Bashing Cuba Still Pays

For the U. S. Media 

      The largest and most-read newspaper in the United States is USA Today. Like the rest of the mainstream U. S. media, USA Today has neither the guts nor the integrity to tell the truth about Cuba. And USA Today is not even a right-wing publication; it is simply politically and socially correct. After a half-century of visceral Cuban-exiles dictating America's Cuban narrative and Cuban policy, USA Today -- which I have subscribed to for 20 years -- simply provides Americans with what they are accustomed to hearing or reading about Cuba. And that, for the most part, is a pack of self-serving distortions or pure purposeful lies. USA Today's prime writer about Cuba, for example, is a visceral anti-Cuban Cuban-American based in Miami named Alan Gomez. That's Mr. Gomez in front of the USA Today banner above. Even though the Republican Convention, Hillary Clinton's VP pick, and continuing terrorist acts dominated much of this week's news, one of the biggest articles in USA Today was just another Alan Gomez tirade against Cuba. It dominated a whole page Thursday, July 21st, and its blaring across-the-whole-page headline was "U. S. Urges Cuba to Carry Its Own Weight." 

        Alan Gomez, as a part of the vast Anti-Cuban Cottage Industry in the United States, is, of course, trying to counter any and all of the positive Cuban gestures orchestrated so bravely by President Obama. As the above photo indicates, Gomez is also USA Today's writer on "Immigration Reform." As a self-serving anti-Cuban Cuban-American, Gomez seems to promote such uncontested views as: Hey, Cubans are the only immigrants in the entire world who are home free the second they touch U. S. soil and are instantaneously provided economic, political, and residential-citizenship advantages not available to any non-Cuban. We must maintain that nice policy forever. Of course, everyday Americans are also the only people in the world without the freedom to travel to Cuba, and that's good because we Cuban-Americans can do their thinking for them when it comes to Cuba. Etc., etc., etc. Of course, Americans are supposed to be too stupid, too intimidated or too unpatriotic to challenge anything Alan Gomez and his ilk say about Cuba or U.S.-Cuban relations.

      Cuba's 28-year-old broadcast journalist, Cristina Escobar, has made three recent and pertinent visits to the United States -- attending journalism seminars in California and then two professional trips to Washington. She made some headlines with comments such as, "Journalists in Cuba have more freedom to tell the truth about the U. S. than U. S. journalists have to tell the truth about Cuba." I am not suggesting that you believe that entirely, but I am suggesting that Cristina believes it and her views should be respected. She is well educated, extremely intelligent, an expert on U.S.-Cuban relations and fluent in English as well as Spanish. She anchors a top Cuban news program in Spanish and a popular regional program in English. In fact, she is so talented and so pro-Cuban that she reportedly has been offered huge sums to defect to Miami and become anti-Cuban. That's highly unlikely. She strongly supports Revolutionary Cuba, yet is not adverse to pointing out its "imperfections, but ones we must correct, not Americans." And she insists that "Cuba's fate is up to Cubans on the island, not Cubans in Miami or Cubans in Washington." She also firmly says, "I don't want the U. S. to bring me democracy. That is a project for Cubans on the island of Cuba."    

         In 2015 when she was in Washington to cover the fourth and final Vidal-Jacobson diplomatic session, Cristina Escobar made history by becoming the first Cuban to ask questions at a White House news conference. It was hosted by President Obama's chief spokesman Josh Earnest. In fact, she asked six questions, all of which were quite pertinent. She was the first to nail down whether Obama would "visit Cuba in 2016." She also wanted to know if the U. S. would "respect" Cuba at its new Washington embassy and she asked if the U. S. planned to "continue its regime-change programs." If you click the button in the center of the above graphic, you can hear her ask those questions and then hear all the answers.

         After that Washington news conference that featured the history-making Cristina Escobar, Air Force One, descending above Havana in this photo, did bring President Obama to Cuba. The last six photos are courtesy of REUTERS, the London-based news agency that covers Cuba intently and, I might add, fairly.

       This photo shows an elderly Cuban woman eagerly waiting her chance to see President Obama in Havana. She has never been America's enemy and she has never deserved being punished by America.

Obama waving while speaking at Havana's Gran Teatro.

        This Cuban is 54-year-old Carlos Alvarez. He told REUTERS that he was "totally thrilled" by President Obama's visit and he said, "It was a true blessing that he came to see us." Isolating Cubans has been cruel.

    On July 20th, 2015, the Cuban Embassy re-opened in Washington.

