The Bearded One

No, I am not talking about this (slightly crazy) dude.

Or even this guy (slightly more sane than the last guy).

Oh no! I am talking about the guy with a beard most often discussed in Miami. This guy.

If you do not know who this is, you probably do not live in Miami. This is Fidel Castro, President of the Republic of Cuba.

And he may or may not be dead.

Not that this is a big shock. The dude is pretty old. And he smokes a lot.

Anyway, in Miami you can not walk more than 10 feet without hearing something about Castro. Like how he has sex with goats. And so on.

We do not know if he IS dead. However, we really do not know if he is still alive. Cuban media reports say he is in "stable" condition - but that means about as much as when George Bush says "I listen to other people". Yea right. We believe you.

But last night, when the news in Miami broke that power had been transferred to his brother Raul Castro (also sporting a beard), the craziness began. People took to the streets (blocking traffic) and driving around in cars honking horns and yelling.

At midnight. And later. You see, EVERYONE in Miami is supposed to care. Even the people not from Cuba. Colombians, Mexicans, Costa Ricans, Dominicans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and so forth are ALL supposed to care. And to make sure we all care, people HAD TO block roads and drive around making noise.

Really, not a whole lot of people were out. But the ones that were out were extra loud. Near my house, people converged at a La Caretta on Bird Road. Bird Road is a major surface road with 6 lanes. At first they had blocked SW 87 AVE (4 lanes) and Bird Road (6 lanes) - but the cops made them move. There were many more people out in the streets in the "Little Havana" area of Dade County.

From the live news chopper shot, I estimate a few hundred people were there (by my house). Maybe 2 or 3 hundred (significantly MORE in the Little Havana area). There was more than enough room for everyone in the parking lot - but no. Blocking the roads is the thing to do in Miami! No matter what the occasion - blocking traffic is considered proper protocol.

But the reality is that even if Castro did croak - nobody is going back. The first wave of exiles are all old themselves. They have built businesses. They have homes. They own BMWs. Everything they left behind is gone. There is nothing for them to go back to.

People born here are not exiles. They are natural born American Citizens. They have nothing to go back to, and even if something is there they have no real claim to it. They would go over there with American passports. So they are not going back, except maybe for a vacation or to visit relatives still in Cuba.

People that did leave Cuba more recently than the day Castro took power will not leave either. They have also either built businesses, or have jobs here. They have a place to live here. They have cars here. They have family and friends here. They married non-Cubans here. Some who do not have much here MIGHT go back, but I doubt it. Here at least they have air conditioning, over there they will not. Also their job and home was given to someone else shortly after they left.

I conclude that very VERY few people will go back. Those that are here will stay here. And what happens if Castro is dead, and the government collapses? Cubans that make it to dry land right now can stay. The reason for this is that they all know to claim persecution by Castro. So take Castro out of the equation and then what? Will the Cubans that make it to US soil be the same as Mexicans that make it to US soil (illegal)?

Now lets say they DO go back. This really brings up some alarming things. Lets say (like a lot of people here claim) that you left behind a vast estate. You go back to find that all "your land" has been sub divided and a lot of people now live on it. What are you going to do? Kick them off "your land" and displace them? Tear down their homes to re-build your huge mansion? Take back your huge farm and then hire the people there to work for very low wages so you can be rich again?

Or even if you left behind a more modest property - like a small house or an apartment. You have to realize that someone else will be living there. Will you just kick them out into the streets? Will you demand their job? And if you do - how does that make you any better than the guy who displaced you or your family?

If this happens - there will quickly be another revolution. The people that would be displaced will not go quietly. It will quickly turn violent and another Castro will take power.

But what I really want to say is please DO NOT block the roads. It is OK to be happy. It is OK to be proud of your heritage, and rejoice that the guy with a beard may be dead so some kind of free government might be able to take root in Cuba. I hope for the sake of everyone that a stable free government DOES take root in Cuba! Really, I do! As long as Cuba does not steal all the tourism from Miami that is!

I am just saying that when roads I need to get places are blocked, I get upset. And so do other people.

And STOP driving around, wasting gas, honking horns, yelling, and such all night. I have to work in the morning. Or at least I have to get up in the morning and do stuff BEFORE I go to work.