Hardships Abound for Embargoed/Blockaded Cubans!!

       The three images above show {1} A photo of a sad Cuban woman sitting on a sidewalk; {2} other sad Cubans sitting with her in the whole photo by Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini; and {3} the seminal editorial cartoon by the great Brazilian artist Carlos LaTuff that best depicts to the world the results of the dreaded and endless U. S. EMBARGO of Cuba that the red-EYED United States has surrounded Cuba with since back in 1962. The Reuters photo depicts why everyday Cubans are reeling from the unique problems that inflict them, specially the EMBARGO that remains the longest embargo/blockade in history that has ever been imposed by any powerful nation against any MUCH-WEAKER NATION.

      Above is a recent photo and headline posted for the world to see by the USA's NBC News and Yamil Lage. It too reflects the "HAPDSHIP" everyday Cubans are having, with much their problems resulting from the endless U. S. EMBARGO that began way back in 1962 and incredibly still continues now deep into SEPTEMBER OF 2024. Of course, most of the world, including the yearly vote in the United Nations, blame the EMBARGO but, Of Course, since 1962 the American people have been told that the EMBARGO has nothing to do with the dire circumstances confronting everyday Cubans each day on the island because, of course, it is all because of Cuba's Revolutionary government that, back in 1959, had the sheer audacity to overthrow the US-backed and Mafia-backed dictatorship that was indeed massively robbing and brutalizing the island's non-Batistiano approved citizens.

      On September 11th of 2024 the Business Wire -- as shown above -- along with three of America's most powerful companies Comcast, Xfinity, and United Artists even told the world about a positive happening for the Cuban people, namely a recognition "from the U. S. and Cuba to Bring the Influence of Cuban Music and Culture" to a, uh, wider worldwide audience. WOW!! When U. S. entities are brave enough to mention sosmething positive about Cuba, the world in September in 2024 should wonder what the hell IS HAPPENING!!!!

*&***********************&*

Not ALL Cuban Headlines Are Sad!!!

 ...even as Cuba tries to survive the U. S. blockade!!

    Since the triumph of the Cuban Revoluion in January of 1959, and since the U. S. imposed its endless Embargo/Blockade on Cuba in February of 1962, the Cuban Headlines in the U. S. Media have always centered on how terrible Revolutionary Cuba is, implying that the Batista dictatorship was wonderful and, of course, very friendly to its northern superpower neightbor, the United States. Well, in August of 2024 the dire situations in Cuba include food shortages {hunger}, power blackouts, and other deprivations -- which Cuba blames on the U. S. Blockade while the U. S. media and the U. S. government loudly blame on Cuba's rebel leaders, including the post-Fidel Castro leaders on the island since 2016. Yet, even in August of 2024, the Associated Press -- the largest News Agency in the U. S. -- has an excellent journalist stationed fulltime in Cuba and she actually reports fairly from the island, whether it's good or bad. Her name is Andrea Rodriguez. Her latest worldwide AP article from Cuba in August of 2024 is about something very dear to Cubans on the island, not about baseball this time but about Salsa!!

      As you can see above, the first line in Andrea Rodriguez's latest Associated Press article from Cuba says: "Socialisst Cuba, the birthplace of salsa and other rhythms that have conquered the world, is now surrendering to the invasion of South Korean pop music." The well-written and pertinent article by Andrea is important and refreshing...because it does not dwell on the blockade and the drastic deprivations affecting the people in Cuba in August of 2024.

      For sure, Cuba will always be the largest island in the Caribbean, always have Florida and the United States has its northern NEIGHBOR, and always be one of North America's most EXCITING and INTRIGUING nations and cultures.

One day PERHAPS the U. S. EMBARGO of the vulnerable island will end.

*&***********************&*

The Ruins of Cuba Explained

      Since 1492 when Columbus discovered Cuba, the Caribbean's largest, most strategically located, and most beautiful island has been wildly coveted by imperative powers. 

    Since 1962 the superpower United States, which is a mere 90 miles from Cuba, has imposed an economic EMBARGO on Cuba designed to overthrow the Cuban Revolution, which had overthrown the US-backed and Mafia-backed Batista dictatorship on January 1, 2959. Obviously, any small nation saddled with such an assault for over 62 years, over six decades, was not expected to survive for more than a year or two. Yet, Cuba has somehow survived the EMBARGO although, for sure, generations of Cubans on the island have suffered massive food shortages, power outages, and other dire deprivations.

    Many media and online sources report daily about the dire conditions that Cubans in Cuba have endured since the Embargo was imposed by the United States in 1962. Above is a typical photo and caption posted on the "Patria Orgullosa"/"Proud Homeland" website, and such reminders often receive thousands of views and comments. The caption above says: "See what remains of the old 'Villa Clara' cinema and the 'Florida' hotel on the corner of Cuba and Trista streets in Santa Clara, Cuba." Daily there are photos and captions like this depicting the destructions of Cuba's infrastructues from Havana on the western end of the island to Santiago de Cuba 500 miles away on the eastern end of the island. The contrast is that back in the 1950s, when the U. S. and the Mafia ran the islandl, Cuba was a VERY rich nation. For sure, somehow there are some impressive new buildings in Cuba, including 40 or so 4-star and 5-star hotels maintained and continually refurbished by the two Spainish Hotel & Resorts giants Melia and Iberostar. But, of course, such new photos of such structures are rarely posted online or by the media.

     This is the luxurious Iberostar Hotel & Resort at Varadero Beach, the Cuban beach that has been rated internationally as the Top Beach in the World. Varadero Beach is located about an hour's drive southeast of Havana in north-central Cuba due south of Key West, Florida. In September of 2024 Iberostar Hotels is paying for a ubiquitous bevy of ads on Facebook and other forums promoting tourism to its splendid Cuban properties but, of course, the EMBARGO massively discourages such tourism to Cuba.

\    Today, on September 4th, 2024, a top U. S. media source, NBC News, posted the huge article about the financial struggle is having, suggesting the prime reason is the revolutionally Cuban government, not the EMBARGO. The two NBC journalists who wrote this aritcle, as you can note, are Orlondo Matos reporting from Havana and Carmen Sesin reporting in Miami. The US-Miami media rarely mention the EMBARGO as a problem for Cubans on the island.

     London-based Reuters is the international News Agency that best reports on and from Cuba. Above the huge Reuters update explains that many of the strongest revolutionary supporters are now beginning to give up after the decades of one-sided battles. That includes, as you see above, the notable former ambassador and professor Carlos Alzugaray. Although 2024 is fast coming to an end, some Cuban experts believe that the total demise of the Cuban Revolution could occur before the arrival of the New Year in 2025.

         Recent headlines, shown above, reveal that Cubans in nearby Florida continue to pound Cuba, with little consequences unless they are caught by Cuba's border patrols.

      While, of course, the EMBARGO for the past six decades has been Cuba's biggest problem, as noted in the huge Reuters article above, littler problems such as gun-runners arriving from Florida on water skis must be considered threats too. Meanwhile, perhaps, observers should admit that little EMBARGOED Cuba should get some credit for just surviving for the past 65 Years in the world's greatest David and Goliath struggle.

*&***********************&*