Cuban Resilience Tested Anew

But Its Survival Instincts Remain!
{Sunday, May 7th, 2017}

        This week -- May 4th, 2017 -- on the Front Page of America's largest newspaper, USA Today, there was this glaring headline: "Making Sense of Puerto Rico's Bankruptcy." As the map above shows, Cuba and Puerto Rico are neighbors, basically separated only by Caribbean waters and the island of Hispaniola that is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Even more emphatic than geography, Cuba and Puerto Rico have something else in common: Both island nations changed imperial masters when the United States easily provoked and won the 1898 Spanish-American War. Now fast-forward to May, 2017. On Jan. 1-1959 Cuba finally won Independence when its Revolutionary War defeated the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship. Struggling ever since to maintain that sovereignty against U.S.-backed Batistianos and their sycophants on U. S. soil, Cuba has amazingly withstood such things as the Bay of Pigs military attack in 1961 and an economic embargo first imposed in 1962 and now easily the longest and cruelest embargo ever imposed by a powerful nation against a weak nation. So, in May-2017 Cuba is a poor nation still depending on its remarkable resilience to survive. In the meantime, Puerto Rico became and remains a U. S. Territory composed of U. S. citizens who can vote in U. S. elections and have some strong representation in Washington. But, like embargoed Cuba, Puerto Rico is drastically poor. The first paragraph of this week's USA Today article stated: "Facing mountainous debt and population loss, the board overseeing Puerto Rico filed Wednesday for the equivalent of bankruptcy protection in a historic move that's sure to trigger a fierce legal battle with the fate of the island citizens, creditors and workers at stake. Puerto Ricans are U. S. citizens and can move to the mainland at any time..." Cubans, of course, are not U. S. citizens and Cuba cannot file for bankruptcy in Washington. But as a sovereign nation, Cuba has some advantages over Puerto Rico, namely...U. S. billionaire investors who have bankrupted Puerto Rico while making financial killings on 6-star hotels and the Caribbean's most spacious and affluent marina for yachts, are not allowed to bankrupt Cuba in the same manner. A recent documentary shows one of the U. S. billionaires showing off a 6-star hotel and that line-up of yachts to a journalist who then featured a beautiful and very intelligent 10-year-old Puerto Rican girl lamenting the fact that her school had closed its doors because of a lack of funding.

       Any study of the 1898 Spanish-American War, fought on Cuban soil, reveals that the capture of Cuba and getting "war hero" Teddy Roosevelt elected President were the primary goals of greedy Americans.

     Puerto Rico and Cuba as we know them today were both originally created by the extreme greed of a few imperialist-minded Americans. Except for using both these nations as piggy-banks, those greedy Americans really didn't care what happened to the Cuban and Puerto Rican people...and, unfortunately, the U. S. democracy since 1898 has been unable to hold such miscreants accountable. Thus, sovereign little Cuba is busy in May-2017 trying to remain sovereign while the U. S. Territory, Puerto Rico, is begging its master, the United States, to please keep it afloat economically. That anomaly-juxtaposition is fascinating.

    So, U. S. Territory Puerto Rico begs the U. S. for help.

       Meanwhile, poor little Cuba is still trying to survive the United States embargo, first imposed in 1962 and one that, in all likelihood, would have LONG AGO brought much larger and stronger nations to their knees. But Cuba's resilience is legendary all around the world and apparently still intact in May of 2017.

For example...............

