'Miami-Havana' a Misguided Trip
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'Miami-Havana' a Misguided Trip
http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/4/27/132530.shtml
Agustin Blazquez with the collaboration of Jaums Sutton
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Dedicated to Reed Irvine
The New York Times, the creator of Castro's myth (thanks to the famous
series of articles by Herbert Matthews that began in February 1957;
according to the tyrant himself, "I owe my job" to that newspaper), was one
of the sponsors of the 6th Havana Film Festival. On April 18 this
pro-Castro-propaganda film festival showed the documentary "Miami-Havana" by
Estela Bravo.
While talking to a Cuban defector, I mentioned that I had seen on the local
PBS station in Washington, D.C., the 1992 documentary "Miami-Havana." To my
surprise she said: "Oh yeah, Estela Bravo. She is a Castro collaborator."
Being Cuban also, and knowing the different outlook and perspective that
firsthand experience inside a totalitarian communist society brings, I
thought that this defector - who was involved in the performing arts in
Cuba - might have a point. At the same time, that statement worried me,
since our perspective as anti-Castro has been so harshly criticized and
misunderstood by the U.S. media and so many in the U.S.
So I decided to get some information from the Institute for Policy Studies
(IPS), the Washington, D.C., distributor of Estela Bravo's documentary.
What I received from Arwen Donahue, the documentary publicist at the IPS,
was revealing. It was Estela Bravo's curriculum and an article by Andres
Viglucci published by the Miami Herald on September 24, 1993, about the
showing of her documentary on PBS.
Almost everything in this curriculum, and details in the article, fits the
profile of what the defector implied when calling Bravo a "collaborator."
It's going to be difficult to explain what the defector meant, unless you
come from the inside and are acquainted with the mechanisms of a communist
society. According to my experience in the U.S., it's very difficult for
Americans to comprehend or relate to the complex daily survival routine of
people trapped inside a regime like the one Castro imposed upon Cuba. As a
friend of mine still in Cuba hinted in a letter, it's "totally surrealist."
In my attempt to understand where this documentary came from, I found that
Bravo, an American born in New York City in 1933, has, since 1963, been
dividing her time between Havana and New York.
In the early 1960s many so-called "true believers" of the Castro revolution
began arriving in a sort of pilgrimage to Cuba. Castro gave his true
believers coveted jobs, expropriated houses and apartments in exclusive
areas, access to foreigner-only stores and schools for their children and
other privileges not allowed to ordinary Cuban citizens (the beginning of
apartheid in Cuba).
That explains Estela Bravo's privilege of commuting between Havana and New
York since 1963, in contrast with Cubans who lost that simple freedom under
Castro.
I learned that Bravo briefly had a folk music radio show in Cuba and that
she worked for the Cuban government in a cultural institute. Also, her
Argentinean husband, Ernesto Bravo, a biochemistry professor she married in
1956 and who collaborated on all her films, was given a job in 1963 at the
University of Havana as professor of medicine.
There is nothing wrong with any of this in any free and democratic society,
but Castro's Cuba is neither. If you are a Cuban and you know the mechanism
behind all these shenanigans, you understand perfectly what the defector
meant.
With the knowledge I have of the Cuban situation under Castro I ask myself,
where are the sympathies of this foreign couple? They joined the herd of
true believers and went to work for Castro's regime. Therefore he awarded
them with privileges and desirable jobs. Never mind all the freedoms and
human rights Castro castrated.
Apparently Castro became the leader of their new cult. That's the only way I
can explain joining something like that of your own accord. The defector's
comment seems not so far-fetched after all.
Then I remembered that the defector also said that Estela Bravo is very well
known in Cuba and that her documentaries are shown regularly on
government-controlled Cuban TV. That means a lot, since in that heavily
censored propaganda machine (the Cuban media), when something is shown
regularly it means that it is beneficial to Castro's goals.
