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It was at this point that I met a poor law
student called Mario. He allowed
me to stay in his small room for some days
afterwards and shared with me
what little food he had. He in turn introduced
me to two Wesley Methodist
missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. Harry l. Shreeve
who gave me shelter. They fed
and groomed me and in return I acted as a
helper with their work, singing at
their services for local Cubans, translating
their speeches into Spanish and
even preaching with them with their strong
encouragement.
I spent almost one year with the missionaries before meeting a man who was to prove one of the most significant people in my life. His name was Arturo Campanal and he was an exiled Spanish dairy farmer married to a Cuban woman, running a farm in the town of Siboney. He was the brother of one of Spain's most famous footballers and the name Campanal was synonymous throughout Spain with the qualities of strength and speed. He was the wisest of men and in turn introduced me to another, Juan Chabas a Spanish civil war veteran and exile who at this time was one of the world's best known Spanish/Latin American literature critics. He taught at several Latin-American universities and was married to a Cuban woman, Dr. Aida Valls de Chabas. He was a literary genius and I met him several times when he came to visit Arturo in Siboney. Both of these kind, learned men left a huge impression on me as did in turn their friend Carlos Muņoz, a Cuban businessman who lived in Santiago de Cuba. He had a small weekend cottage in Siboney and through his help and kindness I was able to finally stand on my own two feet as he found me a part-time job at a gas station next to the garrison Moncada, owned by his friend Enrique Diaz. My dream at that time was to attend the Oriente University and during this period I heard that Juan Chabas had come first in the qualifying exam set to fill one of the most senior posts in the University. However, the military authorities of the dictator Fulgencio Batista interceded and denied the appointment of Juan Chabas; under pressure of the USA; (as I learned later by Mrs. Aida Valls de Chabas) a further outrageous demonstration of the violation of human rights that was a part of life in Cuba at that time. The legality of my position in Cuba was always a problem, and although Carlos Munoz tried to obtain the necessary documents for me in order to legalize my residence matters started to deteriorate with the upsurge in opposition led by Fidel Castro when his small and incredibly brave troupe of students took on the military garrison of Moncada in the heart of Santiago de Cuba. I was working at this time in the gasoline station of Enrique Diaz on the outskirts of Moncada and heard gunfire from the town. Boys working with me immediately hid under vehicles and, being "stateless" decided that I should try to escape to Carlos's Siboney house which I did in a little taxi/Jeep. After a few hours it began to get dark and I became conscious of the fact that I could cause problems for my friends if I was caught with them and without papers ,especially as we heard that the Batista were searching every house in Siboney for Castro supporters. In fact Castro and his brave band of supporters had their origins in a rented farmhouse in the heart of Siboney and they only scattered to the hills just before the Batista troops moved into the town. There then began a search of all houses and it was this that decided me to try to get back to Santiago. I took another jeepney and made my way back
to the city by nightfall. I left
the vehicle at a familiar corner and after
having walked a couple of blocks
felt the muzzles of two machine guns in my
back, accompanied by much
shouting and swearing from the soldiers holding
them. They threatened my
life and continued with a barrage of threats
and oaths whilst pushing me
towards their garrison at Moncada. I tried
as best I could to remain calm,
telling them that I was Spanish and that
I knew nothing about what was
happening but they continued to take me into
the heart of the garrison where
I could hear the sound of gunfire from a
distance. I was now surrounded by a
band of bloodthirsty soldiers some of whom
were accusing me of being a
member of Castro's group, others saying they
had seen me at Havana
University even though at this time I had
never even been near Havana.
Another soldier said that I looked like one
of the boys they had just
killed. I managed to stay calm enough to
say that what they were saying were
a bunch of lies, and asked to be taken to
an officer that I remembered from
serving him at the gas station whom I said
would confirm my story. As he was
well known to them they took me to him, but
to my astonishment he denied
ever having seen me before! Another officer
present then took me along a
corridor to another room, the door of which
he kicked open to reveal a mound
of mostly dead bodies, one on top of the
other.
He grabbed the head of one of the men who
was still just conscious and said
to him "Este es uno de los tuyos, verdad
?" (meaning "This is one of yours
isn't it?) The young man close to death half
opened his eyes and managed to
move his head from side to side to indicate
no. There is no doubt that the
officer would have finished me if the boy
had not been able to respond or
had not understood the question.
The officer decided then that I was to be
taken back to the gas station.
However, on the way a couple of the soldiers,
frustrated at having to let
someone go, cursed and threatened me, until
finally I was dropped and was
able to escape into the darkness and temporary
safety of the night. In that
historical fateful night,day; may be nobody
else left alive from Moncada.
