Cuba Weeps for Venezuela

As the Crisis Deepens!!

      The maelstrom currently unfolding in Venezuela has regional and international consequences, none of them positive. The specter of an important nation that has great natural resources, including the world's largest oil reserves, not having enough food to feed its people nor having enough medicine to care for its people is alarming. The pros and cons of this devastation is being debated mostly by self-serving entities, not by rational and unbiased sources. But that's the world we now live in.

      If and when the unsustainable Nicolas Maduro rule of Venezuela ends, the inevitability of a bloody Civil War is almost certain...essentially pitting a few million poor Venezuelans who support Maduro against a few million rich Venezuelans who detest him. Then, as in all chaotic Civil Wars, the most innocent millions caught in the middle are the ones who suffer the most. In Venezuela's agonizing case, the outside foreign supporters of a coup, whether somewhat justified or not, constitutes the prime guarantee of what might well be an impending and very bloody Civil War.

      This photo illustrates precisely what I mean. It shows former Mexican President Vicente Fox in Venezuela leading an anti-Maduro street protest. Mr. Fox and other foreign self-proclaimed democracy lovers should stay home and keep their mouths shut. Venezuelans in Venezuela, not Venezuelans in Miami and not Venezuelans backed by foreigners, should predicate the present and the future of their nation.

       The updated photo of Vicente Fox in Venezuela supporting a regime change reminds Latin Americans of the photo above, which shows Mexican President Vicente Fox shaking hands on a farm in Texas with American President George W. Bush. The updated photo of Fox in Venezuela and this older photo of Fox in Texas intersect with Latin American memories of U.S.-backed regime-change coups from 1953 in Guatemala till 1973 in Chile, Latin American disasters that, in Chile for example, replaced a decent democratically elected President, Allende, with an extremely murderous but U.S.-friendly dictator, Pinochet. But even more than the Guatemalan and Chilean coups, the photo above is a vivid reminder to Latin Americans of a briefly bloody coup in Venezuela in 2002. INCREDIBLY, many of the very same foreign players in Venezuela's 2002 coup are major players in the current regime-change taking place in Venezuela now in this bloody summer of 2017.

      Since 1952 Cuban extremists have played huge roles in almost everyone of America's darkest moments involving Latin American. 1952 was the year that right-wingers in the Eisenhower administration, such as ultra-powerful Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, sicced the Mafia on Cuba so rich Americans could partake of the Cuban spoils. Decades later it would be revealed that Mr. Dulles and his omnipotent brother Allen, Ike's CIA Director, both had financial ties to the infamous United Fruit Company, which Latin Americans to this day remember as the symbol of America's regime-change rampages from the early 1950s extending to the 1970s and 1980s.

     With Allen Dulles the CIA Director in the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s, America for the first time became "a secret government." Therefore such things as teaming with the Mafia in Cuba and overthrowing a wildly popular democratic government in Chile to install the murderous U.S.-friendly Pinochet for 17 years was beyond the realm of U. S. citizens, the custodians of their truly great democracy.

      In the 1950s Americans rightly "LIKED IKE" and twice elected him President. As a five-star General he had led the allies to an absolutely necessary victory over massive evils in World War II, which also left the U. S. as the world's superpower starting in 1945. But the old, tired and malleable Ike was unable to prevent his key associates -- such as Nixon, the Dulles brothers, etc. -- from infusing the U. S. government with a dark "secret government" that preyed on much weaker nations.

      The eerie photo above, to this very day, defines much of the darkness America, Cuba, and Latin America have suffered from the 1950s till the present day. In 1960 a young, brilliant, but naive John F. Kennedy succeeded Eisenhower as President of the United States. Unfortunately, he inherited the "secret government. Thus, starting on January 20-1960, his first day in office, Kennedy inherited the "secret government's" plans to recapture Cuba. The photo above highlights that fact by showing Kennedy's inherited CIA Director, Allen Dulles, walking right behind him. Thus Kennedy, in the early months of his presidency, diligently followed through on massive plans against Revolutionary Cuba, starting with condoning CIA-Mafia continuous assassination attempts against Fidel Castro. And then in April of 1961 Kennedy allowed the CIA-directed Bay of Pigs air-land-and-see attack on Cuba after the CIA assured him that Cubans would rise up against Castro "the moment they know our bombs are dropping on Havana." But the Bay of Pigs debacle merely enhanced Castro's revolutionary legend. It and other factors also later caused Kennedy to scream loudly in the Oval Office, "If I could I would blow the CIA to smithereens!!" By the fall of 1963, the popular President Kennedy was no longer naive about America's "secret government." In the second week of November in 1963, assured of being elected to a second term within the next year, President Kennedy told Pierre Salinger, Author Schlesinger Jr., and other top aides, "As soon as I get back from Dallas, our main priority will be to normalize relations with Cuba." Of course, history registers the saddest of all facts: On Nov. 22-1963 Kennedy returned from Dallas in a coffin.

