Nothing has changed here. Much has changed there.

In the ensuing decades, as we have invaded, inveighed, inveigled, threatened, boycotted, manipulated, attempted to assassinate and nearly triggered a nuclear war in our need to rid the world of the threat of Fidel Castro and his Revolucion, the Cuban Government has gone its sometimes-not-so-merry way, and, in spite of the best efforts of the world's greatest power to squelch it, persevered in its effort to do what it deems best for its people.

Though I've traveled to many points of the globe, I had never been to Cuba, feeling somehow a bit confused by the conflicting reports I had heard, even from those I respected, as to what was going on there. On the one hand were the tales of Che, the romantic revolutionary martyr to the cause, and of the charismatic, if long-winded, Fidel, who with his dashing wit and flaming oratory charmed the socks off groups of American liberals as he touted the fruits of the Triumph of the Revolution. On the other hand there were the reports of high-handed strong arm tactics, repression of dissent, suppression of religious freedom and numerous other human rights violations.

So, wanting to be neither a Solidarity groupie to whom Fidel could do no wrong, nor an agent of right-wing critics to whom he was the devil incarnate, I adopted an "I don't know, I've never been there" posture. Concerned about the reports of human rights violations and suspicious of the apparently closed nature of the political system, I was at the same time strongly opposed to the belligerent posture of the U.S., firm in the belief that the violently anti-Castro Cuban exiles (primarily in Miami) are dangerous proto-Fascists, and fundamentally in the camp of those who feel that an end to the embargo and other such signs of hostility on our part would do more to alleviate the problems within that society than any of the crazy macho exploits we've been associated with in the past could possibly bring about.

Then I got a call from Paul McCleary, executive director of the Christian Children's Fund, asking me if I would agree to be part of a delegation he was putting together to go to Cuba. His intention was to examine the feasibility of setting up some humanitarian efforts to help alleviate certain problems in the country that had been created by the current economic crunch, which was in turn brought about by the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and the continuing (and heightened) U.S. embargo.

Sure, I figured. Why not? I might learn something. Besides, I'd get to spend more time with Paul.

Paul McCleary is something. Not a tall man (I think of him as a little giant), he is quiet, calm, unimposing in the best sense of the word, and, in his own understated way, fiercely committed to acting upon the Christian principles that are his mainstay. A Methodist minister, he has headed the Christian Children's Fund for a number of years, before which he ran the Save The Children Federation. Prior to that he was head of Church World Service, which is, I believe, connected with the National Council of Churches. To say that his history in the area of non-governmental humanitarian relief work is impressive and effective is to understate by a significant degree, a fact I learned when he originally called me a few years ago to go with him on a trip to the Middle East. Not knowing his name and frankly a bit suspicious at the idea of being associated with something known as the Christian Children's Fund on a trip into primarily Muslim territory (some "humanitarian" organizations with religious connections are really more interested in proselytizing and raising money than doing the work), I called a few friends to ask if they knew his name. The response was unanimously positive - in a couple of cases it approached awe. So I went.  ut that's another story.
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Once the dates were cleared and I had worked out the time with my long-suffering and extraordinarily patient partner (my mother called the office a few weeks ago when I was at a press conference in Watts and Marvin said "He's out saving the world again."), I called my agent, Jack Fields, to tell him that I'd be unavailable for a while because I was going to Cuba. His response was, "Cuba! Can I go with you?" (Jack is an old Lefty and proud of it. He first visited Cuba during WWII, has been back a couple of times in the last few years and is an unabashed fan of Castro and the benefits the Revolution has brought to the country.) After ascertaining that he was serious, I said I'd ask Paul, who then had to check out a few things. Before long, it was all set and Jack began working on some friends of his for donations of some hard-to-get medicines that we could take in with us.