Unraveling Cuba-U.S. Detente

A Process Easily Foretold!

      On this October 3rd, 2017, the Voice of America is leading its daily international summary of America with the photo-graphic depicted above. It is a poignant lament regarding the massacre in Las Vegas when one-shooter armed with a military-style arsenal of a reported 23 automatic rifles equipped with silencers murdered at least 59 people attending a concert and injured well over 500 more. In the days to come, as always, there will be loud clamorings for the United States to at long last enact sane gun laws that would benefit innocent people instead of current laws that benefit mass murderers. But the United States is a nation whose laws are largely determined by lobbyists with unlimited special-interests money that can easily dictate to politicians. Except for the AIPAC Israeli lobby and possibly the CANF Cuban lobby, the most powerful lobby in Washington is reported to be the National Rifle Association. In other words, the Voice of America lament depicted above with the haunting reminder "Again," will only resonate like softballs in Washington and not produce meaningful gun laws. In other democracies, such decisions would be made not by politicians but by popular votes via referendums, as would such decisions as America's Cuban policies that currently garner a 191-to-0 condemnation in the United Nations but those policies are in effect decade-after-decade in THE NAME OF AMERICA, policies advocated by a handful of self-serving counter-revolutionary Miami politicians -- Rubio/Ros-Lehtinen/Curbelo and Diaz-Balart {whose father was a powerful Minister in the Batista Dictatorship}. A referendum vote of the citizens would reflect what polls show -- that most Americans and most Cuban-Americans favor normalizing relations with Cuba. And the Voice of America seems to be saying via the photo-graphic depicted above that a referendum vote of the citizens would show that most Americans want something done about America's archaic gun laws.

      U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met at the White House yesterday -- Oct. 2, 2017 -- with U. S. President Donald Trump. They had a lot on their plate, such as: Whether to go to war with North Korea; how to save 3.4 million U. S. citizens in the hurricane-ravaged U. S. Territory of Puerto Rico; whether to send more troops to Afghanistan to fight the longest war in America's history, now at 16+ years; how to react to the latest gun-massacre in Las Vegas, etc., etc.?But Tillerson and Trump yesterday also spent considerable time discussing Cuba. They thus decided that today -- Tuesday, Oct. 3rd -- they will announce they have told Cuba to withdraw most of its diplomats at the U. S. embassy in Washington, which was opened in 2015 for the first time since 1961 by President Barack Obama. Earlier the U. S. had removed most of its diplomats -- presumably including spies -- from its Obama-orchestrated embassy in Havana. The new Tillerson-Trump Cuban decisions are convenient reaction to the 21+ U. S. "diplomats" who suffered injuries from mysterious sonic-wave attacks in Havana although later it has been revealed that most of the victims were actually U. S. "spies" working at the embassy under the cover of being "diplomats." The minimization of the two embassies, of course, is just a start to unraveling Obama's policies that most Cuban-Americans supported.

        So now yellow "DO NOT CROSS" tape aligns the steps in front of the U. S. embassy in Havana. All of Rubio's Cuban schemes are supposedly designed to hurt "the Castros" but, of course, they mostly hurt everyday Cubans while getting America condemned for its cruelty worldwide. But reshaping the United States democracy to fit the Batistiano agenda has been par-for-the-course since 1959.

      It has been reported that one of the victims of the mysterious sonic-wave attacks in Havana was staying at the Capri Hotel. Thus, the U. S. has warned Americans not to visit Cuba. The counter-revolutionary hardliners in Miami since 1959 and in the U. S. Congress since the 1980s have relentlessly tried to discourage tourist visits to Cuba, knowing tourism was/is vital to the Cuban economy. Luis Posada Carriles is the most famed Cuban American-CIA connected anti-Cuban terrorist. He admits proudly to the bombing of a Cuban hotel in which a young Italian tourist was killed, and Posada has said and never recanted the purpose of such bombings -- to discourage tourism to Cuba. To this day Posada is a totally free and influential counter-revolutionary Cuban-American in Miami. And Miami's second generation of counter-revolutionary hardliners are not adverse to discouraging tourism to Cuba and they, in fact, have used the lapdog U. S. Congress for decades to make sure everyday Americans are the only people in the world without the freedom to visit Cuba. President Obama couldn't end that anti-democratic law but he did ease it as much as he possibly could. Of course, Miami hardliners led by Senator Marco Rubio are intent on reversing all of Obama's decent overtures to Cuba, and discouraging or ending tourism to Cuba is uppermost among Rubio's self-serving, devious plans. Rubio, the catalyst behind the Tillerson-Trump targeting of Cuba, is very fortunate indeed that reportedly at least one of the sonic-wave attacks occurred at the Capri Hotel. So, the Rubio clan can warn would-be American tourists to avoid Cuba because the Havana hotels are dangerus. The U. S. media is not brave enough to question Rubio on any aspects of his Cuban policies, but other knowledgeable elements are not so afraid...such as the BBC in London; Michael Palmly, President Bush's anti-Cuban head of the U. S. Interests Section in Cuba from 2005 till 2008; and Harold Cardenas, one of the top Cuba-U.S. insiders. They all seem to agree that the attacks wouldn't be stupidly perpetrated by the Cuban government but could be executed by "rogue" elements, in Cuba or in the U. S., determined to scuttle any improvement in U.S.-Cuban relations. In fact, the Cuban government has, everyone agrees, begged top investigators from both the United States and Canada to come and help Cuba solve the sonic-wave mysteries.

