Fidel Castro, the Berlin Wall, the My Lai massacre and the Tu Quoque Fallacy

Answering some questions and refuting a logical fallacy

Castro honors E. German border guards for their deadly work in 1972

From 1961 to 1989 the Berlin Wall divided what is today Germany's capital and the world. February 5, 2018 marked the date on which the Wall had been down for as long as it once stood: 28 years, 2 months and 27 days. This generated a lot of buzz on social media and a day later on February 6, 2018 I revisited an old blog entry that mentioned how Fidel Castro visited Berlin in 1972 and encouraged the border guards to continue shooting Germans trying to flee to freedom by crossing the Berlin Wall and tweeted it and it got dozens of retweets and likes.

This morning @Bezigrajcan responded with a question "what is the point of your tweet?" and then raised the My Lai Massacre carried out during the Vietnam War, and concluded with a second question "Satisfied?"

This blog entry seeks to answer both questions while pointing out the logical fallacy in between, but still exploring the atrocities separately.

The point of my tweet on the Cuban dictator's 1972 visit to the Berlin Wall, at a moment that the Wall was trending over social media, was to provide a pertinent historical anecdote that also gives insight into the character of Fidel Castro. At Brandenburg gate on June 14, 1972 in the afternoon (pictured above) he addressed the men charged with shooting East Germans fleeing to West Germany as "the courageous and self-denying border guards of the GDR People's Army who stand guard in the front line of the entire-socialist community." Later in the evening Premier Castro addressed the Nikolay Bezarin Barracks in East Berlin:

It is very important to know that the people of the GDR have great confidence in you, that they are truly proud of you. The comrades of the party and the citizens of socialist Berlin have told us with great satisfaction about the activity of the border troops, speaking with great admiration for you and for your services.

 Responding to this item by raising the 1968 My Lai Massacre is a tu quoque fallacy or an appeal to hypocrisy. It is a logical fallacy and a diversionary tactic that seeks to distract from the initial claim without disproving it.

Thy My Lai massacre was a terrible crime, committed during the Vietnam War, in which between 340 and 504 Vietnamese civilians were massacred by U.S troops on March 16, 1968. Lt. William L. Calley Jr., was court-martialed at Fort Benning, Ga and convicted of killing of 22 civilians in the Vietnamese village of My Lai. He was sentenced to life in prison, but President Richard Nixon had him placed under house arrest. Calley would serve three months in a disciplinary barracks and three and a half years under house arrest.

Meanwhile in East Germany there are 136 documented cases of German civilians killed by East German border guards between 1961 and 1989 with their names provided. An estimated 1,000 were killed trying to cross.  The East German government had given a clear Order to Border Guards on October 1, 1973 that left no doubt to their criminal nature:

"It is your duty to use your combat … skills in such a way as to overcome the cunning of the border breacher, to challenge or liquidate him in order to thwart the planned border breach... Don’t hesitate to use your weapon even when border breaches happen with women and children, which traitors have often exploited in the past.”

The Communist East German regime did not prosecute any of the border guards for their crimes. It was only after the end of the communist regime and the fall of the Berlin Wall that some of the guards had to answer for their crimes. Even so, "most of the border guards were given short or suspended sentences, because they were found to have acted under standing orders."

Furthermore when discussing massacres carried out during the Vietnam War and other war crimes, it is important to look at the Huế Massacre that took place between January 31 and February 28, 1968 that claimed the lives of between 2,800 and 6,000 civilians and prisoners of war by the Viet Cong and People's Army of Vietnam. Twenty years later the communist Vietnamese admitted that some mistakes had been made.

There are several Castro regime links to Vietnam, but for this entry will focus on the torture of American POWs. During the Vietnam War, the Cuban government sent advisers to Vietnam who tortured U.S. prisoners of war between 1967 and 1969 in what became known as The Cuban Program in an effort to demonstrate to the Vietnamese how to most effectively break the will of American soldiers.

Crimes against humanity and war crimes are unacceptable and those responsible need to be held accountable. However, when communist apologists criticize the actions of the United States, it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. 

