"Dear Mr. Fontova"

An Open Letter to Humberto Fontova!
{Updated: Wednesday, August 9th, 2017}

       The photo above provides an updated snapshot of Cuba, a glimpse of an off-limits island that Americans have been proselytized for over half-a-century not to understand. This photo was taken Sunday, August 6th, 2017. It shows Cuban music-lovers at a concert. Simple enough but it's an everyday portrait of everyday Cubans on their island, a view Americans are not supposed to comprehend because, to do so, it might hit a few Counter-Revolutionary Cubans in the United States in their budging bank accounts, in their control of the U.S.-Cuban narrative, and in their dictations of America's Cuban policies in the U. S. Congress and in all Republican presidential administrations. You don't need to know the three young-adult Cubans in the forefront above but, for the record, their names from left-to-right are: Rosy Amaro Perez, Yanet Perez Moya, and Ramadan Arcos. But you should know them. Either young Cubans on the island like them or old Counter-Revolutionary Cubans in Miami and Washington will predicate the island's future. And that's important, especially for Cuba and the United States. Typically, these three young-adult Cubans are very intelligent, well educated, healthy, and they love Cuba. They have no intention of defecting to Miami. All their lives, like their parents before them, they have been punished by two generations of greedy, revengeful Cuban exiles from the Batista-Mafia dictatorship that ravaged Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The pivotal month of January in 1959 was when the leaders fled the Cuban Revolution, retrenching mostly in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. The victorious Revolution shocked the world but the longevity of Revolutionary Cuba, from 1959 till today, has been even more shocking. That's because the odds were and are a billion-to-one against an island nation audaciously acquiring and then pugnaciously maintaining independence when its opposition was composed of vicious miscreants backed by the world's economic and military superpower. So, the simple snapshot above of today's Cuba needs to be at least tangentially understood if one is to understand either the fascinating history or the intriguing topicality of perhaps the planet's most amazing island nation.      

      I'll get to my Open Letter to powerful Cuban-American Humberto Fontova at the end of this essay but first I'll explain what inspired it. I sincerely believe that Mr. Fontova, and others like him, feather their own nests in America while severely harming decent, hard-working Cubans on the island like Nidialys Acosta. I believe this has been allowed to go on since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in January of 1959 ended the rule of the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship in Cuba, powerfully reshaping the island but, incredibly, reshaping the U. S. democracy even more. In the years...the decades...since 1959, counter-revolutionary Cubans, backed by the extreme might of the United States as well as the extreme lack of patriotism by U. S. citizens, have used over a half-century of military and terrorist attacks as well as extremely punitive and legal U. S. laws such as history's longest economic embargo against the vulnerable island. BUT, INCREDIBLY, such brazen and cowardly tactics have failed to regain control of the pugnacious Caribbean island. While most Cuban-Americans EVEN IN MIAMI strongly favor normalizing relations with Cuba, and while the United Nations currently has a VERY LOUD 191-to-0 vote condemning America's Cuban policies, the fact that a mere handful of Cuban-American radicals benefit so majestically -- revengefully, economically and politically -- from pulverizing innocent Cubans -- DECADE AFTER DECADE -- is a cruel abomination, especially when it is done incessantly and irregardless of how much harm it does to the image of America and Democracy. But since 1959 the most decent everyday Cubans, such as Nidialys Acosta, have been both the primary and the most innocent victims. That is so even as vicious terrorist acts against Cuban civilians -- such as the airplane bombing of Cubana Flight 455 and the car-bombing of the decent Cuban-American newsman Emilio Milian in Miami -- have been "successes" because two generations of pusillanimous Americans have been successfully told they are "blows against Castro." Of course, they are blows against those totally innocent victims AND AGAINST the American democracy. Such one-sided infamy with origins in the nearby superpower, of course, enlarged the life and legacy of Castro and gave the island of Cuba a position on the international stage far out of proportion to its size, wealth or population. But most of all, a few powerful people in a powerful country being allowed to harm innocent people -- like Nidialys Acosta --  in a small, vulnerable country is the epitome of anti-democratic behavior.

         As illustrated by the above photo, the saga of Nidialys Acosta in Cuba and how her life intersects with America's universally condemned Cuban policy was spotlighted in a major August 5th-2017 article by Euronews.com entitled: "Cubans Nervous About Trump's Travel Restrictions." The exact opening words, which you can easily dial up online, are: "Nidialys Acosta never dreamed the business she started with her husband Julio Alvarez would be as successful as it has become. It boasts a fleet of classic America cars ferrying U. S. visitors around Havana, employing dozens of workers as drivers and mechanics, and providing them all with a solid income and a bright future. But now she worries it all could come crashing down if the U. S. President Trump cancels a deal that has eased travel restrictions between the two countries. Ms. Acosta fears that Trump will curtail travel to Cuba by American citizens, the mainstay of her business. 'We are a growing business,' she says. 'We want to get ahead. We have families who depend on us, on our work and if we are unable to keep it up, if we fail them, we are responsible to those families, and to our families, and to our whole society.'"

