Watching his speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention, one could easily make the point that Maximo Alvarez is a modern day Paul Revere. In this case, it is not the British, but the Socialists that are coming, and he is giving us fair warning.
Maximo is in a very good position to do this because of his background and experience. As a child he migrated to the U. S. under what was called the Peter Pan Program. This was a project whereby Cuban children were brought to the U. S. unescorted by their parents. It should be pointed out that this program was quite different from the recent influx of unescorted children that we have experienced. The Peter Pan program was lawful. It had the blessing of the State Department. It was implemented with the help of faith-based organizations. Perhaps most important, a well vetted foster home was arranged for every child before he/she was allowed to come here, so that they would not become burdens to society. Lastly, it was done without taxpayer dollars, since the foster parents chosen assumed full responsibility until the children reached 18 or were reunited with their parents. This program was in effect from 1960 to 1962, when the Cuban missile crisis put an end to it.
It is against this background that we must judge Maximo’s credibility as an early warning voice about what will likely take place if we fail to reelect Trump, and relinquish our freedom to the socialists.
Make no mistake about this, today’s Democrat Party is not the party of John F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Tip O’Niell, or Mo Udall. Under the leadership of Clinton, Obama, and Biden, this party has truly slipped into darkness, characterized by a very radical socialist agenda.
Maximo’s warning is simple. Do not fall for the Utopian promises of spreading the wealth, free education, free healthcare, or the state knows what is best for you and your children. These are the same promises he heard from Fidel Castro, and they are the same promises heard time and again from those who promote socialism. There is not one single country on this earth that has ever prospered under socialism.
Perhaps even more pressing is Maximo’s reminder that there is no place to run anymore. Back when Maximo was young, the best country in the world for freedom seekers was the United States, which provided a place for him to run when Castro trampled liberties in Cuba. Today, in spite of our shortcomings, this is still the only country where a person can exercise and enjoy all aspects of freedom to the fullest extent. Therefore, if we lose this, if we slip into socialism, where can we run to in order to find freedom? Maximo’s answer is that we must defend what we have, because there is no other place to run. Americans of every persuasion would do well to heed his advice.
Jose Borrajero, director of the Arizona People’s Lobbyist, is a Cuban immigrant, who came to the U.S. through the Peter Pan program.