A Fascinating Peek at Cuba From 1492 till 2016

A Continuous Fight for Independence

      On October 27, 1492, Columbus discovered Cuba and pronounced it "the most beautiful land" he had ever seen. The depiction has had its pluses and minuses, almost on a daily basis, from that day to this day.

      Beginning on Oct. 27-1492 every imperialist nation in the world has cast its eager eyes on the island of Cuba, creating the continuous struggle for independence. Cubans massively crave sovereignty. 

      Cuba's incomparable beauty and its strategic location in the New World -- along with its size [the largest island in the Caribbean] -- made it a supreme imperialist prize and target from the 15th century till this very day. Near the end of the 19th century, Spain was barely clinging to its most appealing and most gorgeous colony, Cuba. The U. S. noticed. And that look would alter the history of both Cuba and the U. S. forever.

     The U. S. emergence as a world power began in the first half of the 1800s after the Monroe Doctrine was out-lined in President James Monroe's 7th annual address to the U.S. Congress on December 2, 1823. Monroe warned European powers not to mess with the U. S. sphere of interest. It was this doctrine that set the stage for Manifest Destiny, which gave the U. S. what it considered "its right" to, for example, annihilate native Indians for the purpose of expanding its borders westward from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. By the end of the 1800s, the U. S. had established its dominion throughout the Western Hemisphere and well knew that the plush, neighboring island of Cuba was easy pickings under the mantras of the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny. But even a weakened Spain refused to give up the island via a sale or a trade. That left one option for the U. S. -- War. And the war-mongers were winning the narrative! 

     By 1898 long-time imperialist superpower Spain had become extremely over-extended and was down to just two New World colonies -- Cuba and Puerto Rico. The United States, which had once offered Florida to Spain in exchange for Cuba, saw a golden opportunity to pounce on Spain and just take Cuba [and Puerto Rico] as war prizes. But in order to justify a Spanish-American War, the U. S. needed a pretext to start it.

    In the halls of the U. S. government, goaded by newspaper rabble-rousers, American plans to take Cuba from Spain had gone from the sublime to the outrageous in the last half of the 19th century. But by 1898 it was well known that even a tiny U. S. army could easily defeat weak, over-extended Spain. But, hey, that still involved war and, you know, a pretext is needed for war because, otherwise, it, uh, might look like the U. S. was just stealing Cuba from Spain. The strident war cacophony hit a discordant tone, at least briefly.

      William Randolph Hearst [above] in 1898, on his way to building America's greatest newspaper chain, owned the New York Journal. It was an era when newspapers had enormous power and the Journal was in a fierce battle with Joseph Pulitzer's World for supremacy in New York. Hearst, aiming to achieve one million readers a day, fabricated many things to attract paying customers and advertisers. He had long advocated America's ownership of Cuba. He was willing to fabricate or even create a war to achieve that goal.

       Teddy Roosevelt [above] was a close friend of William Randolph Hearst in 1898. Teddy direly wanted to be President of the United States. His powerful friend, Hearst, direly wanted Teddy's wish to come true. And both men wanted Cuba. "Uh, let's see...." If the U. S. captured Cuba in a war with Spain, and Teddy Roosevelt was the war hero, William Randolph Hearst could attain two goals, Cuba and the White House, with one little war! But, tuh, what about that pretext...? War DEMANDS a pretext, doesn't it?

      The U. S. war-mongers knew that a prized warship, the USS Maine, had sailed into Havana Harbor on January 25, 1898, for an extended "friendship" visit. The above photo shows the old Morro Castle fortress in the upper-right with the USS Maine entering Havana Harbor in the upper-center. Uh, guess what?

Powoooooooooooooo...!!!

      The USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor at precisely 9:40 P.M., February 15, 1898!  It killed 266 men.  SURELY SPAIN DID THE DIRTY DEED! And, wow! What a pretext for war! WHAT A PRETEXT FOR WAR!!

    The New York Journal immediately fanned the flames of war against the "SPANISH TREACHERY" with the quick conclusion [sub-headline on the left above] that the USS Maine was "DESTROYED BY AN OUTSIDE ATTACK!" In subsequent issues the Journal published pictures and diagrams showing how Spanish saboteurs had fastened an underwater mine to the Maine and had detonated it from shore.