              In other words, Nidialys Acosta today is a totally decent, hard-working Cuban on the island who has to worry about miscreants in a nearby Superpower harming her business in Havana that means so much to her and to a plethora of others who work for her to earn decent wages, wages families depend on.

         Decent democratic overtures by America's decent President, Barack Obama, provided decent entrepreneurial opportunities in Cuba for very decent everyday Cubans like Nidialys Acosta and Gabriela Ogando. But Nidialys, Gabriela and thousands of other Obama-orchestrated Cuban entrepreneurs readily sensed that Obama's successor, President Trump, would not have the guts or the integrity to confront the indecency of their enemies in America, which happen to be a small minority of revengeful, self-serving Cuban-Americans. Therefore, the photo above flashed around the world as a vivid microcosm of how a mere handful of Cuban-American miscreants are allowed to harm, decade after decade, totally innocent Cubans on the island AND America's democracy at the same time. Representing herself and dozens of other decent Cuban entrepreneurs, Gabriela is shown above in Washington holding up a written statement begging...BEGGING...President Trump's United States of America TO ALLOW THEM TO CONTINUE TO MAKE DECENT LIVINGS OWNING THEIR OWN BUSINESSES IN THE SOVEREIGN NATION OF CUBA. I am well aware that such a desperate plea on U. S. soil IS NOT SUPPOSED TO RESONATE WITH AMERICANS because the Cuban narrative in the U. S. since 1959 has been mostly dictated by that handful of Cuban-American miscreants who are, with the insanely cruel backing of a foreign Superpower government, dire enemies of decent Cubans like Nidialys Acosta, Gabriela Ogando, and so many other decent people on the nearby island. 

               Is it...in August of 2017...asking too much of Americans to consider the pleas of decent Cubans like Nidialys and Gabriela when indecent miscreants in a powerful nation harm innocent people in a smaller nation IN AMERICA'S NAME? The photo depicted above garnered great international respect for Cubans like Gabriela even as, like the unanimity in the UN, it sprinkled opprobrium all over the U. S. democracy.

         Not convinced their heart-wrenching letter to President Trump would be able to trump the back-stabbing Cuban-American extremists who dictate to him in the White House and in the U. S. Congress, female Cuban entrepreneurs on the island are now appealing to President Trump's top adviser, his daughter Ivanka. Cubans like Gabriela and Nidialys are aware that Ivanka is herself an astute entrepreneur and it is hoped that she can prevail upon her father to allow Cuban entrepreneurs a fair shot at making decent livings. Except, I guess, to narcissists and to imperialists, people who care for other people, I believe, don't believe powerful people in a powerful country should prey on less-powerful people in a less-powerful country. In Cuba, Gabriela and Nidialys hope Ivanka Trump agrees with that assessment.

       As incredible as it may seem, the photo above is what pits me, an extremely poor and unknown American who cares for innocent Cubans and for the U. S. democracy, against Humberto Fontova, an extremely rich and well-known Cuban-American that I feel grossly, unfairly, and selfishly is a member of the lucrative Castro Cottage Industry in America that, despite its denials, mostly harms totally innocent Cubans on the island...such as the two courageous female entrepreneurs I featured earlier. Yes, in an ocean of blue with a majestic mountain as a backdrop, that is a white, three-mast yacht that also doubles as a luxurious cruise ship. And this famous cruising yacht this week epitomizes the vast difference between the omnipotent Humberto Fontova and me. It's tricky and perhaps fraught with danger, but I'll explain.

        The famous cruise ship that also doubles as a three-mast yacht is the Ponant. It is quite luxurious with 32 plush staterooms, two magnificent lounges, two scrumptious restaurants, lush beds next to huge viewing portals, etc. It lavishly touts its cruises & expeditions this way: "A sophisticated yet friendly atmosphere in which emotion, discovery and the quest for authenticity all take priority." SO, YOU ASK, HOW DID THE PONANT THIS WEEK COME BETWEEN LITTLE OLE ME AND THE GREAT HUMBERTO FONTOVA?

         The omnipotent New York Times has just made this innocent AND LEGAL announcement: "The NY Times is offering an 11-day, $11,980-dollar sailing trip to Cuba on the once-hijacked yacht La Ponant. It includes educational visits to historic sites...like the Bay of Pigs." OK, fine!! So now the uniquely magnificent and historic La Podant is joining four other international cruise lines, including those based in South Florida, making cruises to Cuba. But, for some reason, it is the New York Times nexus with La Podant that has the vast and lucrative Castro Cottage Industry in the U. S. bent totally out of shape.

