Much of Cuba Still Dark

 

    As Thursday turned to Friday -- Sept. 29th and 30th -- much of Cuba remains in blackouts after the passage of Hurricane Ian, as reported above by the London-based Reuters News Agency.

    In the last paragraph above, Reuters says that Cuba's power plants are old and that "The country has also struggled to obtain fuel for those plants, as costs have risen with the Ukraine conflict and amid harsh sanctions from the United States."

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"Cuba Will Negotiate With The US"

   The quotation above has made headlines on September 29th, 2022. It was made by 64-year-old Bruno Rodriguez. Since 2009 Bruno has been Cuba's Top Foreign Minister, which means he has mostly been charged with dealing with Cuba's relations with the island's Superpower northern neighbor, the United States of America. Why would he make such a headline-making statement at the close of September-2022? He is aware that the U. S. has, during the Trump & Biden presidencies, expanded its six-decade-old Embargo/Blockade that, since 1962, has intended to starve, deprive, and make miserable Cubans on the island to encourage them to rise up and overthrow their Revolutionary government, which has somehow steadfastly held on to power since January of 1959 when the Cuban Revolution somehow overthrew the powerful Batista dictatorship that was supported by the powerful Mafia, the world's strongest criminal organization, and by the United States, the world's strongest nation. Recently Bruno has noted that the U. S. has been taking bids for the purpose of paying more tax dollars to anti-Cuban sources...and this comes on the heels of devastating explosions and fires that leveled a key tourist hotel in the heart of Havana, a key power station in Matanzas 65 miles southeast of Havana, etc. Coupled with that, Cuba in recent days has been trying to emerge as best it can from the expanded Blockade, from the Pandemic, from Hurricane Ian, etc., etc. So, at the end of September-2022 it is not surprising that Cuba "IS WILLING TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE UNITED STATES."

     The Hill, as you can see above, today -- Sept. 29, 2022 -- broke the story that Cuba has decided that "It will have to negotiate with the United States." The Hill and reporter Rafael Bernal are prime political sources in Washington.

     Also, as you can see above, Ben Rhodes is the man who persuaded Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez to admit that Cuba "will have to negotiate with the US."

     Of course, as you can see from the three photos above, Ben Rhodes was the man who persuaded President Barack Obama to fly to Havana in 2016. And Ben Rhodes was the man and speech-writer that persuaded President Obama to go on nationwide radio and television in Cuba and tell the Cuban people these words: "Cuba Does Not Need To Fear A Threat From the United States." Both Obama and Rhodes sincerely meant those words on behalf of the United States. But, unfortunately, they came near the end of Obama's 8-years as President.

    And, as it happened, in January of 2017 Donald Trump replaced Obama as President of the United States; and in January of 2021 the Democrat Joe Biden replaced the Republican Trump as the U. S. President.

     In the USA's two-party political system many, including Ben Rhodes, believed the Democrat President Biden, who had been Obama's Vice President for 8 years, would return to Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba. Of course, at the end of September of 2022, people such as Ben Rhodes, as well as Bruno Rodriguez, have given up on that prospect.

      Thus, as September turns into October in 2022 the U. S. Blockade of Cuba continues...and it doesn't seem to matter what Americans such as Ben Rhodes think about it.

    But let it be known that on September 29th of 2022 Ben Rhodes, a 44-year-old New Yorker, is still fighting to end the blockade and normalize relations with Cuba. The photo above shows Ben Rhodes writing the words that President Obama sincerely spoke directly to the Cuban people in Cuba in 2016: "CUBA DOES NOT NEED TO FEAR A THREAT FROM THE UNITED STATES." It took a great man to write those words and to persuade President Obama to deliver them directly to the Cuban people in Cuba. That great and brave man is Ben Rhodes. He should be saluted for his herculean efforts.

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Hell & High Water for Cubans

 

Photo: Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

    The photo above shows a young Cuban father finding shelter for his two small children as Hurricane Ian began devastating the vulnerable island on Tuesday, September 27th, 2022. The suffering Cubans have been pummeled in recent years by the endless six-decade-old U. S. Blockade, the Pandemic, and again by the U. S. blockade that Cubans believe has been purposely expanded by the Trump-Biden presidencies to take advantage of the vulnerability left behind after the Pandemic.

