Cuba Is Still Waiting

"To Breathe Freely"

        This photo of Cuba's Josefina Vidal is courtesy of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas. It was used to illustrate an article by AS/COA's Elizabeth Gonzalez that features new and updated comments by Cuba's Minister of North American Affairs. Vidal has brilliantly negotiated remarkable advances in U.S.-Cuban relations and she continues to work with President Obama's representatives. She told Ms. Gonzalez, "What we are doing now is clarifying the different kinds of properties that will coexist." In other words, Josefina Vidal expects much more -- namely, an end to the embargo of Cuba that has existed since 1962 "against the will" of the entire world except a handful of two generations of vicious exiles or Cuban-Americans aligned with a handful of self-serving right-wingers; a return of Cuba's Guantanamo Bay that Vidal and the rest of the world says "was stolen" by the U. S. in 1903; and an end to such extremely "discriminatory" and "anti-democracy" U. S. laws as Wet Foot/Dry Foot that are "purely designed" to hurt Cuba first and then to secondarily "enrich and empower revengeful remnants" of the Batista-Mafia dictatorship that was overthrown "decades ago" in 1959. Americans, particularly, need to listen to Josefina Vidal.

       The AS/Council of the Americas article written by Elizabeth Gonzalez is entitled: "LatAm in Focus: Josefina Vidal On A Changing Cuba." In other recent comments with Reuters, Centro de Prensa, El Pais, Telesur, etc., Vidal has offered many pertinent comments that define the current status of U.S.-Cuban relations, which have vast regional and international implications, such as: "With the window of tolerance provided by President Obama, we have helped Cubans, Americans and even citizens of the world who can be affected when a strong nation bullies a small nation to whet the appetites of a few bad characters;" "There is still so much more we can do to help everyone. Cuba fought many revolutionary wars in order to be able to breathe without being under the yoke of imperialism. The 1959 Cuban revolutionary victory has not been accepted by the United States, shaming its democracy and disappointing its friends around the world;" "Mistakes in Cuba should be made and hopefully corrected by Cubans on the island, not those working from, with or at the behest of a foreign power. Successes in Cuba should be enjoyed by Cubans on the island, not ridiculed and opposed by revengeful foreigners;" and "Cuba, like all small countries, may lose to a stronger power, but as far as Cuba is concerned it will require the annihilation of the most honorable Cubans." 

   Josefina Vidal: An honorable Cuban. 

         The French frigate Germinal is shown above sailing into Havana Harbor. Jean Marie Bruno, France's Ambassador to Cuba, was there to welcome it. The captain, Commander Michel Vaxelaire, said, "Our visit is to strengthen friendly ties." This week Cuban citizens will be allowed to board and inspect the ship.

       Yesterday -- Monday, June 13th -- Major League Baseball named Yulieski Gurriel as a free agent. He defected from Cuba along with his 22-year-old brother Lourdes, also a top prospect. Yulieski turned 32 last Thursday and since he starred in the 2004 Olympics for Cuba he has been coveted by America's 30 Major League teams. As a prize infielder, he has represented Cuba in the last three World Baseball Classic tournaments but his defection will prevent him from representing Cuba in the 2017 Classic next spring.

      Till his defection, Yulieski Gourriel was the most beloved Cuban baseball star, especially after he had for over a decade displayed extreme loyalty as opposed to becoming an instant multi-millionaire in the United States. Even though he has passed his 32nd birthday, he will still command millions because now all the 30 Major League teams can bid for him. His agent is Scott Boras, who holds the record for having baseball clients with the most contracts exceeding $25 million a year. Donny Rowland, the top international scout for the very rich New York Yankees, had told them to "not be out-bid for Yulieski." Rowland is still peeved that the Yankees let the Boston Red Sox out-bid them for top prospect Yoan Moncada, a 21-year-old switch-hitter from Cuba. A star in Cuba since he was a teenager, Yulieski's favored team has always been the Yankees and his favorite player has always been Alex Rodriguez, who is making multi-millions this year as a fading 40-year-old star. The Gurriel brothers recently attended a game at Yankee Stadium in New York. As a fan of U. S. baseball, Yulieski was surprised when the supposedly poor Miami Marlins extended the contract of Giancarlo Stanton by an additional guaranteed $300 million. Stanton is hitting .198 this season but if he never gets another hit, that additional $300 million is still guaranteed. It has been said that Stanton's contract in money-mad America finally influenced Yulieski's defection, soliciting an "Unreal!!" comment from him. But he knows such unreal money is readily available to defectors in the United States.

       Of all the current Major League baseball players from Cuba, 28-year-old Aroldis Chapman, the lefty closer for the New York Yankees, is Yulieski Gourriel's best friend. Chapman is only making $9,468,443 from the Yankees this season but his salary was $11.32 million till he was suspended without pay for the first 50 games because of a domestic incident. Chapman, who became a U. S. citizen last month, will be a free agent at the end of this season, so that's when he will get the big bucks. By then, his friend Yulieski Gourriel will also be a multi-millionaire along with an unending number of other Cuban baseball stars. 

       This photo shows 22-year-old Lourdes Gourriel on the left alongside his 32-year-old brother Yulieski. Both brothers are currently working out in Miami. Yulieski is seeking and will get a 4-year contract and he says he wants to be in the Major Leagues by August 1st. Lourdes, who will turn 23 in October, is expected to eventually make many millions of dollars more than his brother Yulieski in the American Major Leagues.

       This photo shows Yulieski Gourriel, second from the right, celebrating a victory for the Cuban National Team in Tokyo, Japan at the World Baseball Classic on March 9th, 2013. Cuba, famed as a gold mine for baseball talent, for decades dominated international competition. But those days are gone. All 30 U. S. Major League teams direly covet Cuban players and the island is daily being depleted of its best talent.

       Major League Baseball's Cuban Pipeline is saturating the United States with more-and-more Cuban multi-millionaires, including many who get the money but don't make the Majors. It also has spawned an industry built on unsavory characters, including human traffickers. To its credit, MLB is embarrassed and wants to correct that image. The Tampa Bay Rays this spring played in Havana with President Obama in attendance. MLB is discussing efforts for Cubans to play in the U. S. without defecting. And MLB is hinting, as it did strongly back in the 1950s, that Havana might well become a true Major League city one day. 

       Thanks to Josefina Vidal and the Obama administration, the U.S. and Cuba have broken many hostile barriers that, since 1959, have been instituted to benefit the revenge, economic, and political desires of two generations of the most visceral anti-Castro Cubans on U. S. soil. Some of those broken barriers, as mentioned, pertain to baseball. But, to be sure, many barriers remain, including some related to baseball.

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