Cuba-US Revelations Today

Still Powerful Pros and Cons

       ATTENTION LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! The photo above shows the plush Hotel Riviera in Havana. It was built by the Jewish Mafia kingpin Meyer Lansky and opened in 1957. It was nationalized in 1959 when the Cuban Revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship. Yesterday -- December 8th, 2015 -- the family of the late Meyer Lansky let it be known that they want Cuba to return the hotel to them or give them cash for what it is worth. I KID YOU NOT!! A great journalist -- Paul Guzzo of The Tampa Tribune -- reported Tuesday that 60-year-old Lansky grandson Gary Rapoport of Tampa, Florida, said: "The hotel was taken forcefully from my grandfather. Cuba owes my family money." That quotation would be funny, of course, except for the fact that the Batistianos and the Mafiosi, who raped and robbed Cuba at will from 1952 till 1959, have continued, from the sanctity of U. S. soil, to be supported by a U. S. Congress consistently passing and enforcing pro-Batistiano, anti-Cuban laws.

         This is mobster Meyer Lansky in Israel with his only daughter Sandra, the mother of Tampa's Paul Rapoport, the man who says Cuba owes his family for taking over Lansky's Hotel Riviera.

A best-seller written by Sandra Lansky.

           The photo above was used in Life Magazine in 1958 when it was the most-read magazine in the United States. It shows Meyer Lansky leaving his Riviera Hotel beside a young woman and carrying a satchel that Life said contained $200,000 cash, reportedly one night's loot from the vast gambling-prostitution-drug enterprise that Lansky directed in Cuba for the Mafia and dictator Fulgencio Batista. Then as now, Americans were well informed about the U.S.-backed Mafia-orchestrated rape and robbery of Cuba from 1952 till 1959. Yet, then as now, Americans don't give a damn. That's why, yesterday -- Dec. 8th, 2015 -- Meyer Lansky's grandson in Tampa, Gary Rapoport, feels he has a lot of support in demanding that Cuba repay his family for their loss of the Riviera Hotel. Yes, that is a true updated story. But everything regarding U.S.-Cuban relations since the 1950s have {1} been stranger than fiction; and {2} have shown little regard for the sacred pillars of the U. S. democracy. That's why, I believe, Mafia-aficionados and Democracy-lovers alike are fascinated with Cuba. Study the revelations attached to the above photos and see if you agree.

       After fleeing the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, Meyer Lansky returned to a safe haven in Miami and that's where he died, at age 81, in 1983. In addition to such Cuban property as the Hotel Riviera, Lansky reportedly accumulated vast holdings in Miami, New York, Las Vegas, and Israel. He is renowned today as the greatest Mafia financial genius with Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Miami being his three favorite cities, along with Batista's Havana in Cuba till January 1, 1959.

Meyer Lansky is buried at Mt. Nemo Cemetery in Miami, Florida.

Photo courtesy: Ramon Espinosa/The Associated Press

       The photo above shows Javier Yanez placing a U. S. flag beside his Cuban flag on his balcony in Havana. The date was Dec. 19-2014, the day Presidents Obama and Castro went on television at noon to announce that they were trying to normalize relations. Since then the two nations have opened embassies in Havana and Washington for the first time since 1961; Cuba has been removed from the U. S. Sponsors of Terrorism list; and the U. S., thanks to brave overtures from President Obama, has lifted some travel restrictions allowing more Americans to visit the island.

    But Josefina Vidal, Cuba's prime negotiator on all items related to the United States, remains well aware that "four members of the U. S. Congress from Miami can continue to use a bullied Congress to punish innocent Cubans for another six decades or longer." She was referring to the four current Miami Cuban-Americans in the U. S. Congress -- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Marco Rubio, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Carlos Curbelo. AND SHE'S RIGHT. Vidal is aware that President Obama has only one year left in office. She is also aware that when the three previous Democratic presidents -- Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton -- tried to normalize relations with Cuba, the Miami Cubans teamed with Republican sycophants to easily not only stop them but to pass even harsher congressional laws against Cuba. That's exactly what Vidal expects to happen with Obama's overtures too. "I don't expect the American people," she says, "to care about innocent Cubans on the island. But I am surprised they care so little about their democracy to allow a handful of Cuban exiles and their associates to usurp the U. S. government for their own revenge and power while the rest of the world cringes." Yet, Vidal is the one who has negotiated more detente with the United States than anyone since the 1950s. Last week she was back in Washington continuing important negotiations. Yesterday -- December 8, 2015 -- she was in Havana hosting key U. S. diplomats and hoping to negotiate some more.