In Estela Bravo's list of documentaries I see a lot of familiar far left
militant themes. She has been reviewed and recognized by the official Cuban
Communist Party newspaper, Granma. Commented leftie American folk singer
Pete Seeger, "Deep down is her wonderful internationalist outlook." I must
clarify that in communist jargon, "internationalist" means a person who goes
to other countries to work and fight for the advancement of the communist
cause.
She received glowing comments from Castro's official filmmaker, the late
Tomas Gutierrez Alea, and official national poet, the late Nicolas Guillen.
You don't get those kinds of official accolades unless you belong to
Castro's fan club and serve his goals.
I also found good comments by leftie American writer and filmmaker Saul
Landau, who because of his pro-Castro views has been referred as "an
incurable Fidelista" by analyst Don Kowet.
In The Miami Herald article Estela Bravo wouldn't discuss her specific
political views or sympathies for Castro's regime. That also fits the
profile of the true believer or collaborator. They invariably duck the
question and dive away through a tangent line. She said, "I believe I was
honest in making this documentary." If she is really "honest," why does she
duck this most relevant question?
"We didn't want to be political," she said. However, "Miami-Havana" is very
much a pro-Castro, anti-U.S., politically left-leaning documentary.
"We want to show the human cost of this terrible war." What war? Perhaps she
is referring to the war Castro has been conducting against the Cuban people
since 1959! But somehow I doubt very much that is what she meant. I think
she meant - echoing Castro - the war that the Yankees declared on Cuba.
Again, what war?
I must point out that the slogan featured in this documentary, "Cuba Si,
Yankees No!" was created by Castro for the Communist International parade on
May 1, 1960, just 15 months after he took control in Cuba and three months
prior to his appropriation of all American properties in Cuba.
Even prior to that, Castro had already declared his own war against the U.S.
to "fulfill his destiny," as he wrote to his secretary, the late Celia
Sanchez, in June 1958. Now we know what war.
Estela Bravo made "Miami-Havana" as a privileged foreigner in Cuba, with the
freedom of traveling between Havana, Miami and New York pitching Castro's
survival scheme: to lift the U.S. embargo. That is the political message and
objective of her documentary - and, conveniently, Castro's current goal. So
it is a political documentary after all.
In this 1992 anti-U.S. embargo and pro-relations-with-good-old-Castro
documentary, Bravo also conveniently ignores the fact that Castro has been
circumventing the U.S. embargo for years. Castro has been buying through
Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, Italy, Japan and other capitalist countries.
I'm sure that Estela Bravo and her husband didn't experience the same
scarcity in Cuba as the typical Cuban citizen has for 46 years. Don't they
feel any guilt about this peculiar duality? This documentary doesn't explain
that before Castro, Cuba produced its own food for consumption and even
export. Can Estela Bravo explain what happened to pre-Castro productivity?
The problem obviously is not the U.S. embargo, as Castro's propaganda has
been claiming for decades. Estela Bravo, through her "honest" documentary,
keeps reinforcing ad nauseam Castro's repetitive claim in order to dupe
American audiences yet again.
The clear political objective this documentary pursues is to appeal to the
uninformed American audience at the grassroots level so they start lobbying
the U.S. government to lift the embargo and allow Americans to visit Cuba as
tourists and investors - just what Castro needs to continue his reign of
terror. Never mind the real feelings and desires of the oppressed little
Cuban people.
Estela Bravo even asserts, speaking for over a million exiles in the U.S.
alone (about 3 million worldwide) that "I believe the majority of people
want to normalize relations." Somehow I don't think so, in Estela-Fidel
terms. We want to see our loved ones living with dignity, human rights and
freedom in a democratic society, but those are anathema to Castro.
Echoing Castro's claims, Estela Bravo's documentary portrays the Cubans as
being lured from their island paradise by the bad exiles and U.S.
propaganda. That has to be a joke! Estela, in your zeal I think you went a
tad too far. In the years I have been out of Cuba in Canada, Europe and the
United States, I have never met a Cuban who was lured in the fashion this
"honest" documentary implies.