      Born in Havana in 1954 during the Batista-Mafia dictatorship, Humberto Fontova has spent his adult years as a Charter Member of what i {with a little "i"} call the vast and lucrative Castro Cottage Industry in the United States of America. They could also be called Counter-Revolutionaries except for the fact that they have yet to counter the Revolution despite all these decades hiding very safely and not-so-discreetly behind the skirts of the world's Superpower. As a writer, columnist, author, and commentator...among other things...Humberto Fontova, as far as i can judge, has spent ceaseless decades vilifying Revolutionary Cuba while sanitizing the Batista-Mafia dictatorship. And he famously doesn't like to be contradicted.

       For his interminable...and, yes, lucrative...anti-Revolutionary rants and raves, Humberto Fontova seemingly has total access not only to major publishers and all conservative or right-wing operations but also to the apparently intimidated or politically correct mainstream United States media, as demonstrated by the ranting above. My reaction to the New York Times' announcement about its sponsorship of a luxurious informational cruise to Cuba was, "Good for the NY Times and La Ponant." But it seems to have sent Fontova into a typical rant-and-rave tirade. In a scathing article in the TOWNHALL that is entitled "New York Times Offers Propaganda Charter Cruises To Cuba", Fontova blistered and excoriated The NY Times and as many entities as he could think of that had ever said a kind word about Revolutionary Cuba, even Herbert L. Matthews. Back in 1954, the year Fontova was born in Havana, Matthews was the great New York Times' journalist using the front pages of his newspaper to inform Americans about such things as the street-marches by brave Cuban mothers demonstrating against the gruesome and repetitious murders of their ninos, their children, by Batista's goons. So naturally, as Fontova demonstrated in his anti-NY Times and anti-Ponant tirade, tossing in some assaults on the truly great but long-ago New York Times' reporter Herbert L. Matthews was both easy and par-for-the-course.

And now my Open Letter:

"Dear Mr. Fontova,

         Your latest bombardment against Revolutionary Cuba, inspired by the New York Times' sponsorship of the educational cruise to the island, coincided with the far more appropriate and sane article in which Nidialys Acosta, a totally decent and hard-working Cuban on the island, expressed legitimate fear that President Trump, goaded by the likes of you, will prevent her privately owned business from providing decent livings for her family and the families of the Cubans who work for her. Somehow, Mr. Fontova, I find such fears and such pleas from such decent and innocent people on a small island as being an insult to my country, the United States, and to Democracy. The fact that this indecency and insanity has been pervasive -- in the name of America and Democracy -- for over half-a-century has done, in my opinion, more than any other one thing to harm the image of America and Democracy. If that is not so, could you point out any other topic that could possibly garner a 191-to-0 condemnation in the UN? In such a diverse world, I don't think you can. As a counter-revolutionary Cuban-American benefactor, I assume you realize that the vast majority of Americans, Cuban-Americans and citizens of the world favor normal relations with Cuba -- not military attacks, terrorist attacks, and economic attacks from the world's richest and most powerful country.

                You may have noted, Mr. Fontova, that the NY Times-La Ponant cruise to Cuba was arranged in the hope that its passengers "would return from this 11-day adventure with a new appreciation of Cuba." That simple statement, Mr. Fontova, reminds some of us of why, for many decades, everyday Americans of all people have been the only people in the world without the freedom to visit Cuba. That abomination to America and Democracy was only partially relaxed by President Obama because, I believe, of the abominable hold that counter-revolutionary extremists have on the U. S. Congress. By steadfastly preventing Americans from freely visiting Cuba to judge it for themselves, the Cuban narrative in the U. S. dictated by hardliners is all that more...yes...abominable. Thus, the NY Times and the Ponant owners were justified in stating that their passengers "would return...with a new appreciation of Cuba." I assume that I have visited the island more recently than you, Mr. Fontova. Thus, I formed some free-thinking opinions while on the island and since then I have also tried to be cognizant of who is fervently trying to proselytize me and other Americans about Cuba. 

             This, Mr. Fontova, is my very first Open Letter. Be assured that it is purely on behalf of Cuban women like Nidialys Acosta and Gabriela Ogando as well as my two primary concerns -- America and Democracy.

Sincerely,

Rich Haney" 

*&***********************&*

Cuba Truth in Florida

Yes, There Is Some!!

