WWFDDD?
According to this report in the Toronto Sun, twenty members of the Cuban National Chorus - an acclaimed state-run choir that tours Cuba-friendly western countries - have defected in Toronto.
More than 20 members of Cuba's world-famous national chorus are singing songs of freedom today after defecting in Toronto.
Members of the National Chorus of Cuba dodged security officers and jumped into waiting cars, some on Sunday and others yesterday, said Cuban exiles who planned the defections.
This is great news.
Not, of course, without its attendant pain:
"These people are scared for their lives," said Ismail Sambra, president of the Cuban Canadian Foundation. "They are worried about their families back home.
"It took a lot of planning to get this far."
The singers, who are hiding out at the homes of Cuban exiles in the city, are expected to apply for refugee status today in Toronto.
Gaining their freedom is worth any danger they may face, the singers said.
Ernesto Cendoya-Sotomayor, 27, a baritone, said he left his wife and young daughter behind.
"Cuban police will probably tell my family I am a traitor to the revolution," he said. "They will put pressure on my family."
An unsubstantiated rumor says that University of St. Thomas (St. Paul) President, Father
Dennis "Hanoi Dennis" Dease, is gathering a posse to
go to Toronto and drag the freedom-seeking Cuban singers back onto the bus (registration required; links to story about Cuban baseball player who defected to the US while playing against the U of St. Thomas; Dease demanded the man, Manuel Chaoui, return, forbade St. Thomas students from assisting the freedom-seeking Cuban, and even searched the dorms for the fleeing Cuban).
For the record; any defecting Cuban who needs a place to stay is welcome at the Berg house, 24/7.
Via Varifrank and Night Writer)
Posted by Mitch at
October 26, 2005 07:03 AM
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Yeah. This is great.
I'm gonna take some heat for this, but Freedom doesn't mean freedom from responsibility.
I wouldn't leave my wife and child behind under ANY circumstance.
He better have a damn good plan to get them out. Otherwise he is a piece of shit.
Posted by: jackscrow at October 26, 2005 12:04 PMJack,
I thought that at first.
Then I thought some more. While it's possible that the guy is exactly as you say, it's equally likely that it's something that he's worked out with his wife.
I mean, if I were married and living in a totalitarian dictatorship, and my spouse had a way to get out, I'd say "take it".
All the more so when, someday when Castro finally kacks, the best way to get out of Cuba may well be to have someone in your family who's already out. This escape may be an investment in the family's future.
We don't know. Time will tell.
Posted by: mitch at October 26, 2005 12:11 PMAs far as the offer of a place to stay, I wonder if the same is open to Somali that have been classified as political refugees.... Or does it depend on who's doin' the classifying?
And if the offer is still open, then we've got a few thousand down here in Cowtown that need a place to crash.
Posted by: jackscrow at October 26, 2005 12:15 PMMitch,
Point taken. Still.... leaving your wife and kid to be "re-educated", or worse?
Posted by: jackscrow at October 26, 2005 12:21 PMI know. Goes against everything I want to believe, too.
I'll await the facts.
Posted by: mitch at October 26, 2005 12:24 PMHe might also have something arranged to get her out later on. Smuggled out, political pressure, etc. A Cuban fighter pilot who defected to the US and landed in Key West got his family out later. A year after he defected he flew a light plane to Cuba and picked up his wife and son as they waited on a deserted road.
Posted by: rps at October 26, 2005 01:19 PMYa' know if some gasbag came to the door of the abode I had paid money for, and demanded that I turn over an asylum-seeker, so as to to effect his return to a totalitarian regime, I'd have to mightily resist thrashing the bastard.
Posted by: Will Allen at October 26, 2005 07:43 PM"All the more so when, someday when Castro finally kacks, the best way to get out of Cuba may well be to have someone in your family who's already out."
Castro's no idiot. I'm sure he has a completely trustworthy successor lined up, ready to take the reigns when he settles down for his dirt nap. They have to know that when Castro goes to the big commune underground, the defection and escape attempts are going to go thru the roof. I'm sure they'll be ready to place the entire country under almost total lockdown, increase border patrols to prevent fleeing attempts, etc.
Posted by: FJBill at October 27, 2005 10:58 AM