by Amaury Pi Gonzalez
photo credit: AP St. Louis Cardinal Brayan Pena gets a big hug from a colleague during a clinic for Havana Children
LOS ANGELES–Right now a group of major league players are visiting Havana, Cuba, Cuban-born players like Yasiel Puig, welcomed back less than four years after defecting, other Cuban-born major league players are on the goodwill tour headed by executive Joe Torre, are, Jose Abreu, Alexei Ramirez, and Brayan Pena. Also John Jay (whose parents were born in Cuba) plus Nelson Cruz, from the Dominican Republic and Clayton Kershaw from the United States, plus others in the visiting party.
Nice to see in MLB.COM video of these players sharing the field and practicing with Cuban kids at the main baseball stadium in Havana. It is all good. But let us not forget that Cuba still not free, (and maybe that will happen in the near future, one can only hope). I cannot tell you how many of my friends and acquaintances have asked me “have you gone to Cuba?” or “are you planning to go to Cuba?” My honest answer is no, not now, but maybe in the future. I have not traveled to Cuba since I left as a Cuban Refugee in 1961. In the future, I might if the system of government totally changed into a free society.
While these major leaguers are making news in Havana, the truth is there are still scores of Cuban citizens jailed for years because they did not agree with the current government in the island, and if you go as a tourist, you have a complete different perspective, you visit the extraordinary beaches of Cuba, including Varadero, many seasoned travelers say the most beautiful beach in the world, and other historic places like San Juan Hill in Santiago de Cuba, Oriente the largest and most Eastern province in Cuba. San Juan HillThe Battle of San Juan Hill, also known as the battle for the San Juan Heights, was a decisive battle of the Spanish–American War.
The San Juan heights was a north-south running elevation about two kilometers east of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. The names San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill were given to the location by the Americans. This fight for the heights (July 1, 1898 The Battle of San Juan Hill) a very famous and bloody battle by the Rough Riders led by Teddy Roosevelt, who later became Vice President and eventually President of the United States.
Only four years later, in 1902, Cuba won its independence from Spain. Throughout history(or at least until 1960)Teddy Roosevelt was considered a hero for all Cubans in the country. Since the 1960’s the communist Cuban government has blamed the USA for everything bad under the sun, but their system of government miserably failed and now they are “opening the door”, not because they are not communist anymore, but simply because they need the hated US dollar. It is as simple as that. I do not have a Degree in Political Science, but I have lived this situation and as we all know practice and experience is usually most credible than books. What I have seen with my own eyes, is much more important than somebody’s book.
Cuba has been involved with baseball since the 1800’s, and since the United States introduced the game to Cubans in the island. Cubans later taught the rest of Latin America how to play the game, so the nexus between Beisbol and Cuba, is older that all the Cuban governments, Constitutional governments or dictatorships, from the right, or from the left, like the current government in the island. It is fair to say that only Americans have been playing organized baseball longer than Cubans.
It is fun to see the young Cuban kids interact with these major league players, and for them to see guys like Yasiel Puig, obviously is quite a treat. But let us not forget that as of today, Cuban law limits freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, and the press. Concerns have also been expressed about the operation of due process. According to Human Rights Watch, even though Cuba, officially atheist until 1992, now “permits greater opportunities for religious expression than it did in past years, and has allowed several religious-run humanitarian groups to operate, the government still maintains tight control on religious institutions, affiliated groups, and individual believers. Censorship in Cuba has also been at the center of complaints. Most immigration is illegal, and Amnesty International, has been monitoring Cuba for decades and still list them on their list of world violators of Human Rights.
I applaud Major League Baseball for their trip to Cuba, but remember, as pretty as it looks, still not a nice country to live in, especially if you were born here in the US and you take freedom for granted. I am optimist, and hopefully things will change for the better in Cuba, and yes, they need more that just tourism. Under a free Cuba I will have no problem in visiting especially to tell my family (born here in the US) where I was born and raised for the first 17 years of my life.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and is the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
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