The Transition in Cuba

For Better or Worse!!

     Probably the best journalist-photographer at the Miami Herald is Mimi Whitefield. Revolutionary Cuba, with ample reason, considers both the Miami Herald and Mimi Whitefield to be Counter-Revolutionaries. Yet, Revolutionary Cuba allows Mimi Whitefield to routinely visit the island on behalf of the Miami Herald and routinely interview everyday pro revolutionary Cubans as well as...and especially...anti-government dissidents. Yet, Mimi Whitefield and the Miami Herald routinely brand Revolutionary Cuba "a closed society." With the first post-Castro transition in six decades about to take place in Cuba, Mimi Whitefield was back on the island this week, primarily interviewing dissidents for an article entitled: "As the Selection of a New President Approaches, Cubans Say They Want Meaningful Change." As far as Mimi Whitefield and the Miami Herald are concerned, "Meaningful Change" means a return of Cuban-exile Miami extremists in the dominant leadership roles on the island.

      Mimi Whitefield's Counter-Revolutionary article this week in the Miami Herald  included many of her photos of dissidents, but as if as a token she included her photo above of three freshman pharmacy students at the University of Havana. Shown on the left, Laura de Leon had some mild pro-government comments, pure tokenism. But that's a bit refreshing because normally the Cuban narrative in the United States, especially from Miami, only presents the viewpoints of dissidents on the island and Counter-Revolutionary extremists in Miami and in the U. S. Congress. So, this week let it be registered that Mimi Whitefield and the Miami Herald included a pro-Cuban comment from student Laura de Leon, and a token is better than nothing.

     The Mimi Whitefield-Miami Herald article from Havana this week was topped by this Ramon Espinosa/AP photo. That's President Raul Castro in the middle checking his watch, a very apropos metaphor considering that time is running out for a Castro as the leader of Cuba. The iconic Fidel died at age 90 on Nov. 15-2016 and the tired 86-year-old Raul is retiring as President next month. Revolutionary icon Esteban Lazo Hernandez is shown on the far left but it is the non-revolutionary Miguel Diaz-Canel, at Raul's left-side in this photo, that will be Cuba's next President. The aforementioned Mimi Whitefield article pointed out, in somewhat of an understatement, that the Raul-to-Miguel transition takes Cuba "toward an uncertain future." Ms. Whitefield also wrote this interesting sentence: "Raul Castro, 86, plans to retire and apparently move to Santiago de Cuba, the cradle of the revolution, on the other end of the island."

    The photo above and the next two below are courtesy of www.cubatravel.cu/en. They reflect the fact that Cuba, left to its own devices in the post-Castro era, has vast potential...including in the economic sphere. Incoming President Miguel Diaz-Canel is determined to employ major elements of a Vietnamese-style market economy. He also plans to de-emphasize U. S. relations and re-emphasize engagements with friendlier nations, including the two major anti-U.S. competitors China and Russia. And, as the above photo indicates, there are many, many U. S. companies -- including cruise lines and airlines based in Florida -- eager to tap into Cuba's stifled economic potential.

    Not only is Cuba the largest Caribbean island, it is awesomely beautiful and arguably the most pristine and intriguing tourist attraction. For example, its crystal-clear waters are considered by USA experts as the most environmentally friendly shores and beaches in the region because the revolutionary government has maintained the area's most rigid environmental protections. And even the Counter-Revolutionary Trump administration continues to cooperate with Cuban experts in regards to the environment, the threat of oil spills, anti-drug trafficking, and human trafficking.

Cuba's uniquely clear waters.

     In other words, this week's Mimi Whitefield-Miami Herald article, which included one token pro-Cuban university student among a more volatile mishmash of the usual Havana suspects and dissidents, is a reminder of two basic Cuban facts: {1} The pugnacious island has been a rather formidable U. S. opponent since 1959; and {2} the imminent transition to a post-Castro rule could mean that Cuba might evolve into a very important U. S. friend and ally. Yet, right-wing Republican thugs in Miami and in Washington -- with little resistance from the U. S. media and its citizens -- will try for another 60 years to capture the whole map shown above, not just Guantanamo Bay!!

