A Look Inside Cuba

To Know Cuba Go To Cuba!
{Saturday, May 20th, 2017}

        This photo taken by Bert Schreibstein shows a family from Virginia-USA enjoying their ride around Havana in a 1950s Chevy convertible. Politico has emerged as a powerful media voice in Washington and it is not a particular friend of Cuba but it at least favors the USA in its competition with Russia and China; we're talking a bit of journalism and a lot of patriotism here. This week Politico's major article expressed fear that the Trump administration is about to turn back the monumental gains the former Obama administration made in trying desperately to normalize relations with Cuba. Politico pointed out that Russia and China in particular, along with America's other enemies and competitors around the world, are hoping that Trump indeed tries to re-isolate Cuba and return to a briefly interrupted {by Obama} half-century of fierce counter-revolutionary tactics. China, Russia and others view Cuba as the pathway not only to the Caribbean but to all of Latin America in regards to political and economic standpoints. Politico noted that Russia this month sent 250,000 barrels of oil to Cuba; China's mighty Internet Search Engine is competing against the giant, Google, for the Cuban market while China is building Resorts complete with up-to-date golf courses in Cuba, etc. China and Russia, as Politico warns, would love to be Cuba's friends, especially if America wants to be the island's enemy.

        Keeping up with the foreign business-interests visiting Cuba this month is a full-time job. The photo above shows the first-ever visit to Cuba by the Prime Minister of Singapore.

       The Cuban narrative and much of the Cuban policy in the United States has been dictated for decades by elements booted off the island by the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The photo above, taken this week, reflects a more honest and accurate narrative about Cuba from within Cuba. Left to right are...Yanet, Rosy, Susana, and Annierys. Typical among the young-adult generation of Cubans in Cuba, they are well educated, healthy, family oriented and fierce advocates for their beloved island. They are not candidates looking for an inner-tube to cross the Florida Straits to partake in defection incentives from Miami. 

        The U. S. media is too politically correct or too intimidated to report fairly about Cuba and, sadly, I believe that has particularly been the case since 1976 when Miami's top Cuban-American newsman, Emilio Milian, was car-bombed for sharply criticizing Miami-Cuban terrorist acts against innocent Cubans, with Milian's fate over a grisly span of many months being just one of many bombings of persons and/or businesses that dared to take anything other than a fiercely militant approach to Cuba. Thus, Politico this week is to be commended for at least one article, buttressed with deep reasoning, explaining why the U. S. needs to continue and even expand former President Obama's decent and sane approach to Cuba. The brave but politically incorrect article was published by Politico on May 17-2017 and is entitled "Trump's Critical Cuba Policy" and it was well written by two brave journalists, Paul D. Eaton and David L. McGinnis.

      Thanks to President Obama, Jose Ramon Cabanas is Cuba's first Ambassador to the United States since 1961. Shown above speaking to the Detroit Economic Club, Jose is well-respected in the United States. In a Tweet this week Jose noted that "American visitors are up 145% and Cuban-American visitors are up 46% this year." Last year, thanks to Obama, Cuba exceeded 4 million tourists for the first time. But the avalanche of airplane and cruise traffic from the U. S. is straining Cuba's capacity to accommodate the deluge although efforts, including new or renovated 5-star hotels, are underway to meet the demand. And thanks to Obama, major U. S. companies have invested heavily in Cuba and that includes...Google, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Lines, 9 U. S. airlines, etc., etc. Also, American-based Airbnb says its "fastest growing rental market" is in...Cuba.

       America's new Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, is a huge supporter of normalizing trade between the United States and Cuba, and he strongly promoted that issue as Governor of Georgia when he led a trade mission to Cuba. The Sonny Perdue photo above was included in the above Tweet posted by Jose Ramon Cabanas to highlight Sonny Perdue's fervent efforts to persuade Congressional lawmakers and his new boss, President Trump, to "quit hurting Americans and open up trade with the island nation." 

Cuba has lots of sun, sand, socialism and convertibles.

Everybody knows the way to Revolutionary Cuba.
That, of course, includes China.

         This week -- May 18th, 2017 -- the Editorial Board at the New York Times used the above graphic to illustrate a powerful editorial entitled: "China's Trillion-Dollar Foreign Policy." Yes, China has a trillion dollars to invest in what the Times says is a "disciplined and relentless" effort to influence other nations. The U. S., meanwhile, has a $20 trillion debt, much of it owed to China. China is investing some of its trillion-dollar disposal arsenal in Cuba but most of it goes to larger countries, as the Times points out, such as Pakistan and all across Asia and Africa. It currently is finishing up an ultra-modern and multi-billion-dollar railroad across Africa, for example. The Times said Chinese money is capable "of lifting millions of people out of poverty and stabilizing poor nations." China's current investments in little Cuba would not have to match the money poured into Pakistan, Africa, etc., but with far less it is "capable" of "stabilizing" Cuba's economy, which has been embargoed for over half-a-century by counter-revolutionary U. S. elements bent on changing and re-dominating the pugnacious Caribbean island. As the Times indicates, the U. S. doesn't have a trillion dollars of investment money set aside to keep up with China but it also doesn't need to "default" to China by continuing huge political mistakes -- and none are huger than its endless embargo and other cruel stupidities aimed at Cuba at the direction of a handful of miscreants who could care less how it harms the U. S. international reputation, as illustrated by the current 191-to-0 condemnation in the United Nations of America's Cuban policy. "Defaulting" Cuba to China or Russia is not in America's best interests, especially with Cuba next-door to the U. S. and far from China and Russia. While Cuba may at the moment be on the Trumpian back-burner, Chinese and Russian politicians-investors are anxious to fill the huge vacuum.

