Yesterday,
I was saddened to hear that Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. died of
bone cancer. As a child, I remember him being hailed as a hero, when he
won the first Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1958, the final year of
the Cuban Revolution.
The
competition was created to demonstrate the superiority of Soviet musicians and
became a black eye to the USSR, when Van Cliburn, an American, won. Such was
his fame that New York welcomed him home with a tickertape parade. Three years
later, I had the good fortune to attend his rehearsal and concert at the National
Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, where I was a camper. Van Cliburn was our
hero, and in many ways a weapon in a cold war, where even musicians became warriors
of a sort. He was a vestige of this frightening time, and he has now passed
from the scene. The recordings that he has left behind are testament to his talent
and skill.
U.S.
foreign policy concerning Cuba, like Van Cliburn, is a relic of the cold war.
The Soviet Union no longer exists, yet the foreign policy with which the United
States confronted it in Cuba remains largely unchanged. This week, a
bent-over Fidel Castro stood witness to his brother, Raúl, taking his last oath
as president of Cuba. We know, that if Raúl lives through his final five-year term,
the last remnant of leadership of the revolution that came to power in 1958 will
also pass from the scene. America no longer needs its Van Cliburns to fight its
political battles with the USSR. I wonder how much longer the U.S. will maintain its foreign policy
to clash with a ghost of an enemy that is no longer a threat to its national security.
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