     In the paragraphs above Mayelin Suarez told the London-based Reuters News Agency that Hurricane Ian's passage was the "darkest of her life." Indeed, recent days and nights have been very dark for millions of Cubans on the island.

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Havana Ravaged by Hurricane Ian!!

 

    Images by Yamil Lage, the great Cuban photojournalist who works for the Paris-based AFP News Agency, sent photos like these around the world today as Hurricane Ian began to ravage the vulnerable capital city of Havana.

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Cubans Approve "Progressive" Family Code

 

    The London-based BBC today -- Monday, September 26th, 2022 -- informed the world {above} that Cuban voters in a nationwide election yesterday passed a new Family Code law. Reuters calls it the "most progressive in Latin America" pertaining to Equal Rights for gays.

     "EL AMOR YA ES LEY. Codigo Si."/"LOVE IS ALREADY LAW. Code Yes." The First Lady of Cuba, Lis Cuesta, posted the above message on Facebook today regarding yesterday's election that legalized a new Family Code on the island.

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An Election & A Hurricane for Cuba

 

     Today -- Sunday, September 25th, 2022 -- Cuba held an important nationwide election as the government tries to get the support of its 11 million people to pass a "Family Code" bill. The powerful London-based Reuters News Agency, which covers Cuba closely and fairly, says that, if passed, it will be "the most progressive" Civil Rights bill in Latin America. As you can see above, Raul Castro voted on the key bill today. {He turned 91-years-old back on June 3rd, 2022}.

      Prominent television journalist and dedicated mother Rosy Amaro is shown casting her vote in Havana today.

   After casting their "Family Code" vote today, Rosy and her 8-year-old daughter Mariana proudly called it a "Code of Love."

      As a prominent journalist and mother, Rosy Amaro Perez has long been a strong advocate for the rights of "women and girls" on the island. Thus, she campaigned for the passage of the "Family Code" bill that the entire nation was voting on today -- September 25th, 2022.

    Meanwhile, Cuba is also bracing today for Hurricane Ian that is expected to hit the western tip of the island, including Havana, by Tuesday morning, September 27th, 2022. Both Havana and the Isle of Youth, the second largest island shown in red above, are in Ian's path and it is predicted that it will be become a dangerous hurricane starting Sunday night, the 25th. Havana is home to two million people and the Isle of Youth has 80,000 people.

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A Key ELECTION in Cuba Sunday!!

 Election DAY: Sept. 25, 2022

    Revolutionary Cuba is not known for its nationwide elections, but this weekend -- Sunday, September 25th, 2022 -- a widely anticipated Nationwide Election will be held, indicating changes in the drastically targeted island nation that is reeling because of the expanded and ageless U. S. Blockade/Embargo that is currently trying to finally and totally starve the Cuban economy; and that is happening even as Cuba emerges from the Pandemic and this Monday & Tuesday expects to be blasted by a tropical Hurricane. This weekend the photo shown above -- by Yamil Lage, the Cuban who works on the island for the Paris-based AFP News Agency -- is being flashed around the world by the Washington Post and other major newspapers. The Washington Post paragraph highlighted above says: "After 79,000 neighborhood meetings, months of discussion, and an outpouring of more than 300,000 suggestions from citizens, Cubans will vote in a referendum Sunday that could redefine family rights -- including legalizing same-sex marriage." In other words, despite many of other worldwide issues, the world understands that the election Sunday, September 25th, 2022 in Cuba is very important...and so does Cuba's Revolutionary government.

     The Cuban people Sunday-Sept. 25th-2022 will be voting on a new Family Code. The Washington Post article above says, "The proposed new Family Code would be among the most progressive in Latin America, defying a long tradition of machismo in Cuba. In addition to approving same-sex marriage, it would allow gay couples to adopt, and increase the rights of women, the elderly and children." In the next paragraph above, as you can see, the Washington Post points out that some powerful forces, including the Catholic Church, "have expressed unusually vocal dissent" against the new Family Code proposals.

       But the Revolutionary government in Cuba is strongly promoting the drastically new progressive issues in the Family Code bill that Cubans across the island will be voting on Sunday, September 25th, 2022. In the photo above two of Cuba's most popular News anchors were a part of a panel that kicked off this weekend with a Family Code discussion that was aired in primetime on nationwide television. For sure, it will be an important election in Cuba.

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