     The battle-cry "Remember the Maine" feverishly entered the American lexicon, thanks to William Randolph Hearst and his New York Journal! A newspaper publisher had effectively declared war on America's behalf. It didn't matter that less powerful media outlets were pointing out that the last thing Spain wanted was a war far from its shores with the far more powerful United States. So, the question remains to this day: Did the U. S. blow up its own ship as a pretext to declare war on Spain or was the explosion an accident? But in 1898 William Randolph Hearst had his war. He sent his top writer, the author Stephen Crane, and his top artist, Frederick Remington, to Cuba to cover the war.  

      Frederick Remington, thanks to such iconic paintings as the one above, was America's most famed artist, but William Randolph Hearst could afford him or anyone else, Congressmen included.

     So, the great Frederick Remington [above] went to Cuba to paint sketches of William Randolph Hearst's splendid little Spanish-American War. But, after a few days on the island, Remington reported back to Hearst: "There is no war. Request to be recalled."

      William Randolph Hearst [above] immediately contacted the White House and then famously cabled this order to Frederick Remington in Cuba: "Please Remain. You furnish the pictures. I'll furnish the war." And...so he did. The rest is history, minutely and unabashedly reported by William Randolph Hearst.

      The New York Journal rushed out an "Extra" edition with the blaring headline "CONGRESS DECLARES WAR" to herald the start of the Spanish-American War. It perhaps would have been more accurate to proclaim "HEARST DECLARES WAR" but he was never known to let facts get in the way of a good story.

        Of course, William Randolph Hearst made sure that Teddy Roosevelt was not only in Cuba for the Spanish-America War but Hearst, with his reporters and artists meticulously covering the war, made sure that Teddy was acclaimed the supreme war hero.

       Like the rest of the Spanish-American War, San Juan Hill in Cuba was like an ant hill when it came to Spain resisting the American soldiers. But on July 1, 1898, Teddy Roosevelt astride a magnificent horse led his Rough Riders on the charge up San Juan Hill [above] that William Randolph Hearst easily exaggerated into the minds of Americans as the greatest, most courageous battle charge in America's history. Hearst was not only getting Cuba, he was indeed molding his own President! 

        The P. R. promotions of "The Storming of San Juan Hill" were quite different from historic narratives but guess which version had the most political effect in the U. S.? 

    Theodore Roosevelt served as America's 26th President from 1901 till 1909. 

Yes, the charge up San Juan Hill made Teddy Roosevelt a two-term President.

         Disclosure: This essay was inspired by a rumor that Senator Marco Rubio of Miami [above right] was sent a copy of the book "Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan: The Making of a President" by today's equivalent of William Randolph Hearst, Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch's vast media empire -- which includes Fox News, the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, 20th Century Fox, HarperCollins Publishers, etc. -- will use a good chunk of its considerable resources to ram Sen. Rubio down America's throat as a 2016 Presidential candidate. Hearst-Roosevelt, defined by history; Murdoch-Rubio, defined by...well, stay tuned! 

        And, oh yes, Teddy Roosevelt received America's highest military citation, the Medal of Honor, for his "Charge up San Juan Hill." It was awarded posthumously in 2001 [above] by President Bill Clinton.

     The History Channel produced a superb documentary explaining how the Spanish-American War gave birth to a superpower -- America. Since Columbus discovered both Cuba and the U. S. in 1492, both the history and the topicality of the two neighbors have been inextricably intertwined, in peace and in war.

       The Treaty of Paris signed on December 10, 1898, officially ended the Spanish-American War. In the above photo, Jules Cambon, the French Ambassador to the U. S., is signing the treaty on behalf of Spain. Cuba, of course, was not consulted or represented. The Treaty of Paris marked the defeat and collapse of the Spanish Empire because Spain's last four colonies -- Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, and Guam -- were ceded to the United States. Cuba had been a pawn in the reconfiguration of the world order.

Cuba became the "Holiday Isle of the Tropics" after the Spanish-American War.

       Cuba and the United States were "Good Friends" once upon a time, at least according to self-serving posters such as the one above that featured a "Before Castro" caption in the lower-right. "Before Castro" meant the U. S. - backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship in Cuba, 1952 - 1959, when the U. S. and Cuba were "Good Friends" because a handful of elite people in each country shared in the wholesale looting of the island. "Since Castro" -- 1959 till the present -- the two neighbors have not been very friendly because of a slight difference of opinion concerning such nagging items as imperialism and sovereignty.

