horizon. The disastrous roll out of ObamaCare, together with the undeniable lying of the president on virtually all aspects of the law, has jolted many of our compatriots from their stupor.
The Callus Revolution 2.0: As millions lose their healthcare coverage and are unable to keep their doctors. As they find that the cost of the new plans are much higher than the previous ones. As millions lose their jobs or have their work hours reduced. And as the government’s unsecured, dysfunctional website serves as a relentless testimony of incompetence, waste and deceit; epiphanies will ensue.
This newly awaken individuals recovering from their hope and change hangover, will for the first time begin to question the tall tales they have been told. At some point they will conclude that they have been swindled, and it will be then that they will come to grips with the realization that they placed their Utopic hopes and trust in the hands of pathological liars and demagogues who have been lying to them all along.
When that happens… Halleluiah! New dissidents! New enlightened souls!
Better late than never I suppose.