Trump Declares War on Cuba

Thanksgiving, Nov. 24th, 2016 

      President-elect Donald Trump has named Mauricio Claver-Carone  {photo courtesy of NBC News} to his transition team. While out-of-the-loop Americans are not supposed to realize it, that is equivalent to Mr. Trump -- beginning Jan. 20-2017 when he becomes America's Commander-in-Chief -- declaring war on the nearby Caribbean island of Cuba. But since the infamous Bay of Pigs military attack on Cuba in April of 1961, rogues in either the White House, the CIA or the U. S. Congress -- or a joint combination of all three -- have repeatedly declared war on Cuba, but never won, at least not yet. This time, Cuba could lose.  

       Mauricio Claver-Carone is the Poster Guy for the vast, lucrative and diabolical Castro Cottage Industry in the U. S. While revenge against the 1959 victory of the Cuban Revolution over the vile Batista-Mafia dictatorship is a mitigating factor, beyond doubt the economic and political rewards have always been and will remain the primary fuels that power America's Cuban engine, a policy -- although softened somewhat by the decency of the outgoing President Obama -- that is dictated by a handful of benefactors who could care less about democracy or about the international 191-to-zero denunciation of it. Like most of the major rulers of the Castro Cottage Industry, Claver-Carone is a product of the Bush dynasty. He was a lawyer-adviser to President George W. Bush till 2003 before branching out to become...a radio propagandist with his own national anti-Cuba show, his anti-Cuba "U.S.-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee" {PAC}, his anti-Cuba blog "Capital Hill Cubans," etc. His PAC, according to El Nuevo Herald, plowed "$600,000" into making sure that Castro Cottage Industry stalwarts such as Miami's Marco Rubio and Carlos Curbelo continue as incumbents in the U. S. Congress. In all the world, nothing has demeaned and continues to demean the U. S. and democracy over an extended period as has America's Cuban policy, a policy that all of America's best friends deplore. Yet, because of sheer intimidation, apathy, and a lack of patriotism on the part of too many Americans, it persists decade after decade -- with maestros like Claver-Carone waving the batons and laughing all the way to their banks and their mansions while innocent Cubans suffer along with the reputations of both the United States and democracy.  

Mauricio Claver-Carone 

Trump's Cuban Commander-in-Chief 

    Not surprisingly, the El Nuevo Herald article heralding Mauricio Claver-Carone's appointment by President-elect Trump lavishly quoted perhaps the Bush dynasty's most notorious anti-Cuban zealot -- Otto Juan Reich. Reich is shown above with his fellow anti-Cuban zealot, President George W. Bush. Reich was born in 1945 in Havana. After hooking up with the Bush dynasty in the 1980s when George H. W. Bush was Vice President, Reich has had a very long and very lucrative anti-Cuba career that continues to this day, always riding the coattails of the self-serving Bush dynasty. You would not have to do much Googling to ascertain Reich's known and/or alleged ties to right-wing coups in Honduras, Haiti, Venezuela, etc. While much of his efforts most lucrative Cuban ventures in the U. S. have been clandestinely behind the scenes, some have been upfront -- especially after President George W. Bush appointed Reich {above photo} Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Cuba, not coincidentally, is in the Western Hemisphere. Many of the most notorious anti-Cuba pardons by Bush President #1, such as for the terrorist Orlando Bosch, remain chilling; and anti-Cuba appointments by President Bush #2 were so-called "recess" appointments that would have total power but then be with-drawn before they would have to get Senate approval -- key Bush recess appointments such as anti-Cuba zealots and benefactors like Reich, John Bolton, Roger Noriega, etc. Reich's recess appointment regarding Western Hemisphere Affairs alarmed political leaders throughout the Caribbean and Latin America -- even prior to the brief 2002 coup that overthrew Cuba's friend Hugo Chavez in Venezuela to spark wild White House celebrations, at least till Chavez was quickly returned to power. The shame of that coup has been covered up but till this day it alarms democratically elected Latin American governments. Of course, even after his "RECESS" appointment ended, Reich remains at age 71 an ultra-powerful and ultra-rich anti-Cuban operative. His El Nuevo Herald quote regarding Claver-Carone's appointment by Trump follows: "It's a clear signal...that the president-elect will carry out the promises he made to the Cuban-American community. In my opinion, not many other people know as much about Obama's mistakes on Cuba policy and how to change them, as Mauricio." That quotation by Otto Reich is probably correct, and that is precisely why it is so obscenely dangerous -- for 11 million innocent Cubans on the island but also for America and democracy.

