A Continuing Piggy-bank for Cuban Exiles
{Sunday, February 16th, 2014}
{Sunday, February 16th, 2014}
The above photo {courtesy AFP/Adalberto Roque/Getty Images} shows Cypriot Androulla Vassilou, the European Commissiner for Education, attending this week's 9th Congress of High Education-Universidad 2014 in Havana on February 10th. The European Union this week voted to improve relations with Cuba. The United Nations this week praised Cuba for having the best educational system in Latin America. UNESCO this week praised Cuba for being #2 in the world when it comes to having women in important government positions. The United States this week continued to wait for a few Cuban-exile extremists {Ros-Lehtinen, the Diaz-Balarts, Rubio, Cruz, Menendez, etc.} to dictate its unpopular Cuban policy.
Ms. Vassilou, Europe's top education official, took to the podium to praise Cuba's educational system.
My friend Tracey Eaton {left}, whom I met in Cuba when he headed the Dallas Morning News bureau in Havana, now teaches journalism/photography at Flagler College in Florida. But he remains America's best investigative journalist when it comes to Cuba as indicated by yesterday's posting on his Along the Malecon blog. As Tracey or any other Cuban scholar acutely understands, among the most egregious piggy-banks that daily suck up huge buckets of U. S. tax dollars is the Miami-based Radio-TV Marti boondoggle. Tracey revealed yesterday that the altruistically and euphemistically named "The Office of Cuba Broadcasting" has awarded $964,560.00 to an Israeli company to beam anti-Castro propaganda via satellite TV into Cuba for the purpose of overthrowing the Cuban government, presumably so a second generation of ousted Cuban exiles can reclaim the island as in the Batista-Mafia days of the 1950s. Being the astute journalist he is, Tracey Eaton asked the pertinent question as he wondered "what United States taxpayers are getting" for all those tax dollars siphoned from hard-working Americans and sent on the politically greased pipeline to Israeli sycophants. The answer, of course, is...nothing. Since the 1980s when the Reagan-Bush administration anointed future billionaire Cuban-born Jorge Mas Canosa the leader of the Cuban government-in-exile, hundreds of millions of tax dollars have flowed regularly from Washington to Miami for Radio-TV Marti although every journalist and every politician remain quite aware that (1) Cuba easily blocks the signal; (2) the broadcasts are comical in quality and laughable in their propaganda slants; and (3) even if the broadcasts reached the island Cubans are not so stupid as to believe revengeful Cuban exiles in Miami will tell them something they don't know about Fidel Castro who has lived all of his 87 years on the island with them and not on some foreign sanctuary where they wouldn't be familiar with him.
The Miami New Times newspaper and website used the photo on the left on Oct. 1-2013 to point out that, during the U. S. government's financial shutdown, many important government operations were closed because of a lack of funds. BUT GUESS WHAT? The huge buckets of tax dollars in the Washington-to-Miami pipeline continued flowing unabated to Radio-TV Marti during the shutdown because sending that anti-Castro propaganda to Cuba was deemed "vital to national security." During that shutdown we taxpayers were hurt or inconvenienced by many things the U. S. government said it couldn't afford to fund. However, as with the rest of America's Cuban policy, we taxpayers were treated as saps, idiots, and cowards when we were told that our tax dollars would continue to fund the "vital" Radio-TV Marti operation because...HEY!...any day now it will overthrow Fidel Castro, the mean man who booted the nice Batista-Mafia dictators off the island long ago. The fact that Americans decade after decade remain ignorant or complacent regarding such flagrant piggy-banks as Radio-TV Marti says more than we need to know about democracies flirting with dictatorships to benefit only a few elites.
The Miami New Times newspaper and website used the photo on the left on Oct. 1-2013 to point out that, during the U. S. government's financial shutdown, many important government operations were closed because of a lack of funds. BUT GUESS WHAT? The huge buckets of tax dollars in the Washington-to-Miami pipeline continued flowing unabated to Radio-TV Marti during the shutdown because sending that anti-Castro propaganda to Cuba was deemed "vital to national security." During that shutdown we taxpayers were hurt or inconvenienced by many things the U. S. government said it couldn't afford to fund. However, as with the rest of America's Cuban policy, we taxpayers were treated as saps, idiots, and cowards when we were told that our tax dollars would continue to fund the "vital" Radio-TV Marti operation because...HEY!...any day now it will overthrow Fidel Castro, the mean man who booted the nice Batista-Mafia dictators off the island long ago. The fact that Americans decade after decade remain ignorant or complacent regarding such flagrant piggy-banks as Radio-TV Marti says more than we need to know about democracies flirting with dictatorships to benefit only a few elites.
