26.9.15

U. S. Businesses Covet Cuba

And Wage War Against Embargo
Updated: Sunday, September 27th, 2015
        Cuban President Raul Castro arrived in New York City this week -- Friday, September 25th. No sooner had he settled comfortably in at Cuba's United Nations mission than he had a bevy of visitors -- such as {aboveNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo and top business executives from his commercially minded state. This photo is courtesy of Kevin P. Couglin/Office of the Governor. The 84-year-old Cuban President will make an important speech at the UN tomorrow, September 28th. Meanwhile, the eclectic multitude of American businesses desiring to make money in Cuba is suddenly becoming a bit overwhelming for Cuba.
         Back in April, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo led a large group of business leaders to Cuba hoping to line up commercial opportunities. He was warmly welcomed by Josefina Vidal, Cuba's Minister of North American Affairs. She told Governor Cuomo, "We welcome your interests. I hope you will now work with President Obama and try to end the embargo, which you agree hurts good Cubans and good Americans."
        Tom Donahue is President of the United States Chamber of Commerce. On Friday, September 25th, Mr. Donahue announced the creation of the U.S.-Cuba Business Council that will be tasked with battling the Republican-dominated U. S. Congress to end the U. S. embargo against Cuba, which has been in place since 1962. Mr. Donahue stated Friday: "We've facing a historic opportunity to support a vital and growing Cuban private sector, one that is defined by entrepreneurs whose expanding efforts show that the spirit of free enterprise is already taking hold in the country." Donahue vs. Congress will be very interesting.
        As President of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donahue has also explained to Cuban President Raul Castro about how "eager" American businesses are to have a relationship with Cuba. In the above hallway, President Castro told Mr. Donahue, "The feeling is mutual. Cuba is eager for your business."
         Todd Haymore is Virginia's Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. He spent most of this past week shepherding a top-level trade delegation from Cuba all around his ambitious state, including the Port of Virginia that is competing with other eastern ports to greatly expand commerce with the nearby island. Haymore this weekend told the Washington Post that his excitement over President Obama's detente with Cuba is euphoric. He said, "We're finally starting to see a move toward normalization after decades of strained relations, and Virginia is standing right at the front of the line to take advantage of the new opportunities." Virginia is already third among U. S. States, behind only Louisiana and Georgia, in doing business with Cuba. Soybean, pork, apples, and poultry are currently products Virginia sells to Cuba but Haymore says that just skims the surface of its planned agricultural relations with the island. He also plans to sharply increase Virginia's commerce with Cuba in other areas such as technology, tourism, and health care.  
        This AFP/Getty Images photo was taken at the Vatican in Rome in March of 2014. By then, Pope Francis was the dynamo inspiring U. S. President Barack Obama with these holy words: "Do me a favor. Do Americans and Cubans a favor. Have the courage to normalize relations with Cuba." President Obama replied, "I will do my best." In the ensuing months, he has kept that promise. Last year in Rome the President assured Pope Francis he could reopen embassies in Havana and Washington for the first time since 1961, and he has accomplished that thanks to the influence the Pope has also exercised with Cuban President Raul Castro. And this week in Washington the President indicated to Pope Francis that the U. S. will abstain in the UN next month and not even vote to support its own embargo against Cuba. Last year the UN vote was 188-to-2 against the embargo with Israel being the only nation persuaded to support it. 
           Of course, the three Cuban-American members of the U. S. House of Representatives from Miami are outraged and vowing to "STOP" and "ROLL-BACK" all of the positive advancements in U.S.-Cuban relations forged recently by Presidents Obama and Castro with the strong support of most people in the world.
          Marco Rubio, Miami's Cuban-American contribution to the U. S. Senate and the Republican presidential field, has been advised to "tone down" his visceral rhetoric against normalizing relations with Cuba because polls show the majority of Cuban Americans in his Miami area favor the normalization.
        This Reuters photo shows a Cuban vendor this week trying to sell some of his prints to tourists. A proliferation of entrepreneurship on the island, coupled with the strong desires of Americans such as Governor Cuomo and Tom Donahue to do business in Cuba, is being opposed by the same revengeful and right-wing attitudes that initiated the embargo way back in 1962 soon after both the Bay of Pigs attack and about twelve assassination attempts against Fidel Castro had failed to regain control of the island. Pope Francis and most other people around the world believe that the young artist trying to sell his paintings above should not forever be punished by a handful of revengeful right-wingers in another country.