      Americans need to know the ongoing impact this photo has on U.S.-Cuban relations as former President Obama's peaceful and sane Cuban overtures have yet to be overturned by current President Trump. This week USA Today explained what this photo means: "Itching to visit Havana? There's a new way to get there from the USA that's quick, easy and affordable. A cruise from Miami on the Norwegian Sky. Earlier this month, the 2,004-passenger Norwegian Sky began the first weekly sailings to the Cuban capital from the Port of Miami with fares starting around $600 per person. The four-night trip includes two full days in Havana."

The Norwegian Sky on its Miami-to-Havana trip.

         Over 90 photos this week for USA Today by superb photographers Michel Verdura and Gene Sloan take you aboard and inside the ultra-luxurious Norwegian Sky that will sail you to Cuba for an "affordable" 4-day experience. This twin stairway is mind-and-eye boggling as are other Norwegian Sky features such as its swimming pool, basketball court, bedrooms, dining areas, refreshment bars, stunning accommodations for both window-views and deck-views, etc., on the voyage to and from Cuba.

And by the way:

        This is the beautiful entrance to Santiago de Cuba, the former Cuban capital and today Cuba's second largest city. Located on the southeastern tip of the alligator-shaped island, Santiago de Cuba especially was targeted by foreign powers almost from the day in 1492 when Columbus discovered Cuba. That's why centuries ago the fortress above was built to guard Santiago's harbor from attacking foreign warships. Today, as you can see above, the fortress and even its old cannon are still meticulously preserved.

       The Mayor of Santiago de Cuba, by the way, is Beatriz Johnson Urrutia. She is also the President of the Provincial Assembly for the important southeastern region of Cuba. Santiago de Cuba is also the birthplace of many famed liberty-loving Cuban women -- including Mariana Grajales, who was born in 1815 and was the mother of the Maceo brothers who died fighting on Cuban soil against Spanish soldiers; and Marta Rojas, the still-living Cuban Revolutionary icon. During Cuba's successful, female-powered Revolutionary War in the 1950s, the all-female Mariana Grajales Platoon featured many of the greatest guerrilla fighters. Much of Revolutionary Cuba today is female-powered. Mayor Johnson Urrutia on Mothers Day -- May 14, 2017 -- laid a floral wreath at the grave of Mariana Grajales in Santiago de Cuba's very historic Ifigenia Cemetery.

        The 48-year-old Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, the Mayor of Santiago de Cuba, is a strong believer in political meetings like the one shown above. They allow everyday citizens to give their input, including complaints, about things that affect their lives. With support from Cubans like these, Beatriz Johnson received 92% of the votes for the coveted regional position of President of the Provincial Assembly.

       And now this photo takes you to the entrance of Havana Harbor on Cuba's northeastern tip. Havana, now the Cuban capital and the island's largest city, also treasures its old fortress just as Santiago de Cuba does. Shown above, El Morro Castle tried for centuries to defend Havana from foreign invaders. As with the Santiago de Cuba fortress on the other end of the island, El Morro to this day is meticulously preserved in Havana, complete with the cannon. In fact, if you visit Havana there is something you need to know about those cannon: At precisely 9:00 P. M. each night cannon-fire from El Morro will blast off and shock uninformed visitors. But it is only a very peaceful and symbolic reminder that Revolutionary Cuba is still on guard.

El Morro cannon-fire at 9:00 PM each night in Havana.

Harmless, symbolic and a tourist attraction.

        This map shows you the locations of those two old fortresses on each end of the alligator-shaped island of Cuba -- La Habana in the northwest and Santiago in the southeast of the intriguing and enigmatic island. And this map shows Cuba's plethora of key tourist attractions that include the gorgeous Coco and Largo cays off the main island as well as Cuba's second largest island, the Isle of Youth {Juventud}.

And speaking of a fast-changing Cuba:

Photo courtesy of St. Lawrence Parish Bulletin.

        For the first time in 60 years, a Catholic Church is being built in Cuba in the western town of Sandino. It is being funded by a parish in Tampa, Florida. The church will be "The Divine Mercy of Sandino" and it will be led by Father Cirilo Castro.

       This map shows in red the location of Sandino, which has a population of 39,250 on the absolute western tip of Cuba. It is in the beautiful Pinar del Rio Province.

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