         .................the above Reuters photo was used yesterday -- May 4th, 2017 -- to explain how Cuba is pulling yet another Houdini-like rabbit out of its Caribbean hat. Many times Cuba's American enemies have predicted its demise, starting in April of 1959 when United States Vice President Richard Nixon looked Fidel Castro squarely in the face in Washington and told him that Revolutionary Cuba, then barely three months old, would be recaptured within a few "weeks." Such redolent U. S. predictions have resonated frequented since Nixon's day, such as in May of 2017 as Cuba's best financial ally, the Venezuelan government, is itself in a state of almost certain collapse. Oil-rich but money-and-crime devastated Venezuela can no longer trade, in exchange for medical services, all the oil Cuba needs -- which is 22,000 barrels of diesel per day and 140,000 barrels of regular oil per day. From 2000 until 2015 Cuba was able to export some oil thanks to its contract with Venezuela plus what it produces itself. But Venezuela's 100,000+ barrels per day have been drastically reduced, creating a new and severe problem for Cuba. But Reuters reports that a Russian tanker with 249,000 barrels of oil will arrive in Cuba on May 10th, 2017...with more Russian tankers to follow. Reuters earlier reported that the American oil giant, Exxon, is seeking to drill oil in the Black Sea alongside Russia's oil giant, Rosneft, that right now is sending tons of oil to Cuba.

      The most powerful member of President Trump's new cabinet is Secretary of State Rex Tillotson, who previously was the top man at Exxon with extremely tight alliances with Russian bosses, including Putin.

     It is well known that Rex Tillotson and Russian President Vladimir Putin were close friends when Exxon and Rosneft were merrily making money together. With Tillotson now America's Secretary of State, his and Exxon's friendship with Putin and Rosneft might change but meanwhile Putin can replace Venezuela as Cuba's main oil supplier. And, of course, that bespeaks of Cuba's Houdini-like resilience.

The President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, was in Cuba this week.

          Before meeting Cuban President Raul Castro on Friday, May 5th, 2017, Ecuadorean President Correa is shown being greeted by Ramiro Valdes, one of Cuba's few remaining Revolutionary Commanders.

Rafael Correa and Raul Castro on May 5th, 2017.

         Like many Latin American presidents, Rafael Correa's primary idol was Cuba's revolutionary icon Fidel Castro. The photo above shows the last time President Correa visited Fidel's Havana home. And shortly thereafter Fidel died at age 90 on November 25th, 2016. Mr. Correa attended the memorial service.

   President Correa paid homage this week at Fidel's tomb.

President Correa spent a long time at the tomb.

        Here, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa took time to read the entire list of Principles of the Cuban Revolution as outlined by Fidel Castro. President Correa then took several photos of this memorial.

        This AP photo shows Cuban President Raul Castro viewing this week's May Day parade. But he wasn't the Castro making the biggest headlines on the island this week, including international headlines.

            The feisty, outspoken, 54-year-old daughter of Raul Castro and Vilma Espin, Mariela Castro, this week made a comment about who will succeed her father as Cuban president when he steps down on February 24th, 2018. What she said garnered headlines around the world, starting with the Associated Press bureau in Havana but extending outward from there. She coyly suggested that the world might be in for "a surprise." A long-time tease...in college she shocked her family, all except feisty mother Vilma, by dancing topless in a play...this week Mariela teased the media with this exact comment about her dad's successor in 2018: "Sometimes you're going in one direction and suddenly you look over here and go 'Wow, how interesting.' I hadn't focused on this person. There are always surprises." Yes indeed, in Cuba too!

         She tagged her prediction with a very coy, teasing smile. But it still made international headlines because...well...she's Mariela Castro, the most famous of Raul's and Vilma's four children. She and her husband Juan have three lovely children and, both on the island and internationally, Mariela is a powerful advocate for gay rights. She is also a member of Cuba's powerful National Assembly and never hesitates to speak her mind...and, yes, when she speaks her father listens and so did her late uncle Fidel Castro.

       Most people have presumed that 57-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel will take over as Cuba's next President on February 24th, 2018. He holds the title as Cuba's First Vice President and has a good reputation on the island, including with the restive young-adult generation that is clamoring for its favorites. But then when Mariela hinted at a "surprise," there were rampant guesses...with Michael Weissenstein at the AP bureau in Havana suggesting perhaps Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and then making a strong case for him. But I don't think that's who Mariela had in mind. She was thinking about some much bigger "surprises." 

