Cuban Dissidents (1) and the American Media (2)

Add the U. S. Government (3) and You Have A Dynamic Trio

       Tracey Eaton {above} is my friend. I met him in Cuba in 2004 when he was head of the Dallas Morning News bureau in Havana. Prior to that, and since then, I have exchanged scores of emails with Tracey. That's because I consider him America's best and fairest journalist on a topic that interests me -- Cuba. This month {Jan.-2013} Tracey emailed me to solicit my opinion of Cuban dissidents, explaining that he was writing a major article on that subject. I have always valued his opinion. Before I went to Cuba, he advised me to stay at the Victoria Hotel; I did. After I got to Cuba, he advised me to eat at the in-home restaurants knows as paladars; I did. And I appreciated the fact that he valued my opinion regarding Cuban dissidents.

        Al Neuharth is my all-time favorite journalist. Born in Eureka, South Dakota in 1924, he still writes a column entitled "Plain Talk" that appears each Friday in USA Today, which happens to be my all-time favorite news source and newspaper. I consider Al Neuharth an American treasure.

        Back in 1982 Al Neuharth founded USA Today, which I have subscribed to since 1982. It remains the most readable major newspaper in America. It is also one of the fairest, even on controversial, hot-button topics such as...Cuba. Mr. Neuharth himself, for example, has correctly called the self-inflicted U. S. embargo of Cuba "insane." And he has readily acknowledged that Fidel Castro has "out-smarted" the last ten U. S. presidents. In fairness, Mr. Neuharth and USA Today have also sharply criticized Cuba when such criticism was warranted, which, of course, it sometimes is.

         On January 7, 2013, an article in USA Today featured this across-the-page headline: "CUBAN ABUSES UP, DISSIDENTS SAY." It was written by Tracey Eaton. And it was a totally biased and distorted article. 

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         Am I surprised that my favorite journalist in my favorite newspaper teamed up for a blatantly distorted, biased, and myopic presentation on an issue that is important to the United States as well as to a neighboring country and the world? No, not at all. Cuba says a lot more about the United States than it says about Cuba. One thing it says is...the United States should not have teamed with the Mafia to support the Batista dictatorship in Cuba in the 1950s. Another thing it says is...when the Batista dictatorship was overthrown by a popular revolution in January of 1959, the United States should never have allowed the leaders of that ousted dictatorship to reconstitute a richer and more powerful dictatorship on U. S. soil, creating what essentially has been yet another Banana Republic dictatorship that has existed and thrived since January of 1959 to the detriment, I believe, of the U. S. democracy. Because Cuba is a little island and the United States is by far the richest and strongest nation in the history of the world, the losers, not the winners, have dominated the historical records of the Cuban Revolution as well as the topical journalism related to it. Thus, no way am I surprised that my favorite journalist and my favorite newspaper teamed to produce a biased and distorted view within the bowels of a malaise that is also known as the U. S. - Cuban conundrum. You see, all my friend Tracey and USA Today were really doing, in a capitalist world captive to commercialism, was to gratuitously feed the gargantuan appetites of American consumers who have been programmed to accept biased and distorted data pertaining to the topic of Cuba. Tracey and USA Today thus realized that an article extolling both sides of a TWO-SIDED story would not be understood and would, in fact, be far over the heads or IQs of their readers. Therefore, just one side was presented. And, yes, there is another side...and one that I believe a rejuvenated U. S. democracy, refurbished with a large dose of integrity, should be and would be strong enough to embrace. 

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        Thomas Jefferson -- before he died at his Monticello home in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 4, 1826 -- had this very famous and very pertinent quotation regarding newspapers:

"The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them."

       Thomas Jefferson, I believe, would not have been pleased with my favorite journalist and my favorite newspaper if he had read the Jan. 7-2013 article in USA Today under the screaming across-the-page headline: "Cuban Abuses Up, Dissidents Say!" Mr. Jefferson, first off, would have demanded that both sides of a two-sided story be aired; and Mr. Jefferson, secondly, would have been disappointed that USA Today's readers had been pre-programmed to accept only one side of the two-sided Cuban issue.