The American flag at the U. S. embassy in Havana.
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24.9.15

Anxious Young Cubans

A Brighter Future Beckons
Friday, September 25th, 2015
         Today -- Friday, September 25th -- Pope Francis made history by speaking to the largest gathering of world leaders, 170 of them including Cuba's Raul Castro, at the United Nations in New York. The day before he made history in Washington by speaking {AP photo above} before a joint session of the U. S. Congress. Pope Francis, behind the scenes, was the key instigator in encouraging Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro to begin the process of normalizing the long-abnormal U.S.-Cuban relations. Even after leaving the island for the U. S., Cuba remains very much on the Pope's mind. In the above address to Congress, he devoted a key paragraph to Cuba, saying, in part: "I would like to recognize the effects made in recent months to help overcome historic differences linked to painful episodes of the past...This has required, and requires, courage and daring, which is not the same as irresponsibility." RESPONSIBLE WORDS!!
        Within moments after welcoming Pope Francis to the United States this week, President Obama thanked him for brokering the detente with Cuba. According to voanews.com {Voice of America}, President Obama told Pope Francis: "Holy Father, thank you for your valuable support in our new beginning with the Cuban people, which gives us hope for better relations between our countries, greater cooperation in the hemisphere, and a better life for the Cuban people." Indeed, the convergence of two great men created the "new beginning." Pope Francis visited the island this monthPresident Obama likely will visit in 2016.
        This week, especially after Pope Francis left the island for his trip to the United States, young Cubans in Havana continued to envision a brighter future with their rejuvenated aspirations buoyed sharply by their government's positive reactions to changes proffered by two important men they respect -- President Barack Obama and Pope Francis. This Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini photo shows young adult Cubans absorbed with some new toys -- Smart Phones. Since July, thanks to overtures inspired by the U. S. President and the Pope, the Cuban government has opened 35 Wi-Fi outlets, with more on the way.
           This photo shows Daniel Llerandis, a 31-year-old artist working in Havana. He is talking to and viewing his wife and 6-month-old daughter in Miami. Havana-Miami separations are now more palatable.
Daniel enjoying his wife and baby in Miami while sitting on the Malecon seawall.
        This Reuters photo was taken this week, September 22nd, by Alexandre Meneghini. The young lady sitting on the famed Malecon seawall is Yasemin Lawson from Washington. She is an American taking advantage of the famed medical education Cuba provides her free of charge at its famed and welcoming Latin American School of Medicine. Ms. Lawson, while in Havana, now has easier and cheaper access to telecommunication services as well as daily connections to her relatives and friends in the United States.
       Mayra Arevich Marin is the President of ETECSA, which puts her in charge of Cuba's telecommunication advances. In the above photo she is on Cuba's Round Table television program explaining the Wi-Fi outlets she is opening around the island. "We have opened 35 Wi-Fi outlets now," she said. "and that's just a start." Partly because of the decades-old U. S. embargo against Cuba, the island still has one of the world's lowest internet penetrations. That is changing because of the positive effects of President Barack Obama's executive decisions that have chipped away at the pernicious embargo, which has stifled Cuba's economy since 1962. Cuba has only one underground fiber optic cable and it extends from Venezuela. But President Obama has dispatched the State Department's Daniel Sepulveda to Havana to talk with Mayra about an underground cable from Miami to Havana. She is very receptive: "Our people on this beautiful island, especially our young people, deserve what the modern world has to offer. If we are not restricted by outside forces, we in the Cuban government will do all in our power to make that happen."
 Mayra Arevich Marin, Cuba's telecommunications chief.
Photo courtesy: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images
      America's A-list entertainer known by just one famous name, Usher, appreciates Cuba's advancements in telecommunications. The 36-year-old superstar just spent his honeymoon on the island after marrying his longtime girlfriend Grace Miguel.
