A chat with Oscar Biscet – could he be Cuba's next president?

Rick Sanchez: A chat with Oscar Biscet – could he be Cuba's next president?
By Rick Sanchez Published August 24, 2016 Fox News Latino

The man that many argue is destined to become Cuba's next president has
been fighting his government with a sense of old world defiance, which
by today's standards seems as rare as the '48 Chevys still parading
along Havana's Malecon.

Oscar Elias Biscet is a doctor who is described by his fans around the
world as fearless, ballsy, and tough as nails.

I live in Cuba because that's where I need to say the things I need to
say, not here. Anything you hear me say to you here, I also say in Cuba.
- Oscar Biscet

He has repeatedly given Fidel and Raul Castro the finger with acts of
outward rebellion and provocation — displaying Cuba's flag upside down
in his yard, criticizing his own country's much talked about health care
system, defending the rights of the unborn.

Along the way, he has been sent to jail on several occasions.

Biscet has been arrested, re-arrested and placed in solitary
confinement, yet he doesn't seem to be bothered or threatened by it. He
has spent much of the past eight years serving a prison sentence, which
was originally set at 25 years.

Most recently, Biscet arrived in the United States and quickly held
audiences with editorial boards, politicos and fans alike. When I
approached him during a rally in Miami, he seemed to be basking in the
outright adoration of the Cuban exile old-guard fandom, where he is
revered —almost as a vestige of what they once represented during their
glory days of the Reagan v. Castro Cold War standoff.

As I approached Biscet, I could immediately see why he attracts so many
followers. He seems sure-footed, confident and yet quiet. He is handsome
— almost a better-looking Barack Obama, but in no way taken by his own
presence.

He knew me as I approached him from apparently following my career on
Miami and cable TV, but he was surrounded by at least 20 microphones and
a crush of reporters and devotes.

I wanted to pull him away, but didn't want to make it obvious and cause
a scene so I signaled him to follow me behind a curtain and there we got
to talk about the presidency of Cuba, relations with Cuba and President
Obama.

Rick Sanchez: Many are convinced you should be the next president of Cuba...

Oscar Biscet: It is something I haven't thought about, but if people
think that, it means that I must be doing something right. I consider
myself a doctor and that is my objective in life, but if it comes time
to defend democracy in Cuba that is what I will do.

Sanchez: Many people in the U.S., especially outside Miami, do not
understand why we are still enemies with Cuba. In fact, the majority of
Americans want improved relations with Cuba. What do you think we should do?

Biscet: There are a lot of people who don't understand it, but this is a
dictatorship and we have to maintain Cuba as an enemy; because they
violate the dignity of human beings. I am sure that any American citizen
who was told they are going to have their children taken away from them
would understand why we should not have relations with a country that
does that. We want to have a bill of rights just like Americans, we want
liberty, human rights, and democracy.

Sanchez: Why do you think you're so revered here among this group of
Cuban exiles and how do you see these exiles' role in the shaping of
future U.S.-Cuba relations?

Biscet: Most of the people here today in this audience have families
that have been tortured or put before firing squads or imprisoned. Many
have had things taken away from them and have had their country
destroyed. Despite the fact that they have lived in the same tyranny
that was represented by Hitler and by Stalin, they still keep fighting
for their rights here in Miami.

Sanchez: You're here in the U.S. now, why don't you stay? Why do you
want to continue living in Cuba when you could be right here in Miami?

Biscet: I live in Cuba because that's where I need to say the things I
need to say, not here. Anything you hear me say to you here, I also say
in Cuba. Yes, I am always afraid of what they will do to me, but that
does not stop me from doing what I must, which is to fight against the
tyranny that exists in Cuba today.


Rick Sanchez is a contributor for Fox News Latino.

Source: Rick Sanchez: A chat with Oscar Biscet – could he be Cuba's next
president? | Fox News Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2016/08/24/rick-sanchez-chat-with-oscar-biscet-could-be-cubas-next-president/