Or Is It Just In Transition?
{Monday, March 24th, 2014}
{Monday, March 24th, 2014}
ESPN the Magazine is just about the largest {in size} and most popular {in readership} of all the magazines in America. A recent issue {right} was devoted to the dominant role young Cuban stars are playing in Major League Baseball, such as the ESPN cover-boy Yasiel Puig, the superstar for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Chris Jones is probably America's best pure writer on topical subjects, such as the massive baseball tsunami that is currently crashing against America's shores. Jones is a writer-at-lodge for high-brow Esquire Magazine and he is also a Contributing Editor for sports-crazed ESPN the Magazine. Chris Jones was awarded the last full page in the aforementioned ESPN edition devoted to Cuban baseball. The essay that resulted is worth your attention even if you are not interested in his expertise concerning either Cuba or baseball. His journalistic style and his special gifts as a writer are among the primary attractions for this artistic gem.
ESPN used this image to highlight the essay by Chris Jones that concluded its edition devoted to Cuban baseball's impact on America. Here are excerpts:
"Havana might be my favorite city in the world. It is warm and crumbling and beautiful. It is safe and exotic and teeming with marvels. I fly down there with my boyhood friends, and we smoke black cigars by the boxful and swim in rooftop pools, and we walk along the seafront, and we hide away at night in tiny pocket bars, drinking goofy drinks that we wouldn't dream of drinking anywhere else. It is paradise for me, and it's made even more of a paradise because I know too well that Havana, this current and latest edition of Havana, is doomed.
"You might think less of me in this instant for having gone there -- for having propped up the Castro regime, for indulging my gross northern appetites in a city marked in some ways by the suffering of its citizens, for ferrying whatever other random sins you might believe I stowed in my carry-on bags. I don't care. First, I'm Canadian, and we don't have the same psychic burdens about Cuba that Americans do. Cuba is just another escape pod from our godforsaken winters. But more important, because I know that today's Havana will vanish tomorrow, that soon it will be jammed with armies of tourists in their wide-brimmed hats, and the stray dogs and belching old Chevys will be taken out back and shot, I can't afford to let your judgment get in the way of my love.
"One day, though, if you're lucky, and if you haven't already, you'll come back. You'll realize that perfection is a lot to demand, especially from a stranger. You'll get better about keeping the parts of someone you need and overlooking the parts you don't. You'll grow less certain, not more, and in your doubt you'll return to your old anchors. You'll walk shamelessly through the streets of your own particular Havana one last time, and you'll remember who brought you there in the first place, and when, and you'll be so grateful that they did."
Comment:
Like Chris Jones, I've been to Cuba and I share his nostalgic views of the island, especially Havana. Because I admire his writing, I get to sample his journalistic skills on many topics and often disagree with what I consider his too-liberal opinions. I'm also a generation older than Mr. Jones. Plus, he is a democracy-loving Canadian and I'm a democracy-loving American. It's obvious he didn't grow up being banned from visiting Cuba and he didn't grow up being incessantly bombarded by depictions of Cuba from only two generations of the most vicious Cuban exiles who were booted off the island, with reason, by the Cuban Revolution in January of 1959. Thus, Mr. Jones has not been proselytized into thinking that all the good Cubans are in Miami, Union City, and Washington while all the bad Cubans are still stuck on the island. In other words, he is an unbiased, un-propagandized first-hand observer who can judge Cuba for what it is -- the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly. Mostly, it's good and beautiful but not flawless. "I'm Canadian, and we don't have the same psychic burdens about Cuba that Americans do." That seminal, sensible, sensational sentence by a great writer familiar with Cuba says all that needs to be said about the deleterious effect America's Cuban policy since the 1950s has had on the U. S. democracy -- starting with the U. S. support of the Batista-Mafia dictatorship in Cuba from 1952 till 1959 and then with the U. S. support of the Batistiano-Mafiosi dictation of America's Cuban policy from 1959 till the present day. Uh, no! Not all the good Cubans are in Miami, Union City and Washington. And not all the bad, mischievous Cubans are the ones still on the island.
As to whether Chris Jones' beloved Revolutionary Cuba is "doomed" or merely in "transition," study this photo taken Wednesday. The young man on the left is Rafael Ramon Santiesteban. He hails from Holguin and was named Cuba's new President of the National Association of Small Farmers. Sitting at his left and chairing the ceremony is 83-year-old Juan Ramon Machado Ventura, Cuba's 2nd Vice President, which leaves him as the 3rd most powerful Cuban in 82-year-old Raul Castro's government. The news conference reminded Cubans that elderly revolutionary icons are still in charge but massive economic reforms are underway, reflected by the island's fresh emphasis on "small farms," private entrepreneurs, and the solicitation of foreign investments. Does it mean the revolution is finally "doomed" or is it merely in a "transitional" stage? Daily clues reveal that the answers are slowly but surely evolving in Cuba.
Since 1959 Ramon Machado Ventura has been in the Top Five of revolutionary leaders and a Fidel loyalist since March 10, 1952, which is the date the Batista-Mafia dictatorship moved from South Florida to execute the coup that took over Cuba. Machado Ventura, who graduated from the University of Havana in 1953, was a medical doctor and Fidel a young lawyer. In October of 2014 Machado Ventura is due to turn 84 while Fidel will turn 88 in August. Along with the 82-year-old Raul Castro {He turns 83 in June}, these two old revolutionaries epitomize at least a transition to a new Cuba as dictated by a natural phenomenon -- mortality. But every step of the way -- from March 10, 1952 till today -- Ramon Machado Ventura has been at Fidel Castro's side.
