Preperations were well underway five months ago for the 15th Iberoamerican Summit, scheduled for October 14-15 in Salamanca, Spain, to be attended by leaders and heads of state of Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations from Europe and Latin America.
On the eve of the summit, according to press reports in Madrid, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodrigues Zapatero’s government was concerned. Cuba’s Fidel Castro and his Venezuelan buddy, Hugo Chavez, were expected to attend.
“Zapatero fears the effect of Castro and Chavez at the Salamanca summit,” said Madrid’s newspaper, El Pais.
On opening day, Castro failed to show. There was no official explanation, but the Cuban delegation to the conference gave the excuse that he had stayed behind to “personally oversee” the delivery of aid to the Asian countries hit by an earthquake the weekend before.
However, El Pais quoted exile organisations as saying that “Castro did not come for fear of being detained and accused of genocide while on Spanish soil. The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba on Friday (October, 2005) formally filed a criminal suit against the Cuban leader in Spain’s High Court, accusing him of genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and terrorism. The move follows on the heels of a ruling by the Constitutional Court that allows Spanish judges to see genocide cases regardless of the victims’ nationality. Several anti-Castro groups are scheduled to hold street protests on Salamanca’s streets to call for democracy in Cuba. The Cuban seat at the summit `must remain empty until it can be filled with democratically elected representatives,’ according to the presidents of three of these groups.”
Castro did not show up, but a voice that he thought he had silenced got through. Before the summit opened, Dr Hilda Molina took to the Spanish airwaves with a recording sent from Havana to be played on three stations broadcasting nationwide. She told her story, and begged Spanish grandmothers to stand solidly behind her to “ask Commandant Castro” to permit her to meet her two grandsons – one 10, the other four – and see her son and daughter-in-law, who live in Buenos Aires. Her situation has already provoked diplomatic conflicts between the Cuban government and Argentine President Nestor Kirchner’s government. Hilda Molina first met Fidel Castro when she was 28 years old. At that time he recognised her as Havana University’s Faculty of Medicine’s top graduate. She was a committed communist. However, she was dedicated to her medical career and her specialisation in neurological restoration earned her international recognition.
Between 1989 and 1994 she founded and directed the International Centre for Neurological Restoration (CIREN). Castro was particularly proud.
It was because of her scientific career, and not her politics that in 1993 she became a member of Cuba’s parliament – the National Assembly of People’s Power.
Her centre was a show-piece for Castro’s government. But then the break came. Castro needed foreign exchange. He decided to attract tourists by promoting Cuba’s health benefits.
He ordered Dr Molina to designate the more modern areas of the centre for foreign patients, thus reducing the number of beds for Cubans. Until then the centre treated only Cubans. It is reported that she was also asked to violate international medical protocols by releasing Cubans early with no proper follow-up treatment so that beds would be available for foreign patients. She protested.
In 1994, she resigned her job, her membership in parliament and her position as deputy in the Communist Party. She also returned all her medals to the Ministry of Health.
She then applied to visit Argentina to see her son, daughter-in-law and meet her grandchildren. She was refused. She was told that her brain was Cuba’s national property – as a result she could not leave Cuba. Her son sought the help of President Kirchner of Argentina, and the family held out hope of being reunited. The conflict, which has still not been resolved, cost both the Argentine Ambassador to Cuba, and the Cabinet Chief of the Chancellery their diplomatic positions.
Surely, the Bahamas is not serious about cosying up to a country that now possesses the minds of its citizens and destroys the unit of the family.
These are the conditions these two dentists will have to face should Mr Christie decide to return them to Cuba. We hope that whatever decision he makes will be one that will allow him to sleep well with his conscience at night.
Editorial from The Tribune – Nassau, Bahamas