      With the assassination of President Kennedy right after he had unveiled the secrets of America's "secret government," conservative and right-wing U. S. administrations teamed with anti-Castro Cuban extremists to restore even darker secrets. The photo above illustrates that point. It shows President Ronald Reagan meeting with Otto Reich, an anti-Castro zealot born in Havana 71 years ago who, to this very day, remains one of Cuba's and Venezuela's biggest enemies.

      While the two-term Reagan presidency in the 1980s involved extreme right-wing scandals such as Iran-Contra and numerous regime-change schemes, it was Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, who permanently aligned the U. S. government with only the most radical Cuban exiles. That started, although long denied, in the 1950s when Bush, an acclaimed World War II pilot, had tight CIA connections even as he was most noted and publicized for being a Texas oilman. In 1976, Bush's only year as CIA Director, such atrocities as the Cuban-exile related terrorist bombing of the civilian Cuban Flight 455 airplane and even shocking Cuban-Pinochet murders within sound of the White House occurred one after the other. Then as Reagan's two-term Vice President and his own one-term presidency, Bush emphatically boosted the political and economic powers of the most extremist Cubans. That, of course, included Otto Reich who is shown above shaking hands with George H. W. Bush.

       After riding the coattails of CIA Director-Vice President-and-President George H. W. Bush, the Bush dynasty made a two-term President out of George W. Bush. That was yet another Godsend for the Cuban extremists as the photo above, showing Bush with Otto Reich, illustrates. Bush President #2...incredibly and unconscionably...shocked Latin America and every democracy-loving U. S. politician by naming Reich Assistant Secretary in Charge of Western Hemisphere Affairs. It was a Recess Appointment, which meant that Reich could serve for a short period without having to be confirmed by the Senate, which would never have happened. But the "short period" fulfilled the fears of every Latin American nation that knew Reich would target Cuba AND Cuba's closest ally, Venezuela. So no Latin American nation was surprised that on April 11, 2002, a bloody coup in Caracas overturned, in favor of a Reich-friendly regime, the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, one of the Latin American leaders who most idolized Fidel Castro. Cheers famously filled the White House in Washington when word came that the coup was successful. But within hours fierce street demonstrations led by a feisty lady named Lina Ron restored Chavez to power hours after Miami's and Washington's favorite Venezuelan President had assumed office fully believing that Washington had more leverage in Venezuela than millions of Venezuelans like Lina Ron. Of course, with Americans unaware or unconcerned about "the secret" U. S. government, no one connected to the Bush dynasty nor the Cuban-exile extremists have ever been held accountable for such things as Venezuela's very brief and very embarrassing coup in 2002. Thus, Bush's Recess Appointment of Reich has never remotely harmed the American reputations of either the Bush dynasty or Cuban extremists like Reich, who today at 71 remains a powerful and very rich Cuban counter-revolutionary.

       The son of George H. W. Bush and the brother of George W. Bush, Jeb Bush still has high hopes of being U. S. President too. And, as you can see by the list above, Jeb's next presidential bid in 2020 will not only be backed again, as it was in 2016, by billions of Bush-related dollars AND by the Bush-dynasty/Cuban-extremists of the past...starting, as you can see, with Lincoln Diaz-Balart, the Havana-born anti-Castro zealot in Miami whose father was a key Minister in the Batista dictatorship and then a rich anti-Castro Miami militant. The other names above include anti-Cuba extremists such as Otto Reich, Roger Noriega, Paul Goss, Paul Wolfowitz, etc., still pushing to put another Bush in the White House -- if not Jeb than Jeb's ambitious son George P. Bush who is already a power in Texas politics. But Jeb now is closely monitoring the precarious Trump presidency prior to the 2020 election. Jeb, of course, served two terms as the Batistiano-beloved Governor of Florida, where he solidified his standing with Little Havana extremists in Miami by asking his father, then the President, to pardon Orlando Bosch who will always be remembered, along with Luis Posada Carriles, as one of the two most infamous Cuban-American terrorists in Miami.

       Since the 1950s, as this Time Magazine cover attests, the U. S. democracy has been unable to hold anti-democratic miscreants accountable for their misdeeds involving Latin American nations. Oliver North is an example. The 14 individuals pardoned in one lump by the Bush dynasty is another. In fact, as North proved, unpunished notoriety and the celebrity that follows can lead to fame and fortune. For years at Fox News, etc., North has raked in acclaim and wealth. But any Google search will tell of vast problems related to such immense scandals as Iran-Contra arms and drug sales involving U. S. military bases and airplanes when North was, of course, tightly aligned with top-echelon Bush-connected Cubans.