      Since the victorious Cuban Revolution in January of 1959 chased the Batista-Mafia dictatorship to its new headquarters in South Florida, primarily the Little Havana region of Miami, journalists in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave have been, with few exceptions, induced to cater to a Cuban narrative dictated by ultra-powerful Counter-Revolutionary Cubans. The two prime exceptions, of course, were Emilio Milian, the Cuban-American newsman in Miami, and Jim DeFede, the former top columnist for the Miami Herald. When Emilio and Jim bravely criticized deadly Miami-related terrorist acts against totally innocent Cubans -- such as the bombing of the civilian Cubana Flight 455 -- Emilio was car-bombed and Jim was fired. Afterward, cowered American citizens were persuaded not to research or Google those names or events but to pusillanimously accept whatever the Counter-Revolutionary extremists told them to accept. Yet, despite the grave undemocratic warnings administered to Emilio Milian and Jim DeFede, there have...from time to time...been superb journalists in South Florida who have had both the courage and the integrity to report the truth about Cuba whether it happened to be in negative or positive lights or somewhere in between. Arlene Satchell is one such journalist in South Florida and therefore, I believe, Americans have a right to know about her fair, excellent and balanced reporting about Cuba.

         As an excellent journalist with the Orlando Sun-Sentinel, Arlene Satchell is not about to be told or coerced into writing only anti-Cuba articles about a nearby island that she knows so well. Her August 4-2017 article was entitled: "New Trump Cuba Policy Is Actually Fueling Business." Her analysis expertly provided a fair and balanced assessment of President Trump's Cuban policy as opposed to that of former President Barack Obama's. Ms. Satchell wrote: "Americans still have an appetite for Cuba even as some travel and business avenues will disappear in the coming months under President Donald Trump's more restricting policies toward Havana. South Florida and other Cuba travel specialists canvassed this week said business remains strong as they await the final terms of new rules of engagement expected from Washington, possibly in September."

       A top executive at Paragon Events, Ampa Manzella has for years been one of the most knowledgeable Travel Agents in Palm Beach County, Florida. She told Arlene Satchell in that Orlando Sun-Sentinel article: "So far, it's been a big benefit for us. There is more Cuban business coming in." That was Ampa Manzella's astute and updated assessment of the transition from Obama-to-Trump regarding commerce with Cuba, at least leading up to Trump's new rules of engagement due sometime in September of 2017.

       In South Florida the smartest and fairest lawyer when it comes to U.S.-Cuban relations is Pedro Freyre. He is a product of the University of Miami Law School and a force as a member of the Cuban-American Bar Association. Being a brave journalist, Arlene Satchell asked Pedro Freyre for his assessment to date of the Obama-to-Trump transition as it affects dealings with Cuba. He replied, "The good news is we now have the general lay of the land and a snapshot of the policy going forward. The next shoe to drop will be the new regulations." Pedro Freyre also expects that "next shoe to drop" next month, in September, when America's very controversial President, Mr. Trump, is expected to release his new guidelines regarding Cuba.

         As with travel expert Ampa Manzella, Miami's ultra-powerful Cuban-American lawyer Pedro Freyre represents the viewpoints of the vast majority of Cuban-Americans in Miami who desire normal relations with Cuba. However, for decades only a handful of the most vicious Counter-Revolutionary Cuban-Americans have dictated America's Cuban policies in both Miami and Washington. As Pedro Freyre well knows, only the very brave and democracy-minded administration of President Barack Obama sliced deeply into that undemocratic approach to Cuba, an approach currently condemned by a 191-to-0 vote in the United Nations. However, Pedro Freyre and most of the other fairer-minded Cuban-Americans in Miami await President Trump's upcoming regulatory positions on Cuba, due in September, and many fear that those guidelines will be dictated by a handful of Counter-Revolutionary zealots, including 4 Cuban-American members of the U. S. Congress from Miami. While most Cuban-Americans in Miami like Pedro Freyre favor normal relations with Cuba, their views are not represented by the politics of Miami and Congress. Meanwhile, as above, Pedro Freyre is often the first person in Miami that brave journalists as well as Global Business interests go to when they want some truth, and not just propaganda, about Cuba.

      And that brings me back to Arlene Satchell. Her newspaper, the Orlando Sun-Sentinel, allows her to report fairly regarding Cuba, which is an extremely important topic -- especially in South Florida. But just south of Orlando I don't believe, in either its English or Spanish editions, the Miami Herald will allow its reporters to report fairly about Cuba even if those journalists were of a mind to. And that, to me, speaks volumes about how a small band of Cuban Counter-Revolutionaries have been allowed to harm one of the greatest pillars of the American democracy -- Journalism. And that, I believe, is why superb journalists like Arlene Satchell should be applauded and appreciated in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

 *&***********************&*

Cuba: A Safe Haven

Compared to Most Others!!
{Friday, August 4th, 2017}

     The leader at the huge Port of Houston in Texas, Ricky Kunz, this week signed a deal with Cuba, the first such transaction since President Trump took office. Mr. Kunz said, "This will facilitate and spur new business relationships with Cuba." He said agricultural products will ship from Houston to Cuba but he said it is "unfortunate" that the U. S. embargo against Cuba prevents the shipments of other products. Prior to President Trump, during the Obama presidency major ports in Virginia and Louisiana had signed similar deals with Cuba and every major port in Florida controlled by Cuban-Americans wanted to do the same but were threatened by Governor Scott and other counter-revolutionary stalwarts who warned the Florida ports that any relations with Cuba would cost them financial and other support from the state of Florida.