      Josefina Vidal is quite aware that when Miami Cubans pushed through congressional laws such as The Cuban Adjustment Act, The Torricelli Bill, The Helms-Burton Act, etc., they codified in supposed perpetuity a law that mandated that the U. S. could never normalize relations with Cuba as long as there were still claims in the U. S. against property nationalized by Fidel Castro shortly after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in January of 1959. But in Havana yesterday Vidal was willing to negotiate that stumbling block. The U. S. claims that nationalized U. S. property was worth $1.9 billion and, with inflation and interest, is now worth $8 billion. The largest claim against Cuba, Vidal was informed, is $267 million that the Cuban Electric Company was perceived to be worth in 1959. That company's ownership has changed several times and is now owned by Office Depot. Vidal was told that the individual claims against Cuba only amount to about $200 million, a figure even that cash-challenged Cuba could handle. Vidal told the U. S. negotiators yesterday that Cuba has settled claims with Canadian and Spanish companies and individuals. She was told that U. S. companies will likely be willing to settle with token payments as long as Cuba allows them to return and do business on the island. Vidal's reaction: "Fine. That's a good point concerning U. S. claims against Cuba. Now, what about Cuba's claims against the U. S. One of our accountants tabs that as $1 trillion. That factors in...the embargo since 1962; the theft of Guantanamo Bay since 1903; and countless deaths and injuries from terrorist attacks that have included airplane and hotel bombings as well as air and boat strafings by cannon-fire on our coastal areas." Vidal, for Cuba's sake, wants normal relations with the economic and military colossus just off the island's northern coast. She knows that Miami-directed congressional law about U. S. monetary claims against Cuba will almost certainly derail any real chance for normalizing relations with the U. S. Yet, she is a brilliant and stubborn negotiator. "Not even a nuclear power next door can scare Cuba, and I think we have proven that is so even as, from the Bay of Pigs till today, a few Cuban exile revenge-seekers have been allowed to set U. S. policy regarding us. Negotiations with us have to show respect for our sovereignty. That includes these claims."

        Richard Feinberg is a fair-minded expert on the Cuban economy at the Washington-based Brookings Institute. He is keeping a close eye on this week's Cuban negotiations with 15 creditor nations known as the Paris Club that have had long-standing claims against Cuba. Those nations are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. They still claim Cuba owes them $16 billion and Feinberg believes Cuba is willing to repay $5 billion on easy terms while the Paris Club is willing to forgive $11 billion with the understanding that those nations can conduct future business in Cuba. Feinberg says, "A comprehensive deal would go a long way toward normalizing Cuba's international financial relations." The U. S. embargo since 1962 has prevented Cuba from having financial dealings with the World Bank and other international institutions that most non-embargoed nations depend on. Most experts agree that Cuba is unique for surviving them for so long.

     Marc Frank, the great journalist for Reuters, has lived mostly in Cuba for a quarter of a century and is the best source for insightful and fair-minded articles from the island. In yesterday's article regarding Cuba's negotiating with the U. S. and the Paris Club regarding compensation, Marc Frank wrote: "Cuba has had a trade and current account surplus since 2011 and has improved its payments record to creditors and suppliers." Except for Paul Guzzo at The Tampa Tribune, Marc Frank is about the only well-known journalist in the UK or the US with the guts and integrity to report fairly on Cuban issues, be they positive or negative. Most of the others seem to clear their reporting with the Miami Mafia, but not Mr. Marc Frank.

       This Marc Frank book features a cornucopia of fascinating revelations about Cuba that he didn't clear with the Miami Mafia. So, it's truly a must-read about Cuba.