      The transition from the Democratic Obama administration to the Republican Trump administration has clearly put America's Cuban policies back in the hands of Miami's dangerously ambitious and ever-revengeful U. S. Senator Marco Rubio. His two primary advantages, other than Trump, are the cowardice and unpatriotic traits of the U. S. media and the U. S. citizens. Thus, for Rubio to assault Cuba, including 11.2 totally innocent Cubans, it is like shooting fish in a barrel. Cuba's U. S. expert, Josefina Vidal, has said, "Cuba didn't deserve Batista and the Mafia long ago and doesn't deserve Rubio and his ilk in its future. But...maybe the U. S. deserves them."

     Since 1952 when right-wing rogues in the Eisenhower administration sicced the Mafia on Cuba, the only U. S. President with the guts and patriotism to deal fairly with Cuba was Obama. He used those truly admirable qualities to go on U. S. television and tell the American people: "It is long past time to reinstate relations with Cuba."

      To normalize relations with Cuba, President Obama became the first U. S. President to visit the island since 1928 when Herbert Hoover arrived on a warship.

        While in Cuba, President Obama went on live television all across the island to tell the Cuban people: "Cuba does not need to fear a threat from the United States." It stands today as the kindest statement any American leader has ever made to the Cuban people since Columbus discovered the island in 1492. He sincerely made that promise with the backing of the world...a 191-to-0 vote in the United Nations later confirmed his decent Cuban policies and condemned the policies Obama also condemned. But neither the Batistiano-lapdog U. S. Congress nor the intimidated or undemocratic American people had/have the guts to support Obama's saneness.

     For the last two decades, Cuba's most brilliant diplomat, Josefina Vidal, fervently defended Cuba against Miami and Congress. And, as shown above, she superbly negotiated Cuban relations with Obama's representative Roberta Jacobson. The major successes included re-opening the two embassies that had been closed since 1961.

       But Vidal developed "an acute disappointment in the U. S. democracy" when she observed that Rubio, in the 535-member U. S. Congress, could block without even a vote President Obama's "perfect pick" Jeffrey DeLaurentis, as the U. S. ambassador to Cuba. Moreover, Rubio blocked for months Obama's badly needed Ambassador to Mexico, Roberta Jacobson, because Rubio wanted to punish her for negotiating with Vidal. She was well aware that the Batistiano-written Helms-Burton Law left the U. S. embargo and other punitive measures against innocent Cubans in the hands of the Batistiano-lapdog Congress. So Vidal realized that with singular miscreants like Rubio still able to dictate America's Cuban policy, she was wasting her time trying to defend the advances that Cuba and Obama had wrought. A few days ago she was widely quoted as saying the U. S. was acting too "hasty" regarding the sonic-wave attacks. But in private, it is believed that Vidal has given up on trying to deal with Miami, Trump and the lapdog Congress. And if Vidal gives up, so, in all likelihood, will Cuba. Vidal believes that concentrating fully on dealing with Cuba's friends as opposed to wasting time with the island's "lone" enemy is now in order, especially with a gargantuan transition on the horizon after the Nov. 25-2016 death of 90-year-old Fidel Castro and prior to the Feb.-2018 retirement of 86-year-old Raul Castro.

      In the above photo, wearing an anti-embargo/blockade T-shirt, Josefina Vidal addressed a huge, outdoor crowd of Cubans, reminding them that, "Neither you, nor your parents and grandparents before you, deserve being punished by foreign imperialist thugs to sate their political and financial whims." Backed by self-serving sycophants and apathetic Americans, Rubio can beat Vidal in the post-Obama United States. But beating Vidal on her own Cuban soil will be something else altogether.

Vidal vs. Jacobson is now Vidal vs. Rubio.