         Cuba's Las Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) {Tracy Eaton photo for USA Today} are  darlings of the anti-Cuban foreign press and, of course, were prominently featured and quoted in Tracey's article on dissidents for USA Today, as were twenty or so other dissidents. That's fine. But on an island of 11.2 million people, the article seemed to suggest that about 11 million of them are vehemently against the Cuban government. That is not so. Fair-minded journalists, including Tracey, often allude to the fact that the dissident community on the island is "very small." In fact, most of the women on the island from 1959 till today belong to the pro-government Federation of Cuban Women. And most of the adults on the island belong to the block-by-block Committees for the Defense of the Revolution. Thus, articles that suggest the Ladies in White are among the vast majority on the island are simply false. It is also fair to state, I believe, that sometimes non-dissidents, meaning everyday Cubans not working for the government, will occasionally react disrespectfully or even violently to dissidents.

       Tracey also provided the above photo to USA Today to illustrate his article suggesting that abuses against Cuban dissidents have increased dramatically, implying that the prominent neck, shoulder, and chest scars were examples of dissident abuse at the hands of the government. However, by the next day Tracey himself, on his excellent Along the Malecon blog, was suggesting that the above scars had nothing whatsoever to do with politics but everything to do with a girlfriend-boyfriend spat.

        Tracey used this photo of James Cason on his Jan. 8-2013 Along the Malecon blog to explain the other side of the apparently two-sided story about the scars: "When James Cason was chief of the U. S. Interests Section in Havana, he told me that the democracy movement needed victims. It needed blood." James Cason was such an arrogant anti-Castro buffoon when he headed the U. S. Interest Section in Havana that he made constant headlines. But typically, his anti-Castro antics had its rewards back on U. S. soil. On Jan. 20-2011 James Cason was elected Mayor of Coral Gables on the edge of Miami!

       Josefina Vidal is Cuba's highly respected and acutely informed Minister of North American Affairs. If you are going to present the views of 20 or so Cuban dissidents, I believe it is only fair to provide Ms. Vidal's viewpoints too. She has repeatedly said: "In Cuba we are very tolerant of the small dissident community. We do not consider them a threat to our sovereignty. We believe they have a right to be heard and if columnist DeWayne Wickham of USA Today or Andrea Mitchell of NBC News or Wolf Blitzer of CNN ask me, as they have recently, if they can talk to such dissidents, I always say, 'certainly.' What I object to and guard against is when foreign money or foreign influence backs and, in fact, often creates the dissidents. Please understand that we, as with any sovereign nation, will not allow that. As Minister of North American Affairs for Cuba, much if not most of my time is devoted to being on the look-out for foreign agents trying to provoke Cuba into jailing or fighting off foreign attempts to de-stabilize our government, and then using our reaction to such provocations to blame us. Other than that, I assure you, I view my primary job as being friendly to all nations, especially our neighbors, including the United States." In other words, what the highly capable Josefina Vidal mostly defends Cuba against is precisely what James Cason told Tracey Eaton "the democracy movement" {a euphemism for "regime change"} needed most: "victims...blood."

      Yoani Sanchez {above} is the internationally acclaimed and beloved anti-Cuban Cuban blogger. She is easily the world's most quoted dissident. The Huffington Post, the Voice of America, Tracey Eaton, and almost any politically-socially correct journalist in the Western World quote Yoani's every word and, of course, the Huffington Post, the Voice of America, and other powerful media outlets massively promote and sell her books and videos. Yoani's fame has spawned a lot of Yoani-wannabes.

      But non-dissidents on the island of Cuba -- and I believe they constitute the majority -- tend to believe that Yoani Sanchez's fame was "Made in the USA" simply, or at least partly, because she is the most visible dissident on the island. Non-dissidents on the island are usually ignored.