        Beyond doubt, the seminal event in Cuba's long history was and is the Cuban Revolution that, behind Fidel Castro's "July 26" banner and battle-cry, startled the world by overthrowing the U. S.-and-Mafia-backed Batista dictatorship on January 1, 1959. Just as remarkable is the amazing longevity of both Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, both of whom remain alive in the closing days of 2012. The Guinness Book of World Records states that Fidel Castro has survived 638 assassination attempts. When you consider that two of history's all-time best assassins -- the CIA and the Mafia -- account for most of those assassination attempts, then Fidel Castro's niche in the annals of history will never be threatened or toppled, no matter what happens from this point on.

     Beyond doubt, the second most seminal event in Cuban history was and is the CIA-directed U. S./Cuban exile attack on Cuba at the Bay of Pigs [above] in April of 1961. Just as the triumph of the Cuban Revolution made history, the Fidel Castro-led victory at the Bay of Pigs solidified both his and the revolution's unique mark on history. On one small island, he had amassed two achievements -- the triumph of the revolution and the victory at the Bay of Pigs -- fighting as the quintessential David vs. Goliath.

      The sheer fact that the Batistiano and Mafia leaders [Photo above: Masferrer brothers flanking Rafael Diaz-Balart at a Batista rally in 1958] fled the Cuban Revolution and reconstituted their dictatorship on U. S. soil [namely Miami, Florida, and Union City, NJ} beginning in January of 1959 and lasting till this day, crowns the Cuban Revolution as one of the all-time phenomenons of history. The basic fact that -- from 1959 till today -- the Cuban government-in-exile has continued to have the backing of the strongest nation in the world, the U. S., in a furious effort to regain control of Cuba, speaks to the incredible longevity of the Cuban Revolution. For example, the three men above, and many like them, all quickly created in South Florida no-holds-barred military units that repeatedly attacked Cuba. And all three of the above men, and many like them, left behind second generations that remain just as determined to regain control of Cuba. Why are such facts both foreign to and anathema to the majority of Americans in 2012? Good question. The answer: In this rare instance, the losers and not the winners, for the most part, have written the history of the Cuban Revolution. And that's what a tiny nation gets for scoring victories over the world's all-time most powerful and influential nation. Oh, well! You can't win 'em all, can you?

         Fidel Castro considers himself the second most important guerrilla fighter and revolutionary leader in the Cuban Revolution and in Revolutionary Cuba. His choice for #1 in both categories has always been the incomparable Celia Sanchez, history's all-time greatest female guerrilla fighter and revolutionary leader.

       It's fitting that Celia Sanchez uttered and wrote the most definitive quotation and proclamation related to the Cuban Revolution. Beginning in February of 1959 and repeated in at least three venues prior to her death from cancer on January 11, 1980, Celia Sanchez stated: "The Batistianos will never regain control of Cuba as long as I live or as long as Fidel lives." No one believed her then. Everyone believes her now.

         A long line of great Cubans, such as Jose Marti, died on various battlefields fighting foreign domination. [Jose Marti died on May 19, 1895, at the confluence of the Contramaestre and Cauto rivers while fighting the Spanish]. Celia Sanchez and Fidel Castro bucked that trend because they have or will die of natural causes on Cuban soil. And that coda represents their crowning achievement.

 

       In the closing days of 2012 even the 86-year-old, very ill Fidel Castro is pondering what "After Castro" will entail for the island. For sure, it looms ominously on the horizon. "Before Castro," "Since Castro," and "After Castro." Three epic periods in the fascinating history of an island whose standing on the regional and international stage is far out of proportion to its size, population, wealth, and power. 

         Future sunrises over Cuba, like this one looking out on the horizon from Varadero Beach, portend as much fascination as the island's many sunsets have chronicled since 1492, including the sunset over San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898, after Teddy Roosevelt's, uh, scintillating charge.

       Meanwhile, William Randolph Hearst is known for things other than the Spanish-America War, such as the Hearst Mansion in LA that was once valued at $165 million.

       And the Orson Welles' classic "Citizen Kane," in which the title character is based on William Randolph Hearst, is generally considered the greatest movie of all time.

     Above is a commemorative rifle to honor Teddy Roosevelt's famed charge up San Juan Hill.

Changing the subject, the little guy above is the most beautiful bird I've seen this week.
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There Is Truth About Cuba If You Want It

You Just Need to Sift Through Obfuscations to Find It

       Jeff Franks [above] is the world's best journalist when it comes to consistently excellent reporting on the topic of Cuba. He heads the Havana bureau for Reuters, which is perhaps the world's most respected news agency. But too often fair and professional journalism related to Cuba is smothered by Michelle Malkin-type distortions [as I'll explain later].