        The photo above is courtesy of Susan Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel. It was taken yesterday - - December 8th -- at Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. It shows U. S. Marshalls arriving from Havana with a fugitive named Shawn Wegmann. He is an Indiana man wanted on firearm violations and was reportedly an enforcer for a motorcycle gang. He allegedly stole a small boat in Key West and fled to Cuba. Although unheralded, Cuba often turns over captured fugitives at the request of U. S. Marshalls. Cooperation between the U. S. and Cuba often goes unreported because the U. S. media generally fears upsetting the lucrative Castro Industry in the U. S.

        Cuba tries real hard to protect is vast coastlines. Above is the photo that the United States Marshalls sent to Cuba showing the boat Shawn Wegmann allegedly stole in nearby Key West so he could flee to Cuba. Cuba said thanks for the information. Yesterday the U. S. Marshalls thanked Cuba for turning Wegmann back over to them.

     Yasiel Puig is the awesomely talented Cuban outfielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball's richest team. Major League Baseball yesterday reluctantly agreed that Yasiel can accompany its troupe of current and former superstars that will travel to Cuba for a three-day Good-Will trip next week -- December the 15th through the 18th. Yasiel turned 25 this week; he was born December 7th, 1990, in Cienfuegos, Cuba. He defected to the U. S. in 2012...barely! He was kidnapped in Mexico and the smugglers threatened to kill him unless a well-known person in Miami paid them $250,000. {The Wikipedia bio of Yasiel mentions that Yasiel ended up paying "Cuban-American Mafia" members $1.3 million and $500,000 for securing his release. Prior to making his debut with the Dodgers on June 3, 2013, Yasiel had signed a $42 million, 7-year contract.} Yasiel became an instant superstar with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but a troubled one. Hopefully, his troubles will end very soon.

      This mugshot of Yasiel Puig relates to a recent altercation in a bar in which he allegedly pushed his sister and then had a bloody fight with a bouncer. That almost caused Major League Baseball to keep Yasiel from being on the star-studded Good Will trip to Cuba next week that will include three other Cuban Major League stars. But, after much deliberation, Wednesday it was announced that Yasiel will now accompany the entourage to Cuba.

    
     This photo shows Yasiel Puig celebrating a victory for the Los Angeles Dodgers with ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw, #22. There have been reports this winter that Puig will be traded by the Dodgers because Kershaw and other teammates "are fed up" with his behavior. But Kershaw denies those reports and it appears it was Kershaw who persuaded MLB to allow Yasiel to go on the Good Will trip to Cuba next week. That belated announcement by MLB noted that Kershaw and Yasiel will do "charity work" in Cuba next week. Kershaw and his wife are well known for their charity work in America and Africa. Kershaw has a long-term contract with the Dodgers exceeding $30 million a year. Yasiel is making "only" $4.5 million a year now but, minus his off-the-field problems, he has the talent in money-crazed Major League Baseball to one day match Kershaw's enormous paychecks.

          This photo is courtesy of David Kohl/USA Today Sports. Incredibly, Aroldis Chapman this week is making more news in Los Angeles and Major League Baseball than his fellow Cuban Yasiel Puig. Chapman was born 27 years ago in Holguin, Cuba. He defected in 2009 and by 2010 with the Cincinnati Reds he had become a legendary closer. He has a record-setting 105-mph fastball and reached 500 strike-outs in the Majors faster than any pitcher in history. Chapman was paid $8.05 million this year by Cincinnati but he is a free agent and the Reds cannot afford his next multi-year salary. The Los Angeles Dodgers can and they traded for Chapman but the deal is on hold now. That's because of an October 30th incident in which Chapman is accused of choking his girlfriend and firing eight gunshots into the basement of his Miami-area home, with one of the bullets blasting through a window and ending up in a field. His girlfriend told the police the incident started when she discovered something on Chapman's cellphone.  

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Obama vs.Thugs

The Thugs Are Winning

Photo montage courtesy: MEDIAMATTERSforamerica

       The image above illustrates why an increasingly biased and incompetent U. S. media might be as big a threat to the U. S. democracy as any outside force.