       For example, Rosa Baez {above} is a non-dissident in Cuba and she will readily inform you that she is thus among the vast majority on the island. {"That's why the Mafia is in Miami, not Havana!"} The above photo is taken from a long video-interview Tracey Eaton did with Rosa and it's still posted on YouTube and Along the Malecon. I have no objection to Yoani Sanchez but Rosa Baez also has a right to a viewpoint.

       The child-loving Rosa Baez not only has her prolific pro-Cuban government blog {"La Polilla Cubana"} but she also is one of the primary users of the social media, especially Facebook, to get her views heard and seen. Of course, she is not quite as politically correct as anyone who would hold up their hand and say, "Hey, I'm anti-Castro AND anti-Cuba!" But Rosa is also a part of this diverse world.

         Since the triumph of the female-forged Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, Rosa Baez has been a proud member of the pro-government Federation of Cuban Women. So are most Cuban women.

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Cuba: Now A Rapidly Changing Caribbean Nation

Or...Have You Not Noticed?
{Up-dated January 6, 2013}

     How would you like to own the oceanfront home depicted above. As a primary home, business, or vacation getaway castle it might be just what well-to-do families are looking for. A new oceanfront 18-hole golf course is within easy walking distance. The fishing or sunbathing from the pier is fantastic. The price for either purchasing it or leasing it for 50 to 99 years is quite reasonable. Uh, did I mention it's in Cuba? Sorry, I should have revealed that upfront. But now that it's out in the open, permit me to add that such oceanfront jewels can now be purchased by non-Cubans {otherwise known as foreigners} or they can sign 50 to 99-year leases if that is preferable. 

           Manuel Marrero {above} is a very affable and decent fellow. He is also Cuba's Minister of Tourism. He says, as of 2011, only two golf courses existed in Cuba. Some well-heeled foreign investors convinced him they would help fund 16 more if Cuba would agree to allow foreigners to purchase or lease prime property. Marrero, in turn, convinced his governmental superiors to depart from the revolutionary past and open up the island's markets. So, initially, golf courses were designed for Holguin in the eastern part of the island, Pinar del Rio in the farthest western province, the main tourist mecca of Veradero, and the capital of Havana. Since then Cubans have been allowed to purchase or construct homes, restaurants, and other businesses with the government or foreign relatives providing loans. A, uh, market economy? "Sure!" Marrero says. "Call it what you want. Times change. We too can adjust to change. Are you...surprised?"

        Since the Batista-Mafia era of the 1950s, Cubans have become legendary for their ingenuity in keeping antique cars in shiny, workable conditions even though they have had to improvise constant repairs. Now they can buy and sell cars and other possessions but the fresh bureaucracy is overwhelming at times.

         Above is a green 1950 Chevrolet in excellent running condition passing by the luxury hotel at Cuba's plush Varadero Beach resort. The driver is both a skilled hotel worker and an expert auto mechanic.

American celebrity Jay Leno has spent millions of dollars buying and restoring old cars.

Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson has 70 old restored cars in his collection.

What would Jay Leno or Reggie Jackson pay for this pink and fine-tuned 1957 Chevy in Havana?
And is this "the bright pink Chevy that mobster Meyer Lansky famously drove around Havana?" 

         If Jay Leno and Reggie Jackson ever make it to Havana, it will resemble two rich Americans stepping into the world's biggest Candy Store and being greeted warmly by eager, friendly hosts!

     Cubans are being given lush plots of land if they promise to grow vegetables and fruit. At great expense, the island currently imports 70% of its food. It's trying to correct that glaring revolutionary failure.

         The iconic Hotel National de Cuba has been refurbished, including the room in which Frank Sinatra famously saw some ghosts. Cuba set a record for tourism in 2012 and the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) estimates an increase of 3.7 percent in gross domestic product (GNP) for Cuba in 2013. 