Otto Reich was President George W. Bush's "Point Man."

       But, of course, Otto Reich obtained his original anti-Cuba power during the presidency of George H. W. Bush {above}, power merely passed along during subsequent Republican administrations such as George W. Bush and now, it seems, the upcoming Donald Trump miasma. Such obvious repetitions of blatant anti-American and anti-democracy disasters are allowed to perpetuate because there obviously are not enough brave, intelligent and patriotic Americans to rise-up and protect their country or their democracy. 

     The Executive Director of CubaNow is Ricardo "Ric" Herrero. Mr. Herrero understands that most Cuban-Americans, most Americans and most citizens of the world strongly desire a sane and decent Cuban policy, not one that benefits the economic, political and revenge motives of a few extremists while ignoring the best interests of decent Cubans and Americans. Regarding President-elect Trump's appointment of Claver-Carone, Mr. Herrero defines Claver-Carone as a prime benefactor "who has dedicated his long career as a lobbyist in our capital to dividing Cuban families and defending the interests of those politicians who have benefited from the failed embargo policy." No intelligent American can deny or challenge such a quotation, but for decades they have been schooled -- via intimidation and propaganda -- to ignore such truths.

       But as long as a few vicious anti-Cuban Cuban-Americans, backed by deplorable entities such as the Bush dynasty, can dictate America's Cuban policy via propaganda and intimidation, even such things as a decent two-term President like Obama and a resounding 191-to-0 UN vote will not be able to protect democracy from the vile and lucrative Castro Cottage Industry. President-elect Trump's appointment of Mauricio Claver-Carone reflects a continuation of America's and democracy's Cuban disaster, a situation that neither democracy itself nor a majority of Americans appear capable of ending or ameliorating.

        This photo shows presidential candidate Donald Trump making a few cowardly but off-hand promises in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. Prior to this trip he had said Obama's Cuban policies were "fine." 

         Then on Oct. 25-2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump stood before a "Brigade 2506" poster -- which honors the CIA-backed unit that infamously attacked Cuba in April of 1961 -- and gutlessly promised the Little Havana crowd in Miami that he would reverse all of President Obama's positive overtures to Cuba. Trump shamefully lived up to that gutlessness yesterday with his appointment of Mauricio Claver-Carone. If Americans don't comprehend just how gutless and shameful that appointment is, it's probably a tip-off to how ignorant and unpatriotic too many Americans really are when their democracy is assaulted.

     Earlier this year Mr. Obama became the first sitting U. S. President to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge arrived on a warship in 1928. While on the island, President Obama treated the Cuban people with the decency and respect they deserve from a powerful neighbor. As you can see above, he told them: "Cuba does not need to fear a threat from the United States." He meant those decent, appropriate words. However, back home in the U. S. and especially in a Batistiano-tainted Congress, there apparently are not enough decent, courageous and democracy-loving Americans to support that decent and brave sentence shown above that President Obama said to the Cuban people. IF Americans sit back on their comfortable, scared asses and allow President-elect Trump to go forward with his appointment of Mauricio Claver-Carone, they will deserve the backlash that will result when a tiny but gritty nation fights back, a tiny and gritty nation that might lose but again will have at least the moral support of the rest of the world -- 191-to-zero.

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Running to Cuba

For Fun, Scenery and Business!!