       Cancun is a famous tourist attraction in Mexico and touted as a shining and prime contrast in a nation also famously beset with massive crime and enormous drug cartels. With a population of 725,000, Cancun hauls in $20 billion a year from tourism, a superb incentive for the Mexican government to make sure it is as crime-free as possible. But the top headline on Page One of USA Today this week -- Aug. 2-2017 -- was: "TOURISM RISKS LOSSES AS CRIME BESETS CANCUN: Cartel Conflicts Cast Shadow Over Tourist Mecca." The article explained: "Crime and violence between rival drug gangs has surged throughout Mexico, creeping into other popular destinations, such as Los Cabos on the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. Homicides there are up 400% this year, underscored by the discovery of 14 bodies in a mass grave in June." Mexico in 2016 had 35 million foreign visitors compared to Cuba's 4 million.

     Although the mainstream media in the United States wouldn't dare mention it, the Caribbean island of Cuba happens to be "just about the safest place in the Caribbean, the region and the planet for tourists to visit." And safety is, uh, rather important.

       In addition to America's politically correct or intimidated mainstream media, radically biased but hugely funded anti-Cuban right-wing sources like Breitbart as well as vicious 24-hour full-time anti-Cuban blogs such as Babalu have convinced many Americans that, for example, the Cuban government each morning sets up machine-guns in its major cities and mows down scores of its citizens and tourists before breakfast. Such self-serving lies are far more degrading to the U. S. than to Cuba, but greatly harmful to Cuba nevertheless. Great international news sources such as the BBC and REUTERS, however, provide truthful updates on Cuba as do superb journalists on the island who have worked for organizations such as the BBC, including Fernando Ravsberg. His respected blog -- Letters from Cuba -- has reported fairly from Cuba for 2 decades. At times, including recently, Fernando has incurred the wrath of the Cuban government for his insightful reporting but it remains both respected and vital to understand the much misunderstood island. A recent Ravsberg article, for example, was entitled: "SAFETY DRAWS TOURISTS TO CUBA."

       The Fernando Ravsberg article used the above photo, taken by Raquel Perez Diaz, to illustrate such points as: "Visiting Cuba gives travelers a feeling of peace and tranquility which is hard to find at other tourists destinations." Ravsberg wrote: "I have spoken to tourists who are typically surprised by the safety and freedom of movement they can enjoy in Cuba." While the United States media and the professional anti-Cuba blogs often insist that Cuban soldiers routinely mow down citizens and tourists, the less-biased journalist actually on the island, like Fernando Ravsberg, routinely point out that Cuban soldiers are the first to help and inform Cuba's inquisitive tourists.

     The Ravsberg article used the above nighttime photo of Havana's famed Malecon Seawall to make this point: "Many visitors who come from countries with high violent crime rates fine it incredible that they can walk along the Malecon and other Cuban streets and boulevards at any time of day or night in total safety and have some drinks right there while talking to Cubans. Safety is one of Cuba's greatest tourist attractions, especially when we compare this to other countries in the region such as the Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, Suriname, etc." Of course, Americans are told just the opposite by both professional propagandists and by an intimidated or incompetent mainstream U. S. media. Embargoed, maligned, and targeted Cuba has some problems, but it also has some extreme positives -- such as, yes!, safety.

      The white beaches of Cuba's Varadero, shown above, are considered by many tourists and travel agencies as more beautiful than the white beaches at Mexico's Cancun. And, as indicated by USA Today this week and earlier by Fernando Ravsberg, Cuba's Varadero is a lot safer than Mexico's Cancun and most other tourist spots.

     While Fernando Ravsberg, a Uruguayan, is a long-time highly respected foreign journalist in Cuba, Cristina Escobar is the island's most respected Cuban broadcast journalist. Like Ravsberg, Ms. Escobar is not reluctant to critique Cuba if she feels it is warranted but she has also gotten a lot of traction with this comment: "Journalists in Cuba have more freedom to tell the truth about the U. S. than U. S. journalists have to tell the truth about Cuba." Proselytized Americans are supposed to dismiss that comment without considering how their easy rationale or outright cowardice hurts the U. S. democracy, which has never been adverse to straying from its prized Founding Father-inspired principles. So, at least debating Ms. Escobar's conclusion -- which she has expressed on both Cuban and American soil -- would be supporting America's democracy, although in regards to Cuba that would certainly require courage and intelligence that has been sorely missing since the three most important and most intriguing dates -- 1898, 1952 and 1959 -- that chronicle U.S.-Cuban relations.