May the better woman win!!

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The Predicted Cuba Siege Begins

It Was An Easy Prediction!
{Updated for: Monday, October 2nd, 2017}

      As expected, the sonic-wave mystery has virtually shut down the U. S. embassy in Havana, hurting Cubans and Americans. Major U. S. news outlets, including ABC News, today -- Monday, October 2nd, 2017 -- are reporting a new angle: "Frightening attacks on U. S. personnel in Havana struck the heart of the American spy network in Cuba with intelligence operatives being the first and most severely affected victims, the Associated press has learned. It wasn't until U. S. spies, posted to the embassy under diplomatic cover...the U. S. earlier had described the 21 sonic-wave victims as diplomats..." Those words from ABC News on Oct. 2nd puts a new wrinkle into the still evolving mystery, but there will be many more nuances in the coming days.

Photo courtesy: Adalberto Roque/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images.

       As we begin October-2017, we just passed a very sad weekend for Cubans on the island and awakened Monday to the horrendous shooting massacre in Las Vegas. The New York Times used the above photo to illustrate an article written by Ernesto Londono entitled: "Cubans Alarmed at U. S. Embassy Withdrawal and Travel Warning." The article began with these words: "It was grim, unsettling news: the United States warned Americans not to travel to Cuba and ordered the withdrawal of more than half its diplomats in Havana. The announcement...dealt a harsh blow to Cubans who had hoped the nascent normalization of relations with the United States that began in late 2014 would usher in a period of economic growth and greater prosperity." The NY Times article stated: "Groups of Cubans opposed to improved relations -- be it exiles or hard-line Cubans on the island -- could be to blame."

        What the New York Times wrote about on Sept. 29-2017 I had precisely and very easily predicted back on January 20-2017 with an essay on Cubaninsider entitled: "Cuba: Awaiting A Siege." It was posted, as you can research via Google, the day Trump replaced Obama as President of the United States. I knew then, as others should have known, that the Batistiano-controlled Trump would reverse the sane Cuban overtures his very decent predecessor, Obama, had made. Thus, predicting a "siege" on Cuba back on Jan. 20-2017 was easy as pie. That "siege" officially began this first weekend of October-2017 as reported by the worldwide media, including the aforementioned NY Times article.

    The above photo by Nicolas LaChance shows the thriving "La Dandy Restaurant" in Havana. After peaceful overtures from Obama, at age 25 Yaylen Vilches opened "La Dandy" two years ago. It became one of Havana's most popular privately owned restaurants. Its success, Yaylen told Nicolas LaChance, "was a dream come true." But in this weekend's aforementioned NY Times article, the devastated Yaylen was quoted as saying, "They keep throwing up obstacles against us," referring to the actions announced Friday-Sept. 29th by the U. S. government.

   The photo above by Emily Michot for the Miami Herald shows Americans leaving the U. S. Embassy in Havana this week -- Friday, Sept. 29th, 2017. The Miami Herald article written by Nora Gamez Torres lavishly quoted Miami members of the United States Congress -- counter-revolutionaries Marco Rubio and Carlos Curbelo -- ranting that the United States should "do more" against Cuba. Of course, "doing more" according to Rubio, Curbelo, and the Miami Herald might entail nuking Cuba.

      My "siege" prediction back on Jan. 20-2017 was predicated by past U.S.-Cuban history, including the photo-caption above. It shows a very scared President Clinton staring up at powerful counter-revolutionary Cuban-American U. S. Senator Robert Menendez. It was the day in 1996 when the reluctant but scared Clinton was forced to sign the cruel Helms-Burton Act into law, a Batistiano-directed act written by high-priced lawyers working at the behest of the all-time richest and most-powerful counter-revolutionary Cuban, Jorge Mas Canosa. The Helms-Burton Act, which can only be altered by Congress, to this day codifies the most stringent punishments of Cubans on the island while also enriching and empowering a handful of the most strident counter-revolutionaries in Miami and in the U. S. Congress. Americans who disagree with that assessment are cowards and enablers who have permitted such miscreants to dictate a Cuban policy...epitomized by Helms-Burton...that currently gets the U. S. condemned by a 191-to-0 unanimity in the United Nations. Helms-Burton evolved in 1996 when counter-revolutionary Cubans were alarmed with the knowledge that President Clinton intended to normalize relations with Cuba. Brothers to the Rescue planes, directed by one of Miami's most ardent counter-revolutionaries, began to torment Cuban airspace, even over Havana. After unheeded warnings to the US and the UN, Cuba shot down two of those planes either in or near its territorial waters. The provocational/shoot-down forced Clinton to end his plans to normalize relations with Cuba and go in the opposite direction -- signing Helms-Burton. The scared and unhappy Clinton soulfully glancing up at entrenched Cuban-American U. S. Senator Robert Menendez in 1996 eerily has a nexus to today because Menendez is currently facing corruption and bribery federal charges related to his close ties to a multi-millionaire in Miami.