Five points to consider about the Cuban Adjustment Act

"Whoever is elected leader of the empire should not ignore that Cuba demands the total removal of the murderous Cuban Adjustment Act..." - Fidel Castro, July 26, 2000

Refugees massacred by the Castro regime in 1994. Still happens in 2015

1. Cuba is subjected to a totalitarian, communist regime that systematically denies Cubans their rights, including the right to enter and exit their own country. On December 16, 2014, the Cuban coast guard rammed and sank a boat with 32 refugees, one of them, Diosbel Díaz Bioto, went missing and is presumed dead. The rest were repatriated and detained. Less than four months later, Yuriniesky Martínez Reina (age 28) was shot in the back and killed by state security chief Miguel Angel Río Seco Rodríguez in the Martí municipality of Matanzas, Cuba, for peacefully trying to leave Cuba. The Castro regime for decades has engaged in the murder of fleeing refugees. A particularly egregious, well documented, example is the July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre in which 37 men, women and children were killed.

Yuriniesky Martínez Reina, in orange, with his dad and son (L). Shot in the back (R)

2. The Castro regime and its agents of influence have been and continue to demand the repeal of the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) claiming that it is this law and not the repressive nature of the regime that provokes massive immigration. The dictatorship denounces it claiming that "from the very beginning, the Cuban Adjustment Act reflected a discriminatory and immoral stance against the Cuban people."

3. Ending the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) will assist the Castro regime in maintaining control of an enslaved population. Not only in Cuba, but also in third countries where they are sent in slave-like conditions to work for the Castro regime in order to profit the Castro family and a tight nucleus of elites in the military and intelligence apparatus. The New York Times echoes the complaint of the Castro regime, protesting policies that allow Cuban doctors working under inhuman conditions to get to the United States.  In 2008 The Miami Herald reported that "more than 31,000 Cuban health workers -- most of them doctors -- who toil in 71 countries brought in $2.3 billion last year, ..., more than any other industry, including tourism. Most of them are paid $150 to $375 a month, a small percentage of the cash or trade benefits the Cuban government pockets in exchange for theirwork."

Cuban health care workers sent abroad in slave-like conditions

 4. Since 2000 there has been large scale trade between American companies and the Castro regime. The Castro regime used openings in trade from the Clinton era (medical products in 1992 and agricultural products in 2000)  to build up a pro-Castro lobby and to target congressional districts in agricultural states to advance its interests. The dictatorship accomplished this by purchasing American exports and requiring U.S. corporations and members of Congress to sign "advocacy contracts" that turned them into lobbyists for the dictatorship as a condition of the Castro regime buying their goods. Trade between these companies and the Castro regime reached their peak in 2008 totaling five billion dollars by 2015 but trade levels crashed during the Obama administration.  The dictatorship is demanding an end to the trade embargo (opening up credits that would leave American taxpayers holding the bag) and an end to the Cuban Adjustment Act.  Two of the Republicans pushing for the end of the Cuban Adjustment Act, Walter Jones of North Carolina and Ted Poe of Texas are also advocates of ending the embargo on the Castro regime and providing those doing business with the dictatorship export financing credits.

Cuban rafters fleeing a repressive totalitarian regime

5. Cubans, despite the rhetoric, do not have a special privilege but rather special circumstances that led to the Cuban Adjustment Act that unfortunately are not historically unique. The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act  was not the first such measure, the Hungarian Escape Act of 1958 granted Hungarians refugee status predates it by eight years. Nor was it the last, the Indochina Migration and Refugee Act of 1975 granted refugees from the conflict in South East Asia special status. The United States has had an immigration policy favoring those leaving communist states.

Conclusion:  Cubans are fleeing the Castro regime because it is a communist, totalitarian dictatorship that systematically denies their human rights. The Cuban dictatorship has had a long term policy goal of repealing the Cuban Adjustment Act and the ability of Cubans working for them under slave-like conditions to flee to freedom in the United States. Unfortunately, ending the Cuban Adjustment Act will complement the Obama Administration's policy of normalizing relations with the communist dictatorship in Cuba at the expense of the freedom and well being of the Cuban people. This will also have the unintended effect of provoking an exodus from the island.

Why the Cuban Adjustment Act is the best solution to a bad situation

Cuba is the only country in the hemisphere that systematically bars the freedom of movement in and out of the country of its nationals.



