The tender crusader against Machism-Leninism (and other un-sexy ~isms)

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

Every mention of the name Castro always stirs the spirits in the US - probably more than the subject about gays and lesbians, and certainly even more than the name Obama. And it was these days that a special Castro visited the United States. Mariela Castro, the daughter of the Cuban leader Raul Castro. She participated at a conference in San Francisco where in her speech she defended the equal rights of homosexuals, which is quite timely, given president Obama's recent statement about his stance on the issue. "As a citizen of the world, I would like him to win", she also said about Obama. Which of course confirms that Obama is a communist! =)

In fact, Fidel's niece is a sexologist, and is among the leaders of a movement whose mission is to break all taboos on the "Island of Freedom". And this is no easy task, given the conservative character of the Cuban society. She is 50 years old, she was born 3 years after the Revolution, when sexual freedom in Cuba was non-existent. Her uncle's rebels believed that the labour camps were the only proper place for gays and lesbians. The leadership of the communist party considered the homosexuals to be deluded and useless - as much as the Catholic priests and political dissidents. Those were the times of what could be called Machism-Leninism. "That was a big mistake", Mariela Castro now says. Unlike the rest of her family, she often gives interviews and uses Twitter and Facebook. In a country where cell phones had been banned until very recently. A modern lady indeed.

Since the 90s she has been chairlady of the Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual. She is a successor of Monika Krause, a German lady who founded the centre (she was called the Queen of Condoms). Mariela has turned HIV prevention into her personal cause. And Cuba has been doing very well in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

She is very supportive of the LGBT community, and she has contributed a lot for the recognition of the right to same-sex marriage and child adoption. Since 2008 the Cuban Ministry of Health has been funding sex-reassignment surgery, completely free of charge; and today the pride parades in Havana have become as big and colourful as those in Europe and North America. Recently Mariela lead a protest rally against homophobia, and she insisted that "the sexual rights should be treated by international law as human rights".

In the US, she has been outspoken against the Cuban mafia in Miami and the US-imposed embargo on her country. The two countries have always had a lot of common things, she argues. Meanwhile Marco Rubio, the governor of Florida claims this is "Anti-american propaganda" and calls her "a tool for the regime". The GOP has complained that it was a disgrace that the US granted her a visa. Even the Democrats in Florida are at odds with Obama for the decision.

Indeed, Mariela's visa has been granted directly by the Department of State, which is a unprecedented thing. The US normally does not even issue visas for Cubans, especially ones who could have something to do with the Castro regime. The GOP and the more radical among the Cuban immigrants are in shock from all this. The visit of this "envoy of the communist regime" has been a slap across America's face, and those are words of Mitt Romney himself. But meanwhile, many approve of her cause and are willing to support it.

Comments

[dwer.livejournal.com]

cool beans.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

It was a pure propaganda visit. Par for the course from Obama's State Department. They toss Mubarak out because he's thuggish while embracing the Muslim Brotherhood. So of course having a supporter of a regime that imprisons political dissidents would be allowed to come lecture us on our treatment of others.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Here's a story. The daughter of our commie dictator Todor Zhivkov, Lyudmila Zhivkova (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyudmila_Zhivkova) was a strange bird. Indeed, she was part of the regime (being the minister of education and culture), part of the ruling elite, and the dictator's dynasty, and all that. But meanwhile she used her influence to push really hard for the opening up of our culture to the world and embracing the cultures of the world as well (and not just those from within the communist bloc). She was the initiator of the Flag of Peace Assembly (http://talk-politics.livejournal.com/860052.html) (a worldwide children's organization that brought together youngsters from all around the world), she pressed the government to invest smartly into building theaters, operas, the National Palace of Culture, and generally turning the country into a cultural center on the Balkans.

Was she part of a regime that imprisoned its political dissidents? Yes, of course she was. Did she contribute to bringing us out of the Stone Age we were in before the world wars? Yes, yes she did. Hugely. And we couldn't thank her enough for all that.

Too bad she died in a plane crash while still young. She could've completed her mission to open up our society so much that it could've been the Czechoslovakia of the Balkans. But alas. Well, at least her legacy has been so immense that she's been probably the only person from our communist past that has been unanimously revered by all the population, no matter their political convictions and no matter the epoch we live in. And I can tell you that for the Balkans this is extremely rare.

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

She sounds like a Renaissance woman...

She met Nikolay Roerich's son?

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

I don't see Castro advocating for reforms in Cuba to release political prisoners whose sole crime is dissent. that's why her speech rings hollow. Especially since she took the time to slur Cuban political dissidents.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Oops, car crash I mean. Damn, I should re-read our history.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Are you bitter or just seasoned that way?

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

Leftwing hypocrisy on human rights brews a bitter stew.

All that's happened here is Cuba has taken one thing off a long list of human rights abuses.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

Obama's State Department has embraced the Muslim Brotherhood?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Because it's totally bringing freedom and democracy to support dictators?

[oportet.livejournal.com]

The disgraceful act of granting Cubans visas somehow becomes less disgraceful if they're great at baseball.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

All foreigners are the same?

[peamasii.livejournal.com]

I'm perplexed that they would actually have sex in Cuba. I thought all their time would be dedicated to bringing the victory of socialism.

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Who was it that said, "If I can't screw dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution?"

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

She's on the right track on this particular issue, but she could've used her rising popularity to actually help reform the regime from within. Unfortunately she's been too coy about it.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Good point. She could stand up against her father the way that John Jr. stood up against JFK by calling him a "pooh pooh head."

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Mitt Romney has the right idea. There is no better way to advocate for freedom than by denying someone the ability to travel.

The Cubans have come a long way since the collapse of sugar daddy USSR. It is good to see that they are moving beyond prolishness by working toward greater civility. The timing of this is interesting since the Vatican recently banned a book advocating rational sexual norms that was written by a Catholic sister.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

There is no better way to advocate for freedom than by denying someone the ability to travel.


DQ!

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

A good sign of progress. At the same time it's worth reflecting that Cuba is one of those cases where dictatorship tends to be given something of a selective free pass more than it should be. Things like that documentary about the healthcare system were not wise. And taking potshots at dissidents of dictatorships is somewhat dodgy, but no less so than the arsenal of democracy's fetish for promoting dictators it likes as democracy and claiming every single one it loathes is Hitler (boy, Hitler must have been one Hell of a reincarnator, being multiple people at the same time) because nothing has ever moved on from WWII and the USA was always right.

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

Yes, I lack understanding of modern Americans.

Fortunately, this post isn't about Americans.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

So it stirs the Cuban diaspora in the US - therefore it stirs spirits in the US. ;-)

Probably not more than the name Obama, though.

[terminator44.livejournal.com]

That's a given. Modern Americans don't care about much of anything.