The majority of Cubans, the majority of Americans, and the majority of Cuban-Americans revere Jose Marti as the intellectual giant who died in battle on Cuban soil fighting the Spanish on behalf of Cuban independence. Thus, as indicated by the graphic on the right, many fair-minded people resent Marti's name being used, since the 1980s, in a boondoggle designed to siphon bundles of tax dollars to a selected few exiles. But for decades now neither the U. S. democracy nor the American people have displayed either the will or the guts to correct such anti-democracy practices as those that define America's view of Cuba as essentially a piggy-bank. While Marti and other renowned Cubans failed to end Spanish imperialism on the island, the mighty U. S. accomplished that historic feat with its easy victory in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Many felt that, for sure, the United States would mandate democracy for Cuba but it mandated imperialism, which the Cuban Revolution overthrew in 1959. But beyond doubt, the most surprising aspect of U.S.-Cuban relations since 1959 has been the reconstitution of an overthrown U.S.-backed dictatorship on U. S. soil, namely Miami. Then, beginning in the 1980s with the Reagan-Bush administration, Miami representatives in the U. S. Congress have dictated America's Cuban policy that any unbiased source, including America's best foreign friends, consider an affront to democracy.
If you study the foreignpolicy.com photo on the left, you might be somewhat embarrassed for the American democracy if, in fact, anything related to U. S. Cuban policy can embarrass you. Yes, that's Fidel Castro pointing at a very expensive airplane that flies around the rather large island of Cuba for the supposed purpose of beaming those Radio-TV Marti propaganda signals all the way from Miami to the nearby island of Cuba! Most sane observers believe such tactics used as ruses to siphon tax dollars from us not-too-bright-or-brave Americans makes a mockery of democracy. But, of course, for the past 54 years such stupidity and cowardice has defied all logic by helping to keep the not-dumb and not-cowardly Fidel Castro in power. In other words, it reminds enough Cubans on the island that Castro, compared to the Batista-Mafia rulers he ousted, is not all that terrible. In fact, after the 87-year-old Fidel dies of old age, it can be presumed that such stupidity on behalf of enriching further generations of Cuban exiles will continue to boost the influence of his revolutionary legacy. Those who wonder about Fidel Castro's startling longevity and the impending influence of his upcoming legacy should take a few moments to comprehend what he replaced on the island and where his not-too-saintly adversaries re-established their self-aggrandizing rule.
From 1959 till 1989 the transplanted Cuban-exile economic and political dominance was confined mostly to Miami and a few isolated sanctuaries like Union City, New Jersey. But in 1989 the self-serving Bush dynasty got Cuban-born anti-Castro zealot Ileana Ros-Lehtinen elected to the U. S. Congress after a controversial election in which her Campaign Manager was Jeb Bush. Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen to this day remains a key component of the now-buttressed Cuban-exile control of America's Cuban policy. That's why, as Tracey Eaton revealed this week, 964,560 more tax dollars have been awarded to an Israeli company to help facilitate the beaming of the already outrageously expensive anti-Castro propaganda from Miami to Cuba...ALL BECAUSE IT IS "VITAL TO NATIONAL SECURITY!" Yes: "Vital to National Security!"
Or is it "vital" to enlarge a few already very large bank accounts?
Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist {AP photo} plans to be the future Florida Governor Charlie Crist. A Republican-turned-Democrat, Crist is challenging incumbent Governor Rick Scott. Both as a former governor and a current challenger, Charlie Crist understands Florida's peculiar brand of politics -- and specifically how the Cuban issue figures into it. In his current campaign he wants the U. S. embargo against Cuba "taken away." In the first week of February-2014 Crist appeared on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher." He said: "From a selfish point of view, as a Floridian, I'd like to see that happen because a lot of construction would be required on the island, and South Florida could be the launching pad for all of that and really create some jobs for the people of my state." Bill Maher then reminded him that Florida politicians are not known for "standing up to the small Cuban community" that has dictated America's Cuban policy since 1959. Crist replied: Well, I think they need to. I think it's the right thing."
COMMENT:
Mr. Crist, the majority of people in Florida, the majority of people in America, and the vast majority of people in the world have felt for a long, long time that a few revengeful Cuban exiles, through two generations, have made a mockery of the U. S. democracy by dictating such things as the embargo against Cuba not to mention other catastrophes {such as the bombing of Cubana Flight 455} that have so dastardly hurt innocent Cubans in the guise of hurting Fidel Castro. But the embargo has been in effect since 1962 and the U. S. democracy has not been strong enough to react decently to such things as Cubana Flight 455, etc., etc. Your current campaign in Florida indicates you now comprehend the majority opinion in your state pertaining to Cuba. However, the majority opinion in Florida, in the U. S. and in the world is still not strong enough to trump a few rich and powerful Cuban exiles who fled from Cuba after being the losers in the Cuban Revolution. They then usurped democracy by overwhelming South Florida and later Washington with numbers and dollars. In other words, Mr. Crist, 2014 resembles 1959. Thus, your brave words regarding Cuba are too little, too late as you vacillate through the windy waves of Florida's politics.
