Jorge Mas Canosa nos dio la esperanza
El 23 de noviembre de 1997 murió Jorge Mas Canosa, una de las figuras más trascendentales del exilio cubano. Cuando falleció, miles de personas se reunieron en Miami para asistir a su funeral. Aquí va un pequeño homenaje a su inmenso legado.
Jorge Mas Canosa (21 de septiembre de 1939-23 de noviembre de 1997)
Reportaje: Nitsy Grau para ADN Cuba
El 23 de noviembre de 1997 murió Jorge Mas Canosa, una de las figuras más trascendentales del exilio cubano. Cuando falleció, miles de personas se reunieron en Miami para asistir a su funeral. Aquí va un pequeño homenaje a su inmenso legado.
Jorge Mas Canosa (21 de septiembre de 1939-23 de noviembre de 1997)
Reportaje: Nitsy Grau para ADN Cuba
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NewsTranscript
00:00God sends us from time to time some people who are exceptional, Jorge was one of them.
00:05It was an unusual combination for a Cuban.
00:08He said that the Cuban people had to be united by love and not by hatred.
00:14His legacy continues and will continue forever in the history of Cuba and in the hearts of all Cubans.
00:21Castro is the worst killer that any people living in the Western Hemisphere has ever suffered.
00:29On November 23, 1997, Jorge Mascanosa died in Miami, one of the most transcendental figures of Cuban exile.
00:42Jorge Mascanosa, creator of the Cuban-American National Foundation, was born in Santiago de Cuba on September 21, 1939.
00:51He was a defender of democracy and freedom since his time as a student leader,
00:56in which he fought against Batista and later against Fidel Castro.
01:01Jorge was such an extraordinary person, so capable, so dynamic, so creative, so diligent, such a good friend, such a good person.
01:13When I think of Jorge, a thought of José Martí always comes to mind.
01:22When there are many men without decorum, there are men who carry the decorum of an entire people.
01:29And I think that portrays Jorge, that exact thought.
01:35Martí must have been thinking of Jorge Mascanosa when he said that.
01:42He had a great empathy for the human being in general.
01:46And above all, for the people.
01:49Everyone he saw in a situation of weakness, he really felt the need to help in some way.
02:00I remember, there was no one who came to his office asking him for something that would come out with something.
02:08We will not rest until the historical truth prevails before the eyes of the world.
02:15Jorge Mascanosa inspired a whole generation of Cubans to fight for their freedom, with dignity, with courage, and without fear of success.
02:27It was an unusual combination for a Cuban.
02:30He had an overflowing passion when it came to Cuba, and at the same time he had the pragmatism to achieve his goals.
02:39And there was something that he said very frequently,
02:44And it is that in Cuba, that the Cubans had left us men of value and patriots, but that they had lacked institutions.
03:00A society of fundamentally democratic style, based on institutions.
03:09And that they had as a motto, the unity of the entire Cuban people and their representation within those institutions.
03:24His search for a free Cuba was always with all the aggressiveness that is required for that battle,
03:31but never forgetting that the essential values are of love and fraternity, of faith in God, of being able to heal after going through this national nightmare of love between brothers.
03:45Jorge Mascanosa was an extremely intelligent person who put all his talents and services to the cause of Cuba.
03:52Many entrepreneurs have gone through exile, even more successful than Jorge Mascanosa, but few have given so much for that cause.
04:01He looked at my eyes and he said, the worst repressive system that any human being has ever known is in Cuba.
04:13Defender without parallel of freedom and democracy for Cuba, Jorge's main aspirations were to free Cuba from Castro's regime,
04:22to reunite Cuban exiles with those who live on the island and work together as one people to rebuild Cuban society and restore hope in the values of freedom, friendship, respect for the rule of law and basic human rights.
04:40Our internal struggles and the separation by radicalism had created an internal hatred and internal divisions within the Cuban people.