       Thanks to some good and audacious people...such as President Obama and Pope Francis...U.S.-Cuba Relations have improved drastically in recent months. To be sure, there are some not-so-good people who are working hard to roll back those gains, but the momentum is already benefiting Cubans like Daniel Llerandis and Americans like Yasemin Lawson. Daniel is the Cuban in the photo above using his Smart Phone to talk to his wife and little girl in Miami. Yasemin is the American medical student in Havana in the photo above using her Smart Phone as she sits on the Malecon seawall. Peaceful and sane relations are always preferable to unfriendly and greedy relations.
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23.9.15

Rubio, Commander-in-Chief

Cuba Is Preparing For It
        Weeks ago I posted two essays because I was impressed that Josefina Vidal, Cuba's preeminent expert on all things American, indicated that Cuba was gearing up to deal with U. S. President Marco Rubio beginning on January 20th, 2017. That surprised me. Rubio at the time, in composite poll numbers, was lulling at 5%, far behind even non-politicians such as Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson in the crowded Republican presidential sweepstakes. Yet, anyone concerned with the U.S.-Cuban conundrum should be smart enough and concerned enough to respect whatever opinion Vidal espouses regarding U.S.-Cuban relations. Yes, she believes Rubio -- a first-term U. S. Senator and a visceral anti-Castro Cuban-American from Miami -- will win the Republican presidential nod and then defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton to take the White House. Thus, Vidal believes that a Rubio administration aligned with a Republican Congress will quickly roll back President Obama's advances in trying to normalize relations with the nearby island. Moreover, Vidal believes that Rubio -- or any other Republican President in 2017 -- will force Cuba to make "another Bay of Pigs-type defense, with the U. S. having learned from its mistakes during the 1961 attack."
         No one in the U. S. media or the U. S. government knows as much about the U.S.-Cuban diaspora as Josefina Vidal, but Eugene Robinson is probably the most astute American political journalist on the current media landscape. Robinson, 61, is Harvard-educated, a Pulitzer Prize-winner, etc., etc. He writes two closely monitored columns each week for The Washington Post and he is ubiquitous as a television analyst on NBC/MSNBC and other venues. In a recent column, Mr. Robinson described Rubio as "stridently, alarmingly hawkish. Where doesn't he want to use military force?" As a liberal analyst of the Republican contenders, Mr. Robinson is pro-Rubio. But his view of Rubio as "alarmingly hawkish" coincides with Vidal's expectations that Rubio, as Commander-in-Chief, would mean either war or capitulation for Cuba within the first six months of 2017. And Vidal does not plan to capitulate. In simple terms, she plans to fight. Mr. Robinson appears to be the only high-profile American pundit or journalist who has an inkling as to how Cuba, meaning Vidal, would react to a Rubio as U. S. Commander-in-Chief.
        This photo, courtesy of Reuters/Thompson, captured Josefina Vidal's very pertinent "ONE MILLIMETER" proclamation hurled back at a U. S. journalist at a news conference in Washington in August. She was irked that the questioner presumed little Cuba is in no position to resist whatever plans the U. S. has for it. She replied curtly and now famously: "Decisions on internal matters in Cuba are not negotiable and will never be put on the negotiating agenda with the United States. Cuba will never do absolutely anything, not move ONE MILLIMETER, to try to respond to pressure that disrespects our sovereignty."
          Since 2000, the turn of this 21st Century, Josefina Vidal has been arguably the most skilled and the toughest negotiator and diplomat on the North American continent. If that were not so, U. S. and Cuban flags would not now be flying, for the fist time since 1961, in front of their newly opened embassies.
          Josefina Vidal, shown above recognizing a questioner at a news conference in Washington, is a kind, sweet lady in circumstances in which she believes Cuba is treated fairly. If not, her nationalism and love for sovereignty can flare out wickedly. In 2017 a Republican U. S. President would discover that Vidal, quite aware of the vast disparity in U. S. and Cuban power, believes that neither a passive nor a military capitulation "is in Cuba's future." As far as Vidal is concerned, sovereignty is a "do or die proposition for Cuba." Anything else, she believes, "would mitigate against our independent and revolutionary nature."