         Thus, when Jeff Franks writes or speaks about Cuba, those who honestly want to know what's happening on or about the island listen intently. That why a lot of ears and notepads open wide or, as above, a lot of microphones are shoved in his face when and if he pauses to discuss one of his latest Reuters articles related to Cuba. So, if you want the solemn truth about Cuba -- the good, the bad, the ugly, or the beautiful -- check on the regular reports from Jeff Franks as opposed to the usual litany of biased or slanted (Michelle Malkin-type) reporting.

     Nelson Bocaranda [above] is a Venezuelan investigative journalist as well as a leading radio and television commentator in Caracas. If Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Raul Castro in Cuba, and Barack Obama in Washington all happen to vehemently agree on a particular topic concerning Cuba and Nelson Bocaranda says they are all engaging in self-serving obfuscation, then those who seek the truth believe Nelson Bocaranda. He has bravely and honestly earned that reputation and he deserves it. I am not privy to his sources in Caracas, Havana, or Washington but it is apparent that he has them and he uses them judiciously and fairly.

      Andrea Rodriguez [above] is a reporter at the Associated Press bureau in Havana. She is not only an excellent journalist but she is also a very honest, fair, and brave one. So, if you find yourself reading an AP article about Cuba written beneath her byline, trust it entirely. She is a worthy successor to the AP's Anita Snow in Havana.

      If you get your daily Cuban news Online, Tracey Eaton [above] should be your primary source if you want insightful, honest, and particularly useful investigative information. For years, till 2005, he headed the Dallas Morning News bureau in Havana and now he is an Associate Professor at Flagler College in Miami. His Along the Malecon blog is where those interested in fair-minded reporting about Cuba routinely go for expert data and analysis. He is neither pro-Cuba nor anti-Cuba but simply honest-Cuba. No one, for example, comes close to Tracey for obtaining and deciphering how much money USAID and other U. S. agencies devote to undermining and/or overthrowing the Cuban government, such as financing the unfortunate Alan Gross's adventures on the island. I met Tracey in Havana in 2004 when I was in Cuba researching my Celia Sanchez biography.

      From the time it was discovered (by Columbus in 1492), Cuba has captured the imaginations of millions on the island and many more millions off the island. Since the fifteenth century, Cuba has been one of the planet's most coveted and intriguing locales. It is the largest and most beautiful island in the ascetically gorgeous Caribbean. Such attributes have had good and bad overtones for Cuba.

     The above map shows 47 states in the continental United States, minus Florida. When it appeared in USA Today to illustrate that Florida, yet again, was acting like a Banana Republic when it came to counting votes in the 2012 Presidential election, it reminded me of something: The U. S. once offered to trade Florida to Spain in exchange for Cuba. [Spain wisely turned down that deal but, of course, later lost the island in the 1898 Spanish-American War in which the pretext was, indeed, to take Cuba from Spain.]

     Since 1898 [The Spanish-American War] and especially since 1959 [the triumph of the Cuban Revolution], the island of Cuba has been a player on the international stage far out of proportion to its size, population, or wealth. That's because -- since 1898 and especially since 1959 -- the island of Cuba says a lot more about its superpower neighbor, the United States, than it says about Cuba itself, which is saying quite a lot. 

       And primarily what it says is...only one flag, the Cuban flag, should fly over Cuba, a sovereign nation in which Cubans on the island deserve the right to chart its course...not foreign powers and not Cubans aligned with foreign powers.

     The U. S. flag [above] that flies over the front gate at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, reminds the world -- especially everyone in the Caribbean and Latin America -- that the U. S. stole Guantanamo Bay from Cuba way back in 1903 when it could dictate Cuba's fate after defeating Spain in the 1898  Spanish-American War.

Guantanamo Bay is a part of Cuba, not the United States. 

    In recent years, Amnesty International's definition of Guantanamo Bay -- "The Gulag of our time" -- has circled the globe many times, demeaning the United States.

     U. S. warships at Guantanamo Bay, like the one above, should be there only at the invitation of Cuba or only if the U. S. has officially declared war on the island. But, in the eyes of every Caribbean and Latin American nation, the gulag and the warship are imperialistic facts of life. Cuba wins David-vs.-Goliath public relations debates.

                           

      And so, as you view [above] the USS Saipan sailing into Guantanamo Bay, rest assured that unbiased, honest, and informed sources throughout the Caribbean and Latin America believe that the U. S. continually resembles a Big Bully because of the theft and unwanted occupation of 45 plush acres in a much smaller, helpless nation.