        I think Mariela Castro was thinking about Ana Mari Machado. She is already a powerful Vice President of the National Assembly. When major domestic or foreign decisions are made on the island, Ana is often the one who makes or most significantly influences them. Mariela drastically changed her uncle's and her father's opinions about gays and she might be changing her father's mind about Cuba finally having a female leader. Surely, Ana is both capable and prepared for such a role. Moreover, I don't believe there is any other Cuban in an island-wide election that could get as many votes as the beloved and highly respected Ana. She recently criss-crossed the island and determined that the U. S. embargo was what most of her fellow Cubans wanted her "to finally cause to end." She told them, "That's my priority too."

         It is no secret that powerful women like Ana Mari Machado already make most of the key day-to-day domestic decisions on the island, and Ana has all the qualifications in the foreign arena too. In foreign capitals she has signed many agreements on behalf of Cuba. Foreign leaders...like Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa this week...ask to meet with Ana. Significantly, President Correa also this week met with Beatriz Johnson Urrutia and Ana Teresita Gonzalez. And years ago Fidel Castro said that Josefina Vidal, now Cuba's omnipotent and brilliant Minister of North American Affairs, "would have my support if she wanted to be the future leader of Cuba." But in May of 2017 I now lean toward Ana Mari Machado because I think she is superbly qualified and because I believe she has the support of most Cubans in Cuba.

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Cuba Beyond May Day, 2017

It Will Survive!!
But Faces Rubio-like Attacks!!
{Updated: Thursday, May 4th, 2017}

     Wednesday -- May 3rd -- USA Today reported on yet another major Obama-orchestrated engagement with Cuba that took place this week. USA Today informed us: "The growth of cruising to Cuba hit another milestone on Tuesday as a Norwegian Cruise Line ship visited the country for the first time." It was the 2004-passenger Norwegian Sky that pulled into Havana just after dawn on May 2nd, 2017 after sailing overnight from nearby Miami.

       Cuban-born Frank Del Rio is the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line. Like the vast majority of Cuban-Americans in Miami, Mr. Del Rio longs for normal relations with Cuba. That sentiment, of course, flies against the fact that for over half-a-century a mere handful of viscerally self-serving Cuban-Americans in Miami and in Congress have been allowed to make America's dreadful Cuban policy, the policy that currently has a 191-to-0 condemnation in the United Nations. But former President Obama's decent legacy regarding Cuba is still benefiting the vast majority of Americans and Cuban-Americans, like Mr. Del Rio.

       As head of the giant Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line, Cuban-American Frank Del Rio was ecstatic Tuesday when his prized ship sailed into Havana Harbor, and he let all of those around him know how proud he is to have helped achieve it. USA Today today quoted the beaming executive as saying, "You guys are going to love Havana! Cubans are friendly people. They want Americans to come. They want to engage us." 

        This is a typical bedroom on Frank Del Rio's magnificent Norwegian Sky cruise ship that this week was in Havana Harbor...thanks to Former U. S. President Barack Obama who so bravely defied the animosity of ALL the Cuban-Americans who get elected to the U. S. Congress from Miami, such as Marco Rubio who was singled out {for his self-serving animosity} in a major New York Times editorial this first week in May.

        Study, if you will, the above very brilliant graphic by Nicolas Ortega. It was used this first week of May-2017 to illustrate a major article written by the entire Editorial Board of the New York Times. The Editorial is entitled: "Push and Pull on Cuba." First off, it explained that, YES, America's relations with Cuba are vitally important to America and its worldwide image and, YES, leaving that policy in the hands of a few Cuban-American extremists, such as Marco Rubio, has drastically harmed the United States for over half-a-century...and counting. The Editorial began with these words: "In recent weeks as the White House has been consumed by loud debates over health care, taxes and trade, there has been another, quieter debate occurring beneath the surface. Government agencies and lawmakers have been pulling the {Trump} administration in two directions on whether to continue the Obama administration's path on {normal} relations with Cuba. A small but vocal group of lawmakers, including Senator Marco Rubio, have pressed the White House to roll back the process of normalization President Barack Obama set in motion in 2014." {A much needed Rubio rebuke}.