          In 2002 after a stunning speech at a star-studded historical session hosted by Caroline Kennedy at the Kennedy Library in Boston, Josefina Vidal received the night's only standing ovation following her spirited defense of Cuban independence. In the last two years during intense diplomatic sessions responding to President Obama's rapprochement and detente with Cuba, she has never veered from that Kennedy Library position. In news conferences in Havana and in Washington, she has resolutely pressed Cuba's do-or-die attitude regarding sovereignty and independence. The above photo shows Vidal being interviewed by Cristina Escobar, Cuba's top broadcast journalist. This interview is conducted in Spanish, runs just over a half-hour, and is readily available on YouTube among other significant "Cristina Escobar Interviews." This particular in-depth Q & A session provides a clear understanding of Josefina Vidal, and to not understand her is synonymous with not understanding the current state of U.S.-Cuban relations.
         Cristina Escobar, at age 27, is not only Cuba's top broadcast journalist, she is also the most influential leader of the generation of young adult Cubans who will likely predicate the island's future course. Unless blunted by outside forces, Cristina hopes to help carve an entrepreneurial path that has friendly relations with the United States. But, make no mistake about it, Cristina Escobar is as much a nationalist as Josefina Vidal. Marco Rubio or any other Republican President in 2017, if they plan to recapture Cuba, will have to contend with Cristina Escobar's nationalism. Like Josefina Vidal, Escobar is fluent in both English and Spanish but also fluent in sovereignty and independence. Her firebrand Cuban defense as well as her uncommon journalistic skills were on full display when she covered the fourth and final Vidal-Jacobson diplomatic meeting in Washington. At a celebrated White House news conference and in speeches and interviews around Washington, Escobar stressed two primary topics: {1} "The lies the U. S. media tells about Cuba harm everyday Cubans the most," and {2} "Six decades of America's regime-change tactics aimed at Cuba have only made us twenty-something Cubans cherish our independence all the more."
           Despite her journalistic splash in Washington, the U. S. media ignores the opinions of influential young Cubans like Cristina Escobar. But on the island, and now on regional networks, she is a force. Like Vidal, she expects a Republican -- "Probably Rubio" -- to succeed Barack Obama as President of the United States in 2017. And, like Vidal, Escobar believes "that might mean war or capitulation."
              While two influential Cubans -- Josefina Vidal and Cristina Escobar -- are taking it for granted that Marco Rubio will be the U. S. President beginning in 2017, noxious conjectures will continue unabated in the U. S. for the rest of 2015 and all of 2016. That's because the election process itself is a capitalistic windfall for powerful entities -- politicians, advertising agencies, lobbyists, television stations, pundits, etc. Thus, Americans are subjected to an endless stream of campaigning, almost election to election. That being said, the Vidal-Escobar prognosis is probably the most accurate. After all, they believe it is life or death for their island's independence while American pundits are more interested in how much money their punditry will accrue for them during the long, drawn-out process. The Vidal-Escobar rationale is solid. They believe the perfect storm is favoring Rubio. His mentor, presidential contender Jeb Bush, is loaded with campaign money but also will likely get over-loaded by his last name. And no one else will have the billions of dollars needed to win the Republican nomination. Likewise, Rubio's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, can amass the necessary billions of dollars but her last name and her political baggage will weigh her down. Moreover, the media will afford Rubio more of a free ride than all others will get. The New York Times recently had a major article outlining the many financial miscues Rubio amassed on his way to the Senate. That only infuriated supporters, such as former Florida congressman-turned-network-anchor Joe Scarborough, who screamed that the NY Times article would actually help "catapult" Rubio into the White House. Rubio used his anti-Castro zealotry in Miami's Little Havana to reach the Senate with the considerable help of the Bush dynasty and the Tea Party. His bio made the obligatory claim that his parents had escaped the Castro tyranny in Cuba for the freedom of Miami...at least till it was pointed out that his parents had actually escaped the Batista tyranny that Castro later also chased to Miami. In his stump speech and on televised debates, Rubio gains great mileage by heralding the fact that his father was a bartender and his mother was a housekeeper. Of course, Rubio can conveniently ignore the fact that any Cuban-American in Miami has extreme benefits that non-Cuban Americans do not remotely enjoy. Yet, all those things are just contaminant or collateral issues on Rubio's path to the White House, according to the Cuban experts Vidal and Escobar. They believe the primary reason Rubio's path to the White House in 2017 is sufficiently greased is one word -- Money, with a capital "M." Rubio verily swoons over billionaires.