         Now into his second term as U. S. President, Barack Obama's most notable broken promise from his first term was his failure to shut down the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On Nov. 28-2012, the U. S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) once again explicitly reported that there are over 100 prisons in the United States that could safely hold the 166 detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay. The next day, the Senate added an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that bars the U. S. Military from using any funds to transfer the Guantanamo Bay prisoners to prisons inside the United States. Such logistical roadblocks laid down by right-wing Republican congressmen prevented President Obama from keeping his promise in his first term and they are being repeated in his second term. As it now stands, he would have to veto the entire defense bill in order to circumvent that mendacious addition regarding Guantanamo Bay. Unsavory methods are routinely used so minority rule unfairly hurts Cuba.

      President Obama's Democratic Party controls the U. S. Senate but Cuban-American Bob Menendez [above] is one of those Democratic Senators and he fervently engages in any political activity designed to hurt the Cuban government. Senator Menendez was born in New York City a few months after his parents, Mario and Evangelina, had fled the Batista dictatorship in Cuba in 1953. He grew up in the Cuban-exile enclave of Union City, New Jersey, where a mayoral stint launched his political rise. Although a Democrat, Senator Menendez is President Obama's dire enemy when it comes to accomplishing anything meaningful or sensible to change the U. S. Cuban policy that angers and shames America's international friends.

      Right-wing Republican Senator Marco Rubio [above] is also now an obstacle for President Obama in the Democratically-controlled U. S. Senate, as reflected by the Nov. 29-2012 addition to the defense bill designed to thwart attempts by the President to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.

     Marco Rubio's political career in and out of Miami was anointed by Jeb Bush. It is now obligatory for the U. S. media to always refer to Senator Rubio as "the rising star of the Republican Party." With the fierce backing of the Bush political machine, the Tea Party, and Fox News, Marco Rubio is now being thrust now the throats of Americans as a 2016 Presidential candidate although even the Associated Press has pointed out that certain Rubio indiscretions in Miami -- his distorted bio, questionable real estate deals, alleged misuse of a credit card, etc. -- may be politically acceptable in Florida but "probably will not be on the national stage." On his Miami to Washington trek, for example, Senator Rubio's official biography loudly maintained that his parents, Mario Rubio and Oria Garcia, fled the Castro tyranny in Cuba for the freedom of Miami. Then in October of 2011 the St. Petersburg Times and the Washington Post both revealed that, uh, Mario Rubio and Oria Garcia actually fled the Batista tyranny in Cuba in 1956, three years prior to the Cuban Revolution that, uh, ended the Batista tyranny, which had created the need for the Cuban Revolution.

     Michelle Malkin is typical of the legions of right-wing "journalists" who make enormous amounts of money dispensing repetitious propaganda that appeals to a select but significant audience. Ms. Malkin, for example, preaches to the choir that the Guantanamo Bay prisoners shouldn't be moved to U. S. prisons because, for sure, the streets of America would soon be over-run with the world's worst terrorists. 

       Michelle Malkin and many like her spew out a plethora of such non-sense on an hourly [not just daily] basis. Of course, she is a regular contributor on Fox News but she is also a nationally syndicated columnist and has a popular Michelle Malkin.com blog. The fact she has a rapt audience is, frankly and softly speaking...scary.

       Like other celebrity propagandists, Michelle Malkin produces a hardback book about every few months because, of course, they can be lavishly promoted for free on such venues as Fox News. In the grievous traditions of Russ Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, etc., Ms. Malkin [as in the book above] can rave about President Obama's "Culture of Corruption" powered by his "team of tax cheats, crooks, and cronies" while telling her not-too-bright disciples that all right-wing Republicans are, in startling contrast, Mother Teresa-like saints. As a lifelong conservative Republican, I understand why President Obama has not been able to keep his promise about closing the Guantanamo Bay prison. With a U. S. Senate that includes Menendez and Rubio and a U. S. media that includes Malkin, Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, etc., I sympathize with President Obama and with the U. S. democracy.

 On a calmer topic, the American Goldfinch is my favorite bird.

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The Ungodly Punishment of Cuban Children

Just To Sate A Few Unsavory Appetites!

      Carter Mountain Orchard in Central Virginia was featured in a major article in the Washington Post entitled "Virginia  Farmers Find Eager Trade Partner: Cuba." 

The article appeared in the Washington Post on Nov. 25-2012 and was written by Laura Vozzela.

