Cuba's No-Win Situation

Dissidents Free to Roam...Almost
Sunday, February 8th, 2015

         If you study this photo, which was taken on a street in Havana,  you can begin to comprehend a few important and topical facts about the U.S.-Cuban diaspora -- namely, why there is zero chance that the two nations will "normalize" relations. This is 46-year-old Tania Bruguera. She was born in 1968 in Havana. Her mother, Argelia, was an English-Spanish translator; her father, Miguel, was a high-ranking official in Revolutionary Cuba's government. He was Cuba's Ambassador to Lebanon and Panama before becoming Deputy Foreign Minister. Miguel supported the government. His wife, Tania's mother Argelia, opposed it. Tania sided with her mother. She received an excellent education, including a Masters in Art. Today she is a friend of Yoani Sanchez and other famed dissidents on the island, and Tania works with them hand-in-hand in fervent and well-funded efforts to overthrow the Cuban government. Tania splits her time between the United States, France, and Cuba. Cuba permits Tania and other dissidents, including Yoani Sanchez, to leave the island and fly back. Cuba assumes, when they fly back, dissidents such as Tania have more cash and other wherewithals to undermine the island's government. Many supporters and opponents of resilient but vulnerable little Cuba believe that allowing Tania, Yoani, etc., to leave and return will finally doom Cuba's hard-earned sovereignty and permit the colossus beyond its northern shore, the United States, to regain full control of it, as was the case after the Spanish-American War in 1898 till the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. As an acute observer of the U.S.-Cuban conundrum, I agree with the doomsayers about foreign dominance inevitably returning to Cuba within the next decade.

       Study and comprehend this photo. It was taken in Revolutionary Square in Havana on December 30, 2014. Since 1960 anytime Democratic U. S. Presidents -- Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, and now Obama -- have attempted to normalize relations with Cuba, Cuban-exile zealots in the U. S., aligned with sycophants in the U. S. Congress, conspire to thwart those efforts. They worked against Presidents Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton and they will work against Obama. Whenever it appears U. S. Presidents are making headway in normalizing relations with Cuba, the Cuban exiles and Congress markedly increase both the anti-Cuban rhetoric and anti-Cuban physical actions. Such historic tactics succeeded against Presidents Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton; and thus it surprises no one that similar duplicitous tactics are currently in play. The above photo is an example and is an offshoot of President Obama's December 17th announcement that he planned to normalize relations with Cuba. That promoted a return trip to Cuba by Tania Bruguera. She announced to the media world that she was holding a demonstration in Revolutionary Square. The media promoted her announcement and eagerly anticipated it. But, as you can see above, only the media showed up. Tania herself was a no-show. Reportedly, she was "detained" by Cuban security forces who "allegedly" released her when the media had exited Revolutionary Square. Such tit-for-tat episodes are regular features of Cuba's defensive mechanisms. Almost always, no one is ever harmed. Cuba believes that such dissident tactics are primarily designed to provoke Cuba into doing something that the Cuban exiles and Congress can use against the island to thwart any attempt by any President to ease the harsh and one-sided Cuban policy that most in the entire world, including the majority of Cuban Americans, deplore.

         This profile photo of Tania Bruguera is courtesy of Nashashibi Skoer/yo Tambien Exijo. A major article about her this week was written by Carlos Suarez De Jesus and entitled "Artist Tania Bruguera Is A Thorn in the Cuban Government's Side." The article, in the Miami New Times, began with these exact words: "Cuban authorities watch Tania Bruguera closely. They listen in on her phone calls. They constantly tail her. 'I can move around Havana, but I have a car following me everywhere I go,' the curly-haired 46-year-old artist says. 'I know they are listening to my calls, because recently, during a phone conversation with a friend, I mentioned I was going to pass out fliers that the government might find alarming. Then, 20 minutes later, a government blogger wrote, 'Tania is on her way to distribute inflammatory leaflets here.' Bruguera, who divides her time among Cuba, the United States and France, became a celebrity this past December 30th." Via the photos at the top of this essay I explained how Tania's anti-Cuban activity made her "a celebrity" on December 30th in Havana's Revolutionary Square although she didn't quite make it to her planned demonstration. Of course, as Tania and her friend Yoani Sanchez and many others have found out, one sure way to become a celebrity and probably a rich one is to let Cuban exiles and their friends in the U. S. Congress know that you will help them undermine, demean, and upend the Cuban government. Also this week, the Los Angeles Times had a major article on Tania Bruguera written by Caroline A. Miranda. The article featured the above photo of Tania with this caption: "Artist Tania Bruguera to remain in Cuba at least 60 more days as officials weigh performance-related charges against her." That photo-caption prefaced the long LA Times article by Ms. Miranda that typically excoriated Cuba, just as Tania Bruguera and the Cuban exiles intended. Of course, if they can indicate that Tania has been injured or otherwise mistreated, all the better for propaganda purposes. For five years, the incarceration in Cuba of Alan Gross was explained to the American people by biased benefactors that, for no reason whatsoever, Mr. Gross was scooped off the street and sentenced to 15 years in prison even though, of course, he was nothing more than a totally innocent tourist in Cuba. And, of course, Tania Bruguera has done nothing to provoke the ire of Cuba, according to the American media. And, of course, neither did the terrorist bomb that brought down Cubana Flight 455 in 1976. And, of course, neither did those airplane overflights in 1996, etc.