     Although the U. S. Congress consists of 535 members, the counter-revolutionary Cubans since 1959 have had no trouble getting the necessary few Congressmen -- such as Jesse Helms and Dan Burton -- to pass their self-serving legislation, such as the Helms-Burton Act that the rest of the world, by a 191-to-0 vote, condemns. Of course, like President Clinton in 1996, most Americans are too afraid to condemn it.

       Thus, the Helms-Burton saga in 1996 made it easy for me to predict back on January 20th, 2017, that a "siege" of Cuba was imminent. That "siege" started this first weekend of October-2017. The convenient provocation this time didn't involve Brothers to the Rescue planes. Instead it involves an equally convenient and very mysterious episode of U. S. diplomats in Havana being attacked by some sort of sonic waves that cause debilitating physical problems, such as loss of hearing.

      While counter-revolutionary zealots in the U. S. blame the Cuban government for the sonic-wave attacks against U. S. diplomats in Havana, not even the Trump administration -- after months of intense Cuba-assisted U. S. investigations in Havana -- blames Cuba. Not even Bush-connected anti-Cuba stalwarts like Michael Palmly blame the Cuban government, and Palmly is an expert on that subject. He was President Bush's anti-Cuban boss at the U. S. Interests Section in Havana from 2005 till 2008. Palmly knows the Cuban government is not so stupid as to purposely try to end the revolutionary rule of the island. Cuba has begged the U. S. FBI and CIA and even the Canadian government to help Cuba find the sonic-wave culprits. Palmly believes the perpetrator may be a single rogue Cuban on the island who opposes peaceful U.S.-Cuban relations. Palmly says, "There is a struggle for the soul of the Cuban Revolution. It's entirely possible there are rogue elements." He meant either Cubans on the island or Cubans, say, in Miami. The London-based BBC, which has excellent reporters on the island, seems to agree with Palmly. The BBC this week featured sonic-wave experts that explained how easy it would be for one rogue person to Google and then purchase an apparatus that he or she could use to inflict such damage at the U. S. embassy or in Cuban hotels or homes.

      To understand the Helms-Burton Act and terrorist-provoked actions by CIA-connected Cuban-exiles determined to overthrow the Cuban Revolution, Americans need to read the great author Ann Louise Bardach's classics such as "Without Fidel." Her website references her brilliant books, essays and articles. On July 12th, 1998, her article in the New York Times quoted Luis Posada Carriles, the all-time most famous Cuban-exile/CIA-connected terrorist, explaining why he bombed a hotel in Havana, which killed an Italian tourist. It was to deter tourism to Revolutionary Cuba.

     To this day, very proud of decades of deadly terrorism against Cuba, Luis Posada Carriles remains a heralded citizen of Miami. He was on the CIA payroll for years and presumably has a nice pension. At one time in that 1998 Ann Louise Bardach interview in the NY Times, Posada mentioned his role in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455 and even mentioned, in addition to the U. S. government, he was paid by the Bush-anointed richest and most powerful Cuban-exile Jorge Mas Canosa. But later Posada recanted those last two involvements but he has never recanted such things as his "collateral damage" from hotel bombings, etc., etc. 

        Cuba's top U. S. expert, veteran diplomat Josefina Vidal, told the NY Times in this weekend's scintillating article that the U. S. is unfairly punishing Cuba for the sonic attacks Cuba is trying to solve. She said, "It's a hasty decision that will affect the bilateral relations, specifically the cooperation in matters of mutual interest."

      It was Josefina Vidal who brilliantly represented Cuba in the touchy negotiations with the Obama administration that produced peaceful results in U.S.-Cuban relations that counter-revolutionaries, not surprisingly, are determined to scuttle. She told the NY Times this weekend, "Cuba, as the U. S. knows, was committed deeply to working with the top U. S. and Canadian experts to determine the cause of the terrible symptoms experienced by the American and Canadian diplomats." Clearly, Vidal believes that no one...except extremist counter-revolutionaries...could possibly maintain that Cuba's revolutionary government would try to sabotage its own government with "such asinine and cruel stupidity."