  *&***********************&*

  

Cuba Weeps for Venezuela

As the Crisis Deepens!!

      The maelstrom currently unfolding in Venezuela has regional and international consequences, none of them positive. The specter of an important nation that has great natural resources, including the world's largest oil reserves, not having enough food to feed its people nor having enough medicine to care for its people is alarming. The pros and cons of this devastation is being debated mostly by self-serving entities, not by rational and unbiased sources. But that's the world we now live in.

      If and when the unsustainable Nicolas Maduro rule of Venezuela ends, the inevitability of a bloody Civil War is almost certain...essentially pitting a few million poor Venezuelans who support Maduro against a few million rich Venezuelans who detest him. Then, as in all chaotic Civil Wars, the most innocent millions caught in the middle are the ones who suffer the most. In Venezuela's agonizing case, the outside foreign supporters of a coup, whether somewhat justified or not, constitutes the prime guarantee of what might well be an impending and very bloody Civil War.

      This photo illustrates precisely what I mean. It shows former Mexican President Vicente Fox in Venezuela leading an anti-Maduro street protest. Mr. Fox and other foreign self-proclaimed democracy lovers should stay home and keep their mouths shut. Venezuelans in Venezuela, not Venezuelans in Miami and not Venezuelans backed by foreigners, should predicate the present and the future of their nation.

       The updated photo of Vicente Fox in Venezuela supporting a regime change reminds Latin Americans of the photo above, which shows Mexican President Vicente Fox shaking hands on a farm in Texas with American President George W. Bush. The updated photo of Fox in Venezuela and this older photo of Fox in Texas intersect with Latin American memories of U.S.-backed regime-change coups from 1953 in Guatemala till 1973 in Chile, Latin American disasters that, in Chile for example, replaced a decent democratically elected President, Allende, with an extremely murderous but U.S.-friendly dictator, Pinochet. But even more than the Guatemalan and Chilean coups, the photo above is a vivid reminder to Latin Americans of a briefly bloody coup in Venezuela in 2002. INCREDIBLY, many of the very same foreign players in Venezuela's 2002 coup are major players in the current regime-change taking place in Venezuela now in this bloody summer of 2017.

      Since 1952 Cuban extremists have played huge roles in almost everyone of America's darkest moments involving Latin American. 1952 was the year that right-wingers in the Eisenhower administration, such as ultra-powerful Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, sicced the Mafia on Cuba so rich Americans could partake of the Cuban spoils. Decades later it would be revealed that Mr. Dulles and his omnipotent brother Allen, Ike's CIA Director, both had financial ties to the infamous United Fruit Company, which Latin Americans to this day remember as the symbol of America's regime-change rampages from the early 1950s extending to the 1970s and 1980s.

     With Allen Dulles the CIA Director in the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s, America for the first time became "a secret government." Therefore such things as teaming with the Mafia in Cuba and overthrowing a wildly popular democratic government in Chile to install the murderous U.S.-friendly Pinochet for 17 years was beyond the realm of U. S. citizens, the custodians of their truly great democracy.

      In the 1950s Americans rightly "LIKED IKE" and twice elected him President. As a five-star General he had led the allies to an absolutely necessary victory over massive evils in World War II, which also left the U. S. as the world's superpower starting in 1945. But the old, tired and malleable Ike was unable to prevent his key associates -- such as Nixon, the Dulles brothers, etc. -- from infusing the U. S. government with a dark "secret government" that preyed on much weaker nations.

      The eerie photo above, to this very day, defines much of the darkness America, Cuba, and Latin America have suffered from the 1950s till the present day. In 1960 a young, brilliant, but naive John F. Kennedy succeeded Eisenhower as President of the United States. Unfortunately, he inherited the "secret government. Thus, starting on January 20-1960, his first day in office, Kennedy inherited the "secret government's" plans to recapture Cuba. The photo above highlights that fact by showing Kennedy's inherited CIA Director, Allen Dulles, walking right behind him. Thus Kennedy, in the early months of his presidency, diligently followed through on massive plans against Revolutionary Cuba, starting with condoning CIA-Mafia continuous assassination attempts against Fidel Castro. And then in April of 1961 Kennedy allowed the CIA-directed Bay of Pigs air-land-and-see attack on Cuba after the CIA assured him that Cubans would rise up against Castro "the moment they know our bombs are dropping on Havana." But the Bay of Pigs debacle merely enhanced Castro's revolutionary legend. It and other factors also later caused Kennedy to scream loudly in the Oval Office, "If I could I would blow the CIA to smithereens!!" By the fall of 1963, the popular President Kennedy was no longer naive about America's "secret government." In the second week of November in 1963, assured of being elected to a second term within the next year, President Kennedy told Pierre Salinger, Author Schlesinger Jr., and other top aides, "As soon as I get back from Dallas, our main priority will be to normalize relations with Cuba." Of course, history registers the saddest of all facts: On Nov. 22-1963 Kennedy returned from Dallas in a coffin.

