Cuba Flexed its Baseball Muscles Today in Taipei

 

    Today -- March 10th of 2023 -- these Cubans in Havana finally got something to cheer about!! All their lives they have been punished by history's longest and cruelest Embargo/Blokade ever imposed by a powerful nation -- the U. S. -- against a much smaller nation, Cuba. The U. S. legalized it in February of 1962 and it still exists to this day. In the meantime, baseball-loving Cubans have cheered their teams despite their hardships and just before daylight today...at 4 A. M...they were able to cheer Cuba's smashing 13-to-4 win over Panana in the World Baseball Classic in Taipei, which is 8,747 miles from Havana {And that's why the 13-4 victory over Panama ended almost at 4 A.M. this morning}.

    One of my favorite U. S. Major League players is Yoan Moncada, the talented switch-hitting Third Baseman for the Chicago White Sox. This morning live on the Fox Sports Newwork I watched Yoan perform as one of the best players on the planet. He is playing for Cuba in this 5th World Baseball Classic because, surprisingly, the U. S. eased the Embargo enough to allow Cuba to have some Major League players this year. Despite strong criticism from the powerful Counter-Revolutionary anti-Cuban fervor in the U. S. since 1959, Yoan had the courage to play for Cuba in the WBC.

    Another superstar for the Chicago White Sox -- young Center Fielder Luis Robert also had a great game in Taipei this morning in Cuba's 13-4 WBC win over a strong team from Panama. Like his Chicago teammate Yoan, Luis Robert had a great game against Panama today. And like Yoan, Luis is facing much criticisn in Social Media and in the mainstream U. S. media. But bravely and showing much more integrity than his critics, Luis said: "I respect everyone but my decision was to come and play for Cuba." Courageously, as shown above, he posted that quote to the media and in his social platforms. For sure, the infamous U. S. Embargo has hurt Luis Robert as it has hurt generations of Cubans in Cuba, but at age 25 he is being paid over $15 million U. S. dollars by the White Sox and he lives in a fabulous mansion in Florida. Luis respects baseball-loving Cubans on the island and he is proud they are celebrating today's 13-4 win over Panama in Taipei. But Cuba lost two close games to start its play in Taipei -- losing 4-2 to Netherlands and 6-3 in 10 innings to Italy. In both of those losses both Luis and Yoan played poorly -- perhaps for good reason. Because of restrictions, their 14-hour flight to Taipei didn't land until just before they suited up and played in the 4-2 loss to Netherlands. In the Panama game today, both Luis and Yoan played like well-rested Major League superstars with no jet-lag.

     Cuba's 4th WBC game in Taipei will be against Chinese Taipei at 11 PM Saturday and it will be televised live on Fox Sports 2. It will be played in a sold-out and very beautiful stadium in Chinese Taipei. And Chinese Taipei has a very strong team, and it beat Italy 11-to-7 today {March 10th}.

      The 2023 World Baseball Classic consists of 20 teams divided into 4 Pools. In Pool A the Netherlands is already 2-0 while Chinese Taipei and Italy are both 1-1 with Cuba and Panama now both 1-2. The two top teams in each Pool will advance to the Quarterfinals. The U. S. with superstars such as Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, etc., has an advantage of playing in Phoenix and Miami...but powerful Japan, which is a threat to anyone and is already 2-0, is playing in its own fabulous Tokyo Dome. For some reason, while Cuba will be playing its 4th game in faraway Taipei against strong Taipei Saturday night, the U. S. will be playing its first game Saturday night at 9 P. M. against weak Great Britain in Phoenix. In the quarterfinals the U. S. will play in Miami.

     The U. S. vs. Great Britain game Saturday night {9 P. M. on March 11th} will feature a U. S. line-up filled only with Superstar Major League players, as shown above. Great Britain, to put it mildly, will be totally over-matched. Yet the game will be televised live on the mighty Fox Network. Later the U. S. team will be challenged by pitching-rich Japan as well as teams such as the Dominican Republic and perhaps even Venezuela, which are other teams also loaded with Superstar Major League Players.

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Cuba is 0-and-2 in World Baseball Classic

 

     Baseball-loving Cubans were devastated recently when Cuba was uncompetitive in the Caribbean Series in Caracas. This week, however, they were buoyed by Cuba's chances to be very competitive in the 5th World Baseball Classic that runs until March 21st and includes teams from 20 nations. The WBC Classic this year includes team loaded with top-salaried Superstars such as Trout, Ortani, Soto, Betts, etc., etc. Even Cuba this time is allowed some of its Cuban-born Major League Superstars -- led by switch-hitting Third Baseman Yoan Moncada and Center Fielder Luis Robert. The 20 teams are divided into four pools of five teams each, with Cuba starting off as the favorite to win Pool A that is being televised from Taiwan. But after two games Cuba is winless and both Moncada and Robert have been weak links in a 4-2 loss to the Netherlands and today in a 6-3, 10-inning loss to Italy. In those two losses Moncada has been hitless while Robert has managed two useless hits; in the 4-2 loss to the Netherlands, for example, Robert struck-out his first three at bats and in the 8th he finally hit a double...and then got picked off second base by the catcher!!