The modern Bush political dynasty has produced two members of the U. S. Congress, a CIA Director, a one-term President, a two-term President, a two-term Governor of Texas, and a two-term Governor of Florida. The monarchy started with the controversial political and financial empire left behind by Prescott Bush, the father of George H. W. and the grand-father of George W. and Jeb. The United States democracy was not intended to be a monarchy but the Founding Fathers, despite all their democracy-loving wisdom, never anticipated that extreme amounts of often ill-gotten wealth in the hands of a few could purchase their democracy, carve it up into self-serving parcels, and then have gluttons feast on it generation after generation. In the television and computer age, three factors -- money, nepotism, and celebrity -- are far more important than anything else in America's political process that can supersede democracy and veer off into spheres such as veritable monarchies intermingled from time-to-time with solo disasters such as Nixon, the Bushes, and the transplanted Batista-Mafia dictatorship.
Politico.com this week used the AP photo on the left to illustrate a major article about Senator Rand Paul {left} teaming with George P. {the P. is for Prescott} Bush for a big political rally in Dallas, Texas. Rand Paul, a Tea Party-backed Republican Senator from Kentucky, is a prime presidential candidate in 2016. George P., the son of Jeb Bush, is a prime presidential candidate in, say, 2028 and 2032. Politico.com for the moment merely called him "a rising star in Texas politics." George P.'s political assets, of course, relate to his last name and the bushels of money attached to it. But Senator Rand Paul and Politico both pointed out that his mother is Mexican and he speaks Spanish "fluently," as does his father Jeb who is, of course, an unannounced but very serious Republican presidential candidate for 2016, especially now that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appears to be flaming out. George P. is launching his presidential bid in Texas by running for land commissioner while his well-financed promotional team makes sure that Politico, Senators like Rand Paul and others keep reminding us that he is "the rising star in Texas politics." Just what America needs -- ANOTHER "RISING STAR" NAMED BUSH WITH TIES TO FLORIDA AND TEXAS!
Barbara Bush, the beloved matriarch of the Bush clan and wife of George H. W. Bush, does not believe the U. S. democracy should be a monarchy. She made that plain when she was asked about her son Jeb's anticipated presidential bid in 2016. Mrs. Bush very sagaciously and graciously said she thinks there have been "enough" Bushes in the White House and that it is "time" that people not named "Bush" have their "chance." She was speaking specifically about Jeb but it is presumed she also means George P., etc. NEPOTISM, MONEY, and CELEBRITY. Even in the television and computer age, Mrs. Bush believes the U. S. democracy needs to more closely resemble a democracy than a bought-and-paid-for monarchy. "Thank you, Mrs. Bush." But indications are that your son Jeb and your grandson George P. are among the "Bushes" currently and carefully plotting their treks to the White House. Mrs. Bush, blunting such notions would be appreciated by us democracy-loving Americans.
Baseball on the island of Cuba is probably weaker than it's been in the last half century. For much of the past 50 years Cuba has dominated international baseball competition but last week, not unexpectedly, it returned from the Caribbean Series in Venezuela where the Cubans were badly outplayed by teams from Mexico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. The reason is because the rich American Major League teams have been busy purchasing Cuba's best young players. Shortstop Erisbel Arruebarruena {above} has just signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers who have a multi-billion-dollar television deal and can thus afford to buy any player on the world market without blinking an eye. The signing this week of the 23-year-old Arruebarruena is a reminder that a prime Dodgers' focus is on Cuba and they are just one of 30 Major League teams eyeing the island's abundant talent.
This week marks the start of Spring Training for America's Major League teams and the Los Angeles Dodgers have already named Alexander Guerrero, a Cuban, as their starting second baseman. Guerrero recently signed a guaranteed $24 million, 4-year contract and he figures to soon team with Arruebarruena as the keystone combination {shortstop and second baseman} for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Of course, already the superstar for the Los Angeles Dodgers is #66, a Cuban right-fielder named Yasiel Puig. As a 22-year-old last season, Puig was a Major League sensation. He is guaranteed $42 million in the next six years and when that contract ends he'll still be in his 20s and then figures to be in line for a really big contract -- upwards of $200 million or so! Cubans salivate over gluttonous U. S. sports salaries.
Jose Abreu {above} was the best hitter in Cuba last season.
The Chicago White Sox guaranteed Jose Abreu a $67 million contract and expect him to be their best hitter and star first baseman this season. After he spends that $67 million with the last-place White Sox, Abreu can then expect a much bigger contract from a richer Major League team. Cuba is now a farm system for U. S. teams. It bodes ill for Cuban baseball but not for young Cuban multi-millionaires in the U. S.
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