     Not surprisingly, one of the fiercest anti-Maduro opposition leaders in strife-torn Venezuela today is Maria Corina Machado. She was one of the key leaders of the Bush/Reich-related coup against Maduro's mentor, President Hugo Chavez, in 2002.

       This famous photo shows Pedro Carmona assuming the Presidency in Venezuela after the April-2002 coup that had President Hugo Chavez helplessly tied naked to a chair in a windowless cell. But outside on the streets of Caracas Lina Ron was leading the revolt that would, rather quickly, restore Chavez to power. Carmona reportedly had met many times with Otto Reich prior to the coup, as documented by reliable sources. Americans interested in U.S. involvement in Venezuela in 2002 or in 2017 should Google "Venezuela Coup Linked to Bush Team" by the London-based The Guardian. Pedro Cardona, apparently Reich's hand-picked choice to be President of Venezuela, is shown above at his first victorious news conference reading off a list of coup-supporters. One key name on that list of infamy was...Maria Corina Machado.

       The briefly successful 2002 coup against Chavez has not stopped Maria Corina Machado from being a very vocal leader of the current attempt to overthrow the Maduro government, which could happen in Venezuela this month of August, 2017. I listened to Maria a few days ago in her long interview on BBC World News, which I consider by far the best source for world news from the UK to the U. S. to Cuba to Venezuela to the Korean peninsula to the volatile Middle East to Africa and elsewhere. And I fully know why, as the title of this essay indicates, "Cuba Weeps for Venezuela." But it's not up to me to decide whether Maduro, supposedly a fighter for the poor, or Maria, supposedly a fighter for the rich, should be Venezuela's leader. But one thing is sure: Nicolas Maduro loves Cuba and Maria Corina Machado hates Cuba...so that's why the Bushes and Cuban extremists hate Muduro and love Maria. 

And I do know this:

       Back in April of 2002, when she played a significant role in the coup that briefly overthrew President Chavez in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado was tightly aligned with the George W. Bush presidency, you know...the one that made that nefarious Recess Appointment that briefly put Havana-born Otto Reich in charge of "Western Hemisphere Affairs." In August of 2017 as the bloody turmoil in Venezuela is likely to get bloodier, Americans are not supposed to know the significance of the above handshake between Maria Corina Machado and President George W. Bush. But, just for the record, please understand that the enlightened people of Latin America comprehend its significance, and to them it is this: The 2002 coup against Chavez involved the Bush White House, Cuban-American extremists and Venezuelans like Maria Corina Machado. Therefore if a 2017 Civil War evolves in Venezuela, one of the causes will likely be the same nexus that fueled the 2002 coup -- namely, the Bush dynasty, counter-revolutionary Cuban-Americans, and opposition leaders like Maria Corina Machado. Meanwhile, the ugly images out of Venezuela are very real. But so are right-wingers in America today, like those aforementioned trend-setting right-wingers of the 1950s, who should but won't be held accountable for their deeds.

And by the way:    

       This is Lina Ron the way she looked in April of 2002 when she rescued Hugo Chavez and put him back in power "as my President." From the back of a flatbed truck driving around Caracas, she used a bullhorn to scream, "Coup-mongers in Miami and Washington hear me: If you do not put my President back in power within 24 hours I will lead a scorched-earth policy from Caracas to Miami to Washington!!!" Her bullhorn was attracting thousands, then millions of supporters and lots of media, and therefore her threat reached all the way to Miami and to the Bush & Reich White House in Washington. History records the fact that both Miami and Washington cut short their wild celebrations because they realized Lina Ron meant exactly what she said.

         At his first news conference after being restored to power, and after receiving the above kiss from his savior Lina Ron, President Hugo Chavez was asked, "Do you believe Lina scared coup-sponsors in Miami and Washington?" Chavez famously replied, "I absolutely do. She also scares the hell out of me sometimes when she lets me know I'm not doing enough to help the poor people of Venezuela." At age 51 in 2011 Lina Ron died unexpectedly of a heart attack. If there are "coup-sponsors" in Miami, Caracas and Washington today trying to bring about another regime change in Venezuela, hopefully there will be fighters like Lina Ron to take up for the majority poor in that oil-rich but food-and-medicine-starved nation. Lina Ron had a flamboyant flair and exceptional guts, two things her stodgy and secretive enemies lacked.

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