Just Check Today's Headlines!!
Whether you speak Spanish or English or both...and whether you are an American, a Cuban-American, OR BOTH...you cannot deny that the Caribbean island of Cuba says a lot more about the superpower United States than it says about Cuba. That is particularly true since 1898 {the Spanish-American War}, since 1952 {the year the U. S. sicced the Mafia on Cuba}, and since 1959 {the year the Cuban Revolution chased the Batista-Mafia dictatorship in Havana to its new capital -- Little Havana in Miami}.
Any unbiased American or Cuban-American, I believe, will agree with the theme of this essay if they take time to explore the historic and topical relations between the superpower United States and the nearby Caribbean island of Cuba. FOR EXAMPLE, this is the first weekend in August of 2018 -- going on two years since the decent Democratic and Cuba-friendly Obama presidency in the U. S. was replaced by the indecent Republican and Batistiano-friendly Trump administration. Explore the top three headlines today {August 4th, 2018} that result from a Google search of the word "Cuba." Those top three headlines today, along with their media sources, are:
#One
"Cuba Invites Exiles To Take Part In Debate For Proposed Changes To Island's Constitution." {The top headline today in the Miami Herald}.
#Two
"Democratic Governor Says Cuba Has Better Health Care Than U. S." {The top headline today in Newsweek Magazine; and, by the way, the Governor in question is the respected Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut}.
#Three
"Senator Bernie Sanders Smitten With Cuba's Health Care." {The top headline today on the Townhall website}.
The aforementioned Miami Herald article was illustrated by the above photo, which shows a demonstration by Counter Revolutionary Cuban-Americans in front of the Versailles Restaurant in the heart of Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. In contrast to its one-sided photo, it's a fair and balanced article written by Nora Gamez Torres.
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Unlike the cowardly mainstream U. S. media that is afraid of the Batistianos, Miami Herald journalists such as Nora Gamez Torres have recently, in the Trump era, written a series of important articles that actually provide both sides of the two-sided U.S.-Cuban conundrum. Thus, the aforementioned Miami Herald article today is well worth reading because it was written by Nora Gamez Torres, a truly excellent journalist.
And the aforementioned Newsweek article today is also worth reading because it centers on a very brave U. S. politician, Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut, daring to say that Cuba's health care is better than America's because it universally cares for all Cubans equally while America's health care, the world's most expensive, caters to extremely rich Americans and to how much money extremely rich capitalists can make off of health care. So, indeed, the Newsweek article today is well worth reading.
But the aforementioned Townhall article was written by Humberto Fontova and that means is it not worth reading unless you happen to be seriously addicted to Counter Revolutionary anti-Cuban propaganda, such as Mr. Fontova is spewing out in the above video. Therein lies a serious dilemma in the U. S. since 1959 for both totally innocent Cubans, Americans, and Cuban-Americans. Townhall is a lavishly funded media source in Washington that is a typical right-wing propaganda outfit that sullies the descending reputation of the overall U. S. media. In that milieu for decades well-heeled Counter Revolutionary anti-Cuban authors-writers-speakers across the USA landscape -- such as Mr. Fontova -- have lucratively spouted their Cuban venom without any concern about being questioned about either their ideology or their motives. This, I believe, has harmed the U. S. democracy far more than it has harmed Revolutionary Cuba, which...in fact...has, to a degree, been aided by it.
Meanwhile, in Havana today the capital building is still standing and, incredibly, sovereign and revolutionary rule on the island has prevailed...against all odds...since January of 1959, incredibly reshaping BOTH little Cuba and big America IN EQUALLY LARGE DOSES. And, as the aforementioned Miami Herald article points out today, Cuba on August 4th, 2018, has a new non-Castro President AND a newly drafted constitution that very surprisingly "welcomes input from Cuban exiles" including Counter Revolutionary zealots in Miami's vehement Little Havana neighborhood.
Cuba's new President Miguel Diaz-Canel was born after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, and he is the island's former Education Minister.
Everyday Cubans on the island are very fond of their new President, Miguel Diaz-Canel. While the mainstream U. S. media doesn't have the courage to report such things about Cuba, the Miami Herald, incredibly, does have such courage.
Cuban-born Fabiola Santiago since 1980 has been a key journalist at the Miami Herald. I have often criticized her for her fierce anti-Cuban articles. But she is a journalist and not a propagandist. Today she is the Miami Herald's top columnist and its Editorial chief. Recently she has had the courage and the integrity to suggest that, in the Trump era, if the United States is willing to talk with leaders like Kim in North Korea and Putin in Russia THAN the U. S. should have the guts and the decency to talk with Cuba's Miguel Diaz-Canel, whom Ms. Santiago suggests is a more decent person than Kim, Putin, OR Trump. AND ALSO, as the top journalist at the Miami Herald, the Cuban-born Fabiola Santiago has strongly criticized President Trump for his gutless anointment of Miami's self-serving U. S. Senator Marco Rubio as America's latest Cuban dictator. And you know what? I admire integrity and courage. Thus, I admire Fabiola Santiago whether or not I always agree with her, and I often don't.
In other words, the top Cuban-American journalist in Miami {Fabiola Santiago} and I agree that having Marco Rubio as today's U.S.-backed dictator of Cuba in Washington is no better than having the Mafia-aligned Fulgencio Batista as the 1950's U.S.-backed dictator of Cuba in Cuba. I say that as a democracy-loving American who has come to admire Fabiola Santiago at the Miami Herald as a democracy-loving Cuban-American who, even in anti-Cuba-infested Miami, has the integrity and courage to write the truth about America's most lied-about topic, CUBA!!!
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