News of Black Lives Matter and Jill Stein tweeting sympathetic send-offs for Fidel Castro has upset Republicans. Historians remember the death of Cuba’s revolutionary leader as the end of an era. The Cuban president was an impenetrable wall preventing outside regional powers from getting through. His death was always thought to bring about great political change after half a century of rule.
Not to leave out the accusations of human rights abuses, but Fidel Castro’s legacy has always had more value to an older generation. They have reasons to store their outrage against the Cuban government. But most of those voices have been quiet for a while, because their anger don’t really matter anymore, other than to a psychologist who might wonder why they just can’t seem to let it go.
Republicans Bring Back Dying Outrage Against Castro Regime
Until Donald Trump won the election, one would hope the anger would fade away with the death of Fidel. Since President Obama began to improve the relationship with the Castros, the need to settle old scores was fading too. Chuck Todd asked Andrea Mitchell on Sunday’s Meet The Press about how Cubans were responding to Fidel’s death. She also pointed to the fading threat of his legacy:
“Well, it’s somber, it’s muted, Chuck. In Havana, people are going about their daily lives. It’s really a generational divide. The older generation more emotional about Fidel Castro, For the younger generation, really, since 2006 when he became ill and 2008 when he turned power over to his somewhat younger brothers, Raul, he has been less of a figure, of a political presence, more of an aging grandfather, the founder of the revolution, in fact, but more symbolic, I should say, that a real presence.”
Anti-Castro, Cuban-American Lawmakers
Yes. Ten years have passed since Fidel had a presence anymore. And ten years is enough time for people to forget. But an incoming Republican administration isn’t going to do this. Not as long as it has conservative pop stars like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). The latter led the fight against president Obama when he decided to reach out to Cuba. Rubio takes pride in his Cuban heritage, especially since he represents the state of Miami which is the closest port of entry for Cubans. When President Obama decided to improve relations with Cuba, Rubio responded aggressively, saying that he would not support the outreach until the United States forced the Castro government to pay the price. Republicans accuse the Castros of violating human rights and being an oppressive regime.
A Cuban-American’s Fictionalized Association With Castro Oppression
Documents give shape to Marco Rubio's family history but raise new questions: http://t.co/ev3azZv0
— Alex Leary (@learyreports) October 26, 2011
Marco Rubio was born in Miami, which means he doesn’t have firsthand experience with Cuba’s legendary oppression; he clearly learned it from his family. In 2011, the Washington Post reported that Rubio had embellished his family’s history. This put more distance between him and his reasons for taking the Cuban government so personally on behalf of others. If Andrea Mitchell is right in her observation that the Cuban people are “ho-hum” about the meaning of Fidel Castro’s death means to them, then Rubio is amplifying the sentiment of a small and insignificant population of Cuban-Americans.
Again, even more insignificant because the oppression dies with Castro. The reasons for Rubio’s aggression against Castro are clear — because they were planted by his Cuban grandfather Pedro Victor Garcia. With the senator’s misguided views of Cuba, his need to prioritize dying grievances cannot be ignored. Nor can the fact that he’s doing it intentionally. Even more annoying, the Florida senator comes across as the neighborhood kid who spent most of his time with seniors, never hanging out with kids his own age.
But this also fits in perfectly with the way Republicans see the world. They love to be unreasonable hardliners, enforcing Western “values” as they define them. Republican lawmakers like Rubio will have the power of influence. They will form America’s relationship with the Castro regime, or the lack thereof. Put this together with a President-elect who has a personal problem with Latinos guarantees conflict with the island. Washington will return to the days when they formed policy in smoke-filled rooms. Republicans will isolate Cuba again as they have for over fifty years.
Featured Image by AK Rockefeller via Flickr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
