Ozzie Guillen, speaking in Spanish during a live television press conference this morning, addressed the firestorm his comments in “Time” magazine unleashed, where he said he “loves, respects” Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Guillen said he got confused while speaking English during the Time interview and “he did not mean” he loved and respected Fidel Castro.
Maybe the Marlins should have enlisted Charlie Sheen’s former publicist to get him out of this one and not let him speak without a carefully scripted statement. Spanish is my first language and “respect” in English is “respetar” in Spanish. And “love” is pretty much universally understood.
A reporter just quoted Guillen’s exact words back to him from the article. Guillen replied that’s not what he meant! Maybe he has a future in comedy… or politics.
Living in Miami and saying you love/respect Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is pretty much like moving to Israel and saying you love/respect Hitler. Then when the poop hits the fan, you apologize. Damage is done! It’s not like letting an “f-bomb” slip at the Oscars or having a “wardrobe malfunction” on live TV.
Most, if not all Cubans in Miami have either had a family member or more who have been tortured in political prisons or been murdered by Castro or… know someone who has. Miamians’ dollars paid for the Marlins stadium and pay Guillen’s multi-million dollar salary — I don’t have official Census stats but I’m pretty sure that Cubans, like me, are a big ol’ chunk of the population in Miami.
At the very minimum, Guillen’s values as a human being are massively flawed if the only person he can name as someone he loves and respects in an interview in a national magazine like Time, is a sociopathic murderer of mammoth proportions. He can have his opinions, yes it’s a free country, but now, he must accept the repercussions.
What next? He respects Bin Laden because he didn’t let himself get caught either? Guillen sorry? Of course he’s sorry. He’s sorry he may lose his multi-million dollar coaching deal.
Speak Your Mind