Between 70,000 and 300,000 Cubans are banned by the Castro regime from returning to their homeland reported The Miami Herald on August 15, 2011 in an article titled Many Cuban expatriates can't go home again. My parents are two of this number. Although they left Cuba during the Batista dictatorship and returned to visit family after 1959. Because my father spoke critically to a local communist official during his last visit. When he applied for a visa to return to visit an ailing mother he was refused. When my grandmother became ill and died he was unable to visit her, but only speak to her over the phone. According to The Miami Herald article this is not an uncommon occurrence:

The Cuban consulate in Washington, which must pre-approve all Cuban-American travelers, rejects about 20 of the 200 applications for permission to visit that her agency sends in monthly, according to one travel industry employee.

Migration officials in Cuba reject another one or two Cuban Americans per month after they review the passenger manifests her company sends them before departure, one official noted. The rejection reads, “Do not board for illegal exit,” she added. Another one or two per month are turned back at Cuban airports.

In addition, both Cuban nationals and Cubans who have become naturalized citizens of other countries must present a passport and a visa to return to Cuba. There is no other country in the Western Hemisphere that requires their own nationals to apply for a visa to re-enter their own country. Also those born in Cuba who have become naturalized citizens elsewhere still have to purchase a Cuban passport to be able to return to their homeland, along with the visa. The New York Times on their travel page describing entry requirements into Cuba has a special section for Cuban nationals that states the following:

The Cuban government doesn't recognize dual nationality of travelers from other countries who are Cuban-born or are the children of Cuban parents, particularly those who chose exile in the United States. The Cuban government requires some individuals whom it considers to be Cuban to enter and depart Cuba using a Cuban passport. Using a Cuban passport for this purpose does not jeopardize one's foreign citizenship; however, you will probably have to use your home country's passport to exit and enter that country. Other Cuban nationals and exiles just need a visa, but acquiring this visa is more complicated than acquiring the simple tourist visa used by most other travelers.

In other words Cubans are subject to more scrutiny to enter their own homeland than anyone else and they have to pay more than a foreigner. At the same time an unknown number, are banned from being able to do what people from other normal countries are able to do and that is travel internationally and return home. One high profile example is Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez. Over the past four years she has filed paper work to obtain permission to travel on 17 occasions and been denied. The last being on August 15, 2011. Traveling outside of Cuba is a privilege granted by the dictatorship.



The international community recognizes that the right to freedom of movement is not a privilege to be granted but a fundamental right to be respected. This is affirmed in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states:

Article 13.

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
• (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Considering that the regime systematically violates the rest of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and does not respect freedom of movement within its own territory these practices should not be a surprise. At the same time the extremes the dictatorship has sunk to including the mass murder of fleeing refugees necessitates that Cubans receive a special designation in immigration law. The United States in 1966 did just that with the Cuban Adjustment which is reproduced below.


Current or Recent Alien Adjustment Provisions

A. Cuban Adjustment

(Public Law 89-732, November 2, 1966, as Amended)

That, notwithstanding the provisions of section 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act the status of any alien who is a native or citizen of Cuba and who has been inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States subsequent to January 1, 1959 and has been physically present in the United States for at least one year, may be adjusted by the Attorney General, in his discretion and under such regulations as he may prescribe, to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if the alien makes an application for such adjustment, and the alien is eligible to receive an immigrant visa and is admissible to the United States for permanent residence. Upon approval of such an application for adjustment of status, the Attorney General shall create a record of the alien's admission for permanent residence as of a date thirty months prior to the filing of such an application or the date of his last arrival into the United States, whichever date is later. The provisions of this Act shall be applicable to the spouse and child of any alien described in this subsection, regardless of their citizenship and place of birth, who are residing with such alien in the United States.

SEC. 2. In the case of any alien described in section 1 of this Act who, prior to the effective date thereof, has been lawfully admitted into the United States for permanent residence, the Attorney General shall, upon application, record his admission for permanent residence as of the date the alien originally arrived in the United States as a nonimmigrant or as a parolee, or a date thirty months prior to the date of enactment of this Act, whichever date is later.

[Section 3 amended § 13 of Pub. L. 89-236 (8 U.S.C. 1255(c)); omitted as executed.]

SEC. 4. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act, the definitions contained in section 101 (a) and (b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act shall apply in the administration of this Act. Nothing contained in this Act shall be held to repeal, amend, alter, modify, affect, or restrict the powers, duties, functions, or authority of the Attorney General in the administration and enforcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act or any other law relating to immigration nationality, or naturalization.

SEC. 5. The approval of an application for adjustment of status to that of lawful permanent resident of the United States pursuant to the provisions of section 1 or this Act shall not require the Secretary of State to reduce the number of visas authorized to be issued in any class in any alien who is physically present in the United States on or before the effective date of the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1976.

