Remembering Reagan on the 71st anniversary of his 39th birthday: What he did to end tyranny in Cuba

Ronald Wilson Reagan born 110 years ago today on February 6, 1911.

Ronald Reagan was born 110 years ago today in Tampico, Illinois on February 6, 1911. Today, at the Reagan Library the Reagan Foundation broadcast an online celebration observing the 40th President's birthday with a wreath laying ceremony at his tomb. Moments like these give one time to reflect.

My earliest political memories dimly recalled Nixon, and Ford but more complete memories began with the Carter Administration, and the dramatic change that occurred with President Reagan's administration from the afternoon of January 20, 1981 to the morning of January 20, 1989.

In my first year at Florida International University, I had joined the College Republicans, and at the age of 19 on June 29, 1988 at the Omni International Hotel to support the Senate candidacy of Connie Mack an event was held were I was able to meet and listen to President Ronald Reagan, and came away deeply impressed. He gave a wide ranging speech that included foreign policy and meeting with Cuban- American leaders, and he spoke truths that still resonate and hold true today. Below is an excerpt from the speech.

"And let's talk for a moment about foreign policy. Let me offer here a simple, straightforward message: No more Vietnams, no more Nicaraguas, no more Bay of Pigs. Never again! Connie Mack and I stand with the Nicaraguan resistance. We will not rest until we've won for them the full support they need and until they've won for themselves the genuine democracy and freedom for which they've so bravely struggled. By supporting courageous freedom fighters around the world, we're shining a light on the path out from Communism, and nowhere has that light shone brighter than in Afghanistan. And isn't it time we apply the lessons of Afghanistan in Nicaragua and show the same commitment to freedom fighters in our own hemisphere as we do to others in distant lands?

I just came from a meeting with Cuban-American leaders, and I want to tell you what I told them. In Communist Cuba, a man like Armando Valladares is considered a criminal. In the United States, we're honored to have him represent our nation before the world. In Communist Cuba, a man like Ramon Puig is labeled an enemy of the Government. In the United States, he's a respected citizen and a hero. And while Havana spreads communism, terror, and death in Central America, many Cuban-Americans like Dr. Manuel Alzugaray are providing food, medicine, and humanitarian assistance to the victims of Communist aggression.

So, yes, there is an unbridgeable gulf between the Governments of the United States and Cuba; it is the gulf between freedom and tyranny. And as far as this administration is concerned, freedom for Cuba, liberty for her people, is a nonnegotiable demand. And so long as Cuba remains an inhuman Communist dungeon, so long as it exports terrorism and revolution in the Western Hemisphere; has some 60,000 military, secret police, and other personnel propping up brutal Communist dictatorships around the world; and, yes, so long as Cuba is used as the personal instrument of Fidel Castro's violent anti-Americanism -- there cannot and must not be any normalization of relations with Cuba."

Critics of Reagan's policy on Cuba have to downplay both its concrete actions and achievements.

Ronald Reagan entered the White House in 1981 and re-imposed the Cuba travel ban, toughened economic sanctions undoing Jimmy Carter's detente with Fidel Castro, in 1982 placed the Castro regime on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, and started Radio Marti to break through the communist monopoly with uncensored information for Cubans on the island. 

President Reagan was an unapologetic anti-communist who empowered dissidents and engaged in acts of solidarity to underscore their importance.

Ronald Reagan backed the creation of a Radio Free Cuba to break Castro regime's information monopoly over Cubans beginning in 1981. In a 1983 address, President Reagan explained the importance of getting the truth to oppressed peoples:

The Soviets are terrified of the truth. They understand well and they dread the meaning of St. John's words: "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The truth is mankind's best hope for a better world. That's why in times like this, few assets are more important than the Voice of America and Radio Liberty, our primary means of getting the truth to the Russian people.[...]  We've repeatedly urged the Congress to support our long-term modernization program and our proposal for a new radio station, Radio Marti, for broadcasting to Cuba. The sums involved are modest, but for whatever reason this critical program has not been enacted. Today I'm appealing to the Congress: Help us get the truth through. Help us strengthen our international broadcasting effort by supporting increased funding for the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, and by authorizing the establishment of Radio Marti.

He signed it into law in October 1983. When it finally went on the air full time in 1985 Radio Free Cuba had come into existence named Radio Marti. This radio station transmitting uncensored information to Cuba marked a before and after inside the island nation. At the time President Reagan hoped that Radio Marti would ''help defuse the war hysteria on which much of current Cuban Government policy is predicated.'' The Hoover Institution in 1989 listed it as one of a 100 conservative victories.

The State Department placed Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism on March 1, 1982 because of the dictatorship's involvement in cocaine trafficking and arms smuggling to communist guerrilla groups in Colombia.

