cubaninsider: Obama's Cuban Fallouts Fall Out

Both Logic & Volatile Distortions Prevail
Updated: Saturday, December 20th, 2014

Dana Milbank is the top columnist at the Washington Post. A 46-year-old graduate of Yale, his erudite words are carried in more than 200 other newspapers across the nation. It is not surprising that Mr. Milbank's first column following the December 17th announcement that President Obama plans to normalize relations with Cuba was the most succinct and accurate summation of that remarkable day. He entitled that column: "Marco Rubio's Fury Over The Cuban Shift Shows Why Obama Made The Right Move." Like Jimmy Carter and many other democracy-loving Americans, Mr. Milbank was taken aback, not just by Rubio's usual distortions of the U.S.-Cuban conundrum, but by his abject disrespect for democracy and the office of President. Racing to get in front of every television camera in Washington on December 17th, Rubio assailed President Obama with adjectives unfit for consumption but Mr. Wilbank, quite correctly, was most resentful of this quotation from Rubio: "The President is willfully ignorant of the way the world truly works." That repulsive attack on America's two-term President and on the office he holds should offend every democracy lover in the Caribbean, Latin America, America, the world, and Little Havana in Miami. The majority of people in all of those spots on this planet, by the way, agree with Mr. Obama and that includes the Little Havana area of Miami that Mr. Rubio professes to represent in the hallowed halls of the U. S. Congress. In reality, Mr. Rubio represents Mr. Rubio...including his ongoing bid to become President of the United States in 2016. If such a catastrophe occurs in 2016 or later, it would be a disaster for the United States and for democracy. And that's why Dana Wilbank's column was 100% correct: Marco Rubio's torrid rants and distortions against President Obama and against the office of President only proved how right President Obama was and is as he tries to bring decency and sanity to a Cuban policy that has existed for going on six decades to benefit a handful of vicious Cuban Americans and their easily acquired sycophants while harming everyone else, a fact that reverberates around the world in every poll, including the yearly vote in the United Nations. Sure, as Mr. Milbank understands, Senator Rubio can preach his spiel to the right-wing choir and to the benefactors of a decades-old failed policy, but he would insult far less of his choir if he occasionally stuck to the facts, which he seems to consider irrelevant.

Although he rides a one-trick pony named "Cuba," Marco Rubio is campaigning hard to become the President of the United States in 2016. But it appears he doesn't know much about Cuba although he was born in Miami. He made it all the way from Miami to the U. S. Senate with his official bio claiming his parents escaped the Castro tyranny in Cuba for the freedom of Miami. Then it was pointed out, officially, that his parents escaped the Batista tyranny in Cuba for the, uh, freedom of Miami. On December 17th, the day President Obama announced his plans to normalize relations with Cuba, by my count...and you may check me on this...the first three network television cameras a frantic Rubio came across found him ranting about all the harm the Castros are doing to Cuba's 13-million people on the island. Well, Mr. Rubio, neither now nor at any time in history has the island of Cuba had anything approaching 13 million people. I understand that you have never been to Cuba, except to the U.S.-occupied Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, but with the exorbitant amount of money you have raised, why not hire someone who knows Cuba, perhaps a Cuban in Miami, to write your campaign notes? Like all perpetrators and benefactors of the failed U. S. Cuban policy, Mr. Rubio constantly defends the embargo, which the whole world as well as most Cuban-Americans in Miami oppose. He uses this insulting refrain that shows zero respect for the 11 million Cubans on the island: "We have to keep, and keep strengthening, the embargo because any money that reaches the island instantly goes into the pockets of Fidel Castro or into his bulging Swiss bank accounts." Mr. Rubio, I and others have criticized Fidel Castro, but fair-minded people don't concoct huge lies that they expect intelligent people to embrace just because they have repeated it so often. For all his faults, Fidel Castro is not greedy, not like the fleeing Batistianos who left all those glittery mansions behind in Cuba and, into a second generation now, have thousands of glittery mansions in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and other south Florida areas. Mr. Castro was born rich; his daddy Angel owned 36,000 acres of Cuban land. Fidel, never interested in money, gave away his inherited wealth to those not born rich. He possibly could have personally taken over the top ten mansions in Cuba in 1959 but, instead, he put peasant families in them. One of the major articles in USA Today, America's top newspaper, on December 19, 2014 was entitled "Fidel Castro Sits Quietly Off-Stage As History Unfolds." The updated article pointed out that he is now 88-years-old and unwell. The article ended with this one-sentence paragraph: "He lives on the outskirts of Havana in a modest home." If, indeed, Mr. Rubio, you hire a Cuban to inform you about about Cuba, that person should show you such factual articles. Even so, assuming that most Americans are ignorant, I'm sure you would continue to rant about the necessity of punishing 11 million Cubans on the island to keep any wealth from filling the pockets or bank accounts of an old man who, even in his prime during his revolutionary days, famously had no interest in wealth.