      With the assassination of President Kennedy right after he had unveiled the secrets of America's "secret government," conservative and right-wing U. S. administrations teamed with anti-Castro Cuban extremists to restore even darker secrets. The photo above illustrates that point. It shows President Ronald Reagan meeting with Otto Reich, an anti-Castro zealot born in Havana 71 years ago who, to this very day, remains one of Cuba's and Venezuela's biggest enemies.

      While the two-term Reagan presidency in the 1980s involved extreme right-wing scandals such as Iran-Contra and numerous regime-change schemes, it was Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, who permanently aligned the U. S. government with only the most radical Cuban exiles. That started, although long denied, in the 1950s when Bush, an acclaimed World War II pilot, had tight CIA connections even as he was most noted and publicized for being a Texas oilman. In 1976, Bush's only year as CIA Director, such atrocities as the Cuban-exile related terrorist bombing of the civilian Cuban Flight 455 airplane and even shocking Cuban-Pinochet murders within sound of the White House occurred one after the other. Then as Reagan's two-term Vice President and his own one-term presidency, Bush emphatically boosted the political and economic powers of the most extremist Cubans. That, of course, included Otto Reich who is shown above shaking hands with George H. W. Bush.

       After riding the coattails of CIA Director-Vice President-and-President George H. W. Bush, the Bush dynasty made a two-term President out of George W. Bush. That was yet another Godsend for the Cuban extremists as the photo above, showing Bush with Otto Reich, illustrates. Bush President #2...incredibly and unconscionably...shocked Latin America and every democracy-loving U. S. politician by naming Reich Assistant Secretary in Charge of Western Hemisphere Affairs. It was a Recess Appointment, which meant that Reich could serve for a short period without having to be confirmed by the Senate, which would never have happened. But the "short period" fulfilled the fears of every Latin American nation that knew Reich would target Cuba AND Cuba's closest ally, Venezuela. So no Latin American nation was surprised that on April 11, 2002, a bloody coup in Caracas overturned, in favor of a Reich-friendly regime, the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, one of the Latin American leaders who most idolized Fidel Castro. Cheers famously filled the White House in Washington when word came that the coup was successful. But within hours fierce street demonstrations led by a feisty lady named Lina Ron restored Chavez to power hours after Miami's and Washington's favorite Venezuelan President had assumed office fully believing that Washington had more leverage in Venezuela than millions of Venezuelans like Lina Ron. Of course, with Americans unaware or unconcerned about "the secret" U. S. government, no one connected to the Bush dynasty nor the Cuban-exile extremists have ever been held accountable for such things as Venezuela's very brief and very embarrassing coup in 2002. Thus, Bush's Recess Appointment of Reich has never remotely harmed the American reputations of either the Bush dynasty or Cuban extremists like Reich, who today at 71 remains a powerful and very rich Cuban counter-revolutionary.

       The son of George H. W. Bush and the brother of George W. Bush, Jeb Bush still has high hopes of being U. S. President too. And, as you can see by the list above, Jeb's next presidential bid in 2020 will not only be backed again, as it was in 2016, by billions of Bush-related dollars AND by the Bush-dynasty/Cuban-extremists of the past...starting, as you can see, with Lincoln Diaz-Balart, the Havana-born anti-Castro zealot in Miami whose father was a key Minister in the Batista dictatorship and then a rich anti-Castro Miami militant. The other names above include anti-Cuba extremists such as Otto Reich, Roger Noriega, Paul Goss, Paul Wolfowitz, etc., still pushing to put another Bush in the White House -- if not Jeb than Jeb's ambitious son George P. Bush who is already a power in Texas politics. But Jeb now is closely monitoring the precarious Trump presidency prior to the 2020 election. Jeb, of course, served two terms as the Batistiano-beloved Governor of Florida, where he solidified his standing with Little Havana extremists in Miami by asking his father, then the President, to pardon Orlando Bosch who will always be remembered, along with Luis Posada Carriles, as one of the two most infamous Cuban-American terrorists in Miami.

