Presidents Are Elected

In this country, the media are rightfully diligent in the way they scrutinize politicians. We go into their personal lives, their tax records and their questionable associations. We even question the "vetting process" by which politicians investigate one another. But when foreign despots give themselves honorable positions and titles, we help to perpetuate their lies.

Take Cuba's Raul Castro. I could think of many words to describe him — including "dictador," "tirano" and "caudillo" — but "presidente" is not one of them.

Call me romantic, idealistic, naive — I don't care — but I come from the school of thought that says presidents are elected by the people.

Castro was first appointed in 2006 to temporarily take power for his ailing brother, Fidel, who had been in power since 1959 without ever being freely elected by the Cuban people.

A little history: As the leader of the revolution that overthrew the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship, Fidel became prime minister of Cuba in February 1959, until that position was abolished in 1976 and he was "elected" as president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers. This means that in a totalitarian, one-party system, he was elected by a group of his own henchmen.

Although Fidel stayed in power much longer than the dictator he replaced — without ever holding free elections — many in the U.S. media still called him "president." And when he handed power over to Raul in July 2006, no one questioned why. Everyone assumed that Raul would take the reins of the dictatorship, and some started to call him "the new president of Cuba."

Elections? Of course! In February 2008, when it became obvious that Fidel was too ill to continue in his role as Cuba's top tyrannical ruler, Fidel formally resigned, and Raul was "elected" president of the "Council of Castro Puppets" that "elected" his brother in 1976.

Yet an amazing number of news reports — simply by failing to explain how the Castros were "elected" — mislead many people into believing that they are popular, democratic leaders.

If you go to one of those fact-check Web sites, where you allegedly can get accurate answers to your questions, you might find some who tell you that Raul Castro was elected president of Cuba Feb. 24, 2008, without even explaining who elected him or noting that Cuba has not had free elections in more than 50 years.

In the Cuban-American community, where Raul is considered just as illegitimate as his brother, the term "presidente" becomes disrespectful and downright offensive when it is placed before the name "Castro."

You say, "President Castro decided to …" and some of my fellow Cuban-Americans will stop you in the middle of your sentence.

"Excuse me. Don't insult my intelligence," they will tell you. "Presidents are freely elected."

Of course, Cuban-Americans know that Raul has been and will continue to be as totalitarian and ruthless as his brother and that calling him "president" diminishes the true character of one of the world's most repressive governments.

For this reason, among Cuban-American Internet activists, there is a new e-mail campaign to get the U.S. media to stop describing Raul Castro as Cuba's president.

Their e-mails say they are tired of seeing how the liberal American news media have turned freedom-loving Cuban-Americans into the villains — often described as hardliners unwilling to bend — and the tyrannical Castro brothers as the victims of the U.S. economic embargo.

Every time a reporter or TV pundit says "President Raul Castro," Cuban-Americans are reminded that some things are still upside-down in this world.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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