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Cuba's Impossible Journey

And A Unique Survival!!

     If you take time to study the above logo you may begin to comprehend the impossible...not just improbable...survival of Revolutionary Cuba since 1959. CARICOM since 1973 has been a mutually beneficial "community" of Caribbean nations. It currently consists of 15 Members, 5 Associate Members, and 8 Observer Members, with the latter 8 nations merely having some relationship with actual Caribbean nations. While CARICOM today embraces 28 nations, Cuba -- the largest Caribbean island -- is not one of them. That relates to the omnipotent economic & military power of the USA, which since 1959 has supported the most vicious vestiges of the overthrown Batista-Mafia dictatorship in its never-ending goal of destroying and recapturing Cuba. The fact that hasn't happened in the past 6 decades reflects one of the world's most improbable and impossible phenomenons -- the mere survival of Revolutionary Cuba, the nearby island that so pugnaciously has defied the world's Superpower every day for six decades. To put that in perspective...it is highly unlikely that much larger nations -- including Canada and Mexico -- could have survived the economic, military, and terrorist assaults that Cuba has endured since 1959. And nations like Canada and Mexico, instead of being targeted by the U. S., have greatly benefited from being two vital U. S. trade partners.

       If you re-read the CARICOM logo, note that its theme is "A Community for All." Of course, all EXCEPT Cuba. The isolation of Cuba is because the 15 Members, 5 Associates, and 8 Observers meekly succumb to the threats of a few vicious anti-Cuban Batistianos-Mafiosi located in Miami and in the United States Congress.

     In other words, the incomparable power of the United States economically and militarily supports or tolerates all the CARICOM nations except Cuba, and since 1962 the United States officially -- based on de-classified U. S. documents -- has tried to starve, deprive, and make miserable the lives of Cubans on the island to appease a handful of Cuban exiles and their easily acquired rogue sycophants within the bowels of the American government. It you study the 15-member Caribbean nations shown above, rest assured that none of them could have survived the antagonism from the nearby world Superpower that Cuba has alone survived for the past six decades.

      A few weeks ago -- on Feb. 7th, 2018 -- U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson flew to Jamaica, the island due southeast of Cuba. Both Cuba and the Jamaica Observer assumed that Tillerson's Jamaican trip was to use U. S. muscle to "firm-up regional partners" in  Rex Tillerson's effort to "strangle the Cuban ecnomony."

     The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, is Cuba's friend. But U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seems well aware that the U. S. economic power can purchase even Cuba-friendly leaders in the Caribbean in the latest U. S. effort to starve, deprive, and make miserable Cubans on the island. Tillerson, prior to becoming President Trump's anti-Cuban Secretary of State, was the Top Man at oil giant ExxonMobil. Thus, Tillerson as well as ExxonMobil appear aligned in the Miami-Congress-White House effort to reconquer Cuba. The Jamaica Observer, the best Caribbean newspaper, even hints that Tillerson on behalf of ExxonMobil discussed with Prime Minister Holness the OIL advantages for nations helping to hurt Cuba.

     For example, yesterday -- Wednesday, Feb. 28th, 2018 -- the Houston Chronicle used the photo above to illustrate EXXON-MOBIL's burgeoning oil interests in the Caribbean, which one day may include Cuba if Revolutionary Cuba is defeated. ExxonMobil yesterday heralded its "7th" major oil discovery in the waters of Guyana, which is a northeastern South American nation but if you re-visit the CARICOM map above you will see that Guyana is also one of the 15 CARICOM members. ExxonMobil has just discovered more oil in Guyana's Pacora Well after drilling down 18,363 feet in 6,781 feet of water, according to ExxonMobil's own figures. And yesterday ExxonMobil announced that Guyana's oil production now "exceeds 500,000 barrels daily." According to the Jamaica Observer, Secretary of State Tillerson's visit to Jamaica was to remind "regional United States partners" of the help they can receive if they help the United States starve, deprive, and make miserable Cubans in Cuba, a process that has existed officially from Washington since 1962, and a process that long ago would have doomed many nations much, much larger than Cuba.

