Yes, There Is Some!!
Since the victorious Cuban Revolution in January of 1959 chased the Batista-Mafia dictatorship to its new headquarters in South Florida, primarily the Little Havana region of Miami, journalists in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave have been, with few exceptions, induced to cater to a Cuban narrative dictated by ultra-powerful Counter-Revolutionary Cubans. The two prime exceptions, of course, were Emilio Milian, the Cuban-American newsman in Miami, and Jim DeFede, the former top columnist for the Miami Herald. When Emilio and Jim bravely criticized deadly Miami-related terrorist acts against totally innocent Cubans -- such as the bombing of the civilian Cubana Flight 455 -- Emilio was car-bombed and Jim was fired. Afterward, cowered American citizens were persuaded not to research or Google those names or events but to pusillanimously accept whatever the Counter-Revolutionary extremists told them to accept. Yet, despite the grave undemocratic warnings administered to Emilio Milian and Jim DeFede, there have...from time to time...been superb journalists in South Florida who have had both the courage and the integrity to report the truth about Cuba whether it happened to be in negative or positive lights or somewhere in between. Arlene Satchell is one such journalist in South Florida and therefore, I believe, Americans have a right to know about her fair, excellent and balanced reporting about Cuba.
As an excellent journalist with the Orlando Sun-Sentinel, Arlene Satchell is not about to be told or coerced into writing only anti-Cuba articles about a nearby island that she knows so well. Her August 4-2017 article was entitled: "New Trump Cuba Policy Is Actually Fueling Business." Her analysis expertly provided a fair and balanced assessment of President Trump's Cuban policy as opposed to that of former President Barack Obama's. Ms. Satchell wrote: "Americans still have an appetite for Cuba even as some travel and business avenues will disappear in the coming months under President Donald Trump's more restricting policies toward Havana. South Florida and other Cuba travel specialists canvassed this week said business remains strong as they await the final terms of new rules of engagement expected from Washington, possibly in September."
A top executive at Paragon Events, Ampa Manzella has for years been one of the most knowledgeable Travel Agents in Palm Beach County, Florida. She told Arlene Satchell in that Orlando Sun-Sentinel article: "So far, it's been a big benefit for us. There is more Cuban business coming in." That was Ampa Manzella's astute and updated assessment of the transition from Obama-to-Trump regarding commerce with Cuba, at least leading up to Trump's new rules of engagement due sometime in September of 2017.
In South Florida the smartest and fairest lawyer when it comes to U.S.-Cuban relations is Pedro Freyre. He is a product of the University of Miami Law School and a force as a member of the Cuban-American Bar Association. Being a brave journalist, Arlene Satchell asked Pedro Freyre for his assessment to date of the Obama-to-Trump transition as it affects dealings with Cuba. He replied, "The good news is we now have the general lay of the land and a snapshot of the policy going forward. The next shoe to drop will be the new regulations." Pedro Freyre also expects that "next shoe to drop" next month, in September, when America's very controversial President, Mr. Trump, is expected to release his new guidelines regarding Cuba.
As with travel expert Ampa Manzella, Miami's ultra-powerful Cuban-American lawyer Pedro Freyre represents the viewpoints of the vast majority of Cuban-Americans in Miami who desire normal relations with Cuba. However, for decades only a handful of the most vicious Counter-Revolutionary Cuban-Americans have dictated America's Cuban policies in both Miami and Washington. As Pedro Freyre well knows, only the very brave and democracy-minded administration of President Barack Obama sliced deeply into that undemocratic approach to Cuba, an approach currently condemned by a 191-to-0 vote in the United Nations. However, Pedro Freyre and most of the other fairer-minded Cuban-Americans in Miami await President Trump's upcoming regulatory positions on Cuba, due in September, and many fear that those guidelines will be dictated by a handful of Counter-Revolutionary zealots, including 4 Cuban-American members of the U. S. Congress from Miami. While most Cuban-Americans in Miami like Pedro Freyre favor normal relations with Cuba, their views are not represented by the politics of Miami and Congress. Meanwhile, as above, Pedro Freyre is often the first person in Miami that brave journalists as well as Global Business interests go to when they want some truth, and not just propaganda, about Cuba.
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And that brings me back to Arlene Satchell. Her newspaper, the Orlando Sun-Sentinel, allows her to report fairly regarding Cuba, which is an extremely important topic -- especially in South Florida. But just south of Orlando I don't believe, in either its English or Spanish editions, the Miami Herald will allow its reporters to report fairly about Cuba even if those journalists were of a mind to. And that, to me, speaks volumes about how a small band of Cuban Counter-Revolutionaries have been allowed to harm one of the greatest pillars of the American democracy -- Journalism. And that, I believe, is why superb journalists like Arlene Satchell should be applauded and appreciated in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
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