      But in 2017, with the Trump administration having replaced the Obama presidency, America's CUBA POLICY is largely in the hands of the U. S. counter-revolutionary U. S. Senator from Miami, Marco Rubio. That today is as dangerous to Cuba and to the U. S. democracy as 1996 was when America's CUBA POLICY scared President Clinton because it was then being dictated by counter-revolutionary Helms-Burton-orchestrator Jorge Mas Canosa. Today Rubio, falsely projected as a choirboy by the U. S. media, claims that punishing 11.2 million totally innocent Cubans on the island is necessary to punish "the Castros." Like President Clinton in 1996, most Americans today are too afraid to challenge Rubio and even too afraid to wonder why only counter-revolutionaries like Rubio keep getting elected from Miami to the U. S. Congress when the vast majority of Cuban-Americans even in Miami favor normal relations with Cuba. But Congressmen like Mr. Rubio primarily represent themselves, not the majority of people/Cuban-Americans in Miami. 

     Meanwhile, because of a handful of rich and powerful Cuban-Americans like Rubio, totally innocent Cubans every day of their entire lives are severely punished in the name of the United States of America. I'm speaking of Cubans like the ones shown above who recently endured hurricane ravaged streets in their capital city. All their lives, like their parents before them, they suffer, not just from natural calamities, but mostly from self-serving counter-revolutionaries hiding behind the might of superpower America because two generations of Americans have not had the guts or decency to challenge politicians such as Rubio, Helms, Burton, etc.

      Instead of hurting "the Castros," this is the type Cuban that Rubio hurts. Her name is Julia de la Rosa. Thanks to the decent overtures by President Obama, Julia created a thriving 10-room Bed & Breadfast business that includes a pool and a stunning view of Havana. She was scared when Trump {Rubio} replaced Obama and those fears surfaced for Julia this weekend as she told the NY Times and as she tearfully told Andrea Mitchell of NBC News a couple of months ago. She told the NY Times this weekend, "Preventing two countries that are so close to engage culturally is a crime. This doesn't just hurt us; they are hurting people in both countries." Of course, Americans are not supposed to pay attention to Julia's tears because they are required to support Rubio's vengeance against "the Castros."

        Thousands of private Cuban entrepreneurs thrived thanks to President Obama and the drastic changes Cuba made to accommodate Obama's wishes. But when Trump became the U. S. President, worried entrepreneurs composed a letter...the letter being displayed above...and took it to Washington. The letter, plus their statements, begged President Trump to "let us keep making livings for our families." But Republican President Trump, like Democratic President Clinton in 1996, is afraid of counter-revolutionaries like Rubio. So the sweet letter was doomed.

        A Cuban that understands Cuba is Harold Cardenas who authors the popular "La Joven Cuba" blog. He agrees with the popular opinion that some rogue, not the Cuban government, is behind the sonic-wave attacks on the diplomats in Cuba. This weekend's NY Times article used this exact quote from Harold Cardenas: "In Cuba there is a sector that considers improved relations with the United States a betrayal."

      And so, Cubans on the island are very sad this weekend, including Cristina Escobar. She is Cuba's superstar broadcast journalist and an influential leader of the all-important young-adult generation of Cubans. In Cuba and on U. S. soil she has made these two firm statements: "Cuba's fate is up to Cubans on the island" and "Cuban journalists have more freedom to tell the truth about the U. S. than U. S. journalists have to tell the truth about Cuba." So, she doesn't just blame counter-revolutionaries like Menendez and Rubio. She blames the U. S. media for lying about Cuba and about the likes of Menendez and Rubio. But most of all, she blames the American people for letting rogues dictate Cuban policies.

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Why Cuba's Revolution Survives

Against ALL Odds!!!
{Updated: Friday, September 29th, 2017} 

     It is my belief that democracy-loving Americans should take time to study the photo depicted above, for this reason: Since January of 1959, when the Cuban Revolution defeated the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship, Americans have been lied to regarding why there was a revolution in Cuba in the first place and about why the world's greatest democracy allowed the leading remnants of the overthrown regime in Cuba to quickly re-establish their dictatorship on U. S. soil with undeserved and mostly unchecked dictation of America's Cuban policy from 1959 till today. In that milieu, Americans -- with the Batistiano-Mafiosi control of the Cuban narrative in the U. S. -- are shocked that Revolutionary Cuba has survived, against all odds, for all these decades. The photo above, I believe, explains why. From 1952, when the revolution started, till today there have been enough young-adult Cubans strongly supporting the Revolution and Revolutionary Cuba to counter the ultra-powerful counter-revolutionaries hiding behind the skirts of the nearby World Superpower. Representative of today's young-adult Cubans on the island who firmly support the Revolution, this photo defines why Revolutionary Cuba still exists. Their names, clockwise left-to-right, are: Rosy Amaro Perez, Jessica Blanco Sotolong, Barbara Caridad Farinas Rodriguez, Reynaldo Rodriguez Castillo, Yaritza Hernandez, Ramadan Arcos, and {standing} Yanet Perez Moya. Americans don't need to remember all those names but, just for America's sake, they should remember this photo.

