Say, "Thanks, Cuba."

 Or at least, we all should!! 

         Even Americans, propagandized since the 1950s to never utter a kind word about Cuba while praising all ex-Cubans, should study this photo and then say, "Thank You, Cuba." This Alexandre Meneghini/ Reuters photo was taken in Havana yesterday -- Wednesday, August 25th, 2016. Thanks to an arduous four-year process brokered relentlessly by Cuba, this handshake officially ended the world's longest war, one that has raged for over five decades between the government of Colombia and the FARC rebels. It has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and maimed countless others, costing billions of dollars, including huge sums from U. S. taxpayers. The handshake officially ending the war yesterday involves FARC leader Ivan Marquez on the left and Humberto de la Calle, representing Colombia, on the right. In the middle representing Cuba is the island's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez. STUDY THE PHOTO and don't be afraid to thank Cuba. In a world riven with bloody wars and rampant terrorism, any nation that works so tirelessly, and in this case so successfully, to end the world's longest war should be thanked...EVEN IF IT'S CUBA.

        This John Vizcaino/Reuters photo shows Colombians in a Bogota bar wildly celebrating the peace agreement as they watched live television coverage of the momentous event taking place in Havana.

     This AP photo shows Colombians in Bogota out on the streets celebrating the peace agreement. Huge outside television screens were sending the live coverage from Havana back to them. A 57-year-old Colombian, Orlando Guevara, told the AP, "I can die in peace because finally I'll see my country without violence with a future for my children." Of all the world's nations, his hope was engineered by Cuba. As an American, I wish it had been engineered by America. And I wonder why it wasn't engineered by, say, the United Nations? But it was engineered by Cuba. Does that mean no one is supposed to be congratulated?

          Juan Manuel Santos has been the President of Colombia since 2010. In stark contrast to his predecessor Uribe, President Santos based his legacy on reaching a peace agreement with the FARC.

      President Santos of Colombia himself flew to Havana to help Cuban President Raul Castro broker the monumental peace deal. In this iconic photo, Castro in the middle is jubilant that he succeeded in getting President Santos, on the left, shake hands with the famed FARC guerrilla fighter known as Timoleon.

       Alvaro Uribe, the former Bush-aligned President of Colombia, has expressed fierce opposition to the Cuban-brokered peace treaty between Colombia and FARC. Uribe is shown here with former U. S. President George W. Bush at the White House. In 2002 President Bush sent massive economic and military assistance to Colombia in the belief that Uribe could wipe out FARC "once and for all." It didn't happen.

The former Presidents -- Uribe and Bush -- are still close pals.

And still fiercely opposed to Santos, Cuba & FARC.

       Reminiscent of the Cuban Revolution, many of the key FARC guerrilla fighters were fierce and beautiful young females. This AP photo shows Juliana during a restful moment with her boyfriend Alexis.

Juliana alone with her thoughts prior to a battle.

       This is Yira Castro. She is famed as a fearless veteran female guerrilla FARC fighter and leader. Notice the Apple laptop computer she kept in the Colombian mountains, attesting to her power as a leader and recruiter. During the four years of peace negotiations in Havana, Yira spent 3 years in Cuba as a top FARC negotiator. The FARC movement against the Colombia government began in 1964. Yira says, "I and many other girls devoted our lives to fighting the vast social disparity between the richest Colombians and the majority poor who had nothing but despair." Yira was a FARC leader when its 17,000-person army captured huge swaths of Colombian territory. She does not deny nor apologize for the fact that cocaine and kidnappings helped fund FARC. "We had to survive in order to fight," she said. "And somebody had to fight." 

FARC Guerrillas bathed and washed in mountain streams.

      This is a FARC guerrilla patrol that had spotted government soldiers back in a forest. Juan Pablo, a legendary fighter for three decades, had just made the decision to attack. Juan is the big guy on the left. That's his girlfriend right behind him. The AP caption to this photo said Juan's former girlfriend died in his arms during a battle. A London Daily Mail reporter said this unit returned to camp safely "on this day."

       Robert Frost wrote these classic words about a peaceful and purposeful night in snowy New England woods. But a lot of soldiers and a lot of guerrilla fighters have for decades memorized them and taken comfort from them. Remember Yira Castro, the legendary FARC guerrilla fighter armed with that Apple laptop computer? She said she softly spoke those four Robert Frost lines "over and over" during battles.

WAR IS HELL even for survivors as this photo courtesy of Stephen Ferry and The Guardian attests. This is a young female FARC guerrilla fighter three hours after a fierce battle against government soldiers. She survived. Her best friend didn't. Back in camp, she showered with water flowing through the spigot holes in the bottom of a bucket. Then she put on fresh clothes and sat listlessly at a table. A big pan of hot food was placed before her. She had not spoken a word since the battle, since her friend died in her arms. And despite not have eaten all day, she didn't touch her food. But when this photo was taken, the comrade on her left had just begged her, "Please eat, Maria." She then replied softly, "Why? So I can be alive and healthy when I am slaughtered when we fight again tomorrow? I regret...I washed...Alina's warm blood...off my chest." 

       The Colombia-FARC Civil War had waged on ferociously for five decades. From 2002 till 2010 Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's powerful army -- massively supported by U. S. dollars and arms -- tried desperately to win the war, and couldn't. Uribe's successor, President Juan Manuel Santos, tried a different tactic -- peace. That's President Juan Manuel Santos on the left in the above photo with Cuban President Raul Castro's right arm around his shoulders. Castro's left arm is around Timoleon, the famed FARC guerrilla fighter.  Yesterday -- Wednesday, August 25th, 2016 -- the two sides finally signed an official peace treaty in Havana, the culmination of Cuba's 4-year effort to end the world's longest war and one of the bloodiest. 

 "Thanks, Cuba" 

The quotation marks are mine. Perhaps they should also be yours.

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