       Back on Sunday, Nov. 20-2016 the Havana Marathon was very successful. The photos are courtesy of MarabanaCuba. The event is only three years old, starting in 2014 as one of the offshoots of President Obama's historic efforts to engage with the island and slice into the embargo and other assaults successfully engineered by right-wing benefactors in the U. S. since 1962 and denounced unanimously {191-0} recently {October 26th} in the United Nations. Some 350 Americans ran in the Havana Marathon last year and there were more this year although the entry fee for Americans was $499. Cubans run free and the event is attracting more and more foreign runners. It is produced by a U. S. company -- MultiRace.

The renovated Havana Capitol is a tourist attraction.

Havana's Parque Central Hotel has been spruced up.

  The Parque Central Hotel inside.

Havana's renovated Telegrafo Hotel.

Havana Marathoners at the Catalonia Plaza Hotel.

The Havana Marathon is now a huge success.

Cuban visitors see spectacular scenery.

Renovated houses at Santa Lucia Beach.

Touring Old Havana.

Tourists running in...and to...Cuba.

   Cubans fish or relax at sunset at Havana's Malecon seawall. 
 Today is Nov. 22, 2016. 

Remembering Nov. 22, 1963 still makes me cry.
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Will Trump Target Cuba?

It Appears He Will!

Not as a Priority but as a Capitulation 

      The top Cuban writer for USA Today is Miami-based Alan Gomez. He has a major and surprisingly fair-minded Cuban article today entitled: "U. S. Businesses To Pressure Trump To Keep Ties To Cuba." 

     Appropriately, today's USA Today article by Alan Gomez features the above photo of President-elect Donald Trump. It was taken by the AP on Oct. 25-2016 when Trump took his campaign to Little Havana in Miami and stood before the "Brigade Asalto 2506" poster and promised Cuban hardliners that he would "reverse" President Obama's peaceful overtures to Cuba and revert back to the Bush-era Cold War cruelty and stupidity that the very next day -- Oct. 26-2016 -- a vote in the United Nations denounced unanimously with a resounding 191-to-0 vote. {Brigade 2506 was the CIA-funded unit that was beaten in its infamous Bay of Pigs attack on Revolutionary Cuba in April of 1961}. But before cowardly capitulating in Miami, Trump had said he was "fine" with Obama's decency towards Cuba and that "50 years of a failed policy is enough." So Alan Gomez of USA Today today is trying to fathom which Trump will emerge regarding Cuba -- the sane one or the cruel one. Gomez is aware that a large percentage of Miami Cubans of his generation favor Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba while only the aging hardliners oppose it. Gomez also understands that large, medium and small U. S. businesses strongly desire to benefit from closer ties to Cuba. Today Alan Gomez explains that U. S. businesses want Cuba's business:   

                  "That list includes most major airlines, which have started regularly scheduled commercial flights to Cuba, and Carnival Corporation. which is already running a regular Cuban cruise. It will include Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which is operating three Cuban hotels, and Airbnb, which is being used by 8,000 Cubans to rent their rooms to travelers. There are tech giants, like Google and Cisco, trying to develop Cuba's bare-bones telecommunications infrastructure, cellphone giants offering roaming services and banks starting to offer U.S.-issued credit and debit card services." 

       A top Cuban-American lawyer in Miami, Pedro Freyre, was quoted in today's USA Today article. His firm represents businesses operating in Cuba now and ones trying to get a future foot-hold. He said: "All of us who are stakeholders in Cuba are very active in lobbying. At this very moment, we are seeking an audience with the teams that will be part of the new Trump administration." But USA Today seemed to recognize that a mere handful of self-serving Cuban-American politicians can still thwart the hopes of most Cuban-Americans, most Americans and most people of the world who live in nations that vote in unanimity -- 191-to-0 -- against the imperialist evils of the U. S. embargo against Cuba. Today Alan Gomez pointed out: "On the other side, the long-standing political coalitions that oppose any opening with Cuba will be tugging at Trump's ear as well. That is led by a powerful bloc of Cuban-American members of Congress." 

