I had migrated from a communist country, where freedoms were limited, to a country where freedom was of paramount importance. The system of government was also different. Under communism, people were unable to show initiative; the government told you what you could and could not do. In this country, initiative was valued as the engine driving change and development and providing the means to financial success.

I witnessed political corruption and abuse of power under a dictatorship. I also experienced the detrimental consequences of political corruption leading to the overthrow of a dictatorship and imposition of a communist regime. The ultimate consequence of that level of corruption was the establishment in my home country -Cuba- of the first communist country in the western hemisphere and the confiscation, without payment, of our property. I always detested corruption and politics because it seemed all politicians were corrupt. In this country, however, there were cases of political corruption, but the level of corruption was much lower than in my native country. Corruption ended up on disastrous consequences for all Cubans, and now I am concerned about corruption doing the same here in the U.S.