 The Carlos Latuff graphic above accurately reflects how all the Caribbean nations...and all the nations of the world as reflected by the 191-to-0 UN vote...feel about the U. S. embargo of Cuba that was first imposed in 1962 to INDEED starve, deprive, and make miserable the lives of Cubans in Cuba. In 2018 -- 6 decades AFTER the continuous Cuban embargo was first imposed -- U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's recent visit to Jamaica apparently was designed to tighten the USA's stranglehold on the island of Cuba even more. After all, Rex Tillerson surely realizes that the Batistiano-controlled Cuban narrative in the United States will assure that this generation of Americans is too ignorant, too timid, and too unpatriotic to give a damn about rich and revengeful thugs in a Superpower starving, depriving, and making miserable two generations of totally innocent people in a much weaker nation.

      For sure, Fidel Castro wasn't supposed to live to be 90-years-old, but he did. And his Cuban Revolution wasn't supposed to live for six decades and counting, but it has. The question for Democracy Lovers is this: How in the hell did it happen?? I believe the best answer was provided by the great revolutionary heroine, Celia Sanchez.

     To quote Celia Sanchez: "We rebels...get far too much credit for winning the revolution. Our enemies deserve most of the credit, for being greedy cowards and idiots." In other words, according to Celia Sanchez, the greatest architect/chronicler of the Cuban Revolution, she and the other rebels ran to the front-lines to fight while her enemies ran to Miami to hide behind the skirts of the world's mightiest Superpower.

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Cuban Cigars Are Smoking Hot

Especially in China!!
{Updated: Wednesday, February 28, 2018}

    Even as the Trump administration in Washington tightens the screws trying to nail down Cuba's economic coffin once-and-for-all, Jose Maria Lopez is busy signing new deals with friendlier nations like China, Switzerland, and England as he hopes to keep the targeted island financially afloat. Jose's Habanas S. A. is a joint venture with Imperial Brands of England and both companies told Sarah Marsh of Reuters this week that their cigar sales are burgeoning thanks to a sharp uptick in China. Jose said, "Without a doubt, there is a potential for China to become the biggest market for us on a global level." China has quickly zoomed to #3 as Cuba's top export market for cigar sales behind Spain and France.

     A super-salesman, Jose Maria Lopez has aligned his Cohiba brand with Zenith to sell watches under their joint names. Jose is shown above on the right making that announcement as Zenith executive Julien Tarnare looks on. It's a success so far.

    The joint marketing of watches combining the Zenith-Cohiba brands is the type enterprise Cuba seeks with foreign companies not controlled by the United States.

     Jose Maria Lopez's Habanos S. A., whether selling watches internationally or reacting to the nascent Chinese demand for Cuban cigars, reflects the vast potential of what a non-embargoed Cuba can possibly accomplish if left to its own devices.

      But this week, Jose Maria Lopez and the Cuban government appeared particularly delighted with the sharp uptick of cigar sales in China. That includes the most famous Cuban brand-names -- Montecristo as shown above as well as Cohiba and Partagas.

    Despite travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration, cruises from Miami to Cuba continue to expand. This week Carnival scheduled 17 new sailings to Cuba from Miami in 2019. The Doral-based line will provide a 5-day, round-trip voyage aboard the Carnival Sensation, a 2,052-passenger jewel. Carnival on May 1, 2016 -- after the detente with Cuba engineered by President Obama -- became the first U. S. cruise company in more than half-a-century to transport Americans to Cuba. Then Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International began Cuban cruises.

 Pearl Seas Cruises is concentrating on Cuba.