Jimmy Carter turned 90-years-old on October 1st. Many presidential scholars consider him to have had the highest IQ and the most decency of any American President. His IQ is intact, as evidenced by his brilliant 29th book. So, too, is his innate decency. Since he left the presidency in 1981, he has done more good in his post-presidency years than anyone else. In 1982 he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He is well versed on Cuba, which he has visited often, and he is an expert on U.S.-Cuban relations. While self-serving anti-Castro zealots dominated the television coverage of President Obama's announcement about normalizing relations with Cuba, several U. S. media outlets uncharacteristically had the decency to also include the views of unbiased Cuban experts such as Wayne S. Smith, Julia E. Sweig, Sarah Stephens {she heads The Center for Democracy in the Americas}, Peter Kornbluh {he heads the National Security Archives}, and...Jimmy Carter. CNN's Anderson Cooper referenced and showed some of Marco Rubio's rants and then asked Mr. Carter what he thought. The astute Mr. Carter instantly replied, "Absolutely ridiculous!"

Barbara Lee was born in El Paso, Texas, 68 years ago. She now represents California and the United States of America in the U. S. Congress. She is an expert on Cuba. She has visited the island 21 times. She doesn't like the fact that U. S. students owe in excess of a trillion dollars on Student Loans. She admires Cuba for providing free eye-saving operations to millions of poor people throughout the region; and she admires Cuba for providing free 6-year medical scholarships to thousands of poor students throughout the region. On a trip to Cuba, she personally asked Fidel Castro if qualified ghetto students from the U. S. could be included. Since then, hundreds have been included and presently 100 more are in the program. When they leave, there are no student loans to pay back, only a promise to Cuba that they will return, at least for a time, to help patients in the ghettos from whence they came. Ms. Lee has often wondered why rich Cuban-American politicians don't care more about "poor Cubans on the island or, for that matter, poor Americans." Ms. Lee has led members of the Black Congressional Caucus to Cuba. When afforded a chance on December 17th after the pro-embargo rants by the wealthy Rubio, Menendez, Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz-Balart, Navarro, Cruz, etc., Ms. Lee and other members of the Black Congressional Caucus pointed out how the embargo for over five decades has benefited a few but harmed everyone else. "Health care and free education through college is routine and free in Cuba, and so are shelter and food, if needed," Ms. Lee said. "Why doesn't Castro pocket all that money instead, as the embargo supporters claim? Cuban scientists at their Finlay Institute have discovered a vaccine that prevents diabetic amputations and Americans are not supposed to know about the Finlay Institute because its Cuban! Cuba has much to share with America and can't do it because of an embargo that benefits certain people but hurts the masses, including diabetes patients, cholera patients! Fifty years! Repeating the same cruel policy decade after decade based on fallacies! Insane!" Barbara Lee, a Congresswoman who represents California and the United States of America. Yes, Barbara Lee knows secrets such as the Finlay Institute. She's been to Cuba 21 times. And she knows why the embargo supporters don't want Americans to visit the island; after all, they prefer telling Americans what to think. Barbara Lee thinks Americans should be able to think for themselves and research things themselves. "If Americans are not allowed to visit Cuba, maybe they should at least google 'Finlay Institute' and learn about such things. Or google 'Batista' and discover who fled the island with plane loads of money and who stayed on the island with the Cubans. Or, better yet, beg Congress to let Americans go to the island. Would that not be better than repetitive lies about something as important as Cuba?"