                    Yesterday -- December 7th -- was Pearl Harbor Day. On that day in 2015, it was also A Day of Infamy for the U. S. media, chronicling a precipitous decline of an industry that Founding Fathers such as Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson considered vital to the continuing success of their brilliant but fragile democracy. On the left above is retired Lt. Colonel Ralph Peters. On the right is Stacy Dash. They are, unfortunately, typical of what now is the staple of broadcast journalism in America -- biased and incompetent Talking Head pundits. Yesterday -- Pearl Harbor Day -- Mr. Peters used prime time on Fox News to call President Barack Obama "a total pu--y." And then Ms. Dash called President Barack Obama "a sh-t." A little later Fox News, amazingly, "SUSPENDED" them for two weeks!

          But never mind, America! Fox News has dozens of other biased and incompetent Talking Head pundits to easily fill the void in the brief absence of Peters and Dash. Sadly, so do all the other broadcast "news" outfits in the United States.

       Using Talking Head pundits like Ralph Peters serves the two prime purposes of cable news: {1} It saves them money because they don't have to go to the expense of actually sending reporters out to cover the news; and {2} it allows cable outfits to propagandize gullible viewers with whatever biased rhetoric fits their purposes.

      This photo is courtesy of John Raoux/Associated Press. It was taken on Saturday, November 14, 2015, when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spoke at the Republican Sunshine Summit in Orlando, Florida, for the purpose of furthering his presidential aspirations. In this speech, Christie called President Barack Obama "a liar" in reference to Obama's policy concerning the dire terror threat from ISIS.

       Mr. Christie, sir, with all due respect, I believe you are "the liar" for calling our two-term President "a liar." As a lifelong conservative Republican, I understand that Republican presidential hopefuls can, and should, sharply disagree with the incumbent Democratic president. However, showing total disrespect not only for Mr. Obama but for the office of President is an example of why I am saddened that my Republican Party has been taken over by right-wing extremists who are both liars and bullies. And, sir, I believe there are millions of Americans who agree with me, as evidenced by the fact that unqualified non-politicians -- Trump and Carson -- have spent so many months polling ahead of bought-and-paid-for establishment politicians like you. In a two-party, money-crazed system that allows for unlimited donations from billionaire individuals and organizations, some bought-and-paid-for Republican will yet prevail in the ongoing primary sweepstakes. But, at least, the polls show that many Americans are trying to send a message to the established liars and bullies like you, sir...with, uh, all due respect, Mr. Christie.

      As a conservative Republican, I have also been a lifelong supporter of Israel. However, this photo reminds me that I am an even bigger supporter of democracy and America. It shows presidential hopeful Chris Christie speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition in which all Republican candidates are obliged to speak in obligatory genuflection. Christie once mentioned Israel's occupation of Palestinian land as "occupied territory" and cited it as one continuing reason for the vast terrorist Islamic backlash that is roiling much of the world. Well, most Jewish scholars agree with that assessment as did even Obama's predecessor in the White House, George W. Bush. But, when the above photo was taken and in typical obligatory genuflection, Mr. Christie apologized deeply to Jewish billionaire Sheldon Edelson, a prime purchaser of bought-and-paid-for politicians, for his "occupied territory" remark. {NOTE: It's not likely that Christie's apology will make any difference; it's been reported that Edelson favors Marco Rubio and Edelson's wife favors Ted Cruz, one indication why, eventually, the two first-term Cuban-American U. S. Senators will replace Trump and Carson as the two top Republican presidential candidates. In any case, non-bought-and-paid-for Republcians need not apply.}

       Please forgive President Obama if he takes time to wipe his brow. Faced with a biased and incompetent U. S. media, and right-wing control of the opposition Republican Party, the very decent and very smart two-term Democratic president has only about one year left in his eight years in the White House. He probably looks forward to the exit. He inherited a world torn asunder largely due to the miscalculations of the eight previous years when Republican George W. Bush ruled the White House. Republicans, of course, lambaste Obama for what they perceive as his failure in correcting all of his inherited Bush-orchestrated ordeals. Mr. Obama has also been lambasted for earnestly trying to achieve some decency in areas such as universal health care for poor people, gun control in the elite Western world's most violent nation, and normalizing relations with Cuba to comply with regional and world opinion. But such sane efforts by Mr. Obama do not compute with conservative and right-wing Republicans who control the U. S. Congress for the benefit of the billionaires who keep them in office in a skewered, money-crazed, two-party political system. After eight years as President, and after wiping his brow, a still-young Barack Obama will likely become the President of a prestigious university.