It was in the weeks following these incidents that I received a loan from Australia to purchase a ticket for an Australia bound ship to be boarded in Colon City, Panama. However, to board the ship I had to cross the hurdle of getting to Havana and then taking another plane to Panama. Again I received more kindness from the Cuban people. Mrs. Aida Valls de Chabas, helped and encouraged me, and even took me right to the airport to see me off! Thank you again Aida Valls de Chabas, wherever you are! Many years have passed since those days, and I became involved in my working and studying not only in Australia, but also in the Philippines, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries. However this is not the place for those stories. In 1998 I heard from a young Japanese journalist that he was visiting Cuba, for the third time. All of a sudden, I had an urge to ask him to see whether he could find out anything about one of these dear Cuban friends, Mr. Carlos Munoz, in or around Santiago de Cuba. I had no address, but I remembered that one of his last jobs was as a Sugar Mill manager, but I had no address. The only other aid was a couple of photographs taken at the birthday party of one of Carlos's children. My Japanese friend was reluctant even to try with so little information, but I encouraged him, and said that nothing is impossible in life ! He left for Cuba some days later, and I did not hear from him for a few weeks, until the end of December when he returned with the news that he had succeeded in finding Carlos Munoz, and that he was living in the town of Palma Soriano! Though he found him very sick and feeble, and aged 85 years old. I tried to call by telephone several times,
and eventually got through,
promising that I would try to visit him as
soon as I could. In fact in a
matter of a few weeks I had arranged my trip
to Cuba, and since my
journalist friend, Mr. Uruta had told me,
that so many basic items were
scarce in Cuba, especially medicines, vitamins
etc., I filled up my luggage
with all sorts of commodities, including
electric blankets as I had heard
from Carlos how impossible it was for him
to get his legs warm, even after
putting on several pairs of socks.
HELP THE PEOPLE OF CUBA, AND HER CHILDREN By the time that I returned from my trip to Cuba at the end of February 1999, I had made up my mind that the suffering imposed on them was inhuman. It made me sad to hear and read about the endless sanctions that Cuba and its people have had to endure. I keep asking myself, what have these people done to deserve such a terrible punishment. I cannot think of any logical reason. Therefore, I have now started, myself, in a very modest way to do something as a token of my gratitude to the many good friends, who were so generous in giving me shelter and help when I was most in need and with no strings attached. I started to collect from my Japanese friends, anything that might be of good use there, particularly medicines which are no problem to send and, eventually, even donations. I have been fortunate in that in my long years in Japan, I have many Japanese friends who are willing to help me to alleviate some of the needs of the Cuban people. Already I have received from the head priest of a Buddhist Temple a cash donation, from a Catholic priest in Tokyo some precious medicines have already been sent which are for post cancer operation treatment; another wonderful doctor at a famous Tokyo Hospital donated me some more medicine, given by a pharmaceutical company , and again another excellent doctor in a nearby hospital in Nagano, Chino City, has promised support by collecting used medical instruments; in one more recent instance, a good Japanese friend; Mr.. Toshiro Sakai, a Japan National Tennis Director, donated a number of tennis rackets, and a couple of boxes of used tennis balls. He had heard from me the story of a school complex in Palma Soriano that I happened to see during a walk, where I saw many cheerful children trying to practice tennis with their school coach. To my surprise and amazement when I got closer to the tennis court I realized that they were playing tennis with broken tennis rackets, and half-broken tennis balls!!. This good friend also a well-known tennis coach at Waseda University responded very heartily that as soon as the Japan Open Tennis tournament was over, we met to arrange the shipment of the tennis material to the very needy Cuban children. It makes me very happy how people in Japan have respond to the basic needs of another country, so far away from their own but with so many things in common; both are Islands, with not much raw material, and both fiercely independent and patriotic too. However, at this moment in history Japan has no man made calamity from outside, and is well off economically; whilst Cuba is at the opposite end of the scale, in need of selfless kindness of other fellow human beings. The University of Havana has a monument containing the ashes of one of the many heroes and martyrs of Cuba, the student leader Julio Antonio Mella who was assassinated by the dictator Gerardo Machado in 1929. Just as the great Spanish composer Manuel de Falla said to the assassins of Federico Garcia Lorca, "Habeis matado la Honra de Espana" {You have killed the Honour of Spain}, so a Cuban poet Pablo de La Torriente Brau, told Machado after Julio Antonio Mella's death, "Eres un asno con garras" {You are a donkey with claws}. He is one of the many heroes, both famous and unknown, who fell in the finally successful struggle for their country's independence. Please consider whether you can help, and contact the following E-mail address : Thank you very much for your attention. As the Pope said on his visit to Cuba on the steps of the airplane returning to the Vatican:! Hay que ayudar a Cuba! We must help Cuba! Let us enjoy the happiness to be found in
making a gesture of a token
humanitarian nature by giving to the ordinary
person in Cuba,straggling
a heroic/patriotic firm stand against the
odds of the undeserved
stranglehold imposed on them by outside
forces. The people, and the country
as a whole, they have done nothing to deserve
the constant menace/harassment
they have to endure. Their only plain deep
desire is to keep their country
independent from outside foreign domination,
which stubbornly continue
wanted to put this brave/independent people
under their thumb. The people of
Cuba, have had to fight for their human rights
and defend their country
from the very first time when the "Conquistadors"
arrived in the year 1492.
Whole native races were wipe out. Their history
since then have been one to
fiercely protect their country and human
dignity. No one can blame Cuba for
doing so !!
There have never been a clean reason to punish
this noble courageous country
and her people. Sadly my dear friend Carlos passed away on Fathers Day this year, aged 85, after a long and courageous battle against cancer. He is testament to the bravery and dignity of the Cuban people. Antonio Fernandez
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