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In the 72 hours following President Obama's announced plans to normalize relations with Cuba, one of the many distortions from anti-Castro zealots and pundits -- those who've dominated U. S. perceptions of Cuba for decades -- was that Fidel Castro himself "had nothing" to do with the negotiations. The fact is, since the 1950s, Fidel Castro has had more to do with U.S.-Cuban relations than any other person -- in Cuba, in America or in the Vatican. Yes, he is now 88-years-old and unwell, facts indicated by the Getty Images photo above. But decades from now, long after he has died, Fidel Castro will still have massive influence on U.S.-Cuban relations, on democratic elections in Latin America, in Cuba, and within budding revolutionary developments across the region. Lying about or denying such aspects of Fidel Castro's well-chronicled life will merely add to the continuation of his legacy, just as lying about or denying facts during his lifetime have contributed to his influence...on both the regional and international stages. For example, in 1961 the CIA informed President Kennedy, on the eve of the Bay of Pigs attack, that Fidel Castro "will run to his getaway airplane once he hears the U. S. bombs falling on Cuba." Fidel was in Celia Sanchez's 11th Street apartment in Havana when he heard those bombs. He didn't race to his getaway airplane, which he has never had. He raced to the front lines at the Bay of Pigs, which Cuba calls Playa Giron. The Bay of Pigs stupidity on the part of the U. S. coupled with the Fidel-led results greatly enhanced his power and his longevity, just as most of the lies and distortions by his enemies have done over the last six decades. In the hours after the Obama announcement Wednesday, the Miami media suggested that, with no input from Fidel, he must surely be dead. Uh, almost but not quite. But you know what? The law of averages stipulate that, eventually, Miami and the CIA will get something about Fidel Castro right and then perhaps their distortions will no longer baffle the more enlightened American people.

Mariela Castro is the very outspoken 53-year-old daughter of Raul Castro and Raul's even more rebellious wife, the late Vilma Espin. Yesterday -- Thursday -- CNN interviewed Mariela live from Havana. CNN reminded her that, even if Fidel, her uncle, was still alive, he had nothing to do with the negotiations that involved President Raul Castro, her father. Such stupidity amazes knowledgeable people on both sides of the Florida Straits, including Mariela in Havana. She told CNN that, uh, Fidel was still alive...that, uh, nothing major happens in Cuba without his input...and, uh, Fidel was presently writing his reactions that would appear shortly in his current forum, his Reflections columns. Such distortions related to Cuba...especially from the 1961 Bay of Pigs attack right up to President Obama's topical pronouncements...are meant to harm Cuba and to propagandize the American people. They do both of those things but they also delay and postpone the day when democracy, for the first time in history, eventually takes over the island. Yes, knowledgeable insiders -- including Mariela Castro -- are better sources of truth about Cuba than, unfortunately, the mainstream U. S. media that is either too uninformed or too intimidated to address true facts. And that abject failure by the U. S. media retards democracy's chances on the island. Yes, America, Fidel Castro is very old and unwell but he is still alive. And yes, America, after he dies Fidel Castro's legacy will still be alive to confront living Americans or Cubans who have designs on shaping Cuba to fit and conform to their desires. In other words, 25 years from now if the revolutionary government in Cuba is overturned, hopefully by democracy and not by a bloody coup, those victors will have to contend with the legacy of Fidel Castro. Mariela Castro understands that. Americans, including the CNN anchor who quizzed Mariela yesterday, do not understand that. Now and for decades to come the world will wonder and debate how Fidel Castro triumphed in Cuba and how his imprint dominated the island for so long against seemingly impossible odds. The answer, I believe, relies in a two-word description of his enemies: greedy and stupid. Of course, if anyone has two other words they think will better describe Fidel Castro's enemies, I will listen. After all, there are two sides to the Cuban conundrum.

