Much of Cuba Still Dark

 

    As Thursday turned to Friday -- Sept. 29th and 30th -- much of Cuba remains in blackouts after the passage of Hurricane Ian, as reported above by the London-based Reuters News Agency.

    In the last paragraph above, Reuters says that Cuba's power plants are old and that "The country has also struggled to obtain fuel for those plants, as costs have risen with the Ukraine conflict and amid harsh sanctions from the United States."

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"Cuba Will Negotiate With The US"

   The quotation above has made headlines on September 29th, 2022. It was made by 64-year-old Bruno Rodriguez. Since 2009 Bruno has been Cuba's Top Foreign Minister, which means he has mostly been charged with dealing with Cuba's relations with the island's Superpower northern neighbor, the United States of America. Why would he make such a headline-making statement at the close of September-2022? He is aware that the U. S. has, during the Trump & Biden presidencies, expanded its six-decade-old Embargo/Blockade that, since 1962, has intended to starve, deprive, and make miserable Cubans on the island to encourage them to rise up and overthrow their Revolutionary government, which has somehow steadfastly held on to power since January of 1959 when the Cuban Revolution somehow overthrew the powerful Batista dictatorship that was supported by the powerful Mafia, the world's strongest criminal organization, and by the United States, the world's strongest nation. Recently Bruno has noted that the U. S. has been taking bids for the purpose of paying more tax dollars to anti-Cuban sources...and this comes on the heels of devastating explosions and fires that leveled a key tourist hotel in the heart of Havana, a key power station in Matanzas 65 miles southeast of Havana, etc. Coupled with that, Cuba in recent days has been trying to emerge as best it can from the expanded Blockade, from the Pandemic, from Hurricane Ian, etc., etc. So, at the end of September-2022 it is not surprising that Cuba "IS WILLING TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE UNITED STATES."

     The Hill, as you can see above, today -- Sept. 29, 2022 -- broke the story that Cuba has decided that "It will have to negotiate with the United States." The Hill and reporter Rafael Bernal are prime political sources in Washington.

     Also, as you can see above, Ben Rhodes is the man who persuaded Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez to admit that Cuba "will have to negotiate with the US."

     Of course, as you can see from the three photos above, Ben Rhodes was the man who persuaded President Barack Obama to fly to Havana in 2016. And Ben Rhodes was the man and speech-writer that persuaded President Obama to go on nationwide radio and television in Cuba and tell the Cuban people these words: "Cuba Does Not Need To Fear A Threat From the United States." Both Obama and Rhodes sincerely meant those words on behalf of the United States. But, unfortunately, they came near the end of Obama's 8-years as President.

    And, as it happened, in January of 2017 Donald Trump replaced Obama as President of the United States; and in January of 2021 the Democrat Joe Biden replaced the Republican Trump as the U. S. President.

     In the USA's two-party political system many, including Ben Rhodes, believed the Democrat President Biden, who had been Obama's Vice President for 8 years, would return to Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba. Of course, at the end of September of 2022, people such as Ben Rhodes, as well as Bruno Rodriguez, have given up on that prospect.

      Thus, as September turns into October in 2022 the U. S. Blockade of Cuba continues...and it doesn't seem to matter what Americans such as Ben Rhodes think about it.

    But let it be known that on September 29th of 2022 Ben Rhodes, a 44-year-old New Yorker, is still fighting to end the blockade and normalize relations with Cuba. The photo above shows Ben Rhodes writing the words that President Obama sincerely spoke directly to the Cuban people in Cuba in 2016: "CUBA DOES NOT NEED TO FEAR A THREAT FROM THE UNITED STATES." It took a great man to write those words and to persuade President Obama to deliver them directly to the Cuban people in Cuba. That great and brave man is Ben Rhodes. He should be saluted for his herculean efforts.

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Hell & High Water for Cubans

 

Photo: Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

    The photo above shows a young Cuban father finding shelter for his two small children as Hurricane Ian began devastating the vulnerable island on Tuesday, September 27th, 2022. The suffering Cubans have been pummeled in recent years by the endless six-decade-old U. S. Blockade, the Pandemic, and again by the U. S. blockade that Cubans believe has been purposely expanded by the Trump-Biden presidencies to take advantage of the vulnerability left behind after the Pandemic.

     In the paragraphs above Mayelin Suarez told the London-based Reuters News Agency that Hurricane Ian's passage was the "darkest of her life." Indeed, recent days and nights have been very dark for millions of Cubans on the island.

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Havana Ravaged by Hurricane Ian!!