       And U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry was on hand a year ago when the U. S. flag was raised at the re-opened U. S. Embassy in Havana. Both embassies had been closed since 1961 to please a selected few.

      America's Secretary of State John Kerry and his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez shook hands in agreement about President Obama's historic efforts to normalize relations with Cuba. Of course, while most Americans, most Cuban-Americans and most citizens of the world agree with President Obama's Cuban policies, some vigorously and continuously oppose it...in Miami's Little Havana, for example.

       This REUTERS photo was taken at an anti-Cuban demonstration in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. It urgently demanded a continuation of the archaic Cold War as opposed to peace, handshakes and the re-opening of embassies in the two capital cities. Cristina Escobar thinks there are more "SPIES + TERRORISTS" in Miami than in Havana. If that premise is debatable, there is no debating the fact that the U.S.-Cuban conundrum is a two-way proposition and one that hurts America's image much more than it hurts Cuba's, a fact emblazoned around the world yearly by that 191-to-2 pro-Cuba/anti-U.S. vote in the UN. 

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Republicans Still Want Cuba

For Their Very Own!! 
Updated: Friday, July 22nd, 2016 

    Last night in Cleveland, Donald J. Trump officially accepted the nomination of the Republican Party to be President of the United States. No, the billionaire businessman is not qualified for that position but he is more qualified than the 16 Republican candidates he wiped out in the primary and, as a non-politician, he may be more qualified than his lone remaining challenger, the Democrat who happens to be a long-established, dynastic politician whose husband is a former and now very rich two-term President. Although African-Americans, Hispanics and women are strongly against Trump, he incredibly has a chance because he is not a "qualified" politician, something that many Americans are fed-up with. Mr. Trump is a politically in-correct politician. 

    Ted Cruz is the Cuban-American politician who most harbors the lofty twin goals of re-capturing Cuba as soon as he first captures America. He is a first-term U. S. Senator from Texas backed by the right-wing Tea Party and a host of right-wing billionaires. Donald Trump eliminated Cruz, whom Trump called "Lying Ted," in the Republican presidential primary but, incredibly, Trump allowed Cruz to make the most heralded speech at Wednesday's crucial third night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where Trump has been officially anointed the Republican presidential nominee. The AP photo above shows Cruz, an accomplished speaker who tries to hide his right-wing extremism, just before he was booed off the rostrum in Cleveland. The eager crowd supported Cruz's speech but kept assuming he would endorse Donald Trump. But he refused, even after he condescendingly stared down at delegates screaming for him to at least announce his support of the Republican candidate, Mr. Trump. As Cruz was booed off the stage, Tea Party zealot Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia whisked Cruz's wife Heidi to safety when an angry crowd closed in around her. Many interpret Cruz's speech as a prelude to his anticipated 2020 victory speech. He expects Trump to lose to Democrat Hillary Clinton this year, leaving him at the top of the Republican Party and primed to be President in 2020. That's not likely. Even Republican icons like the venerable Bob Dole consider Cruz "the most dangerous politician in America." But when it comes to Cuba, any Republican in the White House teamed with a Republican Congress would try to destroy Revolutionary Cuba, although Trump, the controversial billionaire businessman who is now the top Republican, supports President Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba, as would Hillary Clinton. Trump's glaring inexperience as a politician is an asset because Americans have tired of bought-and-paid-for politicians.

Ted Cruz's anti-Trump speech in Cleveland Wednesday.

 Trump Vs. Cruz, internecine warfare.

      Peter King is a Republican giant in the U. S. Congress where he has represented New York since 1993. Typically outraged at Ted Cruz's pompous, self-eulogizing speech at the Republican National Convention, Mr. King angrily called Cruz "a liar and a fraud." He was talking about the Ted Cruz that plans to be the next Republican President of the United States. GOOD LUCK!!

      This week's Republican National Convention in Cleveland and next week's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia will both reveal that the nadir of the U. S. democracy may be upon us. The best journalists in America today are the great Editorial Cartoonists. So, it's no surprise that David Horsey of the Los Angeles Times best sums up these next two political weeks in America, as you can see above. Donald Trump, a controversial billionaire businessman, is the Republican presidential nominee. Hillary Clinton, a controversial bought-and-paid-for establishment icon, is the Democratic nominee. A strong majority of Americans do not want either Trump or Clinton to be the next President of the United States starting in January, 2017. But U. S. voters are left in a bind. In a flawed, money-crazed two-party system, voters have two choices: {1} Vote for the lesser of two evils; or {2} do not vote at all. Many democracy-lovers believe that the U. S. Supreme Court in 2010 pounded the final nail in democracy's coffin when it legalized unlimited donations to political campaigns by individual and corporate billionaires, many with foreign-tinged aspects or relations. That's not what America's Founding Fathers in 1776 envisioned for their truly great democracy. And that's why David Horsey's political statement depicted above is so very accurate and...so very sad.  