       Being a very decent two-term President of the United States and then being called "a total pu--y" by an indecent, exploitative, incompetent Talking Head pundit is something Mr. Obama, and the office he holds, doesn't deserve. I also believe it is one reason many of the most decent and most competent presidential qualifiers -- such as Elizabeth Warren -- don't bother to even run for the most powerful and most prestigious office in the world. Much of the blame, I believe, lies with Americans who put up with ubiquitous Talking Head pundits like retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, who should have retired to a more respectable endeavor, like...tending a flower garden.

Meanwhile, big news for Cubans:

       Jose Abreu will be returning to Cuba next week as a multi-millionaire superstar American baseball player. He will be with other Major Leaguers making a good-will trip to the baseball-mad island. Abreu defected from Cuba in 2013 and signed a guaranteed $68 million, 6-year contract with the Chicago White Sox. He will be joined on the good-will trip to Cuba by two other Cubans -- 33-year-old White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez and 33-year-old catcher Brayan Pena, now with the St. Louis Cardinals. Yasiel Puig, the very talented 24-year-old Cuban with the Los Dodgers, was expected to go to Cuba but he is facing a domestic assault charge. Abreu, Ramirez, and Pena will be joined by the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, baseball's best pitcher, and Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, baseball's best hitter. The good-will tour will be led by two famed Hall of Famers, Joe Torre and Dave Winfield.

      Speaking of Jose Abreu's guaranteed $68 million contract that he signed right after defecting from Cuba in 2013: the Chicago White Sox think they got a huge bargain! As American League Rookie-of-the-Year in 2014, he hit .317 with 36 homers and 107 runs-batted-in; and this year he hit .290 with 30 homers and 101 runs-batted-in. Clayton Kershaw and a growing number of American baseball players are making well in excess of $30 million a year!! So, once his piddly 6-year, $68 million contract runs out, Jose Abreu expects to make some REAL money in capitalist America.

         These are the three Cubans who will be back on Cuban soil for three days -- December 15-18. Jose Abreu was born in 1987 in Cruces; Brayan Pena was born in 1982 in Havana; and Alexei Ramirez was born in 1981 in Pinar del Rio.

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Venezuela Election Hurts Cuba

Victory for Miami and Washington 

Photo courtesy: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

         The above photo was taken yesterday -- Sunday, December 6th, 2015, in Caracas -- and it is one that Cuba did not want to see this Monday morning. It shows opposition leaders in Venezuela's crucial National Assembly election celebrating a resounding victory over the socialist party led by President Nicolas Maduro, one of Cuba's dearest friends. The jubilant lady on the left above is Lilian Tintori, the wife of Leopoldo Lopez, a powerful opposition leader imprisoned by President Maduro. 

          This AP/Ariana Cubilos photo shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro right after casting his vote in Sunday's National Assembly election. His Socialist Party suffered a resounding defeat. The Democratic Unity Party won 99 of the 167 seats to only 46 for the Socialist Party with 24 additional seats undecided. In 1999 Hugo Chavez was elected President and then survived a brief coup in 2002 that he blamed on the George W. Bush White House in Washington along with rich Cuban-Americans in Miami. After the failed coup Chavez moved Venezuela more pro-Cuban and anti-American. Chavez died of cancer in 2013 at age 58 and his hand-picked successor, Maduro, won a close and fiercely contested presidential election. Maduro's term ends in 2019 but now the National Assembly will likely commence impeachment proceedings. Like Chavez, Maduro is supported by Venezuela's poor but the National Assembly election results were not surprising considering horrific problems in the oil rich but cash poor nation of 30 million people. Shortages of food and other staples, including diapers, have caused major headaches exacerbated by off-the-chart inflation. The tough-talking Maduro late Sunday surprised some by saying he would "accept" the result of the National Assembly election but he still wields considerable power as President supported by the military and a strong segment of the poorest Venezuelans. The political turmoil will continue unabated and, as always, it will pit the Socialist Party supported by the poor against the Democratic Unity Party that supposedly is supported by the rich in Venezuela as well as the rich in Miami. Indeed, both the BBC and AJAM networks reported Cuban and Venezuelan restaurants in Miami intently monitoring and then wildly cheering the election results in Venezuela. For the first time in 17 years, the rural poor in Venezuela have lost to the urban rich.

