Nelson Mandela & Fidel Castro WERE Best Friends

   It is not well known in the western world but Nelson Mandela's best friend was Fidel Castro.

    As one of history's most beloved Civil Rights Leaders, the world this week -- on July 18-2022 -- observed another NELSON MANDELA INTERNATIONAL DAY.

   Known for his love "For Liberty, Justice, and Democracy," Nelson Mandela on a visit to Miami was ridiculed and embarrassed. That's because Nelson Mandela's best friend was Cuba's revolutionary icon Fidel Castro whom Mandela credited with getting him out of a apartheid prison in South Africa, which led him to becoming the President of South Africa. Mandela till 1990 had spent 27 years in prison where he had a bucket for a toilet. Then he was democratically elected President of his nation from 1994 till 1999. He died at age 95 on December 5th, 2013. To this day he is known in his country as the "Father of the Nation." Till the day he died, Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro were Dear Friends.

      Leading up to his inauguration as President of South Africa in 1994, the one person that Mandela insisted would be with him was Castro. But his phone calls to Havana didn't convince Fidel who repeatedly said, "Nelson, it is your day, not mine. I would be a distraction, but I will be with you in my deepest thoughts." But Mandela would not accept "no" over the phone for his answer; he simply flew to Havana and in person convinced Castro to attend.

    Not only did Fidel Castro attend Nelson Mandela's inauguration in 1994 but four years later President Mandela insisted that his best friend return to address the African National Congress, during which raucous calls of "Fidel-Fidel" repeatedly interrupted Fidel's speech.

     Americans, of course, are not supposed to know of Nelson Mandela's abiding love for Fidel Castro. And, of course, Americans are not supposed to know that the two men co-authored a book together.

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Bad Times for Cubans in Cuba

  

   In Revolutionary Cuba today Alejandro Gil Fernandez is one of the island's most powerful and most important people...with titles such as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy. 

     This was the subdued Alejandro Gil today -- July 21st, 2022 -- as he spent the day addressing Cuba's General Assembly and, on state-wide television and radio, speaking directly to the island's people. He admitted that there "are not short-cuts" for the dire problem that currently hurts the Cuban citizenry -- the energy struggles that create daily blackouts. For sure, Gil mostly blamed the U. S. blockade of the island for the blackouts but he also spoke about failures of the revolutionary government.

Cubans today were told: "There are no shortcuts."

    In addition to the strong words from energy boss Alejandro Gil, Cuban television news today heard from Cuban mothers and a multitude of Cubans out on the streets explaining how the ubiquitous blackouts and inflation are affecting their families.

     Here are some of the statistics and plans that Alejandro Gil discussed with the Cuban people today as the island struggles with the blackouts, inflation, COVID, and -- of course -- with the endless U.S.-Blockade that they alone face.

Oh, yes!! The Blockade!!

     Families in the nation of Cuba are the only people in the world who have faced a Embargo/Blockade since 1962 imposed by a much more powerful nation. The current blackouts remind them that it is unending. Thousands of Cubans are leaving...or trying to leave...the island for the United States. But many are determined to try to survive in Cuba and hope for better days, such as without the Blockade. Meanwhile, truth be known, a few years ago the population of Cuba was a little over 13 million people...and now it is a little over 11 million people.

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Damning Cuba, and Profiting from it

 Cubans in Miami

    For decades rich and powerful Cubans in Miami have damned Cuba, implied that Batista's Cuba in the 1950s was a utopia for everyday Cubans, and blamed all of Cuba's problems on the Revolutionaries that chased them across the Florida Straits to Miami starting in January of 1959.

    Of course, the Cubans who have run Miami since 1959 don't seem concerned about important things like decades of starving, depriving, and making miserable the Cubans in Cuba.

     Each day, it seems, the Miami Herald blares out prime articles that damn Cuba...such as today -- July 19th, 2022.  Today the not-so-sweet Miami headline is: "A country on edge: Cubans share images of protests, police beatings and..." Such headlines imply that Batista's Cuba, prior to the Revolution, was a utopia for Cubans...but that was not exactly true.

     Indeed, Batista's Cuba was a utopian Gold Mine for the Batistianos, the Mafiosi, and U. S. businessmen...but not for everyday Cuban mothers such as those shown in the three above photos.

     The unknown history of the Cuban Revolution is the sheer fact that women were among the most influential guerrilla fighters, recruiters, and leaders -- especially Vilma Espin, Celia Sanchez, and Haydee Santamaria.

    It can easily and honestly be stated that Celia Sanchez was the most important revolutionary rebel {man or woman} as the unequaled recruiter of rebels and supplies but also as a fighter, leader, and overall decision-maker.

  One person who would know, Fidel Castro, always knew that Celia Sanchez was the main reason the rebels won the Revolution. That's why, starting in January of 1959, Celia Sanchez was the prime decision-maker in Revolutionary Cuba...with Fidel's total blessing and support. Study the above Lee Lockwood photo to comprehend that fact. While Fidel was just rocking in his chair, Celia was busily writing a rule that Fidel would then make sure became a law. That's why in the very first days of Revolutionary Cuba the new laws created the powerful Federation of Cuban Women, which also mandated that every Cuban had free food, free heath care, and free education through college!!

    Until the day she died at age 59 of cancer on January 11, 1980, Celia Sanchez remained the top decision-maker in Revolutionary Cuba.

