Cuban exile and award-winning author emphasizes value of freedom to Polk State students

More than 200 students, faculty and staff members, and community leaders took to Polk State College’s Lakeland Campus on Thursday to listen to award-winning author Dr. Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat lecture during the College’s inaugural observance of Victims of Communism Day.

Gutiérrez-Boronat was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1965 and is the co-founder of the Cuban Democratic Directorate (Directorio Democrático Cubano), a nonprofit organization that advocates for human rights and democratic change in Cuba. He and his family settled in the U.S. in 1971. He also helped establish Radio República, which provides uncensored news to audiences on the island, and has served in the leadership of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.

Retired Polk State Professor Ana Maria Myers, whose family fled Cuba for the U.S. in 1964, also had the opportunity to address students. She shared how that allowed her to pursue her dreams and enjoy experiences unattainable back home.

“Teaching here was one of the greatest joys of my life,” Myers reflected. “For the Honors Program, I taught a class on Cuba. We explored its history and the loss of human rights that so many of us take for granted. What stood out to me was watching the students realize the freedoms they exercised every single day without even thinking about it – the freedom to speak their minds; the freedom to choose their own future; to disagree with their government. We just had elections. No one has gotten arrested for speaking their minds. In Cuba, you have to agree.”

Gutiérrez-Boronat spoke in-depth about the 1959 Cuban Revolution and addressed misnomers about Castro’s regime that resulted in more than 100,000 Cuban deaths in a nation that, at the time, had a population of about only 6 million. Gutiérrez-Boronat explained how totalitarian regimes rise to power through the destruction of societal values such as the nuclear family, religion, and individualism.

“You don’t get a big state without the loss of individual freedom,” Gutiérrez-Boronat explained. “For a totalitarian state to succeed, it must replace religion. It’s a modern religion based not on religiosity but on state power. There’s a natural order it’s always trying to replace.”

An expert on Cuban democracy, resistance, and the human cost of authoritarian rule, Gutiérrez-Boronat has made numerous media appearances and has lectured at colleges and universities throughout the U.S., including Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He has also met with world leaders from across the globe, ranging from the U.S., Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, and more. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy of international studies from the University of Miami, along with graduate and undergraduate degrees in political science and communications from Florida International University.

“For someone with such expertise and experience, who has spoken at major universities, to come to Polk State and provide perspective to our students was inspiring,” added Alana Coombs, a Polk State Lakeland Collegiate High School student who serves as a Presidential Ambassador. “It was great to hear about such an important topic like communism and to see our students engaging with him was amazing.”

Thursday’s event coincides with Polk State President Anastasios Kamoutsas’ Where Eagles Soar initiative which encourages students to be civically engaged and responsible citizens. Kamoutsas is the grandson of Cubans who fled communism.

“I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Gutiérrez-Boronat, the co-founder of the Cuban Democratic Directorate and my former FIU professor, for his lecture at Polk State’s inaugural observance of Victims of Communism Day. He brings a deeply personal perspective and an extraordinary depth of knowledge to this discussion,” said President Kamoutsas. “It is critical that our students understand these lessons and recognize the importance of protecting the freedoms that define our nation, thinking critically, and remaining engaged citizens.”