Tuesday, April 17, 2012

From Günter Grass to "Ozzie" Guillen

Authors:
José Alberto López Rafaschieri and Luis Alberto López Rafaschieri
www.morochos.net

We support the Jews people on many issues, and we are critics of the Cuban dictatorship and the Iranian regime. However, we are dissatisfied with the sanctions applied to Günter Grass and Oswaldo Guillen for their remarks about Middle East and Cuba.

How would we react if a Cuban baseball manager were punished for expressing his admiration for Barack Obama, or if an Iranian intellectual were isolated for his opinions?

What was the crime of these men? Grass' poem, "What must be said", is a civic approach on international politics. And the words of Guillen on Castro, for us, are the result of recklessness. We can not agree with these remarks, but that is no reason to apply sanctions to them.

It is unthinkable to suspend a person from his position as manager for expressing his political belief. It is extreme to pretend to withdraw the Nobel prize to Grass, and declare him persona non grata in Israel, for writing his views about Middle East peace. The message for our society is: when someone says something with which you disagree, punish him.

Accepting these sanctions weakens our critics against repressive political systems for their intolerance and persecution of dissent. Even if we assume they said misconceptions, what should we do? In democracy, having an opinion is not a crime. We can object any idea, but to apply penalties against those who think differently is uncivilized and backward.


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