CNN Covers Latin America, Kinda

But first...sad news from Havana:

     
     
     Melba Hernandez has died in Havana at age 92. She will remain a legend as one of the greatest heroines of the Cuban Revolution. Born on July 22, 1921, Melba graduated from the University of Havana Law School in 1943. She was one of two women who helped plan and who participated in the ill-fated attack on the Moncada Army Garrison on July 26, 1953 -- the first rebel thrust to overthrow the Batista-Mafia dictatorship. Melba was a key factor in the triumph of the revolution on January 1, 1959. She lived out her life officially listed as "A Heroine of the Cuban Revolution." She never left the island except to make numerous trips to aid women and children in Asia, particularly in Vietnam.

     Till the day she died, Melba Hernandez remained fiercely loyal to Fidel Castro and to the Cuban Revolution that she helped forge.

    

    
    The photo on the left shows Melba Hernandez {on the left} with Haydee Santamaria after they were captured during the Moncada attack on July 26th, 1953. Haydee died in 1980.

Melba and Haydee the day they were arrested.

Melba and Haydee in prison.

Melba and Haydee leaving prison for the last time.

    The photo on the right shows Fidel Castro comforting Melba Hernandez {Melba is on the left} and Haydee Santamaria as Fidel exited the Presidio Modelo prison on May 15, 1955.

Melba and Haydee: superstars in Revolutionary Cuba.

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     CNN's incomprehensible coverage of the fiery street protests in Venezuela the past three weeks has been quite interesting. Here's why: Unlike Fox News, CNN is not a right-wing propaganda machine; and unlike MSNBC, CNN is not a left-wing propaganda operation. CNN is center-left but mostly it adheres to a middle-of-the-road posture, which normally is good but CNN takes that approach to an extreme level. Trying hard not to displease anyone, CNN -- at least since founder Ted Turner was bought out and fired -- seems bent on providing its viewers only what it perceives they expect to see and hear even when CNN is fully capable of being more truthful. Take Latin America, for example. More specifically, take Venezuela. As a middle-of-the-roader in the American media, which overall is on a precipitous decline, CNN has sternly projected the turmoil in Venezuela as a popular uprising intent on overthrowing a vile, cruel dictatorship. That, of course, is a lie and CNN knows it but CNN's defense for telling the lie is...well, that's what Americans believe and if we tell the truth Americans wouldn't believe us, so we'll stick with the lie.

    Nicolas Maduro is the democratically elected President of Venezuela. He succeeded the late Hugo Chavez who was democratically elected multiple times and was overthrown by a U.S.-backed coup just once. That coup in April of 2002 lasted only a few hours before it was overturned by street protests that restored Chavez to his democratically elected Presidency. Maduro, a bus driver and member of a band, had supported the protests that returned Chavez to power. CNN was kicked out of Venezuela in the first week of this month {March, 2014} because President Maduro believed it was presenting a biased and slanted view of the protests in his troubled nation just as it and the rest of the U. S. media, Maduro believes, has lied about the 2002 coup against Chavez. But guess what? CNN informed Maduro if he would allow its reporters back in Venezuela CNN would actually interview him! In other words, CNN offered to afford him an opportunity to air his side of a two-sided story. To CNN's surprise, he accepted!

   CNN then sent its top international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, to interview President Maduro! Although Ms. Amanpour spent about a third of her time justifying the U. S. media's portrayal of Venezuela as a disgraceful, oppressive dictatorship {apparently because the U. S. hasn't selected its recent leaders}, President Maduro actually was indeed afforded ample time to express his government's views -- which represents one of the rare instances in which both sides of two-sided Latin American stories have seen transparency in the U. S. media. So, at least CNN deserves a modicum of credit regarding the ongoing crisis in Venezuela.