      Henrique Capriles is the big winner from Sunday's National Assembly elections in Venezuela. Capriles is the 43-year-old Governor of Miranda, a powerful state. Capriles barely lost the presidential election to Maduro in 2013. Capriles is considered an American-aligned capitalist. He attended Columbia University; his father had connections to Kraft Foods, Nabisco, etc. Capriles represents the rich U.S.-connected Venezuelan capitalists who promise, when they replace Maduro, that they will take care of the rural poor who benefited the last 16 years from Chavez-Maduro programs, but they also promise to tie Venezuela's economy to America's and put an end to Venezuela's massive deal with Cuba that involves such things as oil for Cuba in exchange for thousands of Cuban medical workers in poor areas.

        This photo is courtesy of Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images. It shows Maria Corina Machado, one of the happiest people in Caracas today -- Monday, December 7th. A powerful ally of Henrique Capriles, the 48-year-old Machado has spent the last 16 years in fierce opposition to a Chavez-Maduro socialist movement in Venezuela. She is shown above campaigning for the National Assembly election that handed Maduro a huge congressional defeat Sunday. Both the late Hugo Chazez and President Maduro have accused Machado of being aligned with the Cuban-Venezuelan faction in Miami as well as the Bush dynasty. In fact, Chavez...as well as historians...accused Machado of being involved with the George W. Bush administration in 2002 when Chavez was briefly overthrown in a coup. Indeed, as late as May of 2014, Maduro has accused Machado of plotting to overthrow him. Now, after Sunday's National Assembly triumph, Venezuela's U.S.-connected Capriles-Machado combine is primed to unseat Maduro by impeachment or by election.

           For sure, as a prime opponent of President Chavez, Maria Corina Machado was always welcome at the White House during the George W. Bush administration.

Maria Corina Machado and President George W. Bush, a photo that resonates in Venezuela to this very day.

        Maria Corina Machado and the U.S.-friendly capitalists are now in control of Venezuela's powerful National Assembly. How, or if, they care for the poor people remains to be seen.   

Photo courtesy: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

         For sure, Cuba has no reason to rejoice about this photo that shows opposition forces in Venezuela celebrating their triumph in the country's National Assembly election yesterday. Similar celebrations resounded in Miami and Washington.  

       Posters like this -- featuring images of Hugo Chavez, Simon Bolivar and President Nicolas Maduro -- are ubiquitous in the poorest areas of Venezuela. But the rich elite now in control of the country's National Assembly can now begin the alignment of Venezuela with Miami and Washington. Bolivar's image is still safe but posters like this in Venezuela might soon fall victim to the shifting political winds.

        These three women are great admirers of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution and they have each twice been democratically elected as Presidents of extremely important, Cuban-friendly Latin American nations. That's President Cristina Fernandez of Argentina on the left; President Michelle Bachelet of Chile in the middle; and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil. But Fernandez is term-limited and last month her hand-picked successor lost an election to a U.S.-friendly capitalist named Mauricio Macri. Bachelet in Chile is facing anti-government street protests. And impeachment proceedings are now marring Dilma Rousseff's second term.

      This Vestei Marcelino/Reuters photo shows a harassed Dilma Rousseff fighting back against impeachment proceedings in her second term as President of Brazil, Latin America's richest and most powerful nation. This photo, coupled with the recent elections in Venezuela and Argentina, is emblematic of the winds of change in Latin America that are adversely affecting Cuba at a very inopportune time.

