The Cruelty of Being Voiceless on Freedom

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 454 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon. The Cruelty of Being Voiceless on Freedom (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

The “behavioral despair test” is a clinical protocol often used to measure the effectiveness of antidepressants under development. One variation of the despair test goes something like this: Rats are placed inside a glass tube filled with water where the rats struggle unsuccessfully to climb out of the tube. Typically, after fifteen minutes, the rats give up and become lethargic just floating in the water waiting for the inevitable drowning. The experiment is repeated with other rats but this time, after fourteen minutes, just before the rats go into their lethargic despair, they are pulled out of the water. These rats that are saved from despair are then dried, fed and allowed to rest before being put back in the water. This second time the rats struggle longer, typically twenty minutes, before giving up in despair. Scientist explain that for these rats, the memory of past success, when they were pulled out of the water, triggers some biochemical mechanisms that give the rats “hope” and thus they struggle longer before succumbing. Arguably, rats do not experience hope or despair, and any anthropomorphic implications are subjective, but I bring up the behavioral despair test to highlight the cruelty we induce when we introduce false hope in human expectations. Such false hopes were introduced in the U.S.-Cuba policy debate by President Obama and his supporters with the President’s visit to Cuba in 2016. The reestablishment of diplomatic relations with the Castro regime raised hopes in that tragic Island that a rapprochement with the United States would bring about economic prosperity and some degree of political freedom. Neither prosperity nor freedom has followed, and the Cuban population is again succumbing in despair. But, why blame the Obama Administration for trying a new approach? After all, the policy of isolating the Castro regime had not been successful in promoting freedom for the Cuban people. The problem was that the change in policy was accompanied by a reluctance to give voice to the demands for freedom in Cuba. It signified a tacit acceptance of the despotic Cuban regime. Supporters of the engagement policy restrained themselves from saying or doing anything that would upset the Castro government. It is not a question of how the United States should formulate its foreign policy, but of whether we give voice to the aspiration for freedom, or we elect to be voiceless. Peoples do not choose to tyrannize themselves. Being silent on the human desire for freedom is an act of cruelty. The legitimation of the Castro regime brought about by the Obama’s Administration did violence to Cuban aspirations for freedom. It failed to acknowledge that without political rights economic changes lack a lasting foundation. Similar to what the rat subjects experience in the “behavioral despair test,” such changes are not rights, but permits subject to manipulations by the experimenter, or in this case by the Cuban government. As a new leadership generation emerges in Cuba, it is necessary to reestablish the fundamental premise of the necessity of freedom for human happiness. For the Cuban people, the answer to their lethargic despair is not some form of Castro-light governance where they can struggle unsuccessfully a little longer in a new experimental glass tube. They can only climb out of their communitarian test tube once there is a citizenry free to exercise its political and economic rights. For Cuba, it will be a perilous transition. Democracy demands far more virtue from its citizens than a totalitarian regime. In top-down governance the citizenry’s desire to act according to its desires is restricted by fear or force. In a democracy, where authority originates with the people, the only restriction is the people’s willingness to submit to public authority. As the Founding Fathers argued during the establishment of the United States; without virtue and self-sacrifice, republics fall apart. Or, as Alexander Hamilton put it: “Give all power to the many, they will oppress the few. Give all power to the few they will oppress the many.” Thus national success hinges on our defense of self-determination. We should never be voiceless on freedom. Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos, Lily & José (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon. Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish. Buy now