 

    Images by Yamil Lage, the great Cuban photojournalist who works for the Paris-based AFP News Agency, sent photos like these around the world today as Hurricane Ian began to ravage the vulnerable capital city of Havana.

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Cubans Approve "Progressive" Family Code

 

    The London-based BBC today -- Monday, September 26th, 2022 -- informed the world {above} that Cuban voters in a nationwide election yesterday passed a new Family Code law. Reuters calls it the "most progressive in Latin America" pertaining to Equal Rights for gays.

     "EL AMOR YA ES LEY. Codigo Si."/"LOVE IS ALREADY LAW. Code Yes." The First Lady of Cuba, Lis Cuesta, posted the above message on Facebook today regarding yesterday's election that legalized a new Family Code on the island.

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An Election & A Hurricane for Cuba

 

     Today -- Sunday, September 25th, 2022 -- Cuba held an important nationwide election as the government tries to get the support of its 11 million people to pass a "Family Code" bill. The powerful London-based Reuters News Agency, which covers Cuba closely and fairly, says that, if passed, it will be "the most progressive" Civil Rights bill in Latin America. As you can see above, Raul Castro voted on the key bill today. {He turned 91-years-old back on June 3rd, 2022}.

      Prominent television journalist and dedicated mother Rosy Amaro is shown casting her vote in Havana today.

   After casting their "Family Code" vote today, Rosy and her 8-year-old daughter Mariana proudly called it a "Code of Love."

      As a prominent journalist and mother, Rosy Amaro Perez has long been a strong advocate for the rights of "women and girls" on the island. Thus, she campaigned for the passage of the "Family Code" bill that the entire nation was voting on today -- September 25th, 2022.

    Meanwhile, Cuba is also bracing today for Hurricane Ian that is expected to hit the western tip of the island, including Havana, by Tuesday morning, September 27th, 2022. Both Havana and the Isle of Youth, the second largest island shown in red above, are in Ian's path and it is predicted that it will be become a dangerous hurricane starting Sunday night, the 25th. Havana is home to two million people and the Isle of Youth has 80,000 people.

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A Key ELECTION in Cuba Sunday!!

 Election DAY: Sept. 25, 2022

    Revolutionary Cuba is not known for its nationwide elections, but this weekend -- Sunday, September 25th, 2022 -- a widely anticipated Nationwide Election will be held, indicating changes in the drastically targeted island nation that is reeling because of the expanded and ageless U. S. Blockade/Embargo that is currently trying to finally and totally starve the Cuban economy; and that is happening even as Cuba emerges from the Pandemic and this Monday & Tuesday expects to be blasted by a tropical Hurricane. This weekend the photo shown above -- by Yamil Lage, the Cuban who works on the island for the Paris-based AFP News Agency -- is being flashed around the world by the Washington Post and other major newspapers. The Washington Post paragraph highlighted above says: "After 79,000 neighborhood meetings, months of discussion, and an outpouring of more than 300,000 suggestions from citizens, Cubans will vote in a referendum Sunday that could redefine family rights -- including legalizing same-sex marriage." In other words, despite many of other worldwide issues, the world understands that the election Sunday, September 25th, 2022 in Cuba is very important...and so does Cuba's Revolutionary government.

     The Cuban people Sunday-Sept. 25th-2022 will be voting on a new Family Code. The Washington Post article above says, "The proposed new Family Code would be among the most progressive in Latin America, defying a long tradition of machismo in Cuba. In addition to approving same-sex marriage, it would allow gay couples to adopt, and increase the rights of women, the elderly and children." In the next paragraph above, as you can see, the Washington Post points out that some powerful forces, including the Catholic Church, "have expressed unusually vocal dissent" against the new Family Code proposals.

       But the Revolutionary government in Cuba is strongly promoting the drastically new progressive issues in the Family Code bill that Cubans across the island will be voting on Sunday, September 25th, 2022. In the photo above two of Cuba's most popular News anchors were a part of a panel that kicked off this weekend with a Family Code discussion that was aired in primetime on nationwide television. For sure, it will be an important election in Cuba.

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The Ignorance of the Trump-Biden Cuba Policies

 Cruelty to most, Lucrative to a Few!!

    This interesting photo was taken today in Havana. At the end of this post today I will explain its meaning. But first, today's top Cuban headline.

     The top Cuban Headline circling around the globe today on September 23rd, 2022 was published by London's international  INDEPENDENT newspaper. The headline says: "Travelers who have visited Cuba in the last 11 years will need visa to enter US" and the Sub-Headline says: "Trump's final travel act, ranking the island alongside Iran, North Korea and Syria, could affect hundreds of thousands UK holidaymakers." The article quickly explained that Trump's last acts included putting Cuba on the Sponsors of Terror list, which allows rich Trump-donors in Miami to sue Cuba in U. S. courtrooms, and Trump legalized other cruel and stupid but lucrative Cuba-related policies. Most importantly, this worldwide article explains that, in the USA's two-party political system, the current DEMOCRAT President Joe Biden "has continued" the ignorant, cruel, and asinine policies established by the REPUBLICAN Trump who preceded Biden as President.

