Ozzie Guillén managed the White Sox from 2004 to 2011, after playing for the team from 1985 to 1997. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Normally I’d file this under my baseball blog on Blogger…but after watching Ozzie Guillen‘s press conference this morning, this is where I have to conduct a history lesson.
For everybody. Which begins…now.
First, with Ozzie. You’ve spent more than enough time in America to know even a rudimentary history of our relation (or lack of same) towards Cuba. So to say you have a boner for Fidel just doesn’t fly…especially in south Florida.
Then again, it’s left to lil’ ol’ me to point out Venezuela ain’t exactly a democracy, either. Now at that, we could’ve all chalked this up as yet another example of “Ozzie being Ozzie”. Except…
Quickly now, name the last democratic* government in Cuba. That’s okay, take your time. (*Answer at the end of this piece.)
It all boils down to what generation you belong to. My generation is still fighting Vietnam, 37 years after Saigon…or Ho Chi Minh City, as it’s called now…fell. I have to constantly remind people how close “Tricky Dick” Nixon brought this country to the brink of anarchy on account of Watergate.
But, I’m digressing…
Fact is there are generations of people in south Florida who fled Cuba when Castro came to power, and know what life was like there. It’s a sensitive subject, trust me.
THAT’S what Ozzie Guillen can’t fathom. But sadly, it’s what 3 generations of Cuban-Americans can’t fathom that’s the greater obscenity of this story.
(That, and the fact Ozzie has been suspended not one game or even two…but 5 games by the Marlins front office. Vast over-reaction on their part, IMO.)
No, the greater obscenity I’m talking about…is the answer to the question I posed earlier. You know, name the last democratically elected government in Cuba?
Give up? Try…1932, people.
General Fulgencio Batista seized power in a military coup, postponed elections indefinitely and implemented right wing policies; he would widely be labelled a dictator and Castro would believe it necessary to oust him. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Does the name Fulgencio Batista ring a bell? No? Well, let me refresh your memories…
This is the man Fidel overthrew in ’59, who in turn had overthrown the elected president of Cuba…a man named Machado…back in ’32.
That’s right, folks. There hasn’t been a true democracy in Cuba in 80 fucking years!! Try finding somebody who lived there under Batista, and ask them if life was a fucking Sunday cotillion.
Go ahead. I fucking dare you.
Look, I knew watching this press conference Ozzie was never going to get out of this mess 100%. But we all know his mouth never catches up to his brain, right?
Still, it seems to me we all need to bone up on world history…shouldn’t we?
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