THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410040463
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
Editor's note: Lt. Charles A. Kollar of Virginia Beach is a Navy chaplain assigned to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. This is the first of two parts.
Reynaldo Valido has tired eyes. He is 35 years old and is living in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His home is a simple hooch, a cement floor and walls with a roof to keep out the elements. He is very fortunate, being one of the first to leave Cuba when the opportunity arose. Most of the other 30,000-plus Cubans are living in general purpose tents. The U.S. military has hastily assembled these tents as more and more Cubans set out for the United States seeking a new life. The heat and humidity are a constant reminder to Reynaldo that he is still in Cuba. His dream is to live in the United States, and he has sacrificed everything for this dream.
Reynaldo is a respected educator in Cuba. Here, however, he is just one of the multitude of Cuban migrants rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard over the past three weeks.
I am a Navy chaplain serving at Camp Alpha, the first of many camps that have been established to house the Cuban migrants. Having a wife and three children living in Virginia Beach I cannot help but wonder what could motivate someone to give up all they have in the hope of starting over in another country. During my conversation with Reynaldo, I began to understand.
Reynaldo is from Matanzas, a coastal town in northern Cuba. His wife and daughters are still there. His wife, Mirian, is a financial counselor. Mayrin and Mayalin are 6 and 2 years old, respectively. He wonders when he will see them again. He and his wife discussed the dangers of the journey and decided that he should attempt it alone. With God's help, she and the children hope to join him later.
Reynaldo secretly left Cuba on a boat with 17 others, four of them children. He left before American policy changed regarding Cuban refugee status. At sea for nearly three days, drifting for one of them, he and the others were rescued by the Coast Guard.
Reynaldo loves his family but felt very pushed by the government because he did not agree with its policies. He told me that being an educator is very hard work, made all the more difficult by the government's requirement to discuss political themes even more than the subject matter itself. He was unable to express his own thoughts regarding the repression he has witnessed and experienced.
``All Cubans are soldiers to Fidel,'' he said. ``If you are educated, you receive a diploma plus become a military officer in the reserves. Thus, the government can call you to fight anywhere in the world at any time, such as in Angola. If you don't go, you will be watched and will no longer live at peace in your own country.
``In Cuba, all people have two faces. One that you present to the government and the other that you really are. Cuban people are always whispering, fearing to talk freely. They always feel that somebody is watching in the darkness. The Communist government has tried to divide the family in this way, causing one to watch the other.''
I asked Reynaldo what will become of him and the other migrants now that the governments of Cuba and the United States have entered into an agreement.
``This is a bad thing for us,'' he says quickly. ``We cannot stay in this camp here at Guantanamo Bay forever, nor can we live in a camp in Panama forever.'' (A safe haven camp has been presented as an option for up to 10,000 Cubans. It may or may not be an improvement over Guantanamo Bay. It is still a camp run by the U.S. military, not an opportunity to start a new life.)
``The only other option given to us is to return to Cuba and try to immigrate legally from there. This is not possible. If I go back I will be imprisoned. I have publicly spoken out against the repression of Castro's government. All who left will be considered traitors. Their homes have been sealed by the C.D.R. (Committee of Defense of the Revolution) and their belongings confiscated. Their jobs are gone and they will now be vigorously persecuted by the police government. No, we cannot go back.''
I cannot help but wonder what my grandparents encountered when they immigrated from Germany to escape a similar abuse of power by Adolph Hitler. Who would I be if they had been told to return to Germany and seek legal means to come to America. Would I even be here today to write about Reynaldo Valido and His dream of freedom and a better life?
``What is your dream?'' I asked.
Without hesitation Reynaldo replies, ``To have my family together and to live free in the United States!'' MEMO: Next week: A temporary solution. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Navy chaplain Lt. Charles A. Kollar of Virginia Beach talks with
Reynaldo Valido, who secretly left Cuba on a boat with 17 others. He
was at sea for nearly three days before he and the others were
rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.
by CNB