Posted on 08/09/2003 6:27:40 PM PDT by The Bronze Titan
Six months ago, Eloy Gutiérrez-Menoyo confided to a close friend that he wanted to go to Cuba permanently to form an opposition movement because he believed that he would not be able to accomplish any effective change in Cuba from Miami.
The disclosure was made at Gutiérrez-Menoyo's South Miami home over cigarettes and cafecitos, both of which Menoyo loves, said Antonio Veciana, who co-founded Alpha 66 with Menoyo in the early 1960s and has remained close to him.
'He said to me, `The process for change is not in Miami or on Calle Ocho, but in Cuba. I will be there in the opportune moment,' '' Veciana said. 'I told him that he would fall into disfavor in the exile community. And he said, `That's part of the plan. Pretty soon, everyone will know about me.' ''
Gutiérrez-Menoyo, a former rebel leader and political prisoner who has lived in Miami for the past 17 years, announced in Havana Thursday that he has decided to remain in Cuba to live so he can launch an opposition movement.
The Cuban government has not yet given an official reaction.
PREPARATIONS
The day before he left for Cuba in late July, Gutiérrez-Menoyo asked Veciana to cash about $6,000 worth of checks for him, money he needed for the trip, Veciana said. Gutiérrez-Menoyo could not cash the checks at a bank because the bank accounts of his group, Cambio Cubano, did not have enough money at the time. Veciana has since been reimbursed by the organization.
''He did not plan this overnight,'' Veciana said. ``This was all prepared.''
Max Lesnik, a radio commentator who has been friends with Gutiérrez-Menoyo for 40 years, interviewed him on the air three days before he departed for Cuba. He said he asked Gutiérrez-Menoyo if he wanted to make any declarations, but he declined.
''He has said it many times that he wanted to open an office there,'' Lesnik said. ``His friends imagined that at some moment, if the Cuban government gave him permission, he'd stay in Cuba. The surprise is that he did it at the last minute.''
Few people, if anyone, knew exactly when Gutiérrez-Menoyo would do it, Veciana said. Menoyo's friends say despite his planning, he kept many of the details to himself.
''As a revolutionary, he is very private. He doesn't tell people what he is doing,'' said Joaquin Godoy, of Aiken, S.C., who was one of the early members of Cambio Cubano.
The logistics of Gutiérrez-Menoyo's decision are still being worked out, friends say. But for now, he will stay with friends, or at his childhood home in Havana, which is still occupied by a family member.
A woman who identified herself in a telephone interview as Gutiérrez-Menoyo's cousin in Havana said Gutiérrez-Menoyo had spent the day Friday meeting with people and coming and going from her house. She said he is just as likely to stay with friends as he is to spend a night in a hotel or at her home.
Gutiérrez-Menoyo's friends said he has met with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the head of the Catholic Church in Cuba, on previous visits to the island, and he spent several hours in Havana's Cathedral on Thursday. Whether he met with Ortega was not known. Ortega could not be reached in Cuba.
Gutiérrez-Menoyo's daughter, Patricia Gutiérrez, said she is her father's sole source of income and would continue to fund him while in Cuba. Veciana said that he is also funded by a group of exiles who individually contribute anywhere from $50 to $100 monthly to Cambio Cubano. He said that he and others would continue their economic support.
Friday night, Veciana said a group of Gutiérrez-Menoyo's supporters was planning to gather at his South Miami Home, where his wife, Gladys, lives with the couple's three sons.
REACTIONS IN CUBA
Prominent dissidents in Cuba on Friday gave foreign journalists mixed reactions to Gutiérrez-Menoyo's announcement. While Oswaldo Paya, Cuba's best known opposition leader, told The Herald on Thursday that he welcomed Gutiérrez-Menoyo's help in opposition, Elizardo Sánchez, another prominent dissident, expressed more caution during an interview with the EFE news service.
''He is a brave man,'' Sanchez said, but ``during the last few years, he tried to discredit the internal opposition and has not shown expected solidarity on crucial issues like political prisoners.''
Some exiles in Miami also accused Gutiérrez-Menoyo of being soft on Fidel Castro, and some even labeled him a ''communist.'' Ernesto Díaz, who co-founded Alpha 66 with Gutiérrez-Menoyo and Veciana in 1961, said he could not fathom dialogue with Castro and claimed Menoyo was merely ``surrendering his integrity.''
But Bernardo Benes, a former banker who has supported dialogue with the Cuban government for decades, said Gutiérrez-Menoyo has taken the rare step of shifting from rhetoric to action. He said the anti-Castro movement had been languishing for years.
''It was frozen. Nothing was happening,'' Benes said. ``This can be a breakthrough.''
I know GW has a lot on his plate, but I really hope he takes Castro and Chavez down.
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