         Jason Zengerle is one of America's most astute and acute political observers. His latest attention-grabbing gem was in the influential New York Magazine. It is entitled: "SHELDON ADELSON IS READY TO BUY THE PRESIDENCY." It seems that Vidal and Escobar, two Cubans quite interested in the U. S. presidency, have already devoured and studied Zengerle's article. Perhaps you should too, especially if you are an American voter. It's easy to Google and then devour. Zengerle points out that one rich man can purchase the presidency. And, believe me, 82-year-old Sheldon Adelson is very, very rich...and very, very determined. Vidal and Escobar sincerely believe Adelson can make Marco Rubio Commander-in-Chief.
         Sheldon Adelson is among a cabal of right-wing and Jewish billionaires who are determined to make their man, Marco Rubio, the next President of the United States. Thanks to a 2010 ruling by the U. S. Supreme Court, they have that opportunity. {In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that there was no limit on political donations to so-called SuperPacs, a ruling that pretty much reshaped the U. S. democracy to totally favor individual and corporate billionaires. America's best potential Presidents, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, won't even compete because to do so they would have to sell their political positions and souls to the highest bidders} Marco Rubio, on the other, has courted billionaire donors since he reached the Senate, so much so that he is #100 among the 100 Senators when it comes to actually taking time to vote in the Senate. In his hometown newspaper, The Miami Herald, there have been letters-to-the-editor pointing out that Rubio has sold out to Israel at the expense of supporting them. In fact, the hard-line Cuban-Americans in Miami's Little Havana favor Jeb Bush over one of their own, Rubio. Also, polls show that a strong majority of Cuban-Americans in Miami disagree with Rubio's apparently bought-and-paid-for antagonism towards detente with Cuba. Knowing all that, Vidal and Escobar still believe a handful of billionaires like Sheldon Adelson can and will put Rubio in the White House. As noted, Eugene Robinson this week wondered if there are any nations the "hawkish" Rubio is not anxious to bomb. Well, there is one for sure -- Israel. And there appears to be another one -- China. Rubio's top aides took a free trip to China to partake of the economic wonders in the world's second largest economy. Regardless of how "hawkish" Rubio is, Sheldon Adelson knows that, as Commander-in-Chief, Rubio surely won't bomb Israel or China, something Vidal and Escobar wishes also applied to Cuba. According to Forbes, Sheldon Adelson in 2015 is worth $28.9 billion. He has vast holdings in Las Vegas, Singapore, Macao, and Israel. He owns the Israeli daily newspaper HaYom. Some of his billions, including vast hotel-casino holdings, are tinged with or mired in controversy but they still can have a huge bearing on who becomes Commander-in-Chief. 
Israel first, America second, China third, and.......Cuba last!!
And, oh, by the way.................
            ..................................back in March President Barack Obama, as shown in this AP photo, visited Pope Francis at the Vatican in Rome. Mr. Obama invited the Pope to the White House in Washington. Yesterday, after his historic four-day visit to Cuba, Pope Francis arrived in the United States where President Obama greeted him at Andrews Air Force Base. Pope Francis, who leads an extremely modest lifestyle and is the world's leading champion for poor people, once referenced capitalism as "the dung of the devil."
         This man is apparently an example of the dung Pope Francis was referring to. His name is Martin Shkreli and he is the Founder/CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. A drug named Daraprim sold for $18 per tablet till Turing purchased its production rights. Then the price was increased to $750 per tablet. Often such greed is "legal" because pharmaceutical companies spend billions on lobbyists, mostly former members of Congress who they kept in office for years before hiring them themselves. Also, noxious and sometimes embarrassing drug ads -- such as erection miracles for wimps -- take up about 40% of television's insulting avalanche of mostly puerile ads. But this time Turing's overnight increase from $18 per tablet to $750 per tablet for the cancer/HIV drug Daraprim caused a backlash that got this dung's...uh, Mr. Shkreli's...attention. He told ABC-TV News that he would lower the $750-per-tablet price so Turing would make only "a small profit." MAY GOD AND THE POPE BLESS HIM FOR HIS KINDNESS!! Martin Shkreli is an Albanian who graduated from Baruch College and then quickly became first a major Hedge Fund manager who then founded Turing Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Shkreli reminds me of the Pope's reference to dung but also he is reminiscent of Donald Trump's claim that Hedge Fund managers make untidy amounts of money and should be required to pay taxes. While the U. S. could certainly use more smart Albanians, the U. S. already has far too many greedy, well-educated Hedge Fund managers and far too much dung.
