Cuba Facing Hurricanes

Natural and Man-Made!
{Updated: Thursday.-Sept. 7, 2017}

      The fierce Hurricane Irma is blasting the Caribbean and it is projected to slam into the eastern two-thirds of Cuba early Saturday morning. Irma is the strongest hurricane ever to come out of the Atlantic Ocean and Florida Governor Scott says it will cause more damage than when Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida 25 years ago. An updated projection says Irma might skirt just the northern edges of Cuba and not harm Havana or the western third of the island as it veers to the northeast.

     Using the above graphic, Cuba's outstanding broadcast journalist Rosy Amaro Perez is warning every Cuban on the very vulnerable island: "Al tanto del huracan! Pelilgro para Cuba!" -- "Aware of the hurricane! Danger for Cuba!" Indeed, Hurricane Irma is aiming its fury at Cuba, an island that historically has encountered more than its share of hurricanes -- natural hurricanes and, of course, man-made hurricanes.

    Later in this month of September in the year of 2017, U. S. President Trump is scheduled to outline his administration's "Cuba Policy" although his plate seems to be full with such things as a potential war in the Korean Peninsula and a powerful mainstream U. S. media that seems determined to carry out an electronic coup that would end the Trump presidency, which is now trying to survive Year One of his elected 4-year term. The AP photo above was taken on April 16th in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood where Trump, addressing the visceral anti-Cuban choir, blistered Cuba verbally and vowed to "reverse" former President Obama's historically decent overtures to the island. Trump in April signed away some of Obama's Cuban policies but let it be known his primary Cuban assaults would be studied and announced "soon" -- presumably now this month of September. Trump's White House in Washington is very crowded with foxes in his hen-house, bitter Republican enemies led by presidential wannabe Marco Rubio, the U. S. Senator from Miami's Little Havana. Rubio, pressuring Trump to annihilate Revolutionary Cuba, is currently -- as shown above -- patting Trump on the back while it appears his main aim is to stab Trump in the back to expedite his own control of the Republican Party -- meaning the White House, which would also mean Rubio's secondary priority, which is to dictate to Cuba, would be firmly within his grasp. However, Trump at the moment is one obstacle for Rubio because the business instincts embedded in Trump's psyche restrain him from handing over Cuba to self-serving counter-revolutionaries like Rubio. After the Obama-orchestrated openings, thousands of top American businesses -- including Google, Marriott Hotels, airlines, cruise lines, every U. S. Farm Bureau, and all nearby U. S. and Florida ports -- have strong desires to continue to expand business ties with Cuba. Also, more pertinent than whatever Trump decides is the young-adult generation of Cubans on the island, epitomized by influential young broadcast anchors and leaders Cristina Escobar and Rosy Amaro Perez.

       In Cuba but also on United States soil in Washington, Alabama, and California, Cuba's brilliant broadcast journalist Cristina Escobar has boldly stated: "Cuba's fate is up to Cubans on the island, not Cubans in Miami and Washington." Her doctrine is supported by several million other young-adult Cubans, the generation that is determined that the post-Castro rule of Cuba is not dictated to the island by the likes of Little Havana's and Congress's Marco Rubio. Rubio is still backed by Helms-Burton's incredibly legal Congressional laws that since the 1980s have been crafted and supported by Miami-based counter-revolutionaries to empower and enrich them while also destroying Revolutionary Cuba; also, now that Obama is America's ex-President, Rubio assumes another Republican President, Trump, will help him carry out the Helms-Burton premise. But the Cristina Escobar doctrine on the island is, at the moment, a powerful factor.

