Looking Back: The Struggle To Preserve Our Freedoms

ISBN-13: 9789769578500 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 330 str.

MS Joan E. Williams; Richard Foran; Mark Smellie

Opis

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." Thomas Jefferson. During the Cold War era, Jamaica, an island of only 2.8 million people which lies just 90 miles from Cuba, faced the real threat of being overtaken by that well- armed communist nation, a surrogate of the USSR. With presidential aspirant Donald Trump now being cozy with Vladimir Putin, a former senior KGB intelligence officer and currently president of Russia, what lies ahead for small, vulnerable states if Trump wins the US presidential election? Looking back should play a useful role in the current discussions on world affairs Our dangerous history took us through a period when the USSR sought to expand its empire and without US assistance, we could have lost our freedoms At the time, the prime minster of Jamaica was Michael Manley and he was so attracted by the supreme power that Fidel Castro wielded over his people that he eagerly collaborated with the communists to bring his own island under their domination. Looking Back is the true and riveting story of a Jamaican woman, who along with other freedom loving people, allegedly assisted by the American CIA, decided in the 70's that their liberty was more important than everything else. This forced the author to face imminent danger and make many heart wrenching sacrifices including having to send her two young children away for a long period, to safer environs, in order to ensure that Jamaica would not be brought into the USSR's sphere of influence. While the world knows Jamaica as a beautiful paradise which has given the world reggae music, the rastafari culture and the fastest man on the planet Usain Bolt, all this did not come by chance as over a 4 year period Jamaicans fought an "undeclared civil war" which caused: the massacre of innocents, international intrigue and even treason as intelligence forces such as the Cuban DGI and Russian KGB openly operated in the island. After taking readers deep into that dangerous struggle, seeing the numerous problems that Jamaica still faces, Joan wonders aloud if it was worth it, but quickly answers her own question writing: . "I have visited Cuba four times, including once in 2014 to get acquainted and spend a few days with some cousins that were born there. Although the natural beauty of that country cannot be totally destroyed, life there is simply intolerable for the residents. And I am not talking about only the lack of freedoms but also the system makes it impossible for people to advance economically no matter how hard they work. For poverty is pervasive while corruption and prostitution is rampant as people turn to any means necessary to survive." And she is not at all shy in thanking the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) which it is said gave assistance to those who struggled against the local communists who were armed and assisted by the Russian KGB and Cuban DGI, boldly stating; ..".if it's the CIA that assisted us to win the battle that saved us from becoming a deprived, browbeaten and hopeless people like the Cubans, I feel nothing but gratitude towards them." With Putin now acting like a bully, introducing expansionist policies in Crimea and the Ukraine, if Trump prevails, what lies ahead for small states? For as we see oppressive regimes causing millions of people to risk their lives and that of their children, to flee to countries where freedom and democracy prevails, the question arises; don't powerful freedom -loving democracies have a duty to intervene whether overtly or covertly to help remove vile governments before their citizens are forced to take such measures and become a burden on others? After leaving readers to contemplate these challenging issues, Williams then shares the hell she faced when her only son was murdered and the struggle she faced to restore her life to normalcy and now she declares, total happiness.