   Josefina Vidal is Cuba's Minister of North American Affairs. She is shown here defending Cuba brilliantly, by all accounts, in last month's diplomatic meetings to discuss normalizing relations with her American counterpart Roberta Jacobson. As Cuba's primary asset in trying to defend the island against being swallowed up again by its northern neighbor, Ms. Vidal is the ultimate David against a whole bunch of Goliaths -- the U. S. government, the CIA, the U. S. media, and America's Cuban policy that is fully dictated by only the most vicious Cuban-exiles in Miami, Union City, and Washington. Eventually, she will lose. But not before her guts and determination prolong the denouement another decade or so. She has the backing of every Caribbean nation, every Latin American nation, and the nations of the world. According to recent polls, she even has the support of most Cuban-Americans in Miami. But a handful of Cuban exiles have total control of the U. S. Congress on Cuban issues, and that negates any sanity a Democratic President, such as Mr. Obama, tries to bring to the cauldron that benefits a few and harms everyone else, including Cubans and Americans. Ms. Vidal monitors the U. S. media, so she probably has read every line of the aforementioned Miami New Times and LA Times articles that lauded Tania Bruguera and lambasted Cuba this week. In defending Cuba, Ms. Vidal has said that her main concentration is on being aware of the continuing and well-funded efforts from the U. S. to provoke Cuba into doing something that the Cuban exiles and Congress can use to hurt Cuba, and maybe even getting the U. S. government to invade or attack Cuba once and for all. "Yes," Ms. Vidal says, "over a half-century of the longest and cruelest blockade ever imposed by a strong nation against a much weaker one has not put the Batistianos, the Mafia and the U. S. businessmen back in control of Cuba. The Bay of Pigs military attack and many acts of terrorism also have failed to bring Cuba to its knees. So, what's next? I must think about that each day. Like we have done for so long, we can't forget that the U. S., just to our north, is the strongest nuclear power in the world, by far. Align that fact with the other fact, which is that the Cuban policy of the unmatched nuclear power is in the hands of a few individuals that most desire to regain control of Cuba. The synergy of those two facts indicate what an underdog we are and also reveals the U. S. hypocrisy when it preaches democracy. Determination helps us. Being innovative, which is doing what we have to do when pushed against a wall, helps us. Being lucky, I guess, helps us. Having regional and world opinion on our side helps us. But we are still an island and the forces aligned against us are mammoth and unlimited. And nothing lasts forever, including sovereignty. Cuba for Cubans may not last forever. I understand and live with that."

      Helen Aguirre Ferre is one of the most ubiquitous journalists in South Florida, often dominating the anti-Castro delirium across the board -- on radio, television, newspapers, online, social media...you name it...and she's effective in fluent Spanish or English. Of course, all that has been ratcheted up since President Obama's December 17th announcement about trying to bring some sanity to U.S.-Cuban relations. In scathing op-eds in the Miami Herald  -- such as the one entitled "Castros The Beneficiaries of Perilous Policy Shift" -- she excoriates President Obama and heralds U. S. Senator Marco Rubio of Miami as the savior of America's ills, especially Cuba! In ratcheting up her rhetoric and extending her forums far beyond South Florida, Helen Aguirre Ferre is showing up on national and international venues, such as the worldwide Aljazeera television network. Of course, outside of South Florida she is not speaking just to the choir. In fact, all recent polls show that, even in her Miami-Dade County area, most Cuban-Americans agree with President Obama and not with her prolific attacks that demean the President and his exalted office.

A fiercely coveted island since its discovery in 1492.

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