       Following in the footsteps of Cristina Escobar, Rosy Amaro Perez is also an influential, brilliant, and high-profile broadcast journalist who believes fervently in the island's hard-earned sovereignty. Rosy, like most young-adult Cubans, watched live on Cuban television U. S. President Trump's blistering anti-Cuban speech delivered in Miami to the counter-revolutionaries on April 16th. Then, as a key spokesperson for her generation, Rosy posted these words on her Facebook page: "The Cuba that President Trump described is not the Cuba I know, and I've lived here all my life." Her statement had instant resonance. Quickly, for example, Cristina Escobar replied on Facebook: "May I quote you?" Of course, Rosy is not shy about being quoted...nor is she about to be intimidated by Trump's rhetoric or Rubio's belligerence. Oh, yes, both Rosy and Cristina are underdogs with Rubio hiding behind the skirts of the world's superpower, but Cuba has been a distinct underdog every day since January 1-1959...and it's still right there in the Caribbean free of imperialist domination.

        This is Rosy Amaro Perez, a potent young-adult Cuban who is not bent-out-of-shape about being an underdog on her island against the awesome might of Rubio and Trump. All her life Rosy has relished living in Cuba and she has flourished.  

Rosy's mother holding baby Rosy.

Growing up in Cuba, Rosy Amara Perez.

Now grown up, Rosy Amaro Perez.

Now Rosy Amaro Perez has a lookalike daughter.

Mom-daughter in lookalike dresses.

      This photo was taken by Rosy Amaro Perez in this first week of September, 2017. That's Rosy's daughter in the colorful hat reclining against her grandmother as she appears to be checking her latest online updates. Rosy attached this caption to the photo: "Me encanta cuando abuela y bebe se juntan e intentan arreglar el mundo" -- "I love when grandma and baby get together and try to fix the world." Rosy, who has lived in Revolutionary Cuba all her life, said she does not recognize the Cuba that President Trump described on April 16th when he spoke before counter-revolutionaries in a theater named for a Cuban-American Bay of Pigs attacker in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. Rosy's view of Cuba from inside Cuba is, I think, far more honest than views outside of Cuba as espoused by counter-revolutionaries or by Republican U. S. Presidents who feel they are beholden to the counter-revolutionaries as opposed to the vast majority of Cuban-Americans, including those in Miami, who favor normal relations with the nearby island.

       As a brilliant young broadcast journalist and television anchor, Rosy Amaro Perez is a highly educated, talented, and high-profile leader of Cuba's young-adult generation that is determined to predicate Cuba's future. The alternative, which is a Cuban future dictated by factors off the island, such as in Miami or Washington, is anathema to Rosy and to millions of other like-minded Cubans of her generation. Considering the wealth and power of nearby counter-revolutionaries, Rosy and her generation of Cubans are still distinct underdogs but they remain undeterred. I often use photos of Rosy or by Rosy. When I asked her for permission, she replied in English, "My photos are your photos too." I think they are important photos because I think they accurately reflect the rhythms and pulses of what is taking place on the island. Rooting for Rosy as opposed to, say, Rubio, is a no-brainer. Rosy loves Cuba and most Cubans know her well and, therefore, love her.

Rosy is an excellent anchor and interviewer.

Rosy also interviews everyday Cubans.

Rosy encourages and trains would-be Rosys.

       Being Cuban, Rosy loves concerts and baseball games. While she was intently watching this baseball game, the patient and motherly Rosy allowed her daughter to entertain herself by playing with her mother's hair. This photo was included with others that showed the hair fashioned into braids and ponytails.

Rosy with friends at a concert in Havana.

{Rosy loves John Legend's music too.}

Rosy on assignment in colonial Trinidad.

 A Rosy paparazzi-type photo seaside in Trinidad.

Rosy, a live report from the Cuban General Assembly.

     If Rosy Amaro Perez keeps smiling, Rubio's quest to persuade Trump to put Cuba back under the imperialist umbrella of the United States will be an ongoing process.

Meanwhile:

         Another projection of Hurricane Irma as it bears down on both Cuba and South Florida. It's due to arrive in both areas Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8th & 9th, 2017.

Photo courtesy of Al Diaz/Miami Herald.

      The two young Cuban men above are using the free WiFi hook-up outside Estadio Latina Americano. Cuba's ISP-Internet Service Provider is ETECSA, which uses the technology of China's Huawei. Young-adult Cubans are very, very inquisitive.

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