     During the Trump presidency these are the four architects who created the cruelest {for Cubans in Cuba} policies but also the lucrative policies {for Cubans in Miami}. For example, this is the quartet that legalized Title 3 of the Helms-Burton Act, which not even the Miami-aligned President George W. Bush had REFUSED to activate because Bush considered it too cruel to impose on innocent families in Cuba. BUT THE QUARTET ABOVE LEGALIZED TITLE 3!!

    Of course, beginning on January 20th of 2021 many observers believed that the Democrat President Joe Biden would reverse at least the cruelest of Republican President Donald Trump's Cuban policies, such as Title 3. But today -- on September 23rd, 2022 -- London's worldwide newspaper, the Independent, reminded the world that Biden "has continued" Trump's cruel Cuban policies.

      Of course, the drastic decline of the mainstream U. S. media means that most Americans have no idea why the "skull & bones" shown above is attached to the infamous Helms-Burton Act that to this today makes Cubans in the U. S. very rich and makes Cubans in Cuba very poor, or worse.

   And for sure most Americans have no idea what Title 3 of Helms-Burton means. But to repeat: Thanks to Trump & Biden, it means riches for U. S. Cubans and poverty, or worse, for Cuba's Cubans.

    And of course, making sure that Americans don't understand what U. S. policies regarding Cuba mean is why, decade after decade since 1959, such legal U. S. laws as Helms-Burton and Title 3 exist!!

    Meanwhile, today -- September 23, 2022 -- this photo was taken in Havana by one of the Caribbean's most talented and renowned photographers, Roberto Suarez. The photo says, "Hey, the U. S. blockade hasn't starved me...at least, not yet!!!!"

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The US-Cuba Conundrum

 SEPTEMBER 2022

    Since 1492, the year that both Cuba and the US were discovered by Columbus, American writers have written endlessly about The Cuban Conundrum. One day they perhaps will begin to comprehend Cuba, but that simply has not happened and now we are in September of 2022!! Until 1898 the US simply watched across the Florida Straits as the world's imperative powers fought over the Caribbean's largest and most beautiful island. But in 1898 the U. S. believed it was strong enough to easily beat Spain on Cuban soil, which it did in quickly winning the Spanish-American War. It was believed by some that the U. S. would install a democracy in Cuba, but that didn't happen. Thus in January of 1959 the Cuban Revolution surprised the world by defeating the U.S.-backed & Mafia-backed Batista dictatorship, which quickly spawned the creation of Little Havana on U. S. soil in the heart of Miami, Florida.

     Of course, the American writer who has best chronicled the Cuban Conundrum has been the great T. J. English in his classic book Havana Nocturne, which told us "How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost It to the Revolution."

     Without studying and understanding Havana Nocturne, Americans have no comprehension of why and how the USA's dire efforts to regain control of Cuba have been so direly futile since January of 1959...even as the world's Superpower is determined to utterly destroy the rebels in the much smaller, weaker, and poorer island nation.

    That very brief synopsis of the very expansive Cuban Conundrum leads us to today -- September 22, 2022 -- when the top Cuban Headlines shown above saturate the U. S. media. Of course, since January of 1959 the U. S. media has consistently provided Americans a distorted and biased view of the Cuban Conundrum -- namely declaring that all the Cubans in Cuba are bad and all the Cubans in Miami and Congress are good!!

     But for the record, and for what it's worth, above is the Associated Press article on Thursday, September 22nd, 2022. Incredibly, one result of the vast Cuban Conundrum changing the U. S. landscape since 1898 and especially since 1959 is the sheer fact that few Americans now trust the U. S. media, which has always been considered a vital part of a viable democracy. One recent poll lists U. S. trust in its media at 11% of the American people. And YES, the Cuban Conundrum that since 1492, since 1898, and since 1959 has so drastically changed the United States has also had a deleterious affect on the drastic decline of the U. S. media in the United States of America.

    As suggested by T. J. English's great book Havana Nocturne, perhaps the U. S. has been affected more than Cuba by the Cuban Conundrum...especially since 1898 and 1959. Beginning in these last few days in September of 2022, perhaps it is time for more intelligent and more honest Americans to be allowed to be included in the crafting of the USA's Cuban policies.

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