     Allan Gomez's USA Today article today heralds Marco Rubio as the current leader of "the powerful bloc of Cuban-Amrican members of Congress" trying desperately to keep in place "the long-standing political coalition" that has -- since the 1950s -- benefited so revengefully, financially and politically from a Cuban policy that the world rightfully opposes by a 191-to-0 plurality. But majority opinions and democracy have consistently been primary victims -- along with millions of innocent Cubans on the island -- of the cruel Cold War Cuban policies that Rubio and his ilk cling to, backed by the equally self-serving entities such as the Bush dynasty, the Tea Party and other conservative and right-wing benefactors. Rubio this month has been re-elected from Miami to a second 6-year term in the U. S. Senate that, like his first term, will consist of begging billionaires for money to feather his 2020 presidential bid after his 2016 bid ended unceremoniously when Trump wiped him out in a primary in Rubio's home-state of Florida. Yet, in a grossly flawed political arena in which billionaires can make unlimited donations designed to purchase the U. S. democracy, Rubio's famous "for sale" status will make sure that he and 7 other Cuban-Americans in Congress will continue as primary dictators of America's Cuban policies. In today's USA Today Rubio makes this asinine quotation: "Rolling back President Obama's one-sided concessions to the Castro regime, a key campaign promise shared with President-elect Trump, will be a top priority for me next year." TOP PRIORITY? Cuba is not a priority with Trump but it is surely Rubio's TOP PRIORITY because it seems it butters his bread. That grossly punishes everyday Cubans on the island as Rubio preaches that it's only designed to hurt the elderly Castros, whose careers, final days and legacy depend on selfish stupidity such as that, which leaves Rubio at zero regarding Cuba while most Cuban-Americans in his Miami backyard are at 191 on Cuba's worldwide barometer scale. Punishing Cubans on the island to feather his nest may be personally profitable and beneficial, but Rubio perhaps should be concentrating on issues that citizens of Florida, Miami and America need ALL U. S. Senators to address. For example, my new special issue of Time Magazine -- dated "November 28-December 5, 2016" -- arrived today, Oct. 21-2016, and it states: "Cuts in health spending contributed to a 23% rise in people living with HIV in Miami since 2004. Miami has the fastest-growing rate of new infections in the U. S." Why not, Senator Rubio, devote your time to such issues in Miami...or to Miami's crime-rate that massively exceeds Havana or that Havana devotes a massively larger percentage of its wealth than Miami or the U. S. to such worthy endeavors as free education through college, free health care from birth to death, etc. Of course, Senator Rubio, if you don't have to prioritize worthy American projects we can expect you to repeat the cruel zero comment you made in USA Today today about "the top priority for me next year" will be your self-serving assaults on innocent Cubans.

       By telling USA Today "the top priority for me next year" is Cuba, Rubio means January-2017 when he begins another 6-year term as Little Havana's -- but it seems not America's -- representative in the U. S. Senate. His second Senate term will likely resemble his first when many feel he feasted on money-burgers paid for by billionaires who still would love to see Rubio replace Trump in the White House in 2020.

     The Alan Gomez article in USA Today is a fair-minded, balanced update on what Americans can expect from a Donald Trump presidency regarding Cuba during a period when Republican Trump's White House will also have both chambers of Congress dominated by Republicans, not all of whom are Cuban extremists like Rubio. But Congress has and deserves a very low approval rating because of its money, lobbying, and special interests stigmas -- "Hey, buddy, you support my Cuban bill and I'll support your Bridges to Nowhere for your top donors. Then we can both stay incumbents forever, get rich and then get richer by becoming lobbyists so we can continue selling pieces of our government." Alan Gomez and the rest of the mainstream U. S. media is usually one-sided in its anti-Cuban coverage but Gomez, on two recent C-SPAN appearances, discussed Cuba fairly and his major article in USA Today today is also a fair appraisal.

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The UNIQUENESS of Cuba

More Than Just the Revolution!!