    Carter Mountain Orchard is a famous landmark in Virginia, within walking distance of other historic landmarks such as Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. I happen to live almost within sight of Carter Mountain Orchard. Its delicious apples are always in my Virginia home.

       Apples from Carter Mountain Orchard have been exported for decades all over Europe, Mexico, and Central America. Henry Chiles, the current 77-year-old patriarch of the family-owned orchard, bravely and valiantly also legally exports his apples to Cuba against the wishes of a rich and powerful handful of Cuban exiles in the United States who control the U. S. Cuban policy. Those few revengeful exiles insist that school-children on the island do not deserve to eat healthful, delicious apples from Virginia. Even in the world's most famed democracy, those viewpoints usually prevail because the majority of Americans cowardly and ignorantly allow it to go forward decade after decade. Mr. Chiles battles endless obstacles and red tape to sell his apples to Cuba. 

    But strongly supported by Todd Haymore, Virginia's Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, Henry Chiles' Virginia apples are reaching Cuba's school-children. Despite the economic slowdown, Virginia exports -- especially apples -- have increased from $30 million to $65 million in the past year. This means Virginia is Cuba's 7th largest export market, more than twice as much as 20th ranked Britain. In other words, the state of Virginia has decent, courageous, and compassionate  people like Henry Chiles and Todd Haymore. The nation of Britain, like a lot of other self-anointed democracy lovers around the world, obviously needs a few men like those two superb Virginians.

     Henry Chiles [above] has long been an outstanding Virginian. His Carter Mountain Orchard was started as a collaborative effort by both of his great-grandparents. In a recession-fueled slow economy, he would like to be able to sell his apples to an eager market -- Cuba. And he does. But it's tiresome, burdensome, and costly because of the Cuban exile-powered Cuban embargo, which has been in effect since 1962 for the long-stated purpose of overthrowing the still viable and now 86-year-old Fidel Castro. Mr. Chiles told the Washington Post's Laura Vozzela how hard it is for him to sell apples to Cuba: "Always a lot of challenges, a lot of paperwork, holdups. It's difficult." For a half century, the Cuban embargo that stifles Mr. Chiles and many others has been designed to hurt everyone except a handful of powerful, revengeful, rich Cuban exiles and their self-serving sycophants.   

      Would it be a shame for Cuban school-children, like the ones being photographed above, to each be given an apple a day from Virginia? Or should the shame be showered upon the tiny but powerful minority of Cuban exiles and their sycophants who have, since 1959, punished Cuban children in the name of punishing the now 86-year-old Fidel Castro? It is also shameful, I believe, that many people in America and in Britain have neither the guts nor the compassion to even answer those two pertinent  questions. Instead, it seems easier to plead ignorance. 

"Castro and his elite friends will eat all those apples! Uh, won't they?" Yeah, sure. 

        The Cuban-exile anti-Castro extremists claim that if such imports as apples and baby food reach Cuba it will all be consumed by the voracious Fidel or add to his bank account. The rest of the world, as indicated each year by the UN vote on the Cuban embargo, consider us Americans either cowards or idiots for accepting such frayed logic. For one thing, Fidel does not like apples or baby food. But he loves Chinese food washed down with the iconic American product Coca-Cola [see above]. So, the Cuban-exile anti-Castro extremists would probably be right in maintaining that when cartons of Coca-Cola reach the island, a few bottles would likely end up in Fidel's refrigerator. As for Fidel's bank account, supposedly overflowing according to the anti-Castro extremists, he doesn't have one. Anyone who has ever studied Fidel Castro, and millions have done so, well know he was born rich and has zero regard for money. He quickly, for example, gave away his first two inheritances to peasant women on the streets of Havana.

         When Fidel and Mirta Diaz-Balart honeymooned in the U. S. in 1948, the also rich Mirta was the only one who took along any money. When she ran out, Fidel had to borrow money from friends in Miami so they could get back to Cuba. The Batistianos and Mafiosos he kicked off the island, on the other hand, had huge bank accounts in Switzerland, Miami, and Union City (NJ) and they left a plethora of luxurious mansions on the island when they hastily vacated in the early hours of January 1, 1959. Cuban peasants were put in those mansions. Fidel Castro has a lot of well-known faults. Greed is not one of them.

        A lack of courage was also not one of Fidel Castro's faults. Above he and the incomparable Celia Sanchez were marching to face a vastly superior Batista army that was supported with U. S. - provided warplanes and tanks. It would become known as the Battle of Jigue in July of 1958. Fidel and Celia won that battle. It sent a message to Washington that maybe the U. S. was backing the wrong horse in Cuba. It also sent the not-very-courageous Batista a palpable message: "Loot the treasury; keep the getaway planes ready!"