      A joke, a trickster and a fraud as he starts his second six-year term in the U. S. Senate, Marco Rubio's cruel assaults on innocent Cubans in Cuba is purely based on pleasing a handful of Miami-area Batistiano extremists as well as tag-along Batistiano entities such as the Bush dynasty and the Tea Party. Without accomplishing anything for the vast majority of Americans and Cuban-Americans, Rubio's trail from Miami to Washington has been littered with enough controversial debris to render his first and second terms in the U. S. Senate comical enterprises, with his current second term by 2020 soon to replicate his first one in 2016 with a highly funded presidential bid, highly funded because the conservative and right-wing billionaires anxious to purchase the U. S. government consider Senator Rubio to be "for sale."

    While the mainstream American media -- both print and electronic -- have neither the integrity nor the courage to tell the truth about Rubio, great United States investigative journalists do. The above graphic by Dale Stephanos, for example, illustrated a major update on Rubio compiled by highly respected journalist Ken Silverstein. From Miami to Washington, Ken Silverstein named the controversial people who have participated in Rubio's checkered but otherwise conveniently arcane political and personal shenanigans, and I don't think any of them have sued Silverstein claiming false accusations. The above Ken Silverstein research is revealed in an easily Googled article entitled: "Poor Little Rich Boy Runs Into Real Estate Trouble." The article begins with these exact words: "When it comes to sheer brazen corruption, chicanery and dishonesty there is one candidate who stands head and shoulders above everyone else and that is the right-wing Cuban-American and Tea Party darling Senator Marco Rubio of -- naturally -- the great state of Florida. Mr. Rubio's public image...is less tethered to reality than The Wizard of Ox. For example..." The plethora of examples provided by Silverstein are, shall we say, startling and numerous.

      A Washington-savvy journalist, Ken Silverstein has worked for Harper's Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press, etc. The mainstream U. S. media postures Senator Rubio as a choirboy in sharp contrast to Silverstein's biographic article. Americans, whether or not they care a whit about cruel imperialist acts against innocent Cubans, should care enough about their democracy to decide whether Ken Silverstein or the mainstream U. S. media shines truthful spotlights on Rubio, the fake choirboy.

       Meanwhile, with the cowardly complicity of the mainstream United States media, Senator Marco Rubio and his ilk can use the media and the United States Congress to assail totally innocent Cubans on the island to please his highly controversial supporters. Therefore, the United States currently endures a resounding 191-to-0 international condemnation in the Union Nations for its Rubio-like Cuban policy while millions of propagandized or intimidated Americans are too unpatriotic or too afraid to voice opinions.

 Now, back to this week's editorial in the New York Times. 

           It pointed out how "small" the number of Cuban-Americans allowed to make U. S. Cuban policy is. Then the editorial stated: "Meanwhile, a large pro-engagement coalition that includes lawmakers from both parties, businesses and young Cuban-Americans is calling on the Trump White House to build on the foundation of engagement it inherited. The Obama administration enabled the free flow of people, goods and information. Among the fruits of this approach..." The editorial then laid out a litany of "fruits" or good things that have resulted for most Americans, Cuban-Americans and Cubans because of Obama's courageous decency. But the editorial stated that "a small but vocal group of lawmakers" is pressuring Trump to erase those gains and the editorial concluded: "If he were to take those sorts of steps, Mr. Trump would make the small pro-embargo coalition happy but doing so would mean reversing a policy change that is widely popular among Americans and nearly universally supported by Cubans. He would also be putting American farmers and businesses at a disadvantage...and subject Cubans to greater repression and privation." Extremely well said.

      In March of 2016 President Obama went to Cuba and told the Cuban people: "Cuba does not need to fear a threat from the United States." But when he spoke those words, Mr. Obama did not anticipate that Mr. Trump would succeed him as President and he didn't anticipate that the American people would continue to allow the likes of Rubio to dictate America's Cuban policy in defiance of most Americans, most Cuban-Americans and the unanimity of that 191-to-0 vote in the UN that condemns America's treatment of Cuba.