      Danny Ortega, the Cuban-friendly President of Nicaragua, is pointing his finger directly at Miami and Washington "as the prime instigators of the constant pressure democratically elected Presidents trying to help the poor people throughout Latin America are being subjected to by the Cubans in Miami and in the U. S. Congress. They are hell-bent and unchecked in targeting the legitimate governments of my country, Nicaragua, as well as Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and all the nations in the region friendly to Cuba. If they get their way, it will be like in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s when the U. S. dictated governments throughout Latin America, even if the CIA had to overthrow democratically elected governments, like in Guatemala in 1953, in Chile in 1973, and so forth. Only now it's not the CIA so much. It's Miami Cubans and congressional Cubans. Cuba's revolution in the 1950s and Nicaragua's in the 1970s changed things, but it's happening again." In the last couple of weeks, Ortega has been irked as Nicaragua's military blocked thousands of Cubans at the Costa Rican border, slowing their efforts to reach U. S. soil at the Mexican border.

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A Very Special Cuban

She's Quite A Woman!!
{Updated for Monday, December 7th, 2015}
UFirst:

        Today -- December 7th -- is a reminder of the Day of Infamy for America back in 1941. A surprise Japanese attack ushered America into World War II. The graphic above depicts the U. S. ships sunk, damaged or destroyed. That day, 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were severely wounded. My Uncle Ritchie, a proud member of the U. S. Navy and the man I was named for, was at Pearl Harbor that day. 

Photo courtesy: Cita con Angeles

       This lady, in my opinion, is the most interesting person in Cuba today. See if you agree. Maria Antonia Puyol Bravo was born 88 years ago in Biran, Cuba. She spent most of her youth fishing, riding horses, and mingling with three lifelong friends -- Ramon, Fidel, and Raul Castro. She never married and has no children. Today Maria owns and works the El Alcazar ranch in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra Mountains in southeastern Cuba. It's not just any ranch. In a book-length article about Florida billionaire John Parke Wright IV trying to revitalize the cattle industry in Cuba, Newsweek Magazine described Maria's pristine, 1500-acre ranch "One of the best cattle ranches in the Western Hemisphere." Not just Cuba, mind you, but THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE! El Alcazar means "the castle" or "the fortress" and it is both of those things thanks to Maria and, perhaps, thanks to her bond with the three Castro brothers -- 91-year-old Ramon, 89-year-old Fidel, and 84-year-old Raul. Maria told Newsweek she is not surprised the Castro brothers became the leaders of Cuba. She said, "Today they run all of Cuba the way they used to run Biran." At age 88, Maria still runs one of the BEST RANCHES IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE on 1500 pristine acres of gorgeous Cuban land. 

One of Maria's prized bulls at El Alcazar.

Some of Maria's prized cattle at El Alcazar.

One of Maria's prized horses at El Alcazar.

        This photo shows the Castro brothers in 1941 when Maria was growing up with them in Biran, Cuba. Fidel and Raul, of course, need no introduction but their reclusive older brother Ramon Castro is not nearly as well known.

         Ramon Castro, on the left above, is shown here with friend John Parke Wright IV, the billionaire from Naples, Florida. It was Mr. Wright who reminded Newsweek Magazine of Maria Puyol's exquisite El Alcazar ranch. Because of Ramon's age, his son Angel now often accompanies Mr. Wright in Cuba.

        Ramon turned 91 on October 14th; Fidel turned 89 on August 13th; and Raul turns 85 on June 3rd, 2016. Ramon is shown here again with his billionaire friend John Parke Wright IV of Tampa, Florida. 

      John Parke Wright IV is a billionaire legend in South Florida like friend Maria Antonia Puyol is a very wealthy legend in southeastern Cuba. Mr. Wright's imperial, intriguing relationship with Cuba, especially Ramon Castro, has made him a few enemies -- especially in Miami and the U. S. Congress. Newsweek asked him if he's worried about Congress's reaction to his current efforts to improve the cattle industry in Cuba. He replied brusquely, "If Congress...wants to throw me in jail, let them try." 

