TEN CUBAN HURRICANE DEATHS

{Monday, September 11th, 2017}

At least 10 Cuban Deaths!    

      Hurricane Irma devastated Cuba this past weekend, killing at least ten people. It was the first Category 5 hurricane to make a landfall hit on the island since 1924.

       Cuba's brilliant young broadcast journalist Rosy Amaro Perez is a dear friend and the mother of a beautiful little girl. She was kind enough to inform me Monday, "Thanks. My house is damaged. But we are alive. That is most important."

      This AP/Ramon Espinosa photo shows a father carrying his child in waist-deep water on a street in Havana Sunday, September 10th, 2017. On Monday President Raul Castro said, "The recovery from this huge disaster will be an immense task." 

Reuters photo. Havana, Sunday, Sept. 10th.

Havana street flooded by Irma Sunday.

ABC News photo in Caibarien, Cuba.

Photo courtesy: Jamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images.

      The above street in Havana shows chest-deep water after flooding caused by a devastating hit from Hurricane Irma. Cuba's Civil Defense Minister Luis Angel Macoreno says, "The capital should know that the flooding is going to last into next week." Cuba prides itself on its hurricane preparedness but across the island there is major damage, including 39 major buildings that collapsed in the city of Santa Clara southeast of Havana. Cuba is now suffering from Irma's relentless fierceness.

       This photo courtesy of Ernesto Alejandro/EPA shows a Cuban spending his time cleaning up in front of his home. The clean-up will take months on the island.

      Cuba's highly respected broadcast journalists kept Cubans up-to-date on Hurricane Irma. The anchors above are Lazaro Manuel Alonso and Cristina Escobar.

                                        A fallen Cuban tree; CNN's Patrick Oppmann. 

       On Saturday, September 9th -- just before Hurricane Irma fiercely assaulted Cuba -- the Jamaica Observer used the above photo to illustrate how Cuba is famed for helping its neighbors in times of trouble. The Cuban doctors above were among 750 Cuban health workers who were quickly sent to help Irma-ravaged citizens in Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts Nevis, St. Lucia, The Bahamas, Dominica, and Haiti.

     Parts of Cuba took very massive batterings from Hurricane Irma. Earlier projections that the deadly hurricane would hit Cuba with a "glancing blow off its northern shores" were wrong. The island took a direct hit. By far the best wall-to-wall coverage of the mighty hurricane has been by CNN, which is easily out-shining its competitors, especially Fox News and MSNBC. CNN has a full-time bureau in Havana led by a solid journalist, Patrick Oppmann. He was the first to report live that some houses in Cuban cities such as Caibarien were totally under water over rooftops.

    During a live report from Caibarien, CNN viewers saw Patrick Oppmann being assaulted by a sudden burst of wind and rain as Cuba was getting pounded.

      These Cubans were shown by CNN trying to salvage belongings as Hurricane Irma approached. Cubans know hurricanes but Irma was an especially violent one.

     The above graphic shows Hurricane Irma making a direct hit on Cuba. The "glancing blow" prediction turned out to be erroneous when the record-setting hurricane veered leftward to the northwest. Also notice that the western tip of the island, due southwest of Havana, also took a hit. Cuba is famed for bracing for hurricanes, but this one will require recovery efforts throughout the rest of 2017.

Irma then crossed the Florida Straits.

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Cuba Assaulted by Irma

Mean Hurricane ARRIVED!
{Saturday, September 9th, 2017}

     The Reuters/BBC photo above shows the fierce winds of Hurricane Irma lashing the Camaguey Archipelago on Cuba's northeastern coast. The hardest hit areas of Cuba included Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritis, Villa Clara and Matanzas. But the entire, vulnerable island will be in a recovery mode as Irma smashes Florida.

Still assaulting Cuba Sat., Sept. 9th.

Bad Friday night in Cuba.

Cuba evacuated 700,000 people.

     The photo above shows three very talented and dedicated broadcast journalists in Havana keeping Cubans up to date on the fast-approaching Hurricane Irma. From left-to-right: Rosy Amaro Perez, Antonio Guzman Morales, and Yanet Perez Moya. 

      The ferocious Hurricane Irma, shown above via satellite, has the undivided attention of Cuba as well as its Caribbean and South Florida neighbors, and rightly so. It is now the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in all of recorded history.

      The graphic above shows the expected path of Hurricane Irma from 12:00 PM EST Thursday, September 7th -- till 8:00 A. M. EST Monday, Sept. 11th. Cuba is bracing for Irma to start raking its northern coast by Friday night. The Miami Herald has pointed out that U. S. meteorologists and Southern Command military experts have long advised the U. S. and other nations to study Cuba's hurricane preparedness. In a major Sept. 6th article written by Mimi Whitefield, Miami's top newspaper said, "Cuba is known for carrying out its hurricane preparedness plans with military precision...even clearing caves in rural areas where Cubans often seek shelter."