[End of Document]

At the same time one cannot ignore that the dictatorship in Cuba is also a state sponsor of terrorism and that a small number of individuals who have engaged in human rights violations and atrocities against Cubans have been rewarded by the Cuban regime with residency in the United States. At the same time the president of the United States has said that those engaged in serious human rights violations should be barred from entering the United States and on August 4, 2011 issued a presidential proclamation to that effect that states under Section 1:

The entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of the following persons is hereby suspended:

(a) Any alien who planned, ordered, assisted, aided and abetted, committed or otherwise participated in, including through command responsibility, widespread or systematic violence against any civilian population based in whole or in part on race; color; descent; sex; disability; membership in an indigenous group; language; religion; political opinion; national origin; ethnicity; membership in a particular social group; birth; or sexual orientation or gender identity, or who attempted or conspired to do so.

(b) Any alien who planned, ordered, assisted, aided and abetted, committed or otherwise participated in, including through command responsibility, war crimes, crimes against humanity or other serious violations of human rights, or who attempted or conspired to do so.

Maintaining the Cuban Adjustment act as it is while applying the new presidential proclamation to those who have committed serious human rights violations in Cuba seems an approach that both takes into account the systematic violation of human rights suffered by Cubans and the need to hold human rights violators accountable.

Cuban dictatorship's double standard on immigration

"I was caught because I was an illegal," explained a bicycle taxi driver as he gripped the rusted blue handle-bars of his vehicle in" ... "And because I'd been here several times before, I was deported back."

The bicyclist was not interviewed somewhere in Arizona, but in Cuba where even being a Cuban citizen does not permit you to live in your nation's capitol. Despite that Cuba's rubber stamp national assembly has passed a resolution denouncing Arizona's immigration law. The Cuban "legislators" failed to mention their own immigration & emigration laws. In 1997 the same national assembly passed a law Decree 217 which restricts migration to Havana from rural areas.

"The government deported tens of thousands of people or forcibly removed them from Havana to other parts of the island," said Daniel Wilkinson, America's deputy director at Human Rights Watch. "It's just one in a series of laws that place severe restrictions on Cubans [and] how they live, where they live, and where they work."

Also there appears to be a racial component with regards to who the police target and deport to their home province according to a CNN report:

The taxi driver said he believes when Havana police check IDs, they "like to pick on black people a little more."

This reality has led to Brazilian civil rights leader Abdias Nascimento and African Americans to speak out against the mistreatment of Cubans of African descent.

Yoani Sanchez, Claudia Cadelo, and many other Cubans have been denied exit permits to attend international conferences abroad. There are more extreme practices for Cuban nationals who attempt to enter and leave their own homeland. Cubans who left without permission were massacred as in the case of the July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" tugboat sinking. Please view the video below for more details:



This was not the first time that such an act was documented. On July 6, 1980 in Matanzas Bay near the Canimar River Cuban forces strafed, rammed, and sank a boat heading for Miami with 60 Cubans on board.

Nor can a Cuban who has left his homeland simply return even with a valid Cuban passport. Adrian Leiva returned for three months in 2008 and was deported when his visa expired. In Cuba, although a Cuban citizen you need a visa to re-enter your country. He tried to return in 2009 only to be turned away by Cuban government representatives at Miami International Airport. Adrian died in March 2010 under mysterious circumstances trying to return home to Cuba on a boat. Other Cuban nationals that traveled with him remain incarcerated by Cuban state security.

Acts of repudiation were first seen in 1980 during the Mariel crisis when Cubans who simply wanted to leave the country were brutally assaulted and forty lost their lives in lynchings. A refugee at the time of Mariel Mirta Ojito, now a journalist and author, described what she had seen and experienced in an opinion piece for the New York Times:

Mariel marked the first time socialist Cuba turned against itself. The government staged riots called actos de repudio -- street rallies in which neighbors turned against neighbors, harassing and tormenting those who wanted to leave the country. The victims were often pelted with rocks, tomatoes and eggs. Windows were shattered. Doors were knocked down. Some people were killed, dragged through the streets as trophies to intolerance and hate. Sometimes people trapped inside their homes chose to kill themselves rather than face their tormentors.

The video below contains images from the government mobs in 1980 beating and brutalizing Cubans who just wanted to emigrate.