Boston City Council resolution stirs up pain and frustration in Cuban Community
Yordan Villalon’s aunt Anaisa Lavalle died at a young age in a Cuban hospital in 2021 in agonizing pain after suffering through a series of misdiagnoses including cancer.
“The lack of proper medical care and attention was the reason my mother was not able to see her sister after 22 years of separation. The lack of basic medical supplies and proper care in Cuba is the reason why I lost my aunt,” explains an emotional Villalon, who blames the Cuban government for her death and not the U.S. imposed embargo.
The 28-year-old Bostonian was born in Havana, Cuba and was able to reach American soil at the age of 5 years old, after his family won the “visa lottery” that the Cuban government held in 1999.
“Hitting the jackpot in Cuba means winning the right to leave. For most Cubans it’s akin to seeing Ed McMahon show up with a Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes check”, wrote Dana Calvo in September of 1999when the «Special Cuban Migration Program”, as it is called in Cuba, granted approximately 20,000 visas.
Villalon and his family were one of those lucky winners from a population of over 11 million.
“For me and my family, leaving Cuba was literally the equivalent of hitting the lottery, but the rest of my family still lives under deplorable conditions under a system that limits their freedom of speech, their basic human rights,” explains Villalon.
Today, Villalon is working as a coach with the Junior Boston Celtics program after being recruited to play basketball by Lasell College after he transferred from Morehouse College in Atlanta. He recently received his MBA at Lasell.
Villalon joined other Cubans from Boston and beyond on Wednesday, July 13th in an effort to ask members of the Boston City Council to vote against a resolution, sponsored by Councilor Kendra Lara, that calls for the end of the United States embargo on Cuba.
“The embargo is not the one putting people in jail. The embargo is not starving the people, the embargo is not the one putting people in jail for simply protesting. Lifting the embargo simply helps the people in power. It helps the government. It helps enrich those in power to strengthen their hold on the people. I was born and raised under the Communist government, and I have lived it,” said Grecia Ordoñez, a 34 year old Cuban native, now in her 9th year living in the United States.
Ordoñez was one of several Cubans who joined Villalon to be present when the Council voted on the controversial resolution. Nine voted for the resolution, with three votes against it and one vote of present.
Ordoñez was visibly upset and emotional as she pointed out that on the day the Council was also honoring the rich history of black women of African descent all over the world, “the Boston City Council approved a measure that, in my opinion as a black Cuban who has suffered under Communism, will enrich a regime that has systematically oppressed all Cubans, especially Black ones.
“All you have to do is do your homework. The majority of the Cubans sitting in jail for simply raising their voices look like me. Look at the faces of the people being oppressed since last year. They look like me’”
Ordoñez was referring to the intense crackdown on dissidents perpetrated by the Cuban government since the 2021 July 11th protests.
Since then, over the last 11 months, the Cuban government has been systematically rounding up and jailing those who took part in the demonstrations.
So far, more than 800 people are in detention and last month, on June 24th, the regime handed down over-the-top stiff prisons to two of the movement’s best-known leaders, Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.
Like many of the most oppressed and alienated people in Cuba, both Mr. Castillo and Mr. Otero are Black; Afro-Cuban.
In collaboration with Black Cuban artists in the U.S., both took part in a music video for the hip-hop freedom anthem “Patria y Vida” (“Fatherland and Life”), which went viral in February 2021 and won song of the year at the Latin Grammys.
Castillo, 39, a former rapper is now serving nine years in a Cuban jail for “attacks and defamation against the country’s institutions”.
Otero Alcántara, 34, a performance artist and sculptor was sentenced to five years for “insulting national symbols”, an apparent charge for his use of the Cuban flag in his performances.
Yet, this is the government that will directly benefit from lifting the embargo, say these Cuban Americans who now ask for the Boston City Council to hear their side of the story.
“A resolution was passed that directly affects us Cubans living here. The least the Council can do now is give us the opportunity to educate them on the reality of the embargo and not to only hear one side of this controversial issue”, stated Michael Reyes, 39, a first-generation Cuban American who came all the way from Lawrence in an attempt to explain to Council members how misguided the resolution was.
“What also really bothered me was the fact that those proposing this resolution are not members of the Cuban community and do not represent in any way, shape or form what we believe in. It was offensive and hurtful at the same time,” explained Reyes.
“I think it is important for our community to know that there were three members of the council who had the decency to acknowledge our feelings and perspective who voted against this resolution that has stirred up so much unnecessary anguish and hurt so many of us”, added longtime Boston resident Regla Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is President of Bandera Cubana, an organization that has been lifting the Cuban flag at Boston City Hall for over 30 years, whose membership is Cuban natives, their sons and grandchildren.
Those who voted against the resolution and siding with the voice of the Cuban community were Ed Flynn, Michael Flaherty and Erin Murphy. Flaherty not only read aloud a letter in opposition to the resolution, but also requested the resolution vote be postponed in order to hear more from Boston Cubans who strongly opposed the resolution.
Resolution sponsor Councilor Lara explained that she felt that the time for opposing views to be heard had expired since a hearing was held on Monday, July 11th, a rather unusual proceeding for a non-binding resolution.
The hearing on Monday morning featured a panel of pre-selected speakers who championed the medical and climatic advancements of the Cuban government with many of them calling Cuba “a model of which the United States can learn a great deal from”.
Those who ultimately voted for it were: Frank Baker, Brian Worrell, Kendra Lara, Ruthzee Louijeune, Ricardo Arroyo, Tania Fernandes Anderson, Julia Mejia, Kenzie Bok and Liz Breadon.
Councilor Gabriela Coletta voted as “present”.
After a discussion outside the chamber with Councilor Fernandes Anderson, who briefly met with the group, several possible follow-up possibilities were discussed.
“The Council’s vote today shows that certain Council members are either woefully misinformed about the embargo or their political ideology is sympathetic to a socialist/communist regime. Either way, we ask for the opportunity to present our view at an upcoming City Council session,” concluded Villalon.