      Cuba's prime preparation for Irma is underway from Matanzas southeast of Havana down to the southeastern province of Guantanamo where the U. S. has an important military base at the island's southern-most tip. As of Thursday morning, Cuba had not announced a watch for Havana but the Miami Herald reported, "Long lines formed outside supermarkets in the capital city to stock up on their hurricane supplies."

      Cuba's outstanding broadcast journalist Rosy Amaro Perez reported on Hurricane Irma-ravaged disasters -- "desatres en Isla San Martin" -- and then she pleaded with Cubans "to take good care of yourselves!" {"tomar bueno el cuidado de te."}.

Hurricane Irma's Caribbean march.

Photo courtesy: Al Diaz-Miami Herald

       The Miami Herald's Mimi Whitefield has been honored for her reporting on Latin America and the Caribbean, especially Cuba. She received the Maria Moors Cabot Prize, which acknowledges excellence in coverage of the region. It's the oldest prize in international journalism and this year's winners were announced by the Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Columbia's President Lee C. Bollinger made the announcements and also saluted journalists slain in Mexico.

      If Irma had permitted, there was a major anti-embargo/blockade march set for this weekend -- Saturday, Sept. 9th, 2017 -- in Cuba. The "No Mas Bloqueo" protest aims to shine focus on the U. S. embargo of Cuba that has been in effect since 1962 as one of the efforts to counter...upend...the 1959 victory of the Cuban Revolution. 

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Cuba Facing Hurricanes

Natural and Man-Made!
{Updated: Thursday.-Sept. 7, 2017}

      The fierce Hurricane Irma is blasting the Caribbean and it is projected to slam into the eastern two-thirds of Cuba early Saturday morning. Irma is the strongest hurricane ever to come out of the Atlantic Ocean and Florida Governor Scott says it will cause more damage than when Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida 25 years ago. An updated projection says Irma might skirt just the northern edges of Cuba and not harm Havana or the western third of the island as it veers to the northeast.

     Using the above graphic, Cuba's outstanding broadcast journalist Rosy Amaro Perez is warning every Cuban on the very vulnerable island: "Al tanto del huracan! Pelilgro para Cuba!" -- "Aware of the hurricane! Danger for Cuba!" Indeed, Hurricane Irma is aiming its fury at Cuba, an island that historically has encountered more than its share of hurricanes -- natural hurricanes and, of course, man-made hurricanes.

    Later in this month of September in the year of 2017, U. S. President Trump is scheduled to outline his administration's "Cuba Policy" although his plate seems to be full with such things as a potential war in the Korean Peninsula and a powerful mainstream U. S. media that seems determined to carry out an electronic coup that would end the Trump presidency, which is now trying to survive Year One of his elected 4-year term. The AP photo above was taken on April 16th in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood where Trump, addressing the visceral anti-Cuban choir, blistered Cuba verbally and vowed to "reverse" former President Obama's historically decent overtures to the island. Trump in April signed away some of Obama's Cuban policies but let it be known his primary Cuban assaults would be studied and announced "soon" -- presumably now this month of September. Trump's White House in Washington is very crowded with foxes in his hen-house, bitter Republican enemies led by presidential wannabe Marco Rubio, the U. S. Senator from Miami's Little Havana. Rubio, pressuring Trump to annihilate Revolutionary Cuba, is currently -- as shown above -- patting Trump on the back while it appears his main aim is to stab Trump in the back to expedite his own control of the Republican Party -- meaning the White House, which would also mean Rubio's secondary priority, which is to dictate to Cuba, would be firmly within his grasp. However, Trump at the moment is one obstacle for Rubio because the business instincts embedded in Trump's psyche restrain him from handing over Cuba to self-serving counter-revolutionaries like Rubio. After the Obama-orchestrated openings, thousands of top American businesses -- including Google, Marriott Hotels, airlines, cruise lines, every U. S. Farm Bureau, and all nearby U. S. and Florida ports -- have strong desires to continue to expand business ties with Cuba. Also, more pertinent than whatever Trump decides is the young-adult generation of Cubans on the island, epitomized by influential young broadcast anchors and leaders Cristina Escobar and Rosy Amaro Perez.

       In Cuba but also on United States soil in Washington, Alabama, and California, Cuba's brilliant broadcast journalist Cristina Escobar has boldly stated: "Cuba's fate is up to Cubans on the island, not Cubans in Miami and Washington." Her doctrine is supported by several million other young-adult Cubans, the generation that is determined that the post-Castro rule of Cuba is not dictated to the island by the likes of Little Havana's and Congress's Marco Rubio. Rubio is still backed by Helms-Burton's incredibly legal Congressional laws that since the 1980s have been crafted and supported by Miami-based counter-revolutionaries to empower and enrich them while also destroying Revolutionary Cuba; also, now that Obama is America's ex-President, Rubio assumes another Republican President, Trump, will help him carry out the Helms-Burton premise. But the Cristina Escobar doctrine on the island is, at the moment, a powerful factor.

