In God We Trust

My comments were censored by YouTube

 

By Dr. Rolando M. Ochoa D.B.A.

Yesterday on July 13, 2021, in support of those brave and patriotic young Cubans on the island who are protesting in unprecedented numbers, I posted on YouTube the following comment in several videos that were related to the protests:

“Lack of Human Rights, lack of freedom of movement, lack of the ability to choose your work, home, and school, are policies of the Cuban dictatorial regime and have nothing to do with the US embargo. The dictatorial Cuban government could buy goods from other countries, but they do not do it because they have destroyed the economy with policies that have been irrational and erroneous, and have no money to do it, nor do they have credit because they have defaulted on their foreign debt all along. These people protesting are very brave because they know that they risk jail or worse. It is not the same as protesting in the US. If the world, represented by the UN, would send a strong condemnation to the Cuban regime, this could help a little. In my opinion, we will never see that condemnation given the liberal and leftist slant of the UN.”

When I was going to continue posting, my ability to make comments was blocked and I could not make any comments at all. This morning when I checked, I was still blocked from making comments and YouTube had also deleted all my comments from yesterday.

I was not notified or contacted with an explanation as to why and I was not told which rule I had violated. YouTube has many rules, but posting political opinions based upon true and historical facts should not be a violation of any of their rules. Posting the same comment in different videos should not be a violation of the rules either. My guess is that my comments were “the wrong kind of political comments” and for that I was censored.

The so-called president of Cuba had said that the cause for the protests was the US embargo. Several liberal US government figures and some in the liberal media have echoed that statement and even some have blamed it on Covid-19. In my comment I was trying to give some of the real reasons why many young Cubans, from every race and gender, were protesting and calling for “Libertad.”

There is no freedom in Cuba and the people of Cuba are fed up with the political and economic system which has failed the country since the communist revolution was established over 60 years ago. These young Cubans, who were raised and indoctrinated by the government schools, are voicing now what they probably have felt for many years. I would guess that there are many more Cubans that feel the same way, but are afraid to join the protests.

It is a shame that the majority of the governments of the world continue to turn their backs to the Cuban people and their right to be free. All these governments, including our present one in the US, should have been forcefully condemning this regime all along, but they are silent even now or just saying, like Joe Biden has, that “we are in support of the Cuban people.” This is an empty and powerless statement. The different world organizations should also forcefully declare their support for the protesters and condemn the lack of rights in Cuba. The government of Cuba should feel the heat from the countries of the world and all the world organizations. Seeing that all the doors are closed for trade and diplomatic relations could force them to relinquish their absolute power and guide the country towards democracy with free elections and the re-establishment of the 1940 Cuban constitution.

The bravery of these protesting cannot be overstated. They know that their lives are in danger. They know, because they do not have any means to do so, that they cannot tumble the government forces by themselves and yet they go out and protest in several cities of the island. It is illegal in Cuba for non-government persons to have weapons. The revolution took the right to bear arms away from the Cubans at the very beginning of their take-over. Fidel Castro used the slogan: “¿Armas para qué?” Translates to: Why weapons? Does this strategy sound familiar? Also, at the beginning of this dictatorship the professional police force and the army were also disbanded and new forces were formed. Does this strategy sound familiar?

The dictatorial and murderous regime in Cuba has shut down the internet so that Cubans cannot get organized and tell the world what is going on by using the social media outlets. We are seeing in our own country, the US, how many people are being censored by many social media outlets just because someone has a conservative and freedom-seeking opinion. Is there a parallel?

We should all do what we can to support these protests and pray for a solution that eliminates the longest dictatorship in history.