     This map shows the itinerary and port stops in Cuba for the popular Pearl Mist cruises that launch from Fort Lauderdale on eleven-night Cuba Cultural Voyages.

     So, despite Miami-Fort Lauderdale being dominated by anti-Cuban hardliners, and even with Republicans in charge of the White House and both houses of Congress, there is more interest in Cuba than just recapturing the fascinating, beguiling island.

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The Radio Rebelde Anniversary

How It Won A Revolution!!
{Monday, February 26th, 2018}

        This past weekend on the island of Cuba the 60th anniversary of the founding of Radio Rebelde was celebrated. And such celebrations are appropriate because it played a...or perhaps the...major role in the incredible triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959. And, remarkably, to this day in the last week of February, 2018, it still plays a huge role in the survival of Revolutionary Cuba.

         If you discount the above paragraph, then I suggest you do not know much about the history of the Cuban Revolution that has defined the remarkable sovereignty of Cuba while also redefining the imperial history of both Spain and the United States. Radio Rebelde was founded on Feb. 24-1958 by the most iconic of rebels -- Che Guevara, the young Argentine doctor who decided Cuba needed an anti-Batista revolution. At a crucial stage in the revolutionary war, Che secured a ham transmitter and then boldly recruited two technicians, two announcers, and two reporters from Havana's top station, Radio Mambi. At the time Dictator Batista still controlled all broadcast stations across the island...and still had the financial and military support of America and the Mafia. But beginning in 1958 the rebels were capturing key towns in southeast Cuba, holding those towns, and then moving on in that manner toward Havana on the island's northwestern tip. But Che, whom even his critics admitted had an off-the-chart IQ, knew the rebels needed a major radio outlet to keep the necessary support of the majority peasants, the prime victims of the Batista-Mafia rule and the ones whose support was essential to the rebels. Che knew the much-maligned Cuban peasants needed to know the rebels had a chance against the powerful Batista forces. So Che invented Radio Rebelde to keep the peasants informed about the war from the standpoint of the rebels, countering Batista.

        On Feb. 24-1958 Che's brainchild, Rado Rebelde -- Rebel Radio -- blasted on the air with remarkable clarity and powerful reach. The first historic words were: "Here is Radio Rebelde, the voice of the Sierra Maestra, transmitting for all Cuba on the 20 meter band at 5 PM and 9 PM daily. I'm Station Director Caption Luis Orlando Rodriguez." The almost instant feed-back, reinvigorating the peasants, surprised even Che. He as well as other top rebels such as Celia Sanchez often spoke to the vital Cuban population about the progress of the war. Che and Celia had one basic rule: "Now that we can reach the people, and Batista, try as he might, can't stop us, we must NEVER LIE TO THE PEOPLE. Whether it's good or bad news in the war, we must tell them the truth and NEVER LIE to them." The location of Radio Rebelde at that time was a remote and well-protected spot at Altos de Conrado. But quickly, 32 smaller stations had sprung out from Radio Rebelde to round out the Liberty Network that the Cuban citizens trusted and therefore they began to realize that, despite overwhelming odds, the rebels COULD win against the combined might of the U.S.-backed Batista.

       Throughout 1958 Radio Rebelde truthfully informed the Cuban population about the progress of the war, always reminding them of the latest town the rebels had captured and was holding...assuring the people that they could enter those towns and see for themselves. As 1958 was drawing to a close, and as the rebels were moving closer-and-closer to Havana, the frantic Batista forces could not destroy Radio Rebelde. Moreover, the Cuban population came to totally agree in the veracity of the Radio Rebelde updates on the war...and so did Batista's henchmen in Havana.