Meanwhile: 

      May 1, 2017 is now behind us and most of Cuba's 11.3 million people were enthusiastically involved in the May Day celebrations across the island Monday. Rosy Amaro Perez, one of the most dynamic and influential leaders among Cuba's young-adult generation, is shown above at one of those spots.

       The above AP photo was used to illustrate much of the United States coverage of Cuba's May Day celebrations. But the AP caption with this photo indicated that just a single protester, the one shown above, marred the celebrations. The AP caption said: "A security officer yells 'Long Live Fidel's Dream/Long Life Raul' as he and others carry away a protester." The AP article beneath the photo, written by its top Havana correspondent Michael Weissenstein, also referred only to "a protester" -- meaning one out of 11.3 million non-protesters. Per capita or otherwise that is not much, surely not compared to other May Day protests in places like Portland, Oregon; Berlin, Germany; Paris, France; etc. But in the U. S. ABC-TV News was typical on-air and online by blaring this headline with the above photo: "A PROTESTER BRIEFLY DISRUPTS THE START OF CUBA'S..." Wow! One protester! The ABC headline seems hopeful of at least two.

       The 2017 May Day celebrations in Cuba were the first since the Nov. 25-2016 death of 90-year-old Fidel Castro, who will forever remain the primary symbol of the island's 1959 Revolutionary victory. So, the prime viewing stand Monday, as depicted above, is interesting to contemplate. The man on the left in the white shirt is 56-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel who is due to become Cuba's next President no later than February of 2018. The two men on the right in the traditional white Cuban shirts -- Raul Castro and Jose Ramon Machado -- represent the two remaining and most powerful revolutionary icons. The man in the middle in the red shirt is Ulises Guilarte, a power in his own right as the head of the Federation of Cuban Workers.

      After praising Cubans for supporting the May Day rallies, Ulises Guilarte took exception to its portrayal in the U. S. media, which emphasized one Cuban protester. He said, "The offensive by the U. S. government and its biased media following the Obama advances has increased challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean, especially Cuba, of course. Except for a few second-generation loudmouths in the United States, the rest of the entire region no longer favors imperialistic dominance of a small nation by a big nation. The Cuban Revolution in 1959 started that trend towards sovereignty and independence in the Caribbean and Latin America, but Batista figures resurrected their beliefs on U. S. soil, and America hasn't been the same since." 

       Indeed, frequent protests in the U. S. are a lot more violent than apparently one May Day protester shouting, waving a U. S. flag, and running in Cuba. For example, on the University of California-Berkeley campus, as shown above, masked participants violently protested conservative journalist Ann Coulter merely being invited to speak at Berkeley. "Freedom of Speech?" What happened to that very sacred American principle that the majority of Americans seem unable to protect from gangs of masked hooligans.

      Such scenes as this on the Berkeley campus should, perhaps, garner headlines in the U. S. media much larger than headlines related to one non-fiery protester in a nation-wide celebratory event in Cuba.

       May Day -- May 1st -- is celebrated around the world to honor the working classes, including capitalist countries that often face protests far more violent than occurs in Cuba...for a plethora of reasons, including the vast disparity in wealth. The scene above on May Day-2017 was in Paris, not Havana.

The Paris May Day violence engulfed this policeman.

Masked May Day-2017 rioting in Portland, USA.

Violence on May Day-2017 in Seattle, USA.

   By contract, one May Day protester in Cuba. ONE!!

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Cuba on May Day, 2017

One Notable Change!
{Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017}

       Yesterday was May 1, 2017. May Day since 1959 has been a very important day of celebration on the island of Cuba. But this year things were different. There was someone missing this year.

While May Day is celebrated BIG in Cuba....

           .......this was the first May Day in the last 90 years that Fidel Castro has not been alive in Cuba. He died at age 90 on Nov. 25-2016. The cause was old age, a lasting insult to his U.S.-based enemies who tried a record number of times to kill him. But on the island and elsewhere, he remains the face and soul of the Cuban Revolution and, of course, Revolutionary Cuba.