       John Parke Wright IV is a very interesting figure in the U.S.-Cuban equation. He is a 5th generation member of Tampa's Lykes family that owned thousands of acres in pre-revolutionary Cuba and still owns countless thousands of acres in the U. S. today. Mr. Wright says when he was a youth in Tampa his uncle told him, "If you behave we'll send you to Cuba to run the Lykes cattle ranch. If you are bad, we will send you to work at our steamship line in China." In 1959 the victorious Cuban Revolution nationalized the Lykeses' 15,000-acre Cuban ranch. Yet, Wright became Cuba's, Ramon's, and Maria's dear friend, apparently because he believed...and apparently still does...that the sheer brutality and thievery of the Batista dictatorship in the 1950s made a revolution...uh...necessary.

Fidel and Raul {kneeling} as underdog rebels.

Fidel Castro when he was no longer the underdog.

        Fidel Castro, now 89, is unwell but still has an inquisitive mind and loves to read biographies. Is this one about President Barack Obama? Uh, yes!

Taylor J. Wofford, Newsweek

           The excellent and balanced Newsweek article on Dec. 2-2015 written by Taylor J. Wofford was entitled: "Cows, Capitalism and the Future of Cuba." It focused on Florida billionaire John Parke Wright IV and his continuing efforts to improve the cattle industry in Cuba. It also introduced Americans to a Cuban legend, 88-year-old cattle rancher Maria Antonia Puyol. But Mr. Wofford also expertly updated Cuba's ongoing struggle to feed its people, correctly pointing out that a combination of the U. S. embargo and flaws in its Socialist system have left 11.2 million Cubans struggling today. Wofford referenced the "thaw" in U.S.-Cuban relations being engineered by President Obama. He wrote: "Most Cubans welcome this development but few want things to go back how they were before the revolution, when Cuba was a de facto colony of Washington and Havana a decadent playpen for wealthy gringos." That sentence showed guts and insight about Cuba that the mainstream U. S. media doesn't have the courage to mention. The "decadent playpen for wealthy gringos" in pre-revolutionary Cuba was run by the top echelon of the Mafia -- Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Santo Trafficante, etc. A democracy teaming with the Mafia seemed unseemly.

          From 1952 till the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictators were overthrown on January 1, 1959, Americans flocked to Cuba because, indeed, it was as Taylor J. Wofford described it -- "a decadent playpen for wealthy gringos." This photo shows A-list American movie stars Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck at a bar in Batista's Cuba when Havana superseded Las Vegas as the Mafia's top prize.

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner honeymooned in Cuba.

     The interesting, nostalgic image above is courtesy of the Tampa Tribune. It shows a huge ship, the S.S. Florida, returning to Miami after one of its regular visits to Havana during the Batista dictatorship. In the 1950s the legal and indomitable sea and air traffic to Cuba massively fueled what Newsweek's Taylor Wofford this week called "the decadent playpen for wealthy gringos."  

      The photo on the right was used by the BBC to illustrate an article about Maria Antonia Puyol Bravo, the 88-year-old lifetime friend of the three Castro brothers. That's Maria showing the BBC one of her prized bulls on her El Alcazar ranch, which Newsweek the first week of Dec.-2015 called, "One of the best cattle ranches in the Western Hemisphere." How Maria Antonia Puyol and El Alcazar both survived and thrived in Batista's Cuba and Castro's Cuba makes for very, very interesting reading!!

Meanwhile:

     This is Olga Tanon, the superstar singer/entertainer from Puerto Rico. As a United States citizen from that efficacious United States Territory, Olga is shown here inviting Americans to visit and "understand" the Cuba that she knows...and loves. Olga understands that, despite the efforts of President Obama to deal with a U. S. Congress dictated to by America's lush Castro Industry, everyday Americans still cannot visit one place on this earth -- Cuba. Saturday -- December. 5th -- Olga gave a free concert in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second largest city and former capital on the southeastern tip of the island. On December 12th she'll be back to give a free concert in the capital city of Havana. Olga seems intent on making up to the Cubans for what the Castro Industry in the United States has done to them since 1959.

An emotional Cuban listening to Olga sing.

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