by Agustin Blazquez with the collaboration of Jaums Sutton

Finally, a humanitarian program owned and operated by Fidel Castro! Free scholarships for poor students from underdeveloped and poor areas of the world. It’s actually more than humanitarian and its a classic!

Let’s take a look at it.

Bring these students to Cuba and treat them well. Not great, just a little better than they were being treated at home. Take advantage of the young minds of people, who, for economic reasons, feel a bit abandoned by their society. Their vulnerability gives them the tendency to feel resentment toward their own culture and thus open to accepting all sorts of help, influence and new ideas. Young people in this state of mind are easily captured by the propaganda and have the mind-set for political indoctrination.

The technique was developed early in the 20^th Century in communist countries to create admirers and supporters where there were none, and to form future cadres to spread the philosophy throughout the world. Castro began his international scholarship program in the early 1960’s.

It does not take a genius to realize what happens when those students return to their countries of origin after graduation in Cuba. Castro and his revolution have become their role models. And as planted in their minds by their teachers in Cuba, they begin to spread their new beliefs developed in the sheltered environment especially created for their "education." Their stories about the ideal Cuba they experienced brings sympathizers into Castro’s sphere of influence. The new converts repeat the tales to others and so on, like a cult. This communist technique of spreading propaganda has proven very effective for decades.

Communist infiltration in an open and democratic society where discrimination for political beliefs is prohibited is very easy. This insertion by seemingly genuine believers demoralizes and upsets people about their own society inciting desires for a drastic changes with the goal of creating a "better world," that of course is based on principles of Marxist theory.

It does not matter that Marxism has proven to be a dismal failure all over the world. The Marxists – like members of any cult - are very persistent. In spite of the collapse of most of their empire, they keep going and going like the battery-powered bunny. Keep watching, communism is not dead.

Castro, although looking increasingly like a corpse, is still alive and kicking. And no matter what the U.S. media and the uniformed say, he is still a threat to the security of the U.S.

It is known that Castro has produced bacteriological agents for warfare. That he is involved in the electronic spying of military, economic and civilian targets in the U.S. That he is waging a cybernetic war by developing, producing and sending computer viruses to disrupt military and civilian computers in the U.S. The corrupt Clinton administration with the full cooperation of the U.S. media has kept this information hidden from the American public.

And in a new scheme to further manipulate public opinion in his favor and to create future problems and unrest in the U.S., Castro is now offering his infamous scholarships to U.S. students.

Our "benevolent" tyrant at our south, in May 2000, offered to a group of visiting U.S. lawmakers from the Congressional Black Caucus to provide free "medical training" to 500 Americans, mostly minorities. And in September 2000, revealing the other side of the same coin, he offered to send "doctors" to Mississippi and other states where trained medical personal are in short supply. Which reminds me of his offer to send "election experts" to the U.S. to help count votes in Florida. Cuba has not had a free and democratic election in 42 years!

The irony of Castro’s offer of "doctors" and his well-publicized donations of medicines to other countries is that common, vital medicines in Cuba are not available to the citizens. Cuban Americans – called "Miami Mafia" by Castro and the U.S. media - have been sending their relatives in Cuba medicines and prescription eyeglasses for decades. And after the legalization of the dollar in Cuba, they have been sending millions of dollars to their relatives so they can purchase their own medicines at Castro’s dollar-only stores. And some of the medicines donated to Cuba by charitable organizations from the U.S. and many other countries are sold in those dollar-only stores. Also, Cuban citizens have to pay for some medical treatments and procedures made available to them in dollars only - in spite of Castro’s claims of free health care.

In spite of all those facts, the members of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus have accepted Castro’s offer and are excited looking for low income minority students for his free "medical" study scholarships. Half of them (250) will be blacks and the rest will be distributed among other disadvantaged minorities. Castro’s friend and admirer, New York Democrat Rep. Jose Serrano is looking for Castro’s easily influenced young minds in the Bronx.

Castro’s generous program (without any ulterior motive, of course) will house, feed and indoctrinate – oops, sorry – train in the "medical arts" 500 impressionable young Americans carefully selected by the Congressional Black Caucus and other Castro lovers. And every year another 500. And in six years we’d better move out when those trainees troop into U.S. hospitals. A real invasion of the body snatchers. Lets make sure we have plenty of room for the pictures of Che. They all come back with pictures of Che to hang up all over the place.

It is almost like a tragicomedy, the fixation of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus with a tyrant that is a racist and a fascist communist. Castro is what hippies used to call in the 1960s a "Pig." And you have people like Democrat Rep. Charles Rangel of New York and Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters of California among others fawning over him! Sometimes you doubt their intelligence or the real intentions under their façade. Could it be just a simply case of falling under the spell of a cult leader? With Castro’s outrageous record, there is no other explanation.

How can black Americans who understand the evil of slavery and racism feel any sympathy for Castro?

According to Stephan Archer’s article published by NewsMax.com on May 9, 2000, the "evidence suggests that black and mulatto Cubans are treated unfairly and even harshly. Prison conditions continue to be harsh in Cuba, but for the black prisoner, particularly those who speak out against the government, conditions are even worse. The fact that there are black dissidents is a tremendous slap in the face for the Castro regime." The history of the political prisoners in Cuba is not only white but composed of thousands of blacks who despise his tyranny.

But the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus is silent about that. They never talk about or much less denounce the tortures, abuses and injustices of black political prisoners like Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, Vladimiro Roca, Felix Bonne and many of their brothers and sisters rotting away and dying in Castro’s infamous gulag.

Archer said, "In 1997, Castro implemented Decree 217, which was designed to control the migration flow from poorer provinces to the capital city of Havana." In effect, this specifically targeted the poor black and mulatto population concentrated in the eastern provinces. "The decree also resulted in numerous credible reports that said many desperate blacks and mulatto squatters, not having official permission to reside in Havana under Decree 217, are forcibly evicted from their homes and sent back to the countryside."

How would those Castro-loving U.S. Representative members of the Congressional Black Caucus like it if a similar decree was in force in their respective states? Well, if that would be unacceptable in the U.S., why is acceptable in Cuba? And why send unsuspecting young Americans to live and be "educated" – even for free – in such a devious political system in a country classified for its terrorist activities as a "rogue nation"?

The only decent and honorable thing to do is to say: "No thanks, Mr. Castro."

© 2001 ABIP