    At the start of December in 1958, Fidel Castro and Celia Sanchez were still in charge of rebel units protecting vitally captured Cuban soil in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra Mountains and the vital towns and cities in the vicinity of Santiago, Cuba's second largest city. The rebel force led by Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos throughout December-1958 were routinely defeating larger and better-armed Batista forces, capturing town-after-town. By the time Che and Camilo were on the outskirts of Santa Clara, the last major city leading to Havana, the Batista and Mafia leaders were packing their getaway planes, ships, and boats with cash, gold, and other key assets they had not already shipped off the island. The Battle of Santa Clara was raging even as Batista on Radio Mamba and with telegraphs to Washington was saying, "Everything is fine. The rebels are being annihilated in Santa Clara." Just minutes before midnight on New Years Day -- Jan. 1, 1959 -- word reached Havana that Che & Camilo had captured Santa Clara and "were racing hellbent toward Havana hoping to capture Batista and all Mafia leaders in the Cuban capital city!!" From midnight till 3:00 A.M. on Jan. 1-1959 the last of the Batista-Mafia leaders had fled Havana, with Batista first flying to the Dominican Republic that was ruled by brutal pro-American and anti-Castro dictator Rafael Trujillo. But within days much of the Batistiano leadership and loot had overwhelmed Miami's economic and political structures -- and six decades later that, of course, STILL remains the case.

    And so, six decades after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on Jan. 1-1959, Little Havana USA is located in the heart of Miami, Florida -- on U. S. but not on Cuban soil.

    The photo above shows wild celebrations in Little Havana USA on Nov. 26-2016 just hours after the death at age 90 of Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba. Such euphoria in Little Havana on that day was a vivid reminder that Cuban hardliners headquartered in Miami and Washington had been unable to recapture Cuba despite the backing of the U. S. treasury and the U. S. military. As a matter of fact, that phenomenon created many historic undemocratic records...including what the Guinness Book of World Records calls 638 assassination attempts against Fidel Castro. Despite that record surviving assassinations, Fidel Castro died of natural causes at age 90 in Old Havana.

     Meanwhile, Radio Rebelde today is a 24-hour operation that employs 274 Cubans and reaches all of Cuba's 14 provinces. Its news, weather, sports, and live talk shows are still trusted by the Cuban people whose input is essential to its success. Radio Rebelde is often used by individual citizens and groups to voice successful criticism and critiques of their revolutionary government although not to rebel against it.

     Since 1959 the Cuban narrative in the United States of America has almost exclusively been the private domain of anti-Castro Counter Revolutionary extremists such as but certainly not restricted to firebrands like Humberto Fontana. In his tirade above on the Fox News network, Mr. Fontana is trying to convince Americans that "the U. S. Cuban embargo has worked like a charm." In one sense, of course, it has. DE-classified U. S. documents prove that the embargo began in 1962 for the purpose of starving, depriving, and making miserable the lives of everyday Cubans on the island to induce them to rise up and overthrow their government. Since 1962 many millions of innocent Cubans on the island have therefore suffered mightily from that cruel and very real premise. So Fontana is right in that the embargo from 1962 till today has hurt millions of Cubans and also garnered a 191-to-ZERO condemnation of the United States in the United Nations. Of course, the second purpose of the embargo has failed miserably because it has not yet overturned Cuba's revolutionary government as it has sought to do from 1962 till this very day.

      Now read the image above as Counter Revolutionary stalwart Humberto Fontana uses the vast Fox News airways and other venues to proclaim: "You guys don't have a freakin' clue about Cuba! -- Read my books." In other words, I'm sure Humberto would think that I didn't have a "freakin' clue" about anything I said about the 60th anniversary on Feb. 24-2018 of Radio Rebelde. Well, uh, Humberto, I'm sure even if we don't buy your books that you will tell us all about Cuba -- TRUE AND UNBIASED, OF COURSE. And while you're at it, Humberto, explain to us why the tiny and vulnerable Cuban flag still flies over Revolutionary Cuba. We need to know.

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Russia Loves Trump's Cuban Policy

And Is Taking Advantage of It!!