    After recovering from the shock of learning that CNN was actually serious about presenting the other side of the two-sided Venezuelan saga, I found the Amanpour interview with President Maduro to be quite enlightening. You probably would too. It was quite long and Ms. Amanpour prefaced many of her questions with in-depth and biased observations about how terrible the Venezuelan government is, but President Maduro maintained a calm demeanor and presented his views in a firm but, tuh, presidential manner. Democracy-loving Americans, I believe, should take advantage of this rare attempt by the U. S. media to present balanced coverage of an important and ongoing Latin American event, such as the Venezuelan crisis. Havana Times.org has every word of Amanpour's questions and Maduro's answers translated from Spanish to English.

Here are some points CNN allowed Maduro to make:

***Maduro mentioned the Venezuelan and Latin American view concerning the U. S. involvement in the 2002 coup that briefly overthrew Venezuela's democratically elected government.

***Maduro was able to remind Amanpour that Venezuela and other Latin American nations are aware of the U. S. tendency to overthrow democratically elected Latin American governments to install U.S.-backed dictators. He said it was "the very same policy against Salvador Allende in the 70's in Chile." Maduro specifically mentioned "Nixon and Kissinger" as orchestrators of the Chilean coup. {Allende's very popular democratically elected government was over-turned in a U.S.-backed coup to install for 17 bloody years the murderous Pinochet dictatorship. Latin Americans understand that; Americans are not supposed to.}

***Maduro told Amanpour: "With the U. S. government, it is well known via the Pentagon papers, Wikileaks and Snowden's papers...there is sufficient evidence you have conspired to put an end to the Bolivarian Revolution. This is not news. This is well known. Financial power is at the helm in the United States. We want a new relationship based on respect. These elites cannot continue to make South America like a backyard. I am certain that the American people who can hear us today can agree with these ideas that we respect each other. We must stop these conspiracies of the NSA, the Pentagon to reconquering Latin America."

       Amanpour took exception to that last sentence in the above paragraph. Incredulously, she asked: "Do you really believe that? They want to reconquer Latin America?" Maduro began his long answer with a 4-word sentence: "Of course, I do." 

In other words.......

......Maduro knew how and why Chilean President Allende died on September 11, 1973.
Christiane Amanpour pretended that she didn't.
But at least CNN permitted President Maduro to mention President Allende.
So, thanks CNN and congratulations.

      23-year-old shortstop Aledmys Diaz is the latest from Cuba's unending supply of baseball talent to become an instant American millionaire. On Sunday he signed a 4-year, $20 million contract with St. Louis and reported to the Cardinals' Major League Spring Training camp Monday {March 10th}. The almost instant Major League super-stardom of Cubans like Joenis Cespedes, Yasiel Puig, Aroldis Chapman, etc., has created a virtual pipeline of covetous American teams trying, with success, to lure Cuban talent.

    

    Yarisley Silva won't become an instant millionairess, but Sunday {March 9th} this AP photo shows her seconds after she had won the gold medal for Cuba in the women's pole vault at the World Championships in Sopot, Poland. 

    While much of the world's attention focused on the crisis in Crimea and the Ukraine, this Russian warship very quietly docked in Havana Harbor.

      This is the latest contingent of Cuban doctors arriving in Brazil to join the 7,400 already there. Brazil's pro-Cuban President Dilma Rousseff plans to hire a total of 11,000 Cuban doctors needed to service poor regions of Brazil not served by other doctors. The Brazilian Ministry of Health says areas already benefiting from the Cuban doctors include Sao Paulo, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Guarapari, Gravata, and Brasilia. Brazil pays the Cuban government and both governments this week announced that the Cuban doctors in Brazil have been given substantial pay increases. Cuba has the world's largest medical school and the world's highest per capita number of doctors. Thousands are working throughout Latin America.

       The 2014 Cigar Festival in Havana was a huge success. {Photo: AFP/Adolberto Roque} Cuban cigars experienced an 8% growth in 2013, worth $447 million to the economy.

Cubans preparing a tobacco field. {AFP/Roque photo}

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