         This was the last hug, at least the last photographed one, that Cuban President Raul Castro gave his older and more famous brother Fidel. Like Fidel, their older brother Ramon died in 2016. The non-political Ramon was 91. So Raul is now the only living Castro brother as the post-Castro era comes into focus.

        By the time Raul Castro entombed Fidel Castro's ashes in the first week of December, 2016, the 85-year-old Raul had announced that he would retire as President of Cuba no later than February of 2018.

        When the time comes, Raul Castro's ashes will be entombed beside those of his wife, the legendary revolutionary Vilma Espin who died from cancer in 2007. The old rebels, like old soldiers, someday die.

       Americans, of course, are not supposed to know it but this photo shows the Big Four of both the Cuban Revolution and Revolutionary Cuba, and it was taken within days of that historic transition for both Cuba and the United States because at the start of January in 1959 the leaders of the fleeing Batista-Mafia dictatorship were already plotting their revenge in nearby Miami, plots that, of course, continue till this day in May, 2017. The Big Four from left to right: Vilma Espin, Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and Celia Sanchez.

        This interesting photo shows Celia Sanchez driving her beloved Matari jeep in 1959 as she transitioned from being the key figure in the Revolution to then being the key figure in Revolutionary Cuba. Fidel Castro, for sure, agreed with that depiction of the 99-pound doctor's daughter...as have all the revolutionary insiders including the best and still-living historians -- Marta Rojas, Pedro Alvarez Tabio and Roberto Salas. Also, the best American biographer of Fidel Castro, Georgie Anne Geyer, very correctly stated in her seminal book "Guerrilla Prince" that Celia "over-ruled" Fidel whenever she chose to do so.

      This photo is a case-in-point. It shows Celia and Fidel deplaning in Cuba. In April of 1959, just after shedding their guerrilla uniforms and celebrating the Revolutionary victory, Celia persuaded a reluctant Fidel to spend 12 days in the U. S. because Celia, working with the U. S. State Department and the U. S. Society of Newspaper Editors, believed the Eisenhower administration would accept Cuba's newly won independence. Vice President Richard Nixon personally told Fidel that would not be so, that revolutionary rule in Cuba would be overthrown "within a few weeks." Back in Cuba, an outraged Celia informed a dubious Fidel, "There are TWO nuclear superpowers in the world -- America and the Soviets. The one close-by wants to kill us. The one far-away wants to help us. We would be stupid not to choose the far-away option." The rest is history, as choreographed by Celia, not Fidel, although he never once failed to back her up, a fact that was stated by Geyer and has been stated by the aforementioned insiders.

       This photo taken in 1958 by the legendary war photographer Dickey Chapelle, who died later on a Vietnam battlefield, shows the always studious Celia Sanchez and the usually carefree Vilma Espin during their guerrilla days. In the Georgie Anne Guyer bio of Fidel, there is a confirmed Celia quote that still fascinates but confounds me. In Revolutionary Cuba when Celia and Fidel were discussing the brutal war with journalists, Fidel mentioned "how tough" the fighting was. Celia followed up with this quote: "Oh, but those were the best days, weren't they? We were all so happy. We will never be so happy again, will we?"

      Before old age or other factors emerged, the most legendary Cuban rebels were young and surprisingly happy when they fought the war. This photo shows guerrilla fighters Raul Castro and Vilma Espin.

Right after the war was won, Vilma & Raul got married.

        Raul Castro in 2008 officially succeeded his ill brother Fidel as Cuba's President and, at long last, was receptive to peaceful and kind overtures from United States President Barack Obama, the only American President since 1898 with the intelligence, decency, and courage to deal fairly with Cuba. From 2015 till Obama left the White House on Jan. 20-2017, the U. S. and Cuba corrected and smoothed animosities dating back many decades -- such as reopening embassies in Washington and Havana for the first time since 1961. But to this day, a tiny cabal of self-serving and revengeful operatives in Miami and the U. S. Congress continue their concerted efforts to defy the wishes of the majority of moderate and decent Americans and Cuban-Americans who want to end the Congressionally mandated embargo and other punitive, imperialistic U. S. actions against Cuba. The Miami-inspired Congressional laws are also currently condemned internationally by a 191-to-0 vote in the United Nations, yet a handful of miscreants in Miami and in Congress could care less about an endless American Cuban policy that direly shames America and Democracy in the eyes of the world. Unfortunately, those miscreants have prevailed after the departure of President Obama last January and will prevail after the retirement of the last Castro brother next February.