    In fact, in 2004 in Cuba Marta Rojas told me: "Even after she died in 1980 Celia Sanchez was still Cuba's main decision-maker because Fidel continued to rule the island only as he believed Celia would have wanted him to rule it." And Marta would be the person to know that best. Starting as a key young journalist in Batista's Cuba, Marta became an anti-Batista rebel and then lived out her extraordinary life in Cuba starting in 1959 as a renowned journalist, author, and was also an intimate of both Celia Sanchez and Fidel Castro. A sweet and kind lady, Marta became my friend in 2004 and exchanged emails with me often. The Wikipedia bio of her starts with a quote from me. Born in Santiago de Cuba in 1928, she died in Havana on October 3rd, 2021.

     Marta Rojas agreed with Fidel Castro that Celia Sanchez was the most important factor that predicated the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Moreover, Marta Rojas and millions of other Cubans today believe that Celia Sanchez is most responsible for the fact that Cuban children since 1959 have been better off, by far, than children in Batista's Cuba...even factoring in the continuous assaults from Miami and the superpower United States. Of course, the Miami Herald and Cubans in Miami will loudly dispute that.

    And, of course, the Miami Herald and the Cubans in Miami will also vehemently deny the famous words above that stand as Celia Sanchez's most famous quotation: "We rebels...get far too much credit for winning the revolution. Our enemies deserve most of the credit, for being greedy cowards and idiots."

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US Eases Some Assaults on Cuba

    International hotel chains, especially the two giants based in Madrid, have upwards of forty 5-star hotels in Cuba; and the headline shown above this week shows that Canada's Blue Diamond Resorts is increasing its business in Cuba. This is so although the six-decade-old U. S. embargo/blockade of the Caribbean's largest island blocks U. S. companies from such competition, although many would love to do so...especially ones in nearby Miami.

     As explained above, Blue Diamond Resorts "is pleased to announce" its new luxurious 250-room hotel in the heart of Havana. The new Royalton Habana will open on August 1, 2022.

    The U. S. has just given Icelandic Airlines "an application to fly up to 31 round trip flights a week between the United States and Cuba on behalf of Florida-based World Atlantic Airlines." Of course, as noted above, U. S. airlines had/have "Objections."

     The beautiful Cuban-born Ana de Armas is a Superstar actress in Hollywood, USA. In the above article Ana this week strongly points out "the prejudice against Cubans in Hollywood."

    A starring role in one of the James Bond movies established Ana de Armas as a Hollywood superstar. She was born 34 years ago in her hometown of Santa Cruz del Norte in Cuba.

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Miami Is UNHAPPY With POPE FRANCIS!!

       Back on Tuesday, July 12th, 2022, Pope Francis "UNDERLINED HIS LOVE FOR CUBA AND ITS PEOPLE." Today -- five days later -- the Miami Herald and the Leaders in Miami are still stewing and pouting that such a world leader would express compassion and love for Cubans in Cuba, especially without lavishly pointing out how fantastic, wonderful, and loving the rich Cubans in Miami are!! As shown by the YouTube clip below, these are are the 25 seconds that most angered the Miami Cubans regarding what Pope Francis said:

      As you listen to or read the kind words Pope Francis said this week about the Cuban people and Raul Castro, note how -- five days later -- the Miami Herald is still fuming about his words:

    Here are top Cuban headlines flashing around the U. S. and the world today -- July 16, 2022. As usual, there are non-propaganda headlines about the drastic "economic crisis" currently assaulting the Cubans in Cuba...largely fueled by Miami-Trump-Biden ratcheting up the six-decade-old Embargo-Blockade of the island nation that, unfortunately, is just south of...Miami. Today's huge Editorial in the Miami Herald is a typical joke that Americans are supposed to believe: "Pope Francis' comments on Cuba were callous, for what he said -- and didn't say." WOW!! The Pope is being chastised in Miami for both showing compassion for the poor people in Cuba and for not SALUTING the rich and wonderful Cubans in Miami!!

        Since 1959 -- the year the Cuban Revolution chased the U.S.-backed and Mafia-backed Batista dictatorship off the island, mostly to Miami -- Miami has dictated most of the USA's Cuban rhetoric and policy, with the propagandized compliance of American taxpayers and voters. In other words, in July of 2022 Pope Francis has the courage and insight {and audacity} to understand what generations of Cubans in Cuba have been forced to endure since 1959. After all, Pope Francis is, himself, a Latin American. {He was born with the name Jorge Mario in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina}. He thus is fully acknowledgeable of Cuba's history, including Batista's Cuba and Revolutionary Cuba. Thus he is not glued only to Miami's self-serving interpretation of that history.

    In Buenos Aires, Havana, and Rome, Pope Francis met Fidel Castro. This photo was taken in Fidel's Havana home shortly before he died at age 90 in 2016.

    For sure, Raul Castro -- who is now 91-years-old -- has for many years been a friend of Pope Francis. This week when the Pope reminded the world of that friendship, Miami five days later is still going ballistic!!!

    As Pope Francis would know, a study of the above image reveals Miami's influence in Batista's Cuba in the 1950s after Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Fulgencio Batista huddled in Meyer's Miami mansion and discussed the famous Meyer Lansky quote: "I have always wanted the Mob to own its country." And from 1952 till 1959, his wish came true!!!

  Unfortunately, both geographically and historically, the Caribbean's largest and most beautiful island has always been located due south of...Miami.

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