     A brilliant and influential broadcast journalist, Rosy Amaro Perez epitomizes why young-adult Cubans can counter a second generation of vicious counter-revolutionaries in the U. S. -- such as Miami's U. S. Senator Marco Rubio who, as far as Cuba is concerned, is today President Trump's unchecked Commander-in-Chief. Back on April 16th, President Trump -- at the behest of Rubio -- went to Little Havana in Miami and sanctimoniously vilified Cuba in a cowardly speech that was televised live in the U. S. and in Cuba. Within minutes Rosy Amaro Perez had posted these words on her Facebook Page: "The Cuba that President Trump described is not the Cuba that I know. And I have lived here all my life." She is extremely smart, well educated, and firmly focused. As her quotation indicates, she resents a half-century of unchecked, propagandized lies about her Cuba that Americans have been saturated with since 1959. Rosy Amaro Perez today is a reminder of the long-ago words that Cuba's greatest revolutionary heroine, Celia Sanchez, used to described the Batistianos-Mafiosi that she had chased off the island...all the way to America...as it turned out.

     Americans today, for reasons already stated, are not supposed to know about Celia Sanchez because the machismo U. S. counter-revolutionaries can't vilify the child-loving doctor's daughter so they had rather Americans not know about her historical importance. But those who believed she was the most vital cog in the Cuban Revolution included...Fidel Castro. And today the three top still-living Revolutionary experts in Cuba -- Marta Rojas, Roberto Salas, and Pedro Alvarez Tabio -- agree with Fidel regarding the significance of Celia Sanchez. Fittingly, her two historic quotations best define the Cuban Revolution and the counter-revolution in the United States: {1} "The Batistianos will never regain control of Cuba as long as I live or as long as Fidel lives." {Celia died of cancer at age 59 in Jan.-1980 and Fidel died of old age at 90 in Nov.-2016}. And {2} "We rebels get far too much credit for winning the revolution. Our enemies deserve most of the credit for being greedy cowards and idiots."

      And, yes, Celia Sanchez quotes that define the Cuban Revolution are registered in history by THE WOMAN PROJECT.ORG and other respected and brave organizations.

    Posters like the one above became ubiquitous in Cuba because Fidel Castro believed the two most important figures in the Cuban Revolution were Frank Pais and Celia Sanchez. Why? Because Frank and Celia started the revolution and devoted their lives to defending it. Batista put his two largest bounties on their precious heads. Because the bounty on Celia was never collected, the Revolution survived and triumphed. Cuba's top historian, Pedro Alvarez Tabio, correctly engraved that fact with these words: "If Batista had managed to kill Celia Sanchez anytime between 1953 and 1957 there would have been no viable Cuban Revolution, and no revolution for Fidel and Che to join." But the bounty on Frank was collected. He was captured at age 23 and brutally murdered, as was his 17-year-old brother Jesus.

     But the murder of Frank Pais back-fired on Batista's dictatorship and tremendously aided Celia Sanchez's all-important recruitment of vital rebels and supplies. As shown above, the hearse carrying the body of Frank Pais through the streets of Santiago de Cuba was bravely followed by thousands of Cubans who displayed their hatred of Batista and their renewed support for Celia Sanchez's "still viable" Cuban Revolution.

      But this is not to diminish the role in the Cuban Revolution played by its most famous player: Comandante Fidel Castro who is depicted above by Trabajadores.com. Yet, perhaps Fidel's most significant contribution was his everlasting support of his soulmate, Celia Sanchez. In fact, after she died of cancer on Jan. 11-1980, in 2005 Marta Rojas, the greatest living expert on the Revolution and Revolutionary Cuba, told me: "Since Celia Sanchez died of cancer in 1980, Fidel has continued to rule Cuba only precisely as he believes Celia would want him to rule it."

      And of interest to some, Cille85.com reminds us that the Fidel Castro legacy should also register the fact that he was a "Great Lover" of women. The number is somewhat of a secret but he fathered at least 12 children, 9 boys and three girls.

     Yet, the one person that Fidel Castro worshiped was his eternal soulmate, Celia Sanchez. To not understand that fact, I believe, is to not understand Cuba today.