All the Cubans I know have left everything and risked their lives to escape
in shark-infested waters in search of freedom (about 77,824 documented
deaths trying to escape through the Florida Straits). Those escapes and
defections are symptomatic of all communist tyrannies around the globe.
Historically, human beings can't stand to live under so much oppression.
That is a fact of life.
All throughout this "honest" documentary - selected as one of the 10 Best
Documentaries of 1992 by the PBS-POV (Point Of View) series - we are
"tricked or treated" with the multiple incursions of "expert" Wayne Smith
(the Dean of American apologists of Castro from the IPS) espousing the
message of lifting the U.S. embargo.
And we are forced to see and hear Wayne Smith, wearing his promotional
T-shirt of the Pan American Games (an event Castro happily used to advance
his propaganda), asserting, "If elections were held today he probably still
would win." "Still"? Castro has never been democratically elected to
anything in Cuba!
"He probably still has the support, it may be resigned support, but the
support. Another thing is that the Cuban people see no alternatives." Facing
such speculation from "expert" Wayne Smith, I would like to pose the
question: If Castro is so popular, why did he announce on April 9, 1959,
that there would be no elections - a time when he supposedly was at the peak
of his popularity?
And why do "the Cuban people see no alternatives"? I think I can answer
that: Because Castro has made sure there are none.
Another characterization we have to sit through in this documentary, again
from Wayne Smith's World (now referring to pro-Castro Cubans) is that
"Cubans morally are very sensible, moderate people. You don't have these
extremes." And referring to Cuban exiles, "But what you have in Miami, I
think, is a very extreme, ultra-right group who want no kind of improvement
on relations between the two countries."
Well, well, well, Wayne and Estela, for your information - as if you really
care - the only thing Cubans have ever wanted since 1959 is a return to a
democratic form of government, as originally promised by Castro, with
respect for law, order, freedom and human rights for all and respect for
family, private property and private enterprise. We also want the
reinstatement of our 1940 Constitution, one of the most modern and
progressive in the world, which Castro discarded on February 7, 1959 - when
his regime was just 38 days old!
For these simple desires, we have been chastised, vilified, accused of being
reactionary and "extreme ultra right." I guess the majority of Americans can
be classified that way, too.
Why do Estela and her husband live and work in Cuba, a country whose
un-elected ruler formed an illegitimate Mafia-like government, discarding
the Constitution?
I don't think I have enough space to continue dissecting all the
inaccuracies, misinformation and propaganda contained in this documentary on
an issue that it so obviously misrepresents. I don't even think that it
qualified for the PBS-POV TV series, because according to Marc Weiss,
co-executive producer of POV, in the Miami Herald article, the documentaries
in that series "are supposed to carry a strong point of view."
He explains that it doesn't have to be "journalistically balanced in the
traditional sense." However, in the same article Estela was quoted saying,
"We represented all views as much as we could." So, how can the documentary
represent "a" point of view and "all views" at the same time?
As a friend of the late Oscar-winning cinematographer, filmmaker and writer
Nestor Almendros, I am familiar with his trials and tribulations in his
attempt to get financing and airtime on PBS for his documentaries "Improper
Conduct" and "Nobody Listened."
The first one, while shown and praised all over the world, was aired by just
a few local U.S. PBS stations but not by PBS nationally.
The second one, which also received international acclaim, was finally aired
by PBS in August 1990, after a lot of hassle, in a truncated hourlong
edition (contrary to what its creator intended), in tandem with a Saul
Landau pro-Castro documentary.
It is very revealing that when PBS has to choose between documentaries
ridden with misinformation and propaganda covering up Cuba's tragedy (the
"charismatic" Castro version) rather than those exposing the true nature of
the facts, the fantasy always wins.
