YES, CUBA IS STILL STANDING

And It Might Survive Rubio & Trump!!
{Updated for: Wednesday, Nov. 22nd, 2017}

Photo courtesy of: Al Diaz/Miami Herald.

      The photo above was used this week -- Nov. 20th-2017 -- to illustrate an insightful and well-balanced article in the Miami Herald written by Mimi Whitefield. It is entitled: "Yes, You Can Still Travel to Cuba -- But Make Sure You Know the Rules." The photo shows a street in Havana with backed-up traffic mainly consisting of old vintage American cars from the 1950s. Ms. Whitefield wrote: "In the five months since President Donald Trump appeared in Miami and said he was reversing all of President Barack Obama's Cuba policies...a devastating hurricane raked Cuba's north coast, and the U. S. State Department issued a warning against traveling to Cuba. Some people just scratched the island off their list as a potential destination."

    The next three informative photos from this week's Mimi Whitefield article were taken by Emily Michot for the Miami Herald. This one shows the Carnival Cruise Lines Paradise arriving at Havana Harbor. Ms. Whitefield pointed out that the latest harsh sanctions against Cuba announced on Nov. 9th by the Trump administration have, as usual, resulted in U.S.-based groups -- Cuba One Foudation, Insight Cuba, etc. -- reacting positively on behalf of Cuba and keen American business interests.

     This Emily Michot photo shows a worker sweeping up at the Five-Star Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski in Old Havana. On November 9th-2017 the new Rubio-Trump rules made it illegal for Americans to stay at this 5-Star gem and other Cuban hotels. But they're available for Canadians, Mexicans, and citizens of ALL OTHER nations who have the freedom to travel to Cuba to judge it freely for themselves.

      This Emily Michot photo shows Niuris Higueras, a feisty Cuban woman, hugging her daughter Ysabella. Thanks to decent overtures from former President Barack Obama, Niuris opened this splendid restaurant and it thrived, making money for Niuris and the other Cubans who worked for her. But the Nov. 9th rulings by Rubio-Trump coupled with the U. S. State Department's warning to Americans not to visit Cuba severely hurt Niuris's business, but it has recovered somewhat. And now Niuris and dozens of other private entrepreneurs have fired off a letter to Senator Marco Rubio in Washington inviting him to come to Cuba and meet with them and then maybe Rubio might not be so emphatic about hurting innocent Cubans in the age-old guise of hurting -- seeking revenge -- ON THE CASTROS. Mr. Rubio has had time to respond to that letter but as of this week he has not done so. Meanwhile, decent Cubans on the island like Niuris are trying desperately to support their families despite Rubio and Trump targeting them from the Superpower United States.

     The extraordinary back-patting {or back-stabbing?} influence Miami's dangerously ambitious United States Senator Marco Rubio now has on his former dire enemy in the 2016 Republican presidential race, President Trump, is in 2017 reminiscent of the extraordinary influence vehement Counter Revolutionary Luis Posada Carriles had on President Nixon and vehement Counter Revolutionary Jorge Mas Canosa had on the Bush economic-presidential dynasty. Similarly, Senator Rubio's economic & political bread is buttered by extraordinarily wealthy Counter Revolutionary Cubans in Miami as well as at least three right-wing American billionaires. The Nixon-Carriles and Bush-Canosa alliances thrived economically and politically without hindrance from American citizens, so the Rubio-Trump nexus can assume, I believe, that, regarding Cuba, continued apathy or cowardice from U. S. citizens will enable them to punish two very precious entities: {1} Innocent Cubans on the island like Niuris Higueras and her daughter Ysabella and {2} America's reputation around the world.

And meanwhile:

      This photo, taken yesterday, shows that Cubans on the island will continue to be Cubans, and that means their love for such things as music can't be denied by Rubio & Trump. This photo was taken by a music fan at a concert who is also a fan of the photogenic music-lover Rosy Amaro Perez who was momentarily distracted from concentrating on the stage. She is a popular and talented television news anchor on the island, so her appearances at two of her favorite venues -- concerts and baseball games -- sometime upstage the performers and the athletes. The photographer this time was rewarded with a beguiling and beautiful smile from Rosy Amaro Perez.

     This photo shows Rosy Amaro Perez at that concert this week gazing off to the right of the stage at some distraction. Whatever she does is important, I believe, because it serves as a microcosm of what is happening in Cuba day-by-day even as ultra-powerful Counter Revolutionaries in Miami and Washington try omnipotently to reclaim the island. Rosy's own home was damaged by the recent devastating hurricane BUT she also has to be cognizant of the man-made hurricanes hurled daily at her island from Washington. Back on April 16 the observant Rosy watched a live telecast of President Trump excoriating Cuba during his speech before the Counter Revolutionary choir in Miami's Little Havana section. Then Rosy immediately posted this comment on her Facebook page: "The Cuba that President Trump described is not the Cuba I know. And I've lived here all my life."

         In other words, when Americans are inundated with comments about Cuba from the likes of Senator Rubio or President Trump, two Counter Revolutionaries who have never been to Cuba, I believe Americans should also consider the comments of Cubans on the island...like the aforementioned entrepreneur Niuris Higueras and like...Rosy Amaro Perez. I assume Rosy is smarter than Rubio and Trump and I know damn well she knows more about Cuba than they do. Remember, she has lived there all her life and she'd rather that foreigners not reclaim it as their piggy-bank.

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