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21.9.15

Papal Visit Reveals Bias

Biased Media Demeans America
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015
          Elizabeth Hasselbeck is one of the three co-anchors on "Fox & Friends" each morning on "Fox News." She opened this week's programming at 6:00 A. M. Monday by reading the teleprompter while a full-screen photo of Pope Francis meeting Fidel Castro appeared on the screen. Her tele-prompted description of that photo was: "THE POPE STARING INTO THE FACE OF EVIL." Not being a gullible idiot, I don't watch "Fox News" except to occasionally monitor its coverage of major events. As the satirist Jon Stewart correctly opined, "Fox News is nothing more and nothing less than a right-wing propaganda machine." The raucous Elizabeth Hasselbeck sentence, implying that the miscreants the 89-year-old Fidel Castro chased off the island in 1959 were angelic Mother Teresa-types, illustrated Stewart's very salient point.
        This is the photo that "Fox News" anchor Elizabeth Hasselbeck at 6:00 A. M. Monday depicted as: "The Pope staring into the face of evil." The photo flashed around the world and was taken in Fidel Castro's home in Havana by his son Alex Castro. The Hasselbeck depiction, typical of everything "Fox News" airs, assumed that the viewers are either too stupid, too proselytized, or too intimidated to form opinions on their own...and "Fox News" is probably correct in assuming its viewers prefer being told what to think instead of doing a little research that might be conducive to some independent, democratic thinking.
Meanwhile.........
      .......it appears that Pope Francis has inspired President Obama to wipe away the embarrassment the above graphic presents to him, to America, and to democracy. Pope Francis had a lot to do with the opening of embassies in Havana and Washington this summer for the first time since 1961. Now he has been told that, for the first time since 1962, the U. S. is willing to accept next month's international condemnation in the United Nations of the economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba. That condemnation has been emphatic. The vote against the embargo last October was 188-to-2 with only Israel, which is very dependent economically and militarily on the U. S., voting to support the U. S. embargo against Cuba. Next month it appears Pope Francis has been told that the U. S. will abstain from voting "yes" on the embargo. In the meantime, there are predictions in Miami and Washington that President Obama will be scared away from appeasing the Vatican and the world regarding the embargo, but Mr. Obama has long called for it to end. Thus, a U. S. "yes" vote in the UN next month, truly an unprecedented step, would seem to be disingenuous at best. Yet, hard-line insanity has dictated U. S. Cuban policy for decades and, as Yogi Berra once said, "it ain't over till it's over." So, Obama's being forced to enforce the embargo will be tested at the UN next month.
And meanwhile..............   
      .................Pope Francis Monday traveled from Havana on Cuba's western tip to the southeastern cities of Holguin and Santiago de Cuba. In Holguin 150,000 Cubans listened attentively as he gave mass at the Plaza of the Revolution. He told them to "be open to change" and advised them to "chart your own course." Just outside Santiago de Cuba, Pope Francis spoke emotionally at the sacred Virgin of Charity shrine.
Pope Francis blessing communion bread in Holguin Monday.
Cubans in Holguin showing their love for Pope Francis Monday.
Elderly Cuban watching wall-to-wall television coverage of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis praying Monday at Holguin's Virgin of Charity shrine.
Pope deplaning at Santiago de Cuba. {Photo: AP/Tony Gentile}

         This Alejandro Ernesto/EPA photo shows Pope Francis outside Santiago de Cuba, the island's second largest city, on his way Monday to El Cobre, a poor Cuban town, to pray at Our Lady of Charity shrine.
Cubans in El Cobre awaiting the arrival of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis has inspired the Cuban people.
Today, Tuesday, he arrives in the United States.
       Cuban and Papal security kept sharp eyes out for trouble as this AP photo illustrates in Holguin, with no major consequences. But beginning today as Pope Francis flies to the U. S., unprecedented safety precautions are awaiting him. 
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cubaninsider: "The Country That Raped Me" (A True Story)

cubaninsider: "The Country That Raped Me" (A True Story) : Note : This particular essay on  Ana Margarita Martinez  was first ...