        Since its discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Caribbean island of Cuba is best known for its Jan. 1-1959 victory over the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship and its remarkable survival since then as a sovereign nation after centuries of domination by foreign nations such as Spain and the United States. But there is much more to Cuba than just its pugnacious reputation as a rebel enclave battling to attain and then to maintain its independence. A new and first-ever Cuban exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History has now recognized "The extraordinary biodiversity of Cuba. Its remote forests, mysterious caves, expansive wetlands, and dazzling reefs" establish Cuba as a unique island and nation.

   On its superb website this week, Live Science features a magnificent segment entitled: "Giant Owls and Painted Snails: Incredible Creatures from Cuba, In Photos." You can go online and access those "incredible" photos. Above is an exhibit of butterflies unique to Cuba, an island unique in many ways.

          Senior writer Mindy Weisberger at Live Science indentifies this green fellow as a "Cuban Knight Anole Equestris." He {or she} is the largest species of anole and it is only found in Cuba's Alejandro de Humboldt National Park. The photo is courtesy of AMNH/R. Mickens and is a part of the American Museum of Natural History's new exhibit honoring Cuba's uniqueness. 

And by the way:

An American photo courtesy of Earl Pitts. 

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Cuba Is STILL STANDING

But So Are the Batistianos!!

        Twenty-eight-year-old Cristina Escobar is proof that Revolutionary Cuba is still standing. Uncommonly talented, beautiful, healthy and well-educated, she is an expert on U.S.-Cuban relations and, in fact, her thesis at the University of Havana was "HOW PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL AFFECT U.S.-CUBA RELATIONS." She was prescient enough to predict that Obama, "A decent man on the heels of the fiercely anti-Cuba Bush administration, President Barack Obama could quite possibly have a profoundly positive effect on U.S.-Cuba relations." As far as I know, no U. S. journalist -- including veterans -- was astute enough to make such a precisely accurate prediction. And now...a bit older and even wiser, Cristina has made another profound statement: "Cuba's fate is up to Cubans on the island, not Cubans in Miami or Washington. We Cubans on the island owe it to great Cubans who died fighting for our independence, like Jose Marti, and great Cubans like Celia Sanchez, who devoted their lives as guerrilla fighters and then decision-makers so Cuba could remain a sovereign nation, not a foreign-dominated pawn. Cubans on the island, not Cubans in Miami or Washington, care the most about everyday Cubans. And I believe there are enough Cubans on the island today to do what Jose Marti and Celia Sanchez did, which is to give their lives to make sure that Cuba's fate is up to real Cubans on the island. If that's the only way we stay sovereign, then so be it." 

      When Cristina Escobar speaks, people listen attentively. 

       Cuba's Cristina Escobar is an expert on journalism and the United States. She is shown here on the right in California in 2014 honing up on those passions by consulting with top professors at Cal State.

       It is also a fact that in 2016 Cristina Escobar's skill as a broadcast journalist mightily impressed U. S. veterans such as NBC's Andrea Mitchell who made it a point to congratulate Cristina. The photo above shows Cristina making history by being the first Cuban to ask questions at a White House news conference, and she ended up asking six pertinent questions to White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

MY POINT IS THIS: As long as Cuba can keep producing Cubans as brilliant and as dedicated as Cristina Escobar, Revolutionary Cuba might well continue to defy the odds and remain an independent island. Dedicated to that principle, Cristina has turned down obscenely large offers to defect to Miami. The first offer only stipulated that she denounce Fidel Castro. She replied, "I will never do that on any soil." Then she got a higher second offer with the stipulation that she didn't have to denounce anyone but that her mere high-profile defection to Miami would be worth the money, presumably another pile of tax dollars courtesy of the U. S. Congress. She still refused, proving that there are Cubans unwilling to sell their souls.

    Cristina Escobar interviewing Hugo Cancio of Miami, Florida.