       And so today -- on March 9th -- above are the records of the five teams in Pool A of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. After losing to the Netherlands 4-2 and then 6-3 to Italy in 10 innings today, Cuba's 0-2 record in Taiwan makes this an unhappy day for 11.2 Cubans on the island who deserve some good news.

       In its 3rd game in the World Baseball Classic tonight starting at 11:30 PM Eastern Time Cuba will play Panama. The Cuba vs. Panama game tonight will be televised live from Taiwan on Fox Sports 1 Network.

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Cuba Spotlighted in World Baseball Tonight

 

    Tonight -- March 7th-2023 -- the 20-nation, star-studded World Baseball Classic starts with Cuba taking on the Netherlands in a sold-out stadium in faraway Taiwan. The game starts at 11:00 PM tonight Eastern Time and it will be televised live by the Fox Sports Network. The Top 7 Ranked Teams {according to the legal gambling odds}, including Cuba, have high-priced Major League players in their line-ups. For example, the USA team has stars such as Mike Trout, who has a $430 million contract with the LA Angels; Japan has the next $500+ million player in Pitcher-Slugger Shohei Otani {when all the rich teams can bid for him when he becomess a Free Agent in 2024}, etc., etc. And the Dominican Republic also has a line-up crammed with a plethora of superstar players making in excess of $300 million. But this time, even Cuba is allowed to have Major League Stars in the 2023 World Baseball Classic starting tonight!! 

    In tonight's opening game in the World Baseball Classic in Taiwan, Team Cuba will have a competitive team and is a favorite over the Netherlands that also has Major League superstars such as shortstop Xander Bogaerts. Cuba, as shown above, has young players from the Cuban premier league but also has stars from the U. S., Japanese, and Mexican pro leagues. Two Chicago White Sox stars -- switch-hitting Third Baseman Yoan Moncada  and brilliant Center Fielder Luis Robert -- will headline the Cuban Batting Order tonight. Both Moncada and Robert are high-priced Stars for the Chicago White Sox and are in their prime; both of them had hand/finger injuries last season but are now healthy. Robert, for example, is 25-years-old and was born in Ciego de Avila; this year the White Sox are paying Luis Robert exactly $15,333,333.00 but when he reaches Free Agency he, uh, can expect a BIG contract. The World Baseball Classic runs from March 8th-21st and look for Moncada and Robert to be among the Top Hitters!!

      This is Yoan Moncada, the powerful swtich-hitting Third Baseman for the Chicago White Sox. You can watch Yoan and Team Cuba play the Netherlands to start the 20-nation, star-studded World Baseball Classic tonight in Taiwan. The game starts at 11:00 PM Eastern Time on the Fox Sports Television Network.

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Raul Castro Flies to Caracas

Remembering Hugo Chavez 

     The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, posted this photo on his Twitter page today -- March 6th-2023. It shows him meeting in Caracas with Cuba's revolutionary icon Raul Castro who is now 91-years-old but in good health.

     Cuba is memorializing the life of Hugo Chavez, the powerful leader of Venezuela until he died of cancer on March 5th, 2013. Till his death Hugo Chavez had been Revolutionary Cuba's best and most important friend.

      This photo of the three Castro brothers was taken in 1940 in Santiago de Cuba near their birthplace in Biran, Cuba, and near the foothills of the Sierra Maestra Mountains where the Cuban Revolution started on July 26th of 1953 when Fidel and Raul led the ill-fated attack on Batista's Moncada Army Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The three Castro brothers all lived into their 90s but at age 91 Raul is the only one still alive.

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Cuba & the US & the Embargo!!!

 It is now 6+ Decades Old!!

     It is now March 3rd of 2023. The U. S. Economic EMBARGO/Blockade of Cuba began in February of 1962. So it is now 61 years old and it continues unabated although history long ago listed it as the longest and cruelest economic blockade ever imposed by any large country against any much smaller country.

    While a few rich and powerful people in Miami and Washington Love This Embargo/Blockade of Cuba, there are millions...or billions...of other people around the world who consider it an endless shame...both to the United States as well as to the targeted families in Cuba. Yet...it seems it might continue for another 61 years or so with no end in sight.