04:59He believed that the Cuban people had to be united by love and not by hatred, and that in the future, in a Cuba, all Cubans had to forget all that resentment,
05:16even saying that the Castroists had to have a position in a Cuba of the future as long as they did not have their hands stained with blood.
05:32His way of life actually says it all, and that is why we chose a phrase from Jorge Mascanosa, a segment of the speech that Jorge Mascanosa made in front of the American Congress that encapsulates Cuban exile.
05:47It is a part where Jorge Mascanosa says to the Congress, I wash many dishes in the beach hotels, I was a steamer in the ports, but last week I opened a public company in the New York Stock Exchange.
06:02And that is not simple and simply for my own merits, that must be recognized to this great country that opened the doors to us.
06:09We have lived the American dream, we have obtained all the success we want in the United States as a community, but we do not forget our brothers in Cuba.
06:19And that really, that phrase encapsulates everything that Jorge Mascanosa was, someone who raised the image of the Cuban.
06:28Jorge gave us hope, because you sat down to talk to Jorge and Jorge made you feel that we could eat the world, and in fact we did so many things.
06:43And above all, there came a time when the iron curtain of Russia fell, we were extraordinarily excited because we all thought that the freedom of Cuba was very close.
07:01But Jorge always gave you hope and always said, yes, of course, and we are going to do it. The enthusiasm and the positivism and the dedication of Jorge were unparalleled.
07:14God sends us from time to time some people who are exceptional. Jorge was one of them.
07:24Our foundation, the first and only organization who has said that once Cuba is free, there should be no space for any kind of revenge.
07:35That properties should not be returned to the former owners, specifically homes. And that is in writing, and has been in writing for years.
07:46And this is the expression, my own expression, and the expression of every single reliable, responsible Cuban.
07:52Cubans are not planning to go back to Cuba, to continue the dictatorship of the enslavement of the Cuban people.
08:00If we ever go back to Cuba, it's to show in Cuba precisely what we have done here, and to try to transfer some of the values, the democratic values of this nation.
08:12If you ask me what is the greatest aspiration of any Cuban exile, my answer will be we would like to provide the Cubans in the island with the same opportunity that this great country has provided us with.
08:25That's what we want for Cuba.
08:32When he died in 1997, thousands of Cubans gathered in Miami to attend his funeral.
08:42The death of Jorge Mas Canosa was a great loss for the exile, but working with him was perhaps the best of the schools.
08:55Having collected his political thoughts in the book, A Man and His Time, was a contribution for future generations.
09:05To talk about a Cuba, a Cuba with freedom, a Cuba where Cubans could progress, where Cubans could move forward and not have to live under a dictatorship.
09:17I had the privilege of being by his side for many years, when the Cuban-American National Foundation, and doing all the management we did to bring Cuba free,
09:33it was always an honor to be a friend, partner and collaborator with Jorge. That was a privilege and a very important part of my life.
09:45It is a shame that he has left us, but we have his legacy. I have tried to imitate as much as possible his steps,
09:52try to do things again and the projects that were left for him along the way.
09:58Many of the things we aspire to do are nothing more than to continue what they started.
10:02They are not original ideas, it is to follow the legacy of that great patriarch that we had.
10:07Jorge Mas Canosa, creator of the Cuban-American National Foundation, is considered one of the most extraordinary characters in the history of Cuba,
10:17who changed the future of our exile.
10:21Every now and then I talk to him, because I talk to Jorge.
10:25And I tell him, hey, let's embark, let's go, let's continue with this, let's continue in the struggle,
10:31that we are working very hard and that we are today, I believe, very close to freedom.
10:38For me, Jorge Mas Canosa was a person who gave his all.
10:44And one of the things he always said was that he opened a Cuban soul that would save Cuba,
10:50would bring Cuba the miracle of freedom.
10:53That Cuban soul would do well to know the legacy of Jorge Mas Canosa.
10:57All democratic opposition groups in Cuba support the embargo and I urge you to support the embargo
11:03and I urge you to understand the suffering of the Cuban people. Thank you.
11:13For more UN videos visit www.un.org