This is an updated photo of Rolando Sarraff Trujillo. As an agent for the Cuban Intelligence Service, he became a double-agent and the most important spy on Cuba for the United States. Mr. Sarraff informed the U. S. about Cuban spies in the U. S., including the famous and infamous Cuban Five sentenced to up to life terms fifteen years ago in a Miami courtroom. All five are now back in Cuba. The first two finished their sentences and the final three were traded this week for Alan Gross and for a second man that President Obama refused to name. But Mr. Sarraff is that second man, now freed. He was arrested by Cuba in 1995 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He served almost two decades of that time, till this week. Mr. Sarraff is 51-years-old, about the same age as each of the Cuban Five. Mr. Gross is 65. We wish them well.

Cubans learning of "warmer" relations with the U. S.

Hardliners in Miami are outraged!

College students in Havana cheer wildly! {Roberto Morejon/AFP/Getty Images}

U. S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in one day -- December 17th -- accomplished more steps toward normalization of relations than all ten Presidents prior to Mr. Obama ever managed since 1959. The process began back on December 10th of 2013 when Mr. Obama and Mr. Castro shook hands at the Nelson Mandela Memorial ceremony. Raul Castro took advantage of the opportunity to tell Barack Obama, "We need to work on our differences for everyone's benefit." A brief but significant comment that led up to Wednesday's resounding developments.

Obama made a phone call to Raul Castro Wednesday.

Cuba then told Alan Gross he was going home.

65-year-old Alan Gross was then released from a Cuban prison and is rejoining his beloved wife Judy in their Maryland home after five hard years for the Gross family.

Alan and Judy Gross together again in America.

{The above poster saturated Cuba for fifteen years}

The last three of the Cuban Five, sentenced to up to life terms fifteen years ago in a Miami courtroom, were released to join the other two men that had recently completed their terms in American prisons. All five are national heroes now in Cuba.

Less than four months after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, Vice President Richard Nixon -- in April of 1959 -- made a face-to-face threat to Fidel Castro to overthrow the revolution, which Cuba considered a return of the Batistianos, the Mafia, and U. S. businessmen who had controlled Cuba. In 1961 the Bay of Pigs attack and in 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis exacerbated the animosity between the two neighbors, plus well chronicled assassination attempts against Fidel Castro.

At age 53 and now in the second term of his two-terms as U. S. President, Mr. Obama is living up to his promise to do all he can to normalize relations with Cuba. He has executive authority to accomplish much but not all of that promise. This week he executed the swap of Alan Gross for three Cubans imprisoned in the U. S.; he can also satisfy world opinion by removing Cuba from the State Department's Sponsors of Terrorism list. He also believes the best way to foster American influence in Cuba is to remove the ban on Americans to travel to the island, and he will do all he can in that regard. However, the U. S. Congress is in bed with anti-Castro extremists such as Senators Bob Menendez, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio as well as Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart...and another extremist from Miami, Carlos Curbello, enters with the new Congress in the New Year. They are screaming to the high heavens to thwart whatever positives President Obama has in mind to normalize, as best he can, relations between the two countries. But at least, with his actions, President Barack Obama has done more than any other U. S. President to bring a degree of sanity and decency to U.S.-Cuban relations. He will, of course, be vilified for it by a second generation of Cuban-Americans who have demanded, successfully till now, to have almost total, self-serving control of America's Cuban affairs, a situation that the rest of the world has abhorred. For his brave efforts on behalf of America and Cuba, President Obama should be applauded even as the fallout will descend harshly upon him from revengeful, political, and economic benefactors of the U.S.-Cuban diaspora that has been intact since the 1950s.

This latino.foxnews.com photo shows U. S. Senator Marco Rubio of Miami and U. S. Senator Bob Menendez of Union City. Mr. Rubio is becoming the Chairman of the Senate's Western Hemisphere Committee; Mr. Menendez is Chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee. Cuba is in the Western Hemisphere and is a foreign country. The vantage points from which these two Senators and their associates will assail Mr. Obama regarding the new normal will be relentless, vicious, and one-sided.