    Today -- on March 3rd in 2023 -- above are the Top Cuban Stories circulating around the world. There are no indications, as usual, that anyone in Miami or Washington is trying to end or ease the Embargo/Blocade of Cuba. Note that the London-based Reuters News Agency today is telling the world that even the U. S. is finally admitting that, uh, there was never any reason to blame Cuba for the "Havana Syndrome" lies that, for the past 5 years or so, have been used cruelly to punish Cuba for some medical problems of U. S. personel at the U.S. Embassy in Havana. The same problems occurred in other cities around the world but the "Havana Syndrome" still to this day tarnishes only Cuba...even though from the beginning no one was allowed to ask who exploiting the "Havana Syndrome" would hurt {Cuba} and who it would help {the anti-Cuban zealots in Miami and Washington}. So...study the Cuban Headlines on March 3rd-2023 and note that the non-U.S. news agency reports that, uh, finally the U. S. admits the Havana Syndrome was, uh, not Cuba's fault. Of course, the other three Top Cuban Headlines today are from the Miami Herald, a newspaper that since 1959 has tried to tell the world how fantastically nice the Batista dictatorship ruled Cuba in the 1950s until the Cuban Revolution intervened in 1959 and chased it to the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami. As you can ascertain from the three Miami Herald headlines shown above today -- on March 3rd-2023 -- it appears that Little Havana wants another 1961-type Bay of Pigs episode to punctuate the ongoing U.S.-Cuban saga.

"Can you see Cuba from Key West?"

"Yes!!"

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Cubans That Arrive In Florida

 Even in Hijacked Airplanes!!

      Since January of 1959, the month that the Castro Revolution replaced the Batista Dictatorship in Cuba, both Havana and Miami as well as Cuba and the United States were changed forever. So, actually, "Cuba in Miami" is a Big Story.

      For one thing, rich Cubans in Batista's Cuba quickly got much richer in Florida starting in January of 1959.

     Since January of 1959 Little Havana USA in the heart of Miami has attained and maintained huge financial and political power in the entire United States. Thus millions of Cubans in Cuba have been lured to Florida since January of 1959...and on this First Day of March in 2023 that tsunami of Cubans to Florida continues to make major headlines...with many Cubans leaving Cuba to get to Florida anyway they can -- via sea, or air, or walking across the southern U. S. border with Mexico.

      For example, this little Cuban airplane is -- on March 1st-2023 -- making headlines. Cuba used the little plane to fumigate crops but a Cuban flew it from Sancti Spiritus in Cuba to Florida, assuming -- correctly -- that he could get asylum in Florida once he landed on the U. S. soil. Updating the saga of that little airplane, below is the what the London-based Reuters News Agency is telling the world today -- March 1st-2023.

    Of course, Reuters -- a worldwide news agency based in London -- thinks this is an important and headline-grabbing story about a little plane hijacked from Cuba landing in Florida. But the U. S. media largely ignores any topic that shines any negative spotlight on Florida regarding revolutionary Cuba.

      On March 1st of 2023, the long-ago headlines from January of 1959 about Castro's revolution making dictator Bastista flee the island are ancient history in the United States. In the U. S. media since 1959 till 2023, almost all of the "news" about Cuba pertains to how terribly bad  and poor revolutionary Cuba is compared to the good and rich Cubans in Florida.

     But a conveniently misunderstood Caribbean revolution that replaced Batista in Cuba with Castro needs to be assessed accuratedly today -- because 64 YEARS later, and 7 years after Castro died at age 90 -- the massive changes that January of 1959 wrought in Cuba and in the United States remain, especially in the nearby cities of Miami and Havana.

       The U.S.-Cuban conundrum on March 1st of 2023 needs a plethora of "Captivating Histories" as well as topical media coverage to explain the daily developments between the two vastly different neighbors -- Little Cuba and the Super United States -- since January of 1959.

       And thus...on March 1st of 2023 this little airplane hijacked from Cuba to Florida needs to be accurately reported to the U. S. people, meaning the 340 million Americans who are also responsible for the U.S.-Cuban conundrum, which starts and ends with the Havana/Little Havana conundrum. Today the Reuters worldwide headline explains that Havana wants this little airplane back because it is needed to fumigate Cuban crops while the United States, at the behest of Little Havana as expected, has decided to keep the little airplane and to give the hijacker/pilot asylum in Florida. The current saga of this little airplane, of course, has been replicated before -- with the same outcome...favoring Little Havana while hurting Havana.

    Of Course, since January of 1959 there have been many hijackings of planes in Cuba that landed in nearby Florida. Note the photo and caption above from CBS News: "Hijacked Cuban Plane Lands in Key West." But that frequency is no excuse for the mainstream U. S. media to ignore the hijacking that London-based Reuters thinks is a Big Deal today on March 1st of 2023!!!

     Study this map and see how easy and luring it is to hijack a plane in poor little revolutionary Cuba and land it in mighty and rich Florida. Note the location of Havana and Miami. About half between those two warring cities is Key West, Florida. This map helps explain the U.S.-Cuban conundrum...especially since January of 1959!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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