Above are the 16 provinces, sometimes called subdivisions, in Cuba. They are 1 - 16: 
#1 Pinar del Rio
#2 Artemisa
#3 La Habana
#4 Mayabeque
#5 Matanzas
#6 Cienfuegos
#7 Villa Clara
#8 Sancti Spiritus
#9 Ciego de Avila
#10 Camaguey
#11 Las Tunas
#12 Granma
#13 Holguin
#14 Santiago de Cuba
#15 Guantanamo
#16 Isla de la Juventud (Island of Youth)
Until the 1970s Isla de la Juventud was known as the "Isla de Pinos" or the "Isle of Pines."

Prior to the 1970s Cuba consisted of only six provinces:
#1 Pinar del Rio
#2 La Habana
#3 Matanzas
#4 Las Villas
#5 Camaguey
#6 Oriente

        It has been said that the world's 12 best and most pristine scuba-diving spots are off the coasts of Cuba. Check the above map. Or better yet...................................................................................!!

         Cubans are among the healthiest, safest, and best educated people in the Americas. The casual young lady above is studying on the edge of Santiago de Cuba, the island's second largest city and former capital.

      At midnight on January 1, 2013, workers unveiled the above billboard in Santiago de Cuba to mark the 54th year since the triumph of the remarkably mercurial Cuban Revolution over the Batista-Mafia dictatorship back in 1959.

      Above is the New York Times front-page that first told Americans about the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. If the NY Times were to update that page in January of 2013 -- 54 years later -- the headline and sub-headlines might read: "REMNANTS OF BATISTA REGIME STILL TRYING TO RECAPTURE CUBA; Efforts Still Backed by Superpower U.S.; Fox News Totally Distraught Over Cuba Still Being Sovereign Nation."

     For sure, the eternally coveted and much-targeted island of Cuba still has its problems, such as the hateful 51-year-old U. S. embargo that many also consider a self-inflicted and festering American wound.

And two people vital to Cuba -- Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro -- are both now mortally ill.

        Above is the hospital in Cuba where Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- as of Jan. 5-2013 -- appears to be fighting a losing battle after his 4th major cancer operation. Chavez is Cuba's main ally and benefactor. Cuba in 2011 had $20 billion in foreign trade, $8.3 billion of it with Venezuela. Cuba gets two-thirds of its oil -- 115,000 barrels a day -- from Venezuela in exchange for Cuba having 44,000 medical and technical personnel in Venezuela. {The foregoing statistics are accurate and confirmed by both countries}

       But Cuba is still there. And it will still be there as the Pearl of the Caribbean after the end of the U. S. embargo and the passing of both Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. It is, most of all, resilient and permanent.

      No longer {as above} can U. S. presidential candidates expect to capture Florida's crucial 29 electoral votes by flocking to Miami to promise the dominant anti-Castro Cuban-exile zealots they, when elected, "will be tougher than ever against Castro!" In the past 54 years, Havana has changed; so, too, has Miami.

      Cuba, right next door to the U. S., dominates the Caribbean. The key to engaging Cuba is to not continually try to capture it. In 2013 Brazil, China, Russia, Vietnam, and Malaysia are among the important nations increasing their engagement with Cuba. None of those nations are trying to conquer the island.

      So the key for mutually positive engagement with Cuba is to simply convince the island that you are not trying to conquer it. The United States needs to locate that key and open the door to a changing Cuba.

     The Washington Post reports that the economically sound state of Virginia's 7th largest export market is Cuba, thanks to the Carter Mountain Orchard that for generations has overlooked Thomas Jefferson's Monticello home. Mr. Jefferson, a capitalist at heart, would heartily approve of Carter Mountain Orchard.

     Carter Mountain Orchard has worked tirelessly to legally circumvent the self-deprecating, Cuban exile-inspired U. S. embargo against Cuba. Its Herculean, worthwhile goal is to sell apples to the island. The effort, as frustrating as it is, has mutually benefited Cuba's children,  the Carter Mountain Orchard, and Virginia's economy. The Washington Post article on Nov. 25-2012, written by Laura Vozzela, lauded 77-year-old Henry Chiles for his stellar efforts in managing to overcome obstacles and sell his apples to Cuba.

