Cubans Know Yellow Ribbons Too

As a Symbol of Grief for Lost Loved Ones

Cubans this week tied yellow ribbons all around the island.

September 12th marked the 15th anniversary for the Cuban 5.

       Fifteen years ago five Cubans were arrested in Miami and charged with spying for Cuba. They then, collectively, became international celebrities because many people around the world, including hundreds of millions throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, believe their assertion that they were in Miami to assist and inform Miami's FBI office about Cuban-exile terrorism against innocent Cubans on the island. Because of Miami's documented reputation for terrorism against Cuba, many democracy-lovers were aghast when the trial for the Cubans was held in Miami. They were convicted and sentenced to exceedingly long terms in different U. S. federal prisons. Rene Gonzalez is on the right in the above photo.

        This is Rene Gonzalez in Havana helping his wife tie a yellow ribbon around a tree as the entire island vividly mourns the imprisonment of the other four Cubans. Rene spent 14 years imprisoned in the U. S. and is the only one of the Cuban 5 to have served out his term. The other four are serving up to life terms.

        Portia Siegelbaum {above} is the outstanding correspondent for CBS News in Havana. This week on the 15th anniversary of the sentencing of the Cuban 5, Ms. Siegelbaum filed a very fair update on how Cubans on the island continue to mourn the remaining four of the Cuban 5 who are still imprisoned in the United States. Because the episode generally projects a negative image of the U. S. and its Miami-fueled Cuban policy, Americans should view the CBS News report on the Cuban 5 to decide for themselves. Rene Gonzalez, who speaks fluent English, told Ms. Siegelbaum: "We had witnesses for the defense from the White House staff to Generals in the U. S. army and the U. S. people were not informed about the trial." In the United States since 1959 Miami has, for the most part, controlled what Americans are told about Cuba. Usually, such as with the Cuban 5, there are two sides, not just one, that need to see the light of day. 

        Portia Siegelbaum on CBS News this week presented both sides of the two-sided Cuban 5 saga, a significant and ongoing event in the annals of U.S.-Cuban history. If you missed her update, you can access it by Googling: "Yellow Ribbons in Cuba Raise Awareness for the Five." It would be worth your time.

         For the past fifteen years there have been "National Committees to Free the Cuban Five" in major cities around the world, not just in Havana. Thus, Americans should understand the nuances and rhythms of what transpired in Miami fifteen years ago. With that understanding, Americans could make their own judgment about an issue that continues, to an exceedingly large extent, give the U. S. and democracy a black eye.

And by the way..............

In the Denver, Colorado area there are tres locales {3 locations} of popular "Cuba Cuba" restaurants.

The "Cuba Cuba" restaurants in the Denver area feature great Cuban-themed food and drinks!

And, of course, the three Denver-area "Cuba Cuba" restaurants have a Happy Hour with Mojitos!

Note: "Cuba Cuba" is presented as Cuba-related news. This site does not have advertisements!

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Journalist That Told Cuban Truths Has Died

Saul Landau died this week at age 77 in Alameda, California.

       A University of Wisconsin graduate, Saul Landau was a truly great American journalist, commentator, and documentary filmmaker. He wrote 14 books, was a professor of history at California State, and for many years was a director at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington. Mr. Landau had battled bladder cancer for two years. His son Greg said he was working on a documentary about Cuba when he died. 

       Saul Landau is best remembered for his documentaries that took him to areas most journalists feared to go, such as the worst American ghettos or the most politically incorrect indigenous cultures of Mexico. One of his fans was a newshound named...Fidel Castro. At a brief meeting in Havana where Landau was working on a story, Fidel reportedly told him, "I like your work. After you leave here, what is your next project?" Landau replied, "I hope it's about you." Thus, one of Landau's most famous documentaries was 1968's "Fidel," which is still considered one of the fairest and most unbiased portraits of the legendary Cuban revolutionary. "At least," Fidel later said, "Landau does not call Batista and the Mafia nice saints."

        Saul Landau and Fidel Castro {above} were friends. Fidel admired Saul because, as he once said during a discussion on Cuba's "Roundtable" television program, "Saul Landau you can believe if he says something bad about me. I mean that. He is a filmmaker and journalist with the courage and integrity to present two sides of two-sided subjects." Indeed, when it came to the subjects of Cuba and Fidel, Saul Landau didn't overlook positives just because he was politically, professionally, and socially supposed to do so.

     In 1971 Fidel Castro's dear friend Salvador Allende {left} became the first democratically elected President of Chile. Fidel gifted Allende with an engraved AK-47 rifle. Landau and fellow filmmaker Haskell Wexler traveled to Chile to interview Allende and Chilean citizens euphoric about their democracy.

But on Sept. 11-1973 a U. S. - backed coup {above} attacked the presidential palace and killed Allende.

