And to Its Post-Castro Future!!
{Thursday, May 17th, 2018}
{Thursday, May 17th, 2018}
The photo above and the following two, all taken by Louise Morgan, helped illustrate a major article written by Laurel Ives that originated on the Wallpaper.com Website this week -- on May 15th. It's entitled: "Cuba Revolution: A New Cuisine is Hot on the Heels of Its Latin American Counterparts." The excellent article reflects on the new Cuba led by new President Miguel Diaz-Canel. It's an example of insightful tidbits from the island that the mainstream U. S. media is simply not capable of presenting to the American people in a fair and unbiased manner.
The aforementioned article reviews a new book published by Phaidon and entitled: CUBA: The Cookbook. Journalist Laurel Ives begins with these words: "Cuba has been known for many things over the years {cigars, mojitos, bright colours}, but not its culinary offerings. However, food on the tropical island has been undergoing something of a renaissance lately, with the arrival of new paladares {private restaurants in people's homes}, farmers' markets, and street food stalls. Imogene Tondre, co-author of a new book, CUBA: The Cookbook, says, 'There's a huge increase in restaurants and paladares, and they're innovating with creative takes on traditional dishes using local ingredients.'" That, simply speaking, is powerful news for an island nation severely targeted for over six decades by the nearby world Superpower.
Both the informative article and book feature this Louise Morgan photo to illustrate newly innovative and creative cuisine now showing up in Cuba at public restaurants and paladares {which are wildly popular restaurants in private homes} that cater to the public. It may not sound like earth-shattering renovations but, in essence, it is. It is indicative of how emerging entrepreneurs on the island are reshaping Cuba, including the cuisine. But most of all, it reflects the fact that significant but subtle cultural and economic changes in Cuba can be sincerely reported by unbiased journalists and authors while the mainstream U. S. media is relegated to propagandizing only a negative Cuban narrative as dictated by extremists Counter Revolutionary Cuban-Americans based in Miami or entrenched in the U. S. Congress.
That insult to the U. S. democracy, pervasive since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution over the Batista-Mafia dictatorship way back in 1959, is particularly prevalent when Republican administrations routinely designate extremist Counter Revolutionaries, such as Marco Rubio, as America's Cuban dictators. That trend has been continuous in six Republican administrations since 1959 with Trump's being #6.
Cuba's new President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, is perhaps more anti-Capitalism and anti-USA than were his predecessors, the iconic revolutionary Castro brothers. Faced with the U. S. embargo that has existed since 1962 and recently been reinforced by the efforts of Trump & Rubio to recapture Cuba for a few rich and powerful Batistianos, Diaz-Canel is supported by most Cubans on the island but he also knows he is expected to improve the island's economy that needs internal reforms, such as a one {and not a two} peso system...while also, of course, trying to cope with Counter Revolutionary Republicans in control of both the U. S. Congress and the White House.
This photo -- taken this week in Geneva, Switzerland -- is also reflective of a new Cuba under a new leader, President Miguel Diaz-Canel. The image above shows Cuba's superstar journalist Cristina Escobar preparing to broadcast a live television report back to Cuba from Geneva on a brand-new television channel -- Dominio Cuba -- that debuted just a few days ago -- on May 13th, 2018. But Cristina had already earned her stripes as perhaps the best broadcast journalist in the Western Hemisphere, a reputation that apparently such notables as President Obama and NBC's Andrea Mitchell agree with. That's why Cristina made history as the only Cuban to ever ask questions at a White House news conference, which she dominated with 4 pertinent questions plus two follow-ups. As an anchor, reporter, and interviewer, she's nonpareil...and also a typical leader of the restive young-adult generation of Cubans who are determined to predicate the island's future.
My friend Tracey Eaton, a highly respected journalist who was stationed in Cuba and now is a Professor at Flagler College in Florida, still does major interviews and articles from Cuba for such outlets as the Pulitzer Center, USA Today, etc. After he had interviewed a couple of Cuban dissidents, I suggested to him that he should interview Cristina Escobar on his next trip to Cuba, which he did and acknowledged my suggestion in the major article that followed. The image above is taken from Tracey Eaton's interview of Cristina and two videos from it are still posted on YouTube and on the Pulitzer Center website. After she made headlines at the White House news conference, Cristina, who is fluent in English, has spoken at American universities and has become a go-to Cuban for live interviews by international Spanish-and-English-speaking networks interested in U.S.-Cuban relations. Along the way, as on the video above, she has made additional headlines with two particular quotes: {1} "Cuba's fate is up to Cubans on the island, not Cubans in Miami and Washington;" and {2} "Cuba journalists have more freedom to tell the truth about Cuba than U. S. journalists have to tell the truth about Cuba." While Americans are severely programmed to not believe either of those statements by Cristina Escobar, unbiased and unintimidated journalists who actually report from Cuba tend to believe her and thus understand that the strengths of those beliefs, and resolves, is one reason the vulnerable island with the viciously determined northern Superpower neighbor has survived with its revolutionary rule for all these decades.
This is a snapshot of the calm, brilliant Cristina Escobar making history at that White House news conference. As a journalist and as a visitor, Cristina is quite familiar with Washington, Miami, Alabama, California, etc. If Cristina would, by chance, defect to Miami, Rubio's quest to finally subdue Revolutionary Cuba would likely be realized in short order. But those chances of her defecting are more none than slim. Cristina Escobar is a Cuban who staunchly believes that "Cuba's fate is up to Cubans on the island, not Cubans in Miami and Washington." That's the opposite of what Rubio believes as he ominously hides behind the skirts of America's economic and military might as well as the apathy of another generation of propagandized Americans.
This photo was taken this week in Geneva, Switzerland, where Cristina Escobar is enjoying the scenery and the people while also sending excellent television reports, some in Spanish and some in English, back to Cuba {and her reports are available online via Facebook and other outlets} concerning important United Nations sessions taking place in Geneva. If revolutionary rule in Cuba continues to defy overwhelming odds and survive, it will be because the island's young-adult generation, as epitomized by Cristina, prefers Revolutionary-style sovereignty to anything resembling a foreign-dominated Batista, Mafia, or, yes, Rubio-style government. Of course, Rubio has about a billion-to-one advantage but well...it's been that way since 1959 and the island that produced legendary rebels like Celia Sanchez, Haydee Santamaria, Vilma Espin, Tete Puebla, etc., to fight the unbeatable Batista in the 1950s can still produce the likes of Cristina Escobar, still a rising star in 2018.
Cristina Escobar: "Cuba's fate is up to Cubans on the island, not Cubans in Miami and Washington."
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