The Reagan Administration pursued engagement both with the Castro regime and the Cuban people, and unlike others, before and after, did not confuse the two. Reagan tasked Ambassador Vernon Walters as his special envoy, sending him in 1982 to meet for six hours with Fidel Castro in Cuba. As was the case with the Soviet Union, the Cuban counterparts took part in a frank discussion that did not sugarcoat the nature of their regime.

25 years after the Castro regime came to power on January 5, 1984 President Reagan addressed the Cuban people over Radio Marti, in its early broadcasts. Below is the message he delivered.

“On behalf of the people of the United States, I would like to extend New Year’s greetings to the people of Cuba.

We know you’re marking a historic anniversary on your island. Twenty-five years ago, during these early January days, you were celebrating what all of us hoped was the dawn of a new era of freedom. Most Cubans welcomed the prospects for democracy and liberty which the leaders of the Cuban revolution had promised.

Such a free and democratic Cuba would have been warmly welcomed by our own people. We’re neighbors in a hemisphere that has been characterized by the quest for human freedom. Government which rests upon the consent of the governed is a cardinal principle that enshrines the dignity of every individual. We share many of the same ideals, especially a common longing for a world of peace and justice. We are both proud peoples, proud of what we’ve achieved through our own efforts.

But tragically, the promises made to you have not been kept. Since 1959 you’ve been called upon to make one sacrifice after another. And for what? Doing without has not brought you a more abundant life. It has not brought you peace… It has not won freedom for your people – freedom to speak your opinions, to travel where and when you wish, to work in independent unions and to openly proclaim your faith in God…

In the meantime, over half a million of your fellow citizens have migrated to the United States, where their talents and hard work have made a major contribution to our society. We welcomed them and we’re proud of their success. But we have to wonder: what would Cuba’s economy be like today if those people had been allowed to use their great talent, drive and energy to help you create prosperity on your island?

The most important question remains: Where is Cuba heading? If it were heading towards greater welfare and freedom for your people, that would be wonderful. But we know prisoners of conscience, convicted for their political activities, have been languishing in Cuban prisons, deprived of all freedom for nearly a quarter of a century…

You may not be aware of some of these things… That’s because you are systematically denied access to facts and opinions which do not agree with your government’s official view. But why are your leaders so unwilling to let you hear what others think and say? If the power of truth is on their side, why should they need to censor anyone’s views? Think about that…

The objective of the Radio Martí program will be simple and straightforward: tell the truth about Cuba to the Cuban people. We want you to know what you haven’t been told…

These are not pleasant questions but they deserve answers. I hope you’ll contemplate them with care. At the beginning of this new year, let us hope that the future will be kinder than the past. And may that better future begin soon for all you in Cuba.

Feliz Año Nuevo y que Dios te bendiga [Happy New Year and God bless you].

The Reagan Administration did not stop there, but named former Cuban prisoner of conscience Armando Valladares Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and made human rights in Cuba a priority. Reagan presented an interim report to members of the Cuban American community.

The end result was that for the first and last time Amnesty International, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN Human Rights Commission were able to visit Cuban political prisoners, and assess the human rights situation in the country.

In the 1987 documentary Nobody Listened, directed by Néstor Almendros and Jorge Ulla the world was introduced to Ricardo Bofill, one of the founders of the Cuban human rights movement, and the nonviolent human rights movement overall on the big screen. Dr. Bofill is interviewed and discusses his circumstances as a dissident in Cuba engaged in the battle of ideas:

"I can't understand the hatred towards me. Because, really in the only field I’ve done battle, is the field of ideas. In this field I’ve had no response just prison and the police. And I don’t know why because the revolution controls all mass media. They have editorials, journalists, even many writers in the world. I don’t know why the response, time and again, has been jail. The response should come in the field I fight in, with ideas. I was arrested again in 1983. On that occasion, I was sentenced to 17 years in jail accused of activities in the Cuban Committee for Human Rights and the last period of prison began. For reasons of health and others I know not of in 1985 I was placed in the status I’m now in which is “conditional liberty with restriction of movement.”

Fidel Castro was asked the name of the human rights defender in another interview. The Cuban dictator dismissed his importance, but it is obvious in the context of his answer that he knew very well who this lone activist was, and viewed him as a threat.

President Ronald Reagan received Dr. Ricardo Bofill in Nov 1988.

In 1988 Ricardo Bofill was forced out of the country by the dictatorship, but continued his human rights work from exile in Miami, while Gustavo Arcos remained and continued to represent the movement in Cuba. In late November 1988 he was being received by President Ronald Reagan in the White House.

These are a just a few of the reasons that Cuban Americans fondly remember the 40th President of the United States, and continue to honor his memory.