       Since the 1950s, as this Time Magazine cover attests, the U. S. democracy has been unable to hold anti-democratic miscreants accountable for their misdeeds involving Latin American nations. Oliver North is an example. The 14 individuals pardoned in one lump by the Bush dynasty is another. In fact, as North proved, unpunished notoriety and the celebrity that follows can lead to fame and fortune. For years at Fox News, etc., North has raked in acclaim and wealth. But any Google search will tell of vast problems related to such immense scandals as Iran-Contra arms and drug sales involving U. S. military bases and airplanes when North was, of course, tightly aligned with top-echelon Bush-connected Cubans.

     Not surprisingly, one of the fiercest anti-Maduro opposition leaders in strife-torn Venezuela today is Maria Corina Machado. She was one of the key leaders of the Bush/Reich-related coup against Maduro's mentor, President Hugo Chavez, in 2002.

       This famous photo shows Pedro Carmona assuming the Presidency in Venezuela after the April-2002 coup that had President Hugo Chavez helplessly tied naked to a chair in a windowless cell. But outside on the streets of Caracas Lina Ron was leading the revolt that would, rather quickly, restore Chavez to power. Carmona reportedly had met many times with Otto Reich prior to the coup, as documented by reliable sources. Americans interested in U.S. involvement in Venezuela in 2002 or in 2017 should Google "Venezuela Coup Linked to Bush Team" by the London-based The Guardian. Pedro Cardona, apparently Reich's hand-picked choice to be President of Venezuela, is shown above at his first victorious news conference reading off a list of coup-supporters. One key name on that list of infamy was...Maria Corina Machado.

       The briefly successful 2002 coup against Chavez has not stopped Maria Corina Machado from being a very vocal leader of the current attempt to overthrow the Maduro government, which could happen in Venezuela this month of August, 2017. I listened to Maria a few days ago in her long interview on BBC World News, which I consider by far the best source for world news from the UK to the U. S. to Cuba to Venezuela to the Korean peninsula to the volatile Middle East to Africa and elsewhere. And I fully know why, as the title of this essay indicates, "Cuba Weeps for Venezuela." But it's not up to me to decide whether Maduro, supposedly a fighter for the poor, or Maria, supposedly a fighter for the rich, should be Venezuela's leader. But one thing is sure: Nicolas Maduro loves Cuba and Maria Corina Machado hates Cuba...so that's why the Bushes and Cuban extremists hate Muduro and love Maria. 

And I do know this:

       Back in April of 2002, when she played a significant role in the coup that briefly overthrew President Chavez in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado was tightly aligned with the George W. Bush presidency, you know...the one that made that nefarious Recess Appointment that briefly put Havana-born Otto Reich in charge of "Western Hemisphere Affairs." In August of 2017 as the bloody turmoil in Venezuela is likely to get bloodier, Americans are not supposed to know the significance of the above handshake between Maria Corina Machado and President George W. Bush. But, just for the record, please understand that the enlightened people of Latin America comprehend its significance, and to them it is this: The 2002 coup against Chavez involved the Bush White House, Cuban-American extremists and Venezuelans like Maria Corina Machado. Therefore if a 2017 Civil War evolves in Venezuela, one of the causes will likely be the same nexus that fueled the 2002 coup -- namely, the Bush dynasty, counter-revolutionary Cuban-Americans, and opposition leaders like Maria Corina Machado. Meanwhile, the ugly images out of Venezuela are very real. But so are right-wingers in America today, like those aforementioned trend-setting right-wingers of the 1950s, who should but won't be held accountable for their deeds.

And by the way:    

       This is Lina Ron the way she looked in April of 2002 when she rescued Hugo Chavez and put him back in power "as my President." From the back of a flatbed truck driving around Caracas, she used a bullhorn to scream, "Coup-mongers in Miami and Washington hear me: If you do not put my President back in power within 24 hours I will lead a scorched-earth policy from Caracas to Miami to Washington!!!" Her bullhorn was attracting thousands, then millions of supporters and lots of media, and therefore her threat reached all the way to Miami and to the Bush & Reich White House in Washington. History records the fact that both Miami and Washington cut short their wild celebrations because they realized Lina Ron meant exactly what she said.

         At his first news conference after being restored to power, and after receiving the above kiss from his savior Lina Ron, President Hugo Chavez was asked, "Do you believe Lina scared coup-sponsors in Miami and Washington?" Chavez famously replied, "I absolutely do. She also scares the hell out of me sometimes when she lets me know I'm not doing enough to help the poor people of Venezuela." At age 51 in 2011 Lina Ron died unexpectedly of a heart attack. If there are "coup-sponsors" in Miami, Caracas and Washington today trying to bring about another regime change in Venezuela, hopefully there will be fighters like Lina Ron to take up for the majority poor in that oil-rich but food-and-medicine-starved nation. Lina Ron had a flamboyant flair and exceptional guts, two things her stodgy and secretive enemies lacked.

*&***********************&*