BY ERNIE MAILHOT AND MAGGIE McCRAW
MIAMI - "I believe we have given the world a good example: you, by visiting what some people call the last bastion of communism; we, by receiving the religious leader said to have been responsible for the destruction of socialism in Europe. Some forecast apocalyptic events, others dreamed of them," said Cuban president Fidel Castro, opening his speech at the farewell ceremony for Pope John Paul II January 25, following the pontiff's five-day visit to Cuba.

"It was cruelly unjust that some associated your pastoral visit with the mean-spirited hope of destroying the noble aims and independence of a small country that has been subjected to blockade and full-scale economic war for nearly 40 years," Castro added.

The U.S. big-business media, with hundreds of reporters on the island, did everything it could to portray the Pope's visit as a blow to the Cuban revolution and its leadership. "It defies credulity that Fidel Castro is going to be able to master this new terrain," stated a typical editorial in the January 22 Washington Post. "The pope's visit is bound to hasten the transformation of a country most of whose citizens surely strive to join the larger free world outside Cuba."

Despite itself, however, the press often ended up showing a revolutionary people who in their overwhelming majority acted with self-respect and showed confidence in their leadership and the socialist system they have chosen.

This was evident from the first moments of the Pope's arrival at José Martí International Airport, where Fidel Castro greeted the Pope with dignity and respect. Castro then gave a welcoming speech which described the revolutionary history of the Cuban people and their ongoing struggle against U.S. imperialism.

Much of Castro's talk was broadcast throughout Latin America and in many other parts of the world. In Miami every major English- and Spanish-language television station carried his speech live.

A few days before the arrival of the Catholic leader, Castro gave a several-hour speech on Cuban television which showed the Cuban leadership's confidence in the revolutionary will of the Cuban people. In a January 18 Miami Herald article Juan Tamayo, one of the Herald's regular anti-Cuban revolution reporters, commented on the speech, in which Castro encouraged large turnouts for the Pope's events.

Tamayo also quoted Castro saying, "If Mr. Clinton wanted to come to Cuba to talk to us about capitalism, about neoliberalism [or] about globalization of democracy, we wouldn't raise the slightest objection." Castro said that Clinton wouldn't dare go to Cuba to deliver such a speech, but if he did, the Cuban people would provide the necessary facilities for him to talk about "the supposed benefits of the medicine prescribed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank."

Not sure what Pope was talking about
After going to Santa Clara where the January 24 New York Times said "many seemed more puzzled than moved by his [the Pope's] presence," the pontiff traveled to the city of Camaguey. There he criticized the U.S. embargo of Cuba, while also attacking many aspects of Cuban society.

He called for the reopening of Catholic schools, claiming that Cuba's secondary-level boarding schools encourage promiscuous behavior among youth. He also condemned Cubans for having too few marriages and too many abortions. The right to free and legal abortion was one of the many advances in women's rights following the 1959 revolution.

Several Cubans, some of whom expressed enthusiasm for the Pope's visit, were asked by a CNN reporter about the pontiff's words concerning abortion and promiscuity. Most of those interviewed said that they really couldn't understand what the Pope was saying about this.

In the final two days of the Pope's visit he said mass in Santiago de Cuba and in the Plaza of the Revolution in Havana.

The big-business press and media attempted to portray the gathering at the Havana mass as a giant demonstration against the revolution.

A January 27 Miami Herald article claimed, "Many [Cuban security] agents wore red bandannas around their necks and white T-shirts with a photo of the Pope and President Fidel Castro, while those who led chants to drown out political protesters wore black T-shirts, witnesses said.

"Repeated chants of `Freedom!' nevertheless washed over the hundreds of thousands in the Plaza de la Revolución, the first significant outbreak of discontent with the government since a 1994 riot in central Havana," the article continued.

"It didn't happen!" declared Tony Savino, a freelance photojournalist who covered the Pope's trip, referring to claims of the crowd being awash in antigovernment chants. "I was there from the beginning until after the mass ended and went from one end of the crowd to the other," Savino reiterated.

The Catholic Church hierarchy in the Miami area organized a delegation from this area to be part of the papal ceremonies in Cuba. At first they planned to send a cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 people. This was scratched after protests by ultrarightists, Cuban-American businessmen, and other financial backers of the church. About 400 berths had been sold for the trip at the time of cancellation.

The Catholic church here did send a delegation by charter plane, and some people went as individuals. The support for the right to travel to Cuba for these events was so widespread among Cuban-Americans that the ultrarightists didn't feel they could openly oppose anyone who planned on going.

Visit sparks discussion in Miami
Several weeks before the Pope was to arrive, many opponents of the Cuban revolution here were in good spirits, predicting that real change would now come. They argued the Pope's impending visit showed how weak the revolutionary government was. As the visit neared and after the Pope arrived, however, their mood changed.

Discussion about the Pope's trip among working people in Miami has been lively, especially among Cuban-Americans.

"You see, it will be the end soon," said one Cuban-American at a sewing plant in Opa Locka. "Nothing will change," said another. Added another worker, "Of course things will change, see what the Pope did in Poland."

Away from these loud discussions, some workers expressed their admiration for Fidel Castro and how they appreciated his speech at the Pope's arrival. "It is true about when there were no Blacks in the school before," said a Nicaraguan woman. "The Cubans here criticize Fidel a lot, but he is right." Another Nicaraguan man bought a copy of The Second Declaration of Havana, the 1962 manifesto of the Cuban revolution, as did a Haitian worker who came to the United States when the U.S.- backed dictator Duvalier was in power.

At the weekly meeting of the Alliance of Workers in the Cuban Community (ATC), a group opposed to the U.S. embargo of Cuba, the discussion about the Pope's trip was positive and enthusiastic. "I consider that with the Pope and the bishops' visit it is really clear to the world that the revolutionary government together with its people have always respected the church and all other religious beliefs," said Eladio Hernández.

Clara Alonso explained "It has united the people of Cuba even more, the visit has been a union with respect and equality," The ATC activist continued, "I believe it will open up a crack in the situation, with the difficult problem of medicine and food, and that it will give a little opening in reference to the blockade."

At the United Airlines food service facility interest was keen in the Cuba events, as workers reported daily on scenes from television or listened to radios at work. The morning after Castro's welcoming speech, the first question asked by one young Cuban-American was, "Why do you think Fidel mentioned not having any Blacks at his Jesuit high school?" leading to a discussion on the question of fighting racism.

One thing that many people commented on was how well Fidel Castro, 71, looked, especially next to the Pope, who at 77 is near Castro's age but was very feeble. Every few months the press and other opponents of the Cuban revolution here report that Castro is seriously ill or has died.

The right-wing Democracy Movement had planned a 13-boat flotilla to sail to the edge of Cuban waters during the Pope's visit. However only one boat departed, and it ended the trip four miles off Florida's coast. This is only the latest of several disasters for such flotillas. The Miami Herald reported that some in the Cuban community are calling them a "circus."

Ernie Mailhot is a member of International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 1126. Maggie McCraw is a member of IAM Local 368. Rollande Girard, a member of the United Steelworkers of America, and Janet Post, a member of IAM Local 368, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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