Even PBS's "Frontline" rejected "Nobody Listened," stating, "Frontline
doesn't produce anti-Communist programs." Apparently, "Frontline" is not
"journalistically balanced" either.
Nestor Almendros said in 1990 that he believed, when it comes to
documentaries, the taxpayer-funded network leans unashamedly toward the
political left. "The only country that resisted [showing his documentaries],
the only place where was still strong pro-Castro sentiment, was the U.S."
When Nestor Almendros tried to get "Nobody Listened" on the PBS-POV series,
after a lot of back-and-forth games, it was rejected for one reason or
another. Marc Weiss noted, "I never supposed I'd get such a strong negative
response from the committee."
In reference to the last rejection of PBS to include "Nobody Listened"
because or was "too late" for POV's upcoming season, Almendros said, "There
is something very wrong somewhere when PBS, founded by American people, who
are the world's greatest enemy of communism, refuses to broadcast by itself
a film about Cuba's communist dictator."
PBS appears to be not so finicky when dealing with documentaries of Estela
Bravo's political persuasion - even though she doesn't want to talk about it
and claims her documentary is apolitical.
And literally finishing off "Miami-Havana," I must not overlook the
incredible ending sequence of the returning Mariel "excludables." Estela
doesn't even mention that one of the demands following riots in the U.S.
jails, where they were in detention, was that they REMAIN IN U.S. JAILS
RATHER THAN BE RETURNED TO CUBA. How conveniently forgotten! Brava, Estela
Bravo!
In her myopic vision she interviewed some of these people on their ominous
trip back to Cuba. Cubans, very much aware of what they have to say in order
to save their skins, blamed everything on the U.S. and had to express relief
at finally being on the way back to their beloved Castroland.
After landing on the real promised land, they are shown being liberated from
the U.S. shackles by friendly Cuban police at the airport while Estela uses
on the sound track a known-to-be-Castro-official Cuban singer setting the
mood. Then the happy ex-excludables (whom Castro forced to the U.S. in 1980)
are shown leaving the Combinado del Este prison east of Havana while the
same happy music plays.
Then incredibly, and to my astonishment, Estela showed them going inside
police cars and being delivered to their individual families for a happy
reunion!
As a Cuban accustomed to these kinds of displays of "humanity" from Castro's
authorities, I started laughing.
But should I be cynical or thankful? Probably thankful, because if it had
not been for the opportune presence of friendly Estela's camera, I could not
have witnessed this "realistic" staging of the facts. Estela strikes again!
Bravo, PBS-POV, certainly a transparent and honest documentary about
Estela's beliefs!
Estela had the right to make her documentary, and taxpayer-funded PBS and
the National Endowment for the Arts had the right in 1993 to sponsor the POV
broadcast and now this New York Times pro-Castro film festival in New York
City to show it. But being free in the U.S., I also have the right to
criticize this dishonest piece of pro-Castro political propaganda.
There is nothing like freedom. One day, not far in the future, I hope,
Cubans will enjoy freedom in Cuba in spite of the efforts of collaborators
like Estela Bravo.
© 2005 ABIP
* * * * * *
Agustin Blazquez is producer/director of the documentaries
COVERING CUBA
CUBA: The Pearl of the Antilles
COVERING CUBA 2: The Next Generation
COVERING CUBA 3: Elian, presented at the 2003 Miami Latin Film Festival and
the 2004 American Film Renaissance Film Festival in Dallas, Texas
COVERING CUBA 4: The Rats Below and Dan Rather "60 Minutes" an inside view,
released on April 15, 2005, and available at:
http://www.cubacollectibles.com/cuba.mv?p=108-CC4
Author with Carlos Wotzkow of the book COVERING AND DISCOVERING and
translator with Jaums Sutton of the book by Luis Grave de Peralta Morell,
THE MAFIA OF HAVANA: The Cuban Cosa Nostra
For a preview and information on the documentary and books, go to
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3k5sx/abip/
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