¿Qué Pasa, USA? writer: ‘I’m a Cuban American who loves our democracy. I’m voting for Joe Biden’ | Opinion

I was 11 when Fidel Castro came to power. I vividly remember the triumph of the revolution and the upheaval it caused. I remember my father coming home one day to tell my mother that his company had been confiscated and they had lost everything. I remember how my sixth-grade class became divided, and former friends started calling me “gusano” or “latifundista,” when I still barely understood what was happening.

I also remember the early exile days, in Miami, and a community of struggling Cubans, all doing their best to help each other. I remember my father working at the refugee center while trying to start over as a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman. I don’t believe he ever sold one. Years later, I had the honor of becoming head writer for the series “¿Qué Pasa, USA?” in which we portrayed the assimilating Cuban community in loving terms.

All this to say, I am not a communist, a socialist or a “tonto útil” (useful fool). And I will be voting for Joe Biden on Nov. 3.

Seeing the heated exchanges among Cuban Americans on social media, and in person, I keep reminding myself that we came to this country to have the option to differ and to express our opinions without fear of insult or recrimination. When we label someone we disagree with a communist, a fidelista or a reactionary, we only echo the intransigence of the regime we fled.

This election is not just a matter of Democrat vs. Republican. It is a matter of safeguarding our moral principles, which systematically are being destroyed. My reasons for voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been carefully thought out, and I will vote as a U.S. citizen who has weighed all the issues affecting this country, not just the one that I was forced to leave 60 years ago.

I am puzzled by the prevalent belief among Cuban Americans that Republicans are more likely to help Cuba, when no Republican administration has been able to dislodge the Castros. In fact, far from hastening the revolution’s demise, the embargo, which they have endorsed, has only allowed it to blame the United States for all of its abysmal failings.

Meanwhile, two of our government programs, Social Security and Medicare, which the current administration has worked to greatly weaken, have been the sole means of support for most of our aging family members. Some have accused these programs of being socialist “freebies,” when in fact, we have paid into them with every paycheck throughout our working lives. It would be unthinkable for the richest country in the world not to provide this “socialist” safety net for our seniors.

I am equally baffled to see Cubans, who have been so staunchly anti-Russia, turn a blind eye to our president’s beholden attitude toward Vladimir Putin. I considered it a stunning act of treason, when at the 2018 summit meeting in Helsinki, Trump said that he believed Putin’s denial of interference in our 2016 election over the reports of our own intelligence agencies.

Immigration laws need to be debated and reformed in Congress, but as an immigrant who had the good fortune to be welcomed by this country with open arms, I fully identify with anyone who has tried to cross our border or taken an overloaded boat in hope of a better future. The sight of families being separated and children put in cages will remain a shameful stain in our country’s history.

In calling our free press as “the enemy of the people,” Trump has much more in common with Fidel Castro than with any leader of a truly democratic country. A president who tries to cast doubt on our institutions and electoral system is acting more like a dictator than a true leader of the free world. A president who claims that, if he’s not reelected there will be mayhem, as Trump has also done, represents the very opposite of freedom and justice.

You may still disagree and plan to vote for the current president. I will respect your choice, as I must. And I hope you will respect mine. We are fortunate to live in a country where we are free to differ, but truth isn’t subjective. Now is the time to do everything we can to ensure that such freedom will not be taken away from us ever again.

Luis Santeiro is a television screenwriter and playwright. He was the head writer for “¿Qué Pasa, USA?” and a member of the writing team for “Sesame Street.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 11:37 AM.