     The above photo this week reveals anew how much Russia loves U. S. President Donald Trump's ongoing efforts to reverse the massive diplomatic decency towards the island exhibited by his predecessor, President Obama. And that's rather significant considering that Russia is by far the biggest military threat to the United States. China, by far the biggest economic threat to the U. S., also welcomes Trump's antagonism towards Cuba. Both Russia and China want to increase their influence in the Caribbean and Latin America, and both anti-American powers consider Cuba a key pathway to those goals. Thus, in Cuba today more-and-more Chinese buses as well as sonar panels and wind mills are showing up. And 344 brand-new Russian Lada cars arrived on a recent Russian ship. The above photo shows a Russian locomotive arriving at the Port of Havana, one of 8 new ones in Cuba...and 28 more are on the way. The locomotive depot in Havana is being refurbished by a Russian Company.

       Russia's electrical power generating company Inter RAO has signed a new deal with Cuba to have four new power plants operating on the island beginning in 2022.

     Russia is very anxious to have its flag, as opposed to the American flag, flying side-by-side with the Cuban flag more-and-more during the Trump administration.

   Meanwhile, Revolutionary Cuba is very proud when its flag flies solo because it represents the sovereignty it earned with the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, over the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia regime. Cuba's sovereign flag since 1959 has, symbolically and realistically, replaced five centuries of dominance by just two imperial powers -- Spain and the United States. This pivotal year of 2018 will witness the biggest political change in Cuba since Fidel Castro replaced Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Russia and China want to be more significant players in that transition than Cuba's neighbor, the United States.

      In a few weeks, 86-year-old Raul Castro will retire as Cuba's President. In 2008 Raul had replaced his very ill brother Fidel Castro, who died at age 90 on Nov. 25-2016, as President of Cuba. In April of this year Miguel Diaz-Canel will be Cuba's new President, the first non-Castro Cuban leader since 1959 and one who was, significantly, born after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. This week -- from Feb. 19th to 21st -- six Cuba-friendly members of the U. S. Congress, led by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Representative Kathy Castor of Florida -- were in Cuba. They met with President Raul Castro and other important Cubans, including entrepreneurs, in attempts to assess the damage so far perpetrated by Trump's reversal of many of Obama's Cuban advances. And the six members of the U. S. Congress this week also wanted to meet with Miguel Diaz-Canel but he ignored their requests although he was in Havana this week meeting with African leaders. Diaz-Canel is known to be "outraged that Trump has already double-crossed many of the mutual advantages our President and President Obama negotiated. If the American people allow such things what good is it to waste our time trying to normalize relations with the United States, mutually beneficial relations. We should use that time...most or all of it...negotiating with all the other nations that are our friends." That summation and foreshadowing of Miguel Diaz-Canel's intentions was revealed by a Vietnamese delegation that had met with the upcoming leader of Cuba. And the 56-year-old Diaz-Canel envisions a Vietnamese-style Cuban economy; and he has gotten encouragement on that front from three current Presidents -- Castro, Zi, and Putin.

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The Spinning Cuban Carousel

Washington-to-Havana-&-Back!!

    Six members of the U. S. Congress -- three Senators and three from the House of Representatives -- completed their urgent visit to Havana this week. The urgency was spawned recently when two anti-Cuban Cuban-American U. S. Senators, Marco Rubio and Robert Menendez, Chaired & Co-chaired a very bitter anti-Cuban Foreign Affairs Committee session in the Senate. The six congressional members who visited Cuba this week wanted to curb the Trump administration's attempt to put America's Cuba policies back in the hands of a handful of Cuban extremists, as in the Bush presidencies. Not wanting a total reversal of President Obama's pre-Trump advances with Cuba, the six congressional members had much to discuss with top Cuban officials, especially on the eve of the island's transition to a non-Castro leader in April. The U. S. delegation was led by U. S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Leahy for decades has worked tirelessly and bravely to normalize relations with Cuba. He is shown above in this Granma photo talking directly to Cuban President Raul Castro in a session that Leahy later described as "animated at times." In addition to Leahy, the other two Senators in Havana were Ron Wyden of Oregon and Gary Peters of Michigan. The three House members on the hasty fact-finding journey were Kathy Castor of Florida, Susan Davis of California, and James McGovern of Massachusetts.

