This week, both the City of Marathon and the City of Key West passed special proclamations in support of Cuban liberty.
In Marathon, Mayor Luis Gonzalez called for a special meeting to pass the resolution on July 19.
“Sixty-two. That number represents pain. That number represents suffering,” Gonzalez said. “In Marathon, we know many Cuban Americans who are successful businessmen, hard working hospitality employees and the backbone of our fishing industry. For 10 days, we’ve witnessed a historic moment when Cubans in Cuba flooded the streets, seeking freedom. It is impossible to ignore their pain and suffering anymore, especially knowing they are just 90 miles away.”
The Marathon City Council chambers were filled with supporters — both white and Latin — who cheered the remarks by Monroe County School Board Chairman John Dick, Monroe County Mayor Michelle Coldiron, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay, as well as Marathon council members Mark Senmartin, John Bartus and Steve Cook. (Councilman Dan Zieg was absent.)
The Key West City Commission adopted a similar resolution in support of the people of Cuba on July 20.
Key West Commissioner Greg Davila introduced the resolution, saying, “I think the least this commission can do, given our Cuban heritage on the dais, is to express support for the people’s courageous struggle.”
Longtime Key West resident Gilda Niles, whose family fled Cuba in the 1960s, when she was a teenager, spoke in support of the resolution, but urged the commission, which agreed, to strengthen its wording beyond supporting the people, but also opposing the current leadership.
“When I hear of these people finally saying they want their freedom, it does my heart good,” Niles said. “I always wondered why we left, why didn’t we stay and fight for our country and our freedom. The message I’d like us to add is, ‘Mr. Raul Castro, it’s time for you to leave. Enough is enough. Sixty-two years of misery is enough.”
Castro stepped down as president three years ago after handpicking current President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is also head of the Communist party in Cuba, after Castro resigned in April from that post. On July 11, spontaneous protests erupted in five Cuban cities and thousands of protestors in Cuba took to the streets in at least five cities. Cuban-Americans living in the Florida Keys told the Keys Weekly that their brothers and sisters across the Florida straits are suffering. According to U.S. authorities, the Cuban government has interrupted internet and phone service for Cubans in Cuba and the picture of the political unrest is hazy.
According to Monroe County Mayor Michelle Coldiron, the county intends to pass a similar resolution.