Allende had fought to his last breath with the engraved rifled that Fidel had given him.

For the next 17 brutal years, the ruthless but U.S.-friendly Augusto Pinochet was Chile's dictator.

This photo shows Allende's body being removed from his presidential palace on Sept. 11-1973.

So Chile has its own 9/11 -- the day Allende and democracy died in Chile in 1973. 

Like America's 9/11, Chileans this week in September are massively marking their 9/11. 

The great Saul Landau was among the journalists who best documented the bloody Chilean coup. 

          Perhaps Saul Landau's greatest work was his documentary entitled, "Will The Real Terrorist Please Stand Up." In that brave and historic film he interviewed the late Orlando Bosch {left, above} and Luis Posada Carriles {right, above}, the two most infamous Cuban-exile/anti-Castro zealots whom Landau and many others considered terrorists. In his documentary Landau featured Bosch and Posada describing themselves as "freedom fighters" even as they admitted perpetrating decades of multiple terrorism against Cuba. Landau documented facts many of his peers steered clear of, such as: "For half a century, small groups of Cuban exiles have waged a terrorist campaign against Cuba's revolutionary government with active or passive support of the U. S. government." In the documentary, which also featured Fidel Castro and actor Danny Glover, Landau criticized U.S.-sanctioned terrorism against Cuba. After Florida-based exiles conducted a bombing campaign against Cuban hotels to dissuade tourism, Landau explained how Cuba sent five agents to Florida to give the Miami FBI office details about the violent terrorist groups. Landau concluded: "Instead of stopping the perpetrators of terrorism, the FBI arrested five Cuban spies. They were tried in Miami and given draconian sentences despite a dramatic absence of evidence against them." Landau sharply contrasted the fate of the Cuban Five with the heralded protection afforded Bosch and Posada in Miami, giving him the title for his scintillating documentary: "Will The Real Terrorist Please Stand up."

      This photo shows Saul Landau {left} with Gerardo Hernandez inside the U. S. maximum security federal prison in Victorville, California. Hernandez is one of the Cuban Five that Landau believed were "wrongly imprisoned" to satisfy the zealotry of anti-Castro exiles who, he believed, dictate America's Cuban policy. The death this week of the 77-year-old Saul Landau is a massive blow to journalism and to democracy because both entities need the talent, passion, courage, and integrity that Saul Landau personified.

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Cuba's Tony Castro Is America's and Baseball's Friend

        Despite a passionate and effective plea from Cuba's Tony Castro {Photo courtesy: AP/Victor R. Caivano}, baseball/softball will not return to the Olympic Games. Sunday {Sept. 8th-2013} the International Olympic Committee in Buenos Aires, Argentina, voted to return wrestling to the Games in 2020 and 2024. Wrestling, baseball/softball, and squash were in the running for the lone remaining spot. There were 49 votes in favor of wrestling compared to 24 for baseball/softball and 22 for squash. Observers concluded that the combined efforts from the United States, Russia, and Iran tipped the scales in favor of wrestling. After the verdict, Tony Castro, almost in tears, said, " I want baseball and softball fans to know...we did all we could."

Antonio Castro is one of Cuba's best medical doctors and, unofficially, the island's best diplomat.

Dr. Castro is the 5th of Fidel Castro's nine children and he is a non-political but very loving son.

Like his father before him, Dr. Castro has an affinity for cigars and beautiful women.

And like his father {a former Athlete of the Year in Cuba} Dr. Castro is quite an athlete.
This year he won a golf tournament involving 18 nations.

But most Americans know Antonio because of his love for Baseball.
He became ubiquitous as Cuba's team doctor in Olympic and World Baseball Classic competition.

And this week baseball again thrust Dr. Castro into the limelight.

          In Buenos Aires Friday (Sept. 6th} the AP's Debora Rey {above} got a long interview with Tony Castro. He told her, "My message to the whole world is that our sport {baseball} forms part of the Olympic program." She asked him about Cuban-U.S. politics. He shook his head, saying, "That's not my role." She asked him about the health of his 87-year-old father Fidel Castro. He replied, "My father is very well, thank you."

      In Buenos Aires Saturday {September 7th} Tony Castro gave Pirate Irwin of Agence-France Presse a long interview in which he had these interesting and somewhat surprising comments: "This desire for the campaign to get baseball and softball restored as Olympic sports comes from deep inside me and my soul. Baseball is obviously my first love as a sport but I have become convinced about softball too as it ensures gender equality. Now I have a feeling for both. Baseball in Cuba is the pinnacle of the sporting pyramid, it is part of the social foundation with all the people playing as a team. I played as long as I could till a knee injury ended my baseball career, after which I became an orthopedic surgeon. For the social system, sport is very important in Cuba. This is my own work, not government work. I'm a doctor. I started to work in the Olympics from the lowest level, in the 2000 Olympics I was a docter on the Cuban medical team, and I have gradually raised my image. My name for sure is a weight on my shoulders. In St. Petersburg, Russia, in late May we -- meaning baseball/softball taken as one sport -- were one of the three sports to make the shortlist. However, even if we don't make the final cut on Sunday the world will not end for us. We will continue working because it is about globalising the sport and convincing people that it is a game worth playing. There are 65 million playing it around the world, there are 140 federations and 4 million junior leagues. The last World Baseball Championship was broadcast in over 200 countries. I enjoy this campaign. It is voluntary work for me and is to do with my love and my strong feelings for the sport. There is a lot of energy within me to see this through."

