Obama's Cuban Adventure

Ephemeral or Permanent?

          This photo was taken by Pete Souza this week and it is already historic. It shows President Barack Obama at his desk in the Oval Office signing a letter that he then sent to Cuba via direct mail, the first time in over 50 years that such a letter has been sent to Cuba in that manner. It was a sweet letter that President Obama sent to a 76-year-old Cuban woman named Ileana Yarza, who had written him a sweet letter back in February after she got confirmation that he was indeed visiting Cuba.

        This Pete Souza photo shows the historic presidential letter that Mr. Obama mailed directly to Ileana Yarza who lives in the Vedado section of Havana. The 76-year-old Ileana had written a letter to the President in which she said: "I have invited you to a cup of Cuban coffee at my place in Vedado, if and when you would finally come. I think there are not many Cubans so eager as I to meet you in person not as an important American personality but as a charming president whose open smile wins hearts." In the above letter back to Ileana, Mr. Obama wrote: "I hope this note -- which will reach you by way of the first direct mail between the United States and Cuba in over 50 years -- serves as a reminder of a bright new chapter in the relationship between our two nations. I am looking forward to visiting Havana to foster this relationship and highlight our shared values -- and hopefully I will have time to enjoy a cup of Cuban coffee." 

           The kind, thoughtful gesture to Ileana Yarza is typical of President Obama's treatment of Cubans like her on the island.

*************** 

      The Economist is a highly respected London-based weekly newspaper with over half of its readership, both print and online, in the United States. Because of its British roots, it has far more freedom to discuss Cuba fairly than the intimidated, politically correct U. S. media has. The new edition of The Economist dated March 19, 2016 is a prime example. It used the above David Parkins graphic showing President Barack Obama enjoying a Cuban cigar prior to his upcoming historic visit to Cuba. Unlike the scared or biased U. S. media, The Economist fairly updated Obama's sane, decent Cuban policy with words like these:

               "For any of the nine preceding American presidents, Barack Obama's planned visit to the Cuba of Raul and Fidel Castro on March 21st and 22nd would have been unthinkable. It crowns a bold gambit in which Mr. Obama has restored diplomatic relations, frozen for 54 years, and begun to loosen the economic embargo against the island. Moreover, engagement with Cuba will lance a boil that has poisoned relations between the United States and the whole of Latin America. Mr. Obama's bet is the right one. The American embargo against Cuba is an exercise in futility. It is a Cold War anachronism that hurts Cubans and Americans. After a period in which China appeared to be displacing America in what some once called its backyard, those links could become increasingly warm and mutually profitable -- so long as the next president seizes the opportunity. On the evidence of America's rancorous election campaign, there is a danger that he or she {the next U. S. president} will not seize that opportunity." AND, for sure, THE APPROPRIATE WORD IS INDEED "danger."

      President Obama's Cuba policy is a Lincolnesque and Herculean effort that is trying mightily to correct a Cuban policy that has harmed the image of America and democracy more than any other factor in the past six decades. Oh, yes, I am quite aware that the majority of Americans will disagree with that assessment and, in fact, that is why I make it. The rest of the world, as reflected by the aforementioned update in The Economist, depicts America's entrenched Cuban policy in the manner depicted above -- one that shames democracy and mocks America's penchant for criticizing other nations, many of whom surely deserve the criticism. The post-World War II generations of Americans have had neither the guts nor the patriotism to complain about a wicked, imperialist Cuban policy that punishes innocent people on the island to appease a handful of self-serving rogues booted to U. S. soil when the Cuban Revolution on Jan. 1-1959 overturned the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship, which needed overturning. A cowardly, inept U. S. media that has neither the guts nor competence to say what The Economist just said is, of course, largely to blame. But even brave, free-thinking citizens in Banana Republics have been known to revolt against being repeatedly bombarded with propaganda that serves only a few rogues. Yes, two generations of Americans have been gutless ignoramuses by not defending America and democracy against the evils of a Cuban policy dictated by overthrown dictators and their very easily aligned, greedy sycophants.

 A brave, decent, democracy-loving man. 

His enemies rely on cowardice, ignorance, and a weak media.
Meanwhile:

           This REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini photo was taken this week, March 16th, and shows Cuban children having fun at the island's famed Malecon seawall just a few days prior to President Obama's visit.

        Matt Moore, this 26-year-old left-hander, will be the starting pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays when the U. S. Major League team takes on a Cuban national team. The game will start at 2:00 P. M. Eastern Time next Tuesday, March 22nd, at Havana's Latin American Stadium. Moore is good. He was an American League All-Star in 2013 and his overall Major League record is 32-and-21 with a strong 3.82 earned-run-average. 

*************************