        After his most powerful army lost the ten-day Battle of Jigue in July of 1958, Batista and Mafia kingpin Meyer Lansky loaded the above airplanes at Camp Colombia on the edge of Havana with the last of the loot in the Cuban treasury. The getaway airplanes were kept fueled and ready -- just in case. In the last week of December in 1958 Fidel Castro and Celia Sanchez had secured Santiago de Cuba, the island's second largest city located in the area that had seen the most bitter fighting. The key city of Santa Clara, the final bastion leading to Havana, was taken by a rebel unit led by Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. Bingo! At 3:00 A. M. on the morning of January 1, 1959, five of the above planes began hastily taking to the air headed for safer havens, along with hundreds of getaway boats and ships. The Revolutionary War was over. Attacks, assaults, and assassination attempts from military bases in Florida then dominated the decades that followed. Interestingly enough, prior to the fierce bombing attacks that prefaced the ground invasion at the Bay of Pigs in April of 1961, the CIA famously assured President John Kennedy that "Fidel Castro will run for his getaway airplanes once he hears the bombers attacking Camp Colombia!" Of course, Fidel Castro has never had "getaway airplanes." The CIA had massive power but little Cuban intelligence.

         Life Magazine [above] was among the first to tell the world of that famous CIA "guarantee" to Kennedy and the first to register fully the "U. S. miscalculations" that included Fidel Castro's tendency to race to the front lines, not to getaway airplanes, even when attacked by far superior forces. CIA "miscalculations," along with false and self-serving Cuban-exile depictions, have served to enshrine, not eliminate, one man on one nearby little island. Rich and safe Cuban exiles often scream about Fidel Castro's "greed" or "cowardice." As usual, even Life Magazine let the losers, not the winners, register the news and history of the Bay of Pigs attack. That, of course, has laid the groundwork for decades of distortions regarding a two-sided event. Usually winners, not losers, register an event's primary topical news and its history. 

        From 1959 till Celia Sanchez's death on January 11, 1980, Fidel's main abode was her modest apartment on 11th Street in Havana. To this day Fidel lives in a modest home with his wife Dalia and son Alexander. It's furnishings include only one item that could be considered luxurious -- a big, modern television. Maybe he deserves a good TV...and a little privacy behind all those pine trees. 

      Fidel Castro's childhood home [above] in Biran, Cuba, was more luxurious than the homes he has lived in as an adult. Luxury items, so important to Batista and the Mafia, do not seem to interest him at all. 

     And remember, when Fidel sold the Bay of Pigs prisoners back to the U. S., he insisted on Gerber Baby Food, not cash, as the main payment. Cuban babies consumed that largess just as those apples from Carter Mountain Orchard in Virginia are primarily consumed by Cuban school-children. Facts, even about Cuba, are...facts.

     Since 1959, children on the island of Cuba have been better taken care of than they were prior to 1959. That's a fact and it separates Revolutionary Cuba from Batistiano/Mafioso Cuba.

     Babies and children, such as the three young birds in the brilliant Michelle Holland photograph above, all have a right to decent food. That includes babies and children on the island of Cuba even if the cozy former Cuban leaders in Miami and Union City disagree.  

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Fidel Castro Finds Comfort During His Final Days

It Comes From A Country Singer

     Heidi Hauge [above] was born in Skien, Norway on October 14, 1967. A mother of four, she is by far the best-selling Scandinavian country singer. All of her albums have become gold records. Her superb talent in perfect English comforts the final days of a legendary man. How that evolved is fascinating to me and will be to you.

       At age 86 and terminally ill, Fidel Castro is not suffering but he is quite weak. He does not believe he will be alive on New Year's Day, 2013. Many things these days clutter his effusive mind, with his most pleasant and most pertinent memories relating to the years 1957 - 1980 when he had Celia Sanchez by his side, first as a guerrilla fighter and then as the co-leader of Cuba from 1959 till her death from cancer on January 11, 1980. He remembers the decisive ten-day Battle of Jigue in July of 1958, the battle that finally convinced Dictator Batista and the United States that the revolution was indeed a serious threat. On the eve of that battle a Batista soldier, sent out as a sniper, fired a shot that grazed the rebel uniform of Celia Sanchez. She survived and the sniper did not but the thought of losing Celia Sanchez to that sniper bullet haunted Fidel Castro for the rest of the revolutionary war and, in the 1980s after her death from natural causes, that memory poignantly and everlastingly returned.