It is interesting to note that the post-Castro leader of Cuba will not have a last name of "Castro" nor will he have any direct connection to the island's iconic revolutionary glory. His name will be Miguel Diaz-Canel. That's him in the middle of the photo on the left. Miguel is 53-years-old. He was born in Santa Clara on April 20, 1960. Fidel Castro has 8 sons. All are well educated and accomplished in areas such as medicine, science, and law. And all 8 are very loyal to their father. But, it should be remembered, Fidel once fired his oldest son, Fidelito, as head of Cuba's Science Federation. At the time, Fidel famously said, "This is not a monarchy!" Miguel Diaz-Canel is proof Fidel meant those words.
Of Raul Castro's four children with revolutionary heroine Vilma Espin, the 52-year-old Deborah has the most influence with her father. She is often beside him at meetings, as shown here, and she is perhaps his most trusted adviser, especially on domestic and women's issues. Her power is one reason many expect her husband, Luis Alberto Rodriguez, to one day be the leader of post-Castro Cuba.
As to whether Chris Jones' beloved Revolutionary Cuba is "doomed" or merely in "transition," study this photo taken Wednesday. The young man on the left is Rafael Ramon Santiesteban. He hails from Holguin and was named Cuba's new President of the National Association of Small Farmers. Sitting at his left and chairing the ceremony is 83-year-old Juan Ramon Machado Ventura, Cuba's 2nd Vice President, which leaves him as the 3rd most powerful Cuban in 82-year-old Raul Castro's government. The news conference reminded Cubans that elderly revolutionary icons are still in charge but massive economic reforms are underway, reflected by the island's fresh emphasis on "small farms," private entrepreneurs, and the solicitation of foreign investments. Does it mean the revolution is finally "doomed" or is it merely in a "transitional" stage? Daily clues reveal that the answers are slowly but surely evolving in Cuba.
Since 1959 Ramon Machado Ventura has been in the Top Five of revolutionary leaders and a Fidel loyalist since March 10, 1952, which is the date the Batista-Mafia dictatorship moved from South Florida to execute the coup that took over Cuba. Machado Ventura, who graduated from the University of Havana in 1953, was a medical doctor and Fidel a young lawyer. In October of 2014 Machado Ventura is due to turn 84 while Fidel will turn 88 in August. Along with the 82-year-old Raul Castro {He turns 83 in June}, these two old revolutionaries epitomize at least a transition to a new Cuba as dictated by a natural phenomenon -- mortality. But every step of the way -- from March 10, 1952 till today -- Ramon Machado Ventura has been at Fidel Castro's side.
It is interesting to note that the post-Castro leader of Cuba will not have a last name of "Castro" nor will he have any direct connection to the island's iconic revolutionary glory. His name will be Miguel Diaz-Canel. That's him in the middle of the photo on the left. Miguel is 53-years-old. He was born in Santa Clara on April 20, 1960. Fidel Castro has 8 sons. All are well educated and accomplished in areas such as medicine, science, and law. And all 8 are very loyal to their father. But, it should be remembered, Fidel once fired his oldest son, Fidelito, as head of Cuba's Science Federation. At the time, Fidel famously said, "This is not a monarchy!" Miguel Diaz-Canel is proof Fidel meant those words.
However, many Cuban experts in the U. S. government still believe Luis Alberto Rodriguez {left} is the person most likely to be the post-Castro leader of Cuba. Rodriguez is 54-years-old and a Major General in FAR, Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces. More significantly, he heads the Enterprise Administration Group that controls about 80% of the Cuban economy. Also, he is married to Deborah Castro Espin, the oldest daughter {52} of Raul Castro and the late Vilma Espin. It is believed that Rodriguez's economic skills, not nepotism, have accounted for his staying power and advancements although it is well known that he has had major differences with both Deborah and Raul.
Of Raul Castro's four children with revolutionary heroine Vilma Espin, the 52-year-old Deborah has the most influence with her father. She is often beside him at meetings, as shown here, and she is perhaps his most trusted adviser, especially on domestic and women's issues. Her power is one reason many expect her husband, Luis Alberto Rodriguez, to one day be the leader of post-Castro Cuba.
It should also be noted that Raul Castro's favorite grandson is Raul Guillermo Rodriguez, the son of Deborah and Luis Rodriguez. Raul Guillermo is also the primary bodyguard for his grandfather, President Raul Castro.
Photos of Raul Castro often show a young man attentively beside him but few have known the young man's name -- Raul Guillermo Rodriguez -- or his role as his grandfather's main bodyguard. In addition to his father Luis Rodriguez and his grandfather Raul Castro, Raul Guillermo has an uncle, Luis' brother Gustavo, who lives near Naples, Florida. Gustavo's wife Maria has a daughter by a previous marriage to Alexis Castro Soto del Valle, one of the five sons Fidel has had with his current wife Dalia Soto del Valle. Raul Guillermo's 52-year-old mother Deborah has two sisters -- Mariela, 51, and Nilsa, 46 -- and one brother, 48-year-old Alejandro. So, Cuba's Castro clan has an extended list of blood relatives, both male and female, but the post-Castro leader of Cuba will be Miguel Diaz-Canel, a non-Castro who was born in Revolutionary Cuba in 1960 -- meaning he is also a non-revolutionary like 54-year-old Luis Alberto Rodriguez, Raul Guillermo's dad. Fidel Castro's 8 sons have no political leadership ambitions.
Bluebirds photographed by Linda Bumpus for Birds & Blooms Magazine.
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