       A frequent visitor to Cuba, Hugo Cancio is a well-known Cuban-American businessman in Miami. He is among the 63% of Cuban-Americans in Miami who desire normal relations between the United States and Cuba. But Hugo says, "I am among the majority of Cuban-Americans here in Miami who are not represented by our local or congressional politicians." Still resembling a Banana Republic more than a democracy, Miami this month of Nov.-2016 easily returned its four anti-Castro zealots to the U. S. Congress although Hugo Cancio believes that any of over two million Cuban-American moderates would make better politicians.

       If the photos of Cristina Escobar reveal that Revolutionary Cuba is still standing, this photo taken Wednesday, November 8th, 2016 reveals that the Batistianos are still standing too, or still sitting as the case may be. That's Marco Rubio, newly elected from Miami to a second 6-year term in the United States Senate, on the left. He is shown huddling this week in Congress with one of the most famed anti-Castro dissidents in Cuba. The photo is courtesy of Fox News Latino. Instead of using his safe lifetime {if he wants it} seat in the U. S. Senate always trying to recapture Cuba, perhaps Rubio should concentrate on dealing with nagging problems that concern his constituents and Americans. I mean, for example, Cuba, compared to Miami and other U. S. cities, is almost crime-free. Cuba, compared to Miami and the United States as a whole, has a much lower infant mortality rate. Cuba provides totally free education through college for students like Cristina Escabor but millions of Americans can't afford college and millions more are desperately trying to pay-off God-awful student loans that presumably make rich bankers richer. Cuba also provides totally free health care from birth to death while tens of millions of Americans are struggling mightily to pay for outrageously high medical expenses or criminally high medicines, presumably just so rich executives can get richer. And, of course, Cuba's position on the U. S. embargo gets all 191 worldwide votes while Rubio's position gets ZERO worldwide votes. So, Senator Rubio, instead of spending so much government time and tax-dollars trying to recapture Cuba, why not devote that time and those dollars to dealing with American issues that direly need attention, or is that question out of order, Senator Rubio? 

      News reports this week said that Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio from Florida and Cuban-American Senator Ted Cruz from Texas jointly sponsored a bill honoring the anti-Castro dissident photographed on Wednesday with Rubio. Nice, but what about trying to accomplish something in the Senate on behalf of Americans instead of using the Senate to assail Cuba and to run for the position of President of the United States? In their first terms in the Senate, Rubio and Cruz accomplished nothing for Americans but, in the guise of "hurting the Castros" did a lot to hurt totally innocent Cubans on the island while continuing to funnel tons of tax dollars to Miami for such senselessly extravagant anti-Castro propaganda boondoggles as Radio-TV Marti, which has been known for decades to be -- as ABC News termed it -- "The Broadcast to Nowhere" because Cuba blocks it and because Cubans on the island have lived with Fidel Castro for 90 years and they perhaps know him a bit better than the two generations of Cubans he booted off the island. In addition to supporting anti-Castro programs with millions of dollars that could be spent on worthwhile U. S. projects, both Rubio and Cruz seen to view their Senate seats as mere platforms to continue their bids to be President. Their expensive 2016 presidential races plummeted badly but they are backed by dozens of conservative and right-wing billionaires longing to purchase the White House, so Rubio and Cruz can be expected to use most of their time in the next four years campaigning for billionaire dollars and the 2020 presidential race. If either ever makes it to White House, an appropriate conclusion might be: THE BATISTIANOS HAVE CAPTURED THE UNITED STATES before RE-CAPTURING CUBA.

     Meanwhile, in Havana a young, feisty, talented and dedicated Cuban -- Cristina Escobar -- means what she says: "Cubans on the island will decide Cuba's fate, not Cubans in Miami and Washington." Rubio and Cruz dispute that sentiment as they hide behind the skirts of the world's economic and military superpower and hurl grenades at the island, grenades that hit everyday Cubans, but not Castro. So Cristina is a decisive underdog. But so was one of Cristina's idols -- Celia Sanchez -- when Celia made the Cuban Revolution viable in 1953 as both a recruiter of anti-Batista forces and a fearless guerrilla fighter herself.

Cristina Escobar: 2016. 

Celia Sanchez: 1953. 

Marco Rubio: This week.

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