       Following in the footsteps of Cristina Escobar, Rosy Amaro Perez is also an influential, brilliant, and high-profile broadcast journalist who believes fervently in the island's hard-earned sovereignty. Rosy, like most young-adult Cubans, watched live on Cuban television U. S. President Trump's blistering anti-Cuban speech delivered in Miami to the counter-revolutionaries on April 16th. Then, as a key spokesperson for her generation, Rosy posted these words on her Facebook page: "The Cuba that President Trump described is not the Cuba I know, and I've lived here all my life." Her statement had instant resonance. Quickly, for example, Cristina Escobar replied on Facebook: "May I quote you?" Of course, Rosy is not shy about being quoted...nor is she about to be intimidated by Trump's rhetoric or Rubio's belligerence. Oh, yes, both Rosy and Cristina are underdogs with Rubio hiding behind the skirts of the world's superpower, but Cuba has been a distinct underdog every day since January 1-1959...and it's still right there in the Caribbean free of imperialist domination.

        This is Rosy Amaro Perez, a potent young-adult Cuban who is not bent-out-of-shape about being an underdog on her island against the awesome might of Rubio and Trump. All her life Rosy has relished living in Cuba and she has flourished.  

Rosy's mother holding baby Rosy.

Growing up in Cuba, Rosy Amara Perez.

Now grown up, Rosy Amaro Perez.

Now Rosy Amaro Perez has a lookalike daughter.

Mom-daughter in lookalike dresses.

      This photo was taken by Rosy Amaro Perez in this first week of September, 2017. That's Rosy's daughter in the colorful hat reclining against her grandmother as she appears to be checking her latest online updates. Rosy attached this caption to the photo: "Me encanta cuando abuela y bebe se juntan e intentan arreglar el mundo" -- "I love when grandma and baby get together and try to fix the world." Rosy, who has lived in Revolutionary Cuba all her life, said she does not recognize the Cuba that President Trump described on April 16th when he spoke before counter-revolutionaries in a theater named for a Cuban-American Bay of Pigs attacker in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. Rosy's view of Cuba from inside Cuba is, I think, far more honest than views outside of Cuba as espoused by counter-revolutionaries or by Republican U. S. Presidents who feel they are beholden to the counter-revolutionaries as opposed to the vast majority of Cuban-Americans, including those in Miami, who favor normal relations with the nearby island.

       As a brilliant young broadcast journalist and television anchor, Rosy Amaro Perez is a highly educated, talented, and high-profile leader of Cuba's young-adult generation that is determined to predicate Cuba's future. The alternative, which is a Cuban future dictated by factors off the island, such as in Miami or Washington, is anathema to Rosy and to millions of other like-minded Cubans of her generation. Considering the wealth and power of nearby counter-revolutionaries, Rosy and her generation of Cubans are still distinct underdogs but they remain undeterred. I often use photos of Rosy or by Rosy. When I asked her for permission, she replied in English, "My photos are your photos too." I think they are important photos because I think they accurately reflect the rhythms and pulses of what is taking place on the island. Rooting for Rosy as opposed to, say, Rubio, is a no-brainer. Rosy loves Cuba and most Cubans know her well and, therefore, love her.

Rosy is an excellent anchor and interviewer.

Rosy also interviews everyday Cubans.

Rosy encourages and trains would-be Rosys.

       Being Cuban, Rosy loves concerts and baseball games. While she was intently watching this baseball game, the patient and motherly Rosy allowed her daughter to entertain herself by playing with her mother's hair. This photo was included with others that showed the hair fashioned into braids and ponytails.

Rosy with friends at a concert in Havana.

{Rosy loves John Legend's music too.}

Rosy on assignment in colonial Trinidad.

 A Rosy paparazzi-type photo seaside in Trinidad.

Rosy, a live report from the Cuban General Assembly.

     If Rosy Amaro Perez keeps smiling, Rubio's quest to persuade Trump to put Cuba back under the imperialist umbrella of the United States will be an ongoing process.

Meanwhile:

         Another projection of Hurricane Irma as it bears down on both Cuba and South Florida. It's due to arrive in both areas Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8th & 9th, 2017.

Photo courtesy of Al Diaz/Miami Herald.

      The two young Cuban men above are using the free WiFi hook-up outside Estadio Latina Americano. Cuba's ISP-Internet Service Provider is ETECSA, which uses the technology of China's Huawei. Young-adult Cubans are very, very inquisitive.

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