       This AP/Natacha Pisarenko photo of Dr. Antonio Castro was circulated around the globe Thursday {September 5th} as the AP, Reuters, and other news agencies reported on Antonio's Herculean efforts in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to get baseball and softball restored as Olympic sports. The highly respected Antonio is Vice President of the International Baseball and Softball Federation, the two sports that were dropped by the Olympics after 2008. Antonio is leading the effort to persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which votes on Sunday, to return baseball and softball to the Olympics as one sport. "We are fighting for the dreams of more than 65 million boys and girls around the world, fighting for those dreams of so many people, and to be in the party that is the Olympics," Antonio said Thursday. He added, 'If we are in the Olympic Games, it would be much more than the 65 million participants that we have today." The IOC this Sunday {September 9th} in Buenos Aires will add only one sport to the 2020 Olympics and it is expected to be either wrestling or squash, not baseball and softball, despite the heartfelt plea from Antonio Castro whose diligence revolves around his mutual love of both baseball and the Olympics.

Jennie Finch has been making the biggest pitch, with Antonio's help, to restore softball to the Olympics.

        This photo shows Antonio Castro {on the left} with American doctors who admire the Cuban for his medical expertise, his friendship with America, his genuine humanity, and his passion for worthy causes.

      Antonio was recently in New York, where he attended games at Yankee Stadium, as an international promoter of baseball and softball. On Sept. 5-2013 ESPN featured a 4-minute report by Paula Lavigne about Antonio's Olympic mission. In English, you can see and hear his passion for the two sports. You can dial up the report on ESPN by Googling these titles: "Castro Fighting for Sport He Loves," "The Battle For Baseball, Softball In Olympics;" or "2020 Olympics, Antonio Castro Campaigning to Help Baseball Win."

ESPN's Paula Lavigne said Dr. Castro prefers to be called "Tony" instead of "Antonio" or "Doctor." 

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Thoughts and Reminders of Cuba

Congratulations, Diana Nyad!!

You Are, Indeed, A Champion!

       This Andrew Innerarity/REUTERS photo shows Diana Nyad walking ashore Monday, September  2nd, 2013 after her historic 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida! She is the first person to accomplish this dangerous and remarkable feat without the aid of a shark cage. It enshrines her as an American treasure!

This image from CBS News shows Diana Nyad swimming Sunday {Sept. 1-2013} between Cuba and Florida.

Diana Nyad is a warrior and a great American role model.

She said: "We should never, ever give up! You're never too old to chase your dream!"

Today's incredible achievement reached fruition on her fifth try in the past 35 years!

Uh, did I mention...she is 64-years-old!

One of Diana's goals was to demonstrate how close Cuba and the U. S. are, or at least should be.

This guy reminds me of Fidel Castro.

Fidel, after all, has lived precariously on precipitous ledges for 87 years and counting.

This right-hander, Vladimir Garcia, is the latest in a steady stream of Cuban baseball defections.

Vladimir is now a prospect for the Philadelphia Phils.

        And speaking of baseball, this is my favorite stadium. You see, I have an affinity for baseball, rivers, and islands. This is the Harrisburg Baseball Park {right side of photo} in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It's on a picturesque 63-acre island in the middle of the scenic Susquehanna River. The Harrisburg Senators, the Double-A farm-team of the Washington Senators, call this island home. Of course, baseball fans love it too.

Now back to the island of Cuba. These homes are in Pinar del Rio province northwest of Havana.

I think this bucolic valley is the most serene and prettiest spot in Cuba.

This gorgeous area is not in Cuba but it reminds me of Cuba. It's in New Zealand.

This tree, sand and sea are in Cuba, just outside my favorite Cuban city -- Trinidad.

My all-time favorite American is Sacajawea.

My all-time favorite Cuban is Celia Sanchez.

I wrote a Sacajawea biography. 

And I wrote a Celia Sanchez biography.

I think U. S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor should be the next President of the United States.

And I think National Assemblywoman Liaena Hernandez should be the next President of Cuba.

Each day on 4-wheeler rides in Virginia I see Goldfinches, America's prettiest birds. 

Which reminds me of the prettiest bird I saw in Cuba, the very tiny Cuban Tody!

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