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Part 9: A knock at the door, Today in Cuba you must obtain a medical prescription to buy certain vegetables and fruits

Empty stomachs in “Utopia”



In retrospect of the past Jose' my father-in-law saw in 1962 what we have to worry about today Jose' said "It's Everybody's Battle" -- Ian Jay Germaine When the old manager of the Cuban farms were displaced by the Communists, production fell off at once.

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For example, there is a place in Cuba named Vuelta Abajo, in the province of Pinar del Rio where once you could obtain the finest tobacco. The men who ran these farms know how to treat the land. After harvesting tobacco on a piece of land, they would let the land rest for a year out of production. Castro's men said the land was not being used properly. Instead of allowing the land to lie idle, they planted corn. The corn brought in insects that destroy tobacco. Result? On the following year the crop of tobacco was completely ruined, and the corn was next to worthless. This is just one sample of blundering in the new and enlightened agricultural system, whose farmers were being guided to the glorious and abundant future by the modern techniques of Russian and Chinese Communists. Less incentive to farmers means absenteeism. This and the ruinous methods means less production and less food for Cuban stores. Today in Cuba you must obtain a medical prescription to buy certain vegetables and fruits. Housewives have a hard time getting any food. They stand in line at the markets every day, hoping the shelves will not be empty when they finally enter the store. I have at hand the pages of a diary written by a housewife during the last Christmas season in Cuba. Listen to her account: December 23 At seven o'clock this morning it was completely dark with black clouds in the sky. When I went out to shop, I saw hundreds of desolate women in lines in front of the poultry shops waiting for chickens. "You go out on the streets with hope of finding something somewhere, but after going around to the different stores, you go back home without anything. You still hope that the next day you will be able to find something of what the Communist leaders have been talking about for more than a month. December 24 The eve of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. The women who were in lines yesterday are still there. The have been told that a steamer from Bulgaria has arrived with more than 200,000 chickens. But we have seen none of these chickens. It is probably that they will be in next Christmas. This is the year of education. The Communists have proclaimed it so. We Cubans now know very much. For we have been told that the Spanish vessels bringing the Christmas sweets and grapes were not able to get here because the imperialist closed the way through the Panama Canal. What barbarians! But we are happy in our new learning---That in order to get to Cuba from Spain you must travel through the Panama Canal. "January 1. Castro spoke very briefly on the television, setting the workers to go to the meeting set to take place January 28 in Plaza Civica. The season has been very sad. The sun didn't want to shine a single on the Communists first Christmas. Nature seems to join in our sorrow Just as Castro confiscated businesses and farms, he confiscated homes. The attack against the home owners began with orders to reduce rents and ending with the stealing of the homes under the pretext that living in a home establishes ownership. Renters now became the "owners". All houses became the property of the state in truth. Control over them is so rigid that you are not allowed to take out of your house any piece of furniture without a permit. The state determines where you live. You live in a house which in the opinion of the Communists meets your needs. The best houses are used by the Communists (they seem to have greater needs than anybody else) and by those so-called technicians they brought from Communist countries to show us how to live our lives more efficiently and more happily. There are of course, some persons who do not realize they are happier than they were before. They have the idea that they are not even happy. Sometimes the idea creeps into their conversation and their faces. And then they live to regret.

Outright stealing of property and the suppression of free speech and free political thought, which have turned Cuba into a terrible place of the living dead

We of Cuba began to understand that freedom does not consist only of the notable things such as free speech and religion. Freedom is also the enjoyment of simple things which you never think about until they are denied you. It is the right to privacy, the right to move freely about, the right to spend you time the way you want to spend it. It is the right to do as you wish, when you wish and where you wish without interfering with the rights of others or being interfered with yourself. But under communism the state plan not merely the general policies of the nation, but also the lives of the individual citizens. You no longer have your personal dignity and personal rights. You do not plan for your family's future, because your family's future is no longer your affair, but the state's. You and your family are but objects to be used by the Communist state as it seems fit. It is this interference, this control as much as the outright stealing of property and the suppression of free speech and free political thought, which have turned Cuba into a terrible place of the living dead. (NEXT: PRISON AND THE FIRING SQUAD) Column reprinted with permission of the Long Beach Press-Telegram


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Dr. José Antonio Serra -- Bio and Archives

Dr. Jose’ Antonio Serra was born in Havana, Cuba, May 22, 1919. Attending a Parochial School, La Salle Secundaria he continued and worked his way through the University of Havana for his Bachelors, Masters and PhD. while working full time for Westinghouse.

During his studies in accounting he managed to start a family and attain employment with Royal Dutch Shell of Cuba where he progressed to the position of Tesorero-(Treasurer) and continued working for his God-Family-Country & Company through the Communist Revolution. He continued with Shell Oil Company until retirement in 1989 at the age of 72.  Passing October 29, 2003 .  His massive “Change” coming to the U.S. gave him special insight to the present.

He was proud of his heritage and proud to be an American.


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