Obama's Cuba/Congress's Cuba

An Epic, Ongoing Battle!!

       This photo -- courtesy of Skip O'Rourke/Associated Press -- reflects Obama's Cuba in historic defiance of Congress's Cuba. Southwest Airlines has just announced the start of its U.S.-to-Cuba flights. This follows JetBlue Airlines breakthrough commercial Cuban flight from Florida to Santa Clara back on August 31st. Prior to that the Congress-mandated Cuban embargo had not permitted commercial flights to Cuba in over half-a-century. Now the first Southwest Airlines commercial flight will take place on November 13th when it will depart Fort Lauderdale and land in Varadero, Cuba. On December 12th Southwest will begin commercial flights from Fort Lauderdale and Tampa to Cuba's capital, Havana. Meanwhile, of course, the Batistiano cabal in the U. S. Congress -- accustomed to dictating America's Cuban policy since shortly after the Cuban Revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship in 1959 -- is furiously trying to block the resumption of commercial flights to Cuba and all other aspects of President Obama's historically brave attempts to bring a degree of sanity and a modicum of democracy to America's Batistiano-dictated Cuban policy that the rest of the world deplores, as evidenced by the yearly 191-to-2 votes in the United Nations.

      The three Cuban-American U. S. Senators hail, not coincidentally, from America's three most notable Batistiano bastions -- Texas, New Jersey, and Miami. All three, of course, vow to block and then turn-back all of President Obama's positive overtures toward Cuba. In the dysfunctional and unpopular U. S. Congress, they can accomplish such things not only in defiance of Mr. Obama and democracy but also against the wishes of most Cuban-Americans. {Polls show that most Cuban-Americans favor Obama's and the world's democratic approach to Cuba, not Congress's}. Yet, in both branches of the U. S. Congress -- the Senate and the House of Representatives -- it appears to the entire world that moderate Cuban-Americans need not apply because, when it comes to Cuban-Americans, only self-serving hardliners can get elected to the U. S. Congress, a once sacrosanct body that polls repeatedly show most Americans now heartily disapprove of. Any study of how such grossly anti-Cuban laws as Helms-Burton, Torricelli, Wet Foot/Dry Foot, the Cuban Adjustment Act, Radio-TV Marti, etc., etc. become laws perpetually mandated by Congress would be well-worth the time of any democracy-loving American, lest they persist for another half-century.

        This graphic by the great Brazilian political cartoonist Carlos Latuff reflects an image of America's Cuban policy that Americans are not supposed to have the patriotism or intelligence to understand or the courage to oppose. On the remote chance that conclusion is true, I believe Mr. Latuff is making a statement that is both apparent and generally accepted: A handful of hardliners for over half-a-century -- with the help of the Bush dynasty, the U. S. Congress or whatever -- have dictated America's Cuban policy to suit their motives that may involve revenge, economics and/or politics. Mr. Latuff uses exactly ten words to support his most famed illustration: "THE IRONIC CURTAIN: Mr. Obama, Don't Tear Down This Wall!"

       This political cartoon makes a statement about Congress's amazing Wet Foot/Dry Foot law that provides Cuban immigrants -- and only Cuban immigrants -- special privileges beginning the moment their toes touch U. S. soil. All others, including children from sad situations, are detained and subject to deportation.

President Obama long ago tired of this image.

And democracy-lovers have tired of this one.

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