     An historian named Helen Yaffe understands both the Cuban Revolution and the Celia-Fidel nexus. Ms. Yaffe created the photo-montage shown above. It purposely shows Celia Sanchez standing much taller than Fidel Castro. It thus agrees with Fidel that the petite, 99-pound doctor's daughter stood above him and everyone else when it came to the most important players in the ongoing Cuban Revolution.

     The look back at history brings us around to today's reality as depicted above. The Miami Herald photo shows five fiercely powerful counter-revolutionaries in Miami attending a news conference promoting Miami's contribution to the U. S. Senate, MARCO RUBIO, as the next President of the United States. That eventuality, they apparently believe, would instantly AND FINALLY end the Cuban Revolution.

      During the very contentious 2016 presidential campaign, longshot Donald Trump and Miami's United States Senator Marco Rubio unmercifully mocked and vilified each other, till Trump eliminated Rubio and 15 other Republican candidates.

       But that mocking photo was then and the photo above is now. It shows Rubio sucking up to President Trump. Even before Rubio resumes his own presidential bid, he believes he can persuade President Trump to finally put an end to the Cuban Revolution. Since 1959 counter-revolutionaries from Miami are accustomed to saying anything about Cuba and assuming the American people must accept it. Rubio made it all to the way to the Senate from Miami claiming his parents escaped the tyranny of Castro's Cuba for the freedom of Miami. THEN it was pointed out that Rubio's parents actually escaped the tyranny of Batista's Cuba long before Americans ever heard of Fidel Castro. But U. S. lies about Cuba are still standard fare. In Cuba, to counter counter-revolutionaries like Rubio, the truth is a major weapon used by the all-important young-adult generation of pro-revolutionary Cubans.

       For example, very boldly on Cuban soil and U. S. soil, Cuba's brilliant young broadcast journalist, Cristina Escobar, has said: "Cuban journalists have more freedom to tell the truth about the U. S. than U. S. journalists have to tell the truth about Cuba."

          And remember Rosy Amaro Perez? Don't forget her. She's another young, brilliant, and influential Cuban broadcast journalist. After watching the live broadcast of President Trump's vilification of Cuba while surrounded by the counter-revolutionary choir in Miami on April 16th, Rosy Amaro Perez posted this significant comment on her Facebook page: "The Cuba that President Trump described is not the Cuba I know. And I've lived here all my life." Shortly after posting those words on Facebook, there was this reply from Cristina Escobar: "May I quote you?"

         I think Americans, to be honest with themselves and true to democracy, should not just know the distorted quotations about Cuba, such as Rubio's, but also should get acquainted with the quotes from historic Cuban women like Celia Sanchez as well as modern Cuban women like, yes, Cristina Escobar and Rosy Amaro Perez.

And by the way:

       Study this photo. The three young-adult Cubans are Yesika Garcia, Yodani Maso Aguila, and Rosy Amaro Perez. The photo taken today illustrates why the Cuban Revolution has survived...against all odds. The latest leader of the counter-revolutionaries, Mr. Rubio, has a few advantages, such as...the U. S. military, the U. S. economy, the U. S. Congress, the U. S. CIA, and...perhaps most significantly...the apathy of the American people. But he still might not finish off Cuba's revolution.

And this photo might explain why that is so.

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Cuban-Puerto Rican Parallels

And One Glaring Difference!!

      The islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico are both stalwarts in the Caribbean Sea. But they have more than geography in common. After the Spanish American War in 1898, both Cuba and Puerto Rico came under the domination of the United States. And in this last week of Sept.-2017, both Cuba and Puerto Rico are still reeling and trying desperately to recover from the massive devastation left behind by Hurricane Irma.

      But beyond the similarities, Cuba and Puerto Rico are vastly different, as the above map illustrates. After the Spanish American War in 1898 Puerto Rico became a U. S. Territory, which it remains today. Cuba, on the other hand, treasured independence and sovereignty. It had fought two bloody but losing wars trying desperately to wrest itself from the yoke of Spain's imperialist empire. With Cuba the main prize, the U. S. followed up those two wars by easily defeating a weakened and over-extended Spain in 1898. No Cuban was on hand when the Treaty of Paris put Cuba under the U. S. boot, still without independence and sovereignty. The U. S. Platt Amendment quickly solidified that situation, resulting in "legal" U. S. troops controlling the island and even "in perpetuity" the occupation of plush Cuban land and waters to create a massive U. S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. Cuba then bided its time as a playpen and piggy bank for rich Americans till 1952 when right-wingers in the Eisenhower administration sicced the Mafia on Cuba in support of the brutal and thieving but U.S.-friendly Batista dictatorship. That quickly spawned a revolution that -- on the first day of January in 1959 -- shocked the world by defeating the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship. But within weeks the Batistiano-Mafiosi leaders had resurrected their dictatorship on U. S. soil, establishing Little Havana in Miami as their new capital. If the 1959 revolutionary triumph shocked the world, an even bigger shock has been the startling longevity of Revolutionary Cuba extending to this very day -- September 27th-2017 -- despite the massive and continuous daily efforts of the Batistianos, Mafiosi, and the U. S. government to overthrow the Cuban Revolution.