          Mr. Chiles {above}, the patriarch of Carter Mountain Orchard, told Laura Vozzela that the U. S. embargo against Cuba presents "A lot of challenges, a lot of paperwork, holdups. It's difficult." But Mr. Chiles is a prime reason Cuba is "Virginia's seventh-largest export market, more than twice as large as 20th-ranked Britain." Mr. Chiles' two grand-fathers started shipping Virginia-grown Pippin apples overseas in wooden barrels 100 years ago and, Vozzela explains, Mr. Chiles was influenced by the recent economic downturn to fight the embargo so he could ship his apples to nearby Cuba. He fought, and won. Other states, as well as "20th-ranked Britain," need  energetic men like Mr. Chiles to fight back against life's inequities.

       Because of Henry Chiles, Cuban children also get to eat delicious, healthy Virginia apples. And Virginia's economy benefits. So, what's so bad about that splendid double-barreled action? 

      The moral of this story: A nice, lonely Cuban sits solemnly on the shoreline, staring across the Caribbean Sea in the direction of nearby Florida. Pensively and silently, she wonders philosophically to herself: "It's a new year, 2013. It's not 1959. I don't hate you. I never have. So, America, why do you hate me?"

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The Year 2013 Has Dawned for America and Cuba

 With Both Badly Needing A Rebirth

    The heralded Mayan Prophecy that predicted the world would end on 12-21-2012 turned out to be wrong. Sooooooooo............

 America!

And...Cuba!

      The dawn of a new year, like the birth of a child, is a good time for life's two most precious gifts -- love and hope. Cubans and Americans should love each other. There is hope in the new year of 2013 that Cuba and America will become "Good Friends." 

        In a saner world, U. S. - Cuban relations would be predicated on Love and Hope, not on fractious bickering, revengeful hate, and the desires of a handful of greedy malcontents who seek only self-serving economic and political gains. But U. S. - Cuba relations have been insanely hostile for a long time now.

       For starters in 2013, the United States of America -- the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave -- should once again be Free enough and Brave enough to allow all Americans the freedom to travel where they choose, even to Jose Marti Airport in Havana. The man and woman above, one a Cuban and the other an American, have love and hope in their hearts, as all freedom-lovers should be free to have and enjoy.

      All...yes, all...of America's democracy-loving friends around the world are deeply embarrassed by the above caricature of the United States as a brazen, cruel bully. And all of those friends are abundantly aware -- as confirmed by de-classified U. S. documents -- that the U. S. embargo against Cuba was installed in 1962 for the precise purpose of "starving" the indigenous Cubans to induce them to rise up and over-throw their revolutionary government so that the Batista-Mafia-U.S. capitalist dictatorship could regain control of the island. Fifty-one years later Cuba is still a sovereign nation with the same revolutionary rule it had in 1962 and the embargo, America's most ridiculed failure, is still in place to, as always, only appease a handful of the most radical, the most revengeful, and the most self-serving Cuban exiles.

       In the New Year of 2013 Barack Obama begins his second four-year term as President of the United States. He is a good, decent, and intelligent man. He is the Leader of the Free World. He is Commander-in-Chief of by far the strongest military force in the history of the world. He knows that the entire world including the majority of Cuban-Americans want to end the U. S. embargo of Cuba and improve relations between the two countries. President Obama himself direly wants to end the embargo against Cuba and improve relations between the two countries. But he is powerless to do so because a handful of extremely radical and revengeful second-generational Cuban-exiles -- acting as an over-bearing and ultra-powerful government-in-exile within the bowels of the U. S. democracy -- simply will not allow the strongest man in the world to do what he wants to do and the vast majority of the world wants him to do. And it's not his fault. It is the fault of the gutless majority of American who, as guardians of their democracy, have allowed this anti-democratic abomination to persist decade after decade after decade after decade after decade. 

With all that in mind, please study the following graphic:

       The above graphic embarrasses and shames the President of the United States and it embarrasses and shames America's best friends all around the free world. 

Does it embarrass and shame you?

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