        The 56-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel is scheduled to take over as Cuba's next President by February of 2018. He is currently First Vice President of Cuba's National Assembly and, as a powerful advocate regarding educational and health issues, he is well-liked by ordinary Cubans, including young adults.

      But the most popular politician on the island of Cuba is probably Ana Mari Machado. Of the top five Vice Presidents in Cuba's National Assembly, none is more powerful than Ana regarding daily decisions.

       And while the Trump White House and his State Department probably don't realize it yet, the powerful leaders of other nations that want to deal with Cuba all ask to meet Ana Mari Machado, as shown above.

       On her Twitter page Ana Mari Machado the other day posted the above photo. It shows a little Cuban girl in Batista's Cuba sitting in an abandoned schoolroom, abandoned because the Batista dictatorship didn't consider the majority peasants worth educating or having health care. When Revolutionary Cuba inherited that situation in 1959, it was forced to famously send thousands of literate volunteers all across the island to educate the illiterate parents and children and to register their health needs. After that successful program, Revolutionary Cuba began impressing the world with its two priorities -- using a very high percentage of its limited resources to provide free educations and health care to all Cubans.

      This photo shows the transition from Batista's Cuba to Revolutionary Cuba. The young woman on the right had been a guerrilla fighter against Batista's U.S.-backed soldiers. After the revolutionary victory, this woman was one of the thousands of literate volunteers who traversed the island teaching illiterate Cubans how to read and write. In the very typical case depicted above both the father and mother of the baby are learning how to read and write. These facts, except in America, are registered in history. For example, Wikipedia describes what you see above in the early days of Revolutionary Cuba as "the world's most ambitious and organized literary campaign." Over half-a-century later, as Ana Mari Machado pointed out on her Twitter page, the results are startling. The former female guerrilla-fighter-turned-educator shown above may be cast as a villain by counter-revolutionaries in the United States, but Ana Mari Machado as well as history considers her a heroine. The photo above is one the U. S. Cuban narrative will avoid.

   In Cuba today schoolgirls are healthy and well educated.

       When major international contracts involving Cuba are signed in Brussels, as above, or elsewhere, Ana Mari Machado's signature often represents Cuba. Back on the island, she is also a true dynamo.

     Except for purely military issues, the major day-to-day decisions on the island are hammered out at Assembly sessions like the one above. They are mostly dominated by women, in this case Ana Mari Machado and the white-haired lady at the front of the table chairing this particular Ana-directed session. 

      The Cuban lady chairing that important aforementioned Assembly meeting was Miriam Brito Sarroca. It's women like her and Ana Mari Machado that decide what's best for Cubans, and that is as it should be and just as revolutionary heroines like Celia Sanchez and Vilma Espin "dictated" it right after January 1, 1959.

      This is a dynamic Cuban leader of the island's increasingly important  twenty-something generation. Her name is Rosy Amaro Perez. She is shown a few days ago in Trinidad, the colonial city on Cuba's south-central coast. She was there...leaving her husband and young daughter in Havana...to promote a brand-new Cuban television channel -- Canal Caribe -- that operates 18 hours a day and is aimed specifically at providing more news and information to the island's already smart and more impatient young adults.

The popular Rosy Amaro Perez relaxing in Trinidad.

     Cuba's most popular and most influential broadcast journalist is the superbly talented Cristina Escobar, another leader of the island's increasingly restive young-adult generation. In Cuba and the United States, and both in Spanish and English, and on YouTube, she has made this statement: "I don't want the U. S. to bring me democracy. That is a project for Cubans on the island, not Cubans in Miami and Washington." 

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