    The latest visit to Cuba by Kathy Castor this week is in keeping with her tireless effort to normalize U.S.-Cuban relations. Born 51-years-ago in Miami, she has represented the Tampa-St. Petersburg area of Florida in Congress since 2007. She met with Cuban entrepreneurs who had built successful businesses because of the Obama presidency but have been starkly and negatively affected by the Trump administration. Congresswoman Castor, who hastened back to Florida a day early because of the aftermaths of the horrendous school shootings, also met with Cuban officials regarding the alleged sonic attacks against U. S. diplomats that have been used by Trump and Cuban-American hardliners as one of their pretexts to hurt Cuba. Castor agreed with the consensus opinion on both sides of the Florida straits that Cuba wouldn't threaten its own tourism lifeline with such a ploy. She said: "I don't see a motivation of the Cuban government itself to having done harm to our diplomats, but I don't know." Castor is also direly concerned that Trump's gutting the embassies in Havana and Washington harms innocent Cubans and Cuban-Americans the most. "We urgently need to get back to a full staff because it is important for families in Cuba and my state of Florida to be able to use embassy facilities so these families can meet." Cuba for two decades has used two currencies -- the peso and the convertible peso. Economists agree the dual currencies have stifled the island's economy and production. Castor said, "They told us Cuba will stop operating under the two-currency system this year. They say it's very complicated because it effects wages throughout the island, but they do hope to end it this year. And they have told us that before too."

       After his three-day trip to Cuba this week, Congressman James McGovern said, "It was a big mistake to reduce the embassies in Havana and Washington. And it was a mistake for the State Department to list Cuba as unsafe."

    And Congresswoman Kathy Castor added one more thing about her trip to Cuba this week. She said that Senator Leahy had a private conversation with President Raul Castro about his retirement in April and the significant changes that might...or will...entail for both Cuba and the U. S. Ms. Castro said, "I wanted to talk to the presumed next President of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, but we did not get to do that."

      While Raul Castro, Cuba's out-going President, has shown an eagerness to talk with friendly Americans, like President Obama and like the six members of Congress on the island this week, the same is not true for Cuba's in-coming President, Miguel Diaz-Canel. Ignoring this week's high-level delegation from Washington was typical of Diaz-Canel who much prefers spending his most valuable time with leaders of nations far more friendly to Cuba than the United States is. Thus, the photo above shows Diaz-Canel hosting Her Excellency Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, the Prime Minister of Namibia, while ignoring requests from important Americans. He thanked her for Namibia's help as Cuba tried to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Irma, help he knows the island didn't receive from the United States. Namibia's current leader and Cuba's future leader also worked out trade and "other mutually beneficial agreements" while Diaz-Canel ignored the six Cuba-friendly Americans.

     While Miguel Diaz-Canel supported Raul Castro's historic detente with President Obama, President Trump's June 16-2017 trip to Miami -- when he turned America's Cuban policy back over to a handful of hard-line extremists -- was the "last straw" for Diaz-Canel, who is not only not a Castro but was born after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. After June 16-2017, he said: "Cuba has one enemy, the United States. The Obama window was nice but the other party closed it. Wasting our time on our one enemy makes no sense when that time can be applied to our friends. We must preserve our sovereignty at all costs against a major force, but to advance we must embrace our friends." That includes, Diaz-Canel believes, the Prime Minister of Namibia as well as the leaders of all non-USA nations, including America's biggest competitors, "if necessary, as it seems now." Indeed, in the last two years as Cuba's First Vice President, Diaz-Canel has cultivated close friendships with President Zi and President Putin while also closely studying the Vietnamese economic model.

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