      Juan Almeida, the black Cuban second from the left between the Castro brothers in the above 1958 photo, was a top rebel Commander during the Revolutionary War. Prior to that he was a musician and would remain a lifelong song-writer. Even as a key leader, he devoted hours each day to music.

         From 1959 till his death on Sept. 11-2009 at age 82, General Juan Almeida was always one of the five most powerful men in Revolutionary Cuba. In the late 1980s Juan heard and loved the Willie Nelson-Ray Charles duet on a song entitled "Seven Spanish Angels." He played it for his friend Fidel Castro, believing it would soothe Fidel's continuing sorrow over the death of Celia Sanchez. Juan played the song three times that first day for Fidel and all three times, Juan would later recall, one particular chorus brought unabashed tears to Fidel's eyes. In the song written in 1984 by two great American song-writers, Troy Seals and Eddie Setser, the chorus that made Fidel cry was:

"There were seven Spanish Angels

At the alter of the sun.

They were praying for the lovers

In the valley of the gun.

And when the battle stopped,

And the smoke cleared, 

There was thunder from the throne.
And seven Spanish Angels
Took another angel home."

        In the years that followed, Juan Almeida and other Fidel Castro intimates were aware that the song "The Seven Spanish Angels" meant a lot to the Cuban leader, both in its English and Spanish versions. And all those intimates knew the song, especially that chorus, consumed Fidel Castro because it reminded him of Celia Sanchez and the decisive Battle of Jigue in July of 1958.

        Even American experts on Fidel Castro, like the conservative nationally syndicated columnist Georgie Anne Geyer [above], would understand how Fidel Castro could so easily become consumed by anything that reminded him of Celia Sanchez, including the memories that made him suicidal when she died.

        In her seminal biography of Fidel Castro, Georgie Anne Geyer devotes two gripping pages to Fidel's almost suicidal reaction to the death of Celia Sanchez on Jan. 11-1980, easily the saddest day of his life.

        The three prime guerrilla warriors [Haydee Santamaria, Celia Sanchez, and Fidel Castro from left to right above] formed such an incredible bond during the fighting in 1957 and 1958 that they came to idolize each other. And that would be so till the end of all their lives -- Celia's, then Haydee's, and soon Fidel's.

      And, indeed, in 1980 Haydee Santamaria committed suicide because of the death of Celia Sanchez. Cuban insiders, as hinted by Georgie Anne Geyer, well know that Fidel Castro in 1980 almost did what Haydee Santamaria did, and for the same reason. Fidel also remembered that on her deathbed Celia Sanchez had told him to "Live long, be brave, and marry Dalia."

      Dalia Soto del Valle [above] married Fidel Castro in 1980 and is the mother of five of his eight sons. Dalia -- who had been a teacher and secretary in Trinidad, Cuba -- also had been Celia Sanchez's dear friend. Neither Dalia nor Fidel would ever fail to heed any request Celia left behind. Celia's request that they marry was no exception.

        From 1980 till today Dalia has been a loving wife to Fidel, and particularly devoted to him [as indicated by the above photo] as he has aged. Dalia still caresses his memory of Celia Sanchez. She confided to an American female friend about Fidel's love of "Seven Spanish Angels," equating it to Celia Sanchez and the Battle of Jigue. Later, from the U. S., Dalia received a package from her American friend. A note inside said: "This is the best copy of an album that features the best version of Seven Spanish Angels. It's by a Norwegian lady named Heidi Hauge. If you let Fidel hear her sing Seven Spanish Angels, I believe he will give the Willie Nelson version a rest. Thank him for the puppy. Hug him for me. Love, Lucille."

       Above is the album that Lucille so thoughtfully sent Dalia. Song #6 is Heidi Hauge's version of "Seven Spanish Angels." Fidel was indeed blown away after he heard it. Thus Dalia transferred "Seven Spanish Angels" to an iPhone recorder that, complete with earphones, she gave Fidel. He now listens to Heidi Hauge sing "Seven Spanish Angels" every day. [P.S.: Prior to getting that interesting data from a Facebook "friend," I had never heard of Heidi Hauge. But I googled "Seven Spanish Angels by Heidi Hauge" and was listening to it five seconds later on You Tube. And yes, I discovered that Lucille and Fidel are right. Heidi Hauge has the greatest version of a great song -- "Seven Spanish Angels." And each day now it's the version that comforts an old man in Havana, Cuba.]

*The End*