      In recent weeks the whole world has witnessed video proof of Hurricane Irma's deadly path of destruction that rampaged through the very vulnerable Caribbean Islands, including the sovereign nation of Cuba and the U. S. Territory of Puerto Rico.

       While some smaller islands in the eastern Caribbean were almost totally destroyed by Hurricane Irma, both Puerto Rico and Cuba suffered devastation that will take many months to heal...and total recoveries may never be possible. In fact, many of the 3.4 million Puerto Ricans -- all of whom are U. S. citizens -- are anxious to vacate their nation as a lost cause and permanently join millions of other Puerto Ricans in South Florida or New York. Puerto Rico, despite being a U. S Territory, was already bankrupt and unable to pay billions of dollars it owed to Wall Street banks and Hedge Fund billionaires. But Hurricane Irma also pointed out the tremendous advantages Puerto Rico has over Cuba. The Superpower U. S. government and military is obligated to come to Puerto Rico's aid; President Trump will visit Puerto Rico next week. Meanwhile, the U. S. government -- and specifically its embargo of Cuba that has been in effect since 1962 -- leaves Cuba pretty much fending for itself, with U. S. pressure even dissuading other nations from aiding Cuba because of the world's Superpower supporting the cruel, revengeful, and greedy appetites of a few hard-line Cuban-Americans. Instead of being targeted by a crippling embargo, Puerto Rico's recovery from Hurricane Irma is being helped by the U. S. government and countless other sources, including multi-millionaire Puerto Ricans in America. Carlos Beltran, the Houston Astros baseball player, himself is sending two plane-loads of supplies to Puerto Rico. Rich celebrities Jennifer Lopez, her ex-husband Marc Anthony, and her current boyfriend Alex Rodriguez are arranging for millions-of-dollars of Puerto Rican aid. No such luck for Cuba although a plethora of Cuban baseball players are making up to $30 million-a-year in the U. S. Major Leagues.

      Hurricane Irma caused ten deaths in Cuba and destroyed thousands of homes and severely damaged thousands more. The photo above, taken for the Associated Press by Ramon Espinosa, shows a teenage Cuban on a street in Havana after he rescued the little girl and then took her to safety on a floating block of styrofoam.

      These Cubans, severely punished all their lives by the embargo and other U. S. cruelties, are punished all the more when calamities like Hurricane Irma pummel the island. The embargo shames America in the eyes of the world but its democracy also surprises the world by being unable or unwilling to correct it.

      So, the island nations of Puerto Rico and Cuba have much in common -- including the Spanish-American War of 1898, which was fought entirely on Cuban soil but had an outcome that put both islands under the vast umbrella of the nearby United States. Puerto Rico emerged meekly as a U. S. Territory that now has 3.4 U. S. citizens who are receiving massive support from the U. S. but desires and expects more after the devastation of Hurricane Irma. Cuba emerged pugnaciously in 1959, via an historic revolution, as a sovereign nation but one still coveted and still targeted by the rich, powerful, and revengeful revolutionary losers. Thus, today's vastly dissimilar recoveries from the ravages of Hurricane Irma reflect many historical and topical nuances, including the difference between being a U. S. Territory supported by America and a sovereign nation targeted by America. When you toss in the caveat of America being the world's economic and military superpower, you can comprehend the difference between the U. S. Territory and the very sovereign nation of Cuba.

      The Spanish-American War drastically reshaped and redefined the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico as well as the world's image of the United States.

But not as much as the Cuban Revolution:

The Revolutionary impact has exceeded the War.

And by the way:

      The photo above shows Collin Laverty, one of America's top experts on U.S.-Cuba relations, giving an updated report yesterday -- Sept. 26th, 2017 -- on Cuba's ongoing recovery from Hurricane Irma. Shown against a backdrop of the famed Hotel Nacional, he said, "Cuba took a real pounding from Hurricane Irma...but now, however, most areas of the capital and the other key cities that are frequented by foreign travelers are ready to receive visitors. Places open for business include Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Venales, and the cities of Camaguey and Holguin."

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