       This week in Cleveland the Republican National Convention crowned  controversial businessman Donald Trump and Tea Party darling Mike Pence, the Governor of Indiana, as its Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees. More than 60% of Americans consider Mr. Trump unqualified to be President of the United States, but that's barely better than his bought-and-paid-for Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. The scenarios playing out this week in Cleveland and next week in Philadelphia affects the entire world because of America's superpower status as the unequaled economic and military power. And of all the nations in the world, perhaps little Cuba has the most at stake next to the United States itself. Before you casually dismiss that suggestion, at least Google major Cuban-Republican involvements from 1898 till today and, most particularly, from 1952 till...this very day.

     You should start with this Wikipedia photo. It shows the USS Maine warship in the upper-center entering Havana Harbor on January 25, 1898. Since 1776 the United States had coveted ownership of Cuba, once offering to trade Florida to Spain for the biggest and greatest Caribbean island. By 1898 America's two most powerful newspaper moguls -- William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer -- had two goals, ownership of Cuba and Teddy Roosevelt as their very own U. S. President. They knew imperialist Spain was too extended to defend Cuba in a war with the U. S., which is next door to Cuba. But they needed a pretext to start the war in which they would make sure that Teddy Roosevelt would get the most credit for winning. That's where the USS Maine came into play. It was a proud warship. The U. S. taxpayers had paid exactly $4,677,788.75 -- don't forget the 75 cents -- in 1890 for the USS Maine.

        There was, of course, no problem in searching for a pretext to declare war on Spain for the purpose of acquiring Cuba and making Teddy Roosevelt the U. S. President. On February 15, 1898 a massive explosion in Havana Harbor blew the USS Maine to smithereens. The officers, by chance, were on shore in Havana but 261 young sailors were killed. Later, one of the officers died merely from shock. Whether it was accidental or deliberate, the explosion in Havana Harbor gave Hearst and Pulitzer their pretext for the Spanish-American War. "REMEMBER THE MAINE!" was the battle-cry emblazoned in America's top newspapers although Spain was in no position to purposely provoke a war with the United States.

    
    The battle-cry "Remember the Maine" resonated across America in 1898 after the two most powerful newspaper publishers -- William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer -- repeatedly blared headlines about the "Spanish Murderers." They also had enough political pull to make sure that their dear friend Teddy Roosevelt was sent to Cuba to fight the easy war that would make him a successful presidential candidate. Hearst and Pulitzer also sent their top journalists to cover the war -- including Pulitzer's Stephen Crane who later wrote the classic Civil War novel "The Red Badge of Courage" in 1905. Hearst sent the great and expensive painter Frederic Remington to Cuba to lavishly portray the war. Crane and Remington were well-paid to fulfill their assignments, which were to glorify Teddy Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders" for their heroic and magnificent victory in the convenient Spanish-American War.

        Back in 1898 there were no radio, television or computer/Smart Phone coverage of the Spanish-American War. So, America's two richest and most powerful newspaper publishers -- Hearst and Pulitzer -- had propaganda field days. Thus their portrait of Teddy Roosevelt's Charge Up San Juan Hill would become the biggest image of the war. It helped Teddy become President of the United States. But first, The Treaty of Paris in which no Cuban was represented ended the war. It ceded Cuba from Spain to the United States. That and Teddy's later presidency were the two big things but the U. S. also paid defeated Spain $20 million to acquire the imperial rights to the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam. But make no mistake about the fact that gaining dominion over Cuba was the reason the United States fought the Spanish-American War.

          As the above graphic indelibly points out, the Spanish-American War in 1898 was purely designed to give the United States control of Cuba. Many believed that the world's greatest and most admired democracy would then create a democratic paradise in Cuba, the largest next-door island in the nearby Caribbean. Sadly, democracy never happened. The first prime benefactors of the Spanish-American War were the rich newspaper moguls Hearst and Pulitzer but, from those days in 1898 till these days in 2016, America has viewed Cuba as a piggy-bank for rich Americans. And, after the theft of the plush Cuban port of Guantanamo Bay in 1903, America has also viewed Cuba as a plush but unneeded military base.

           The term "Yellow Journalism" got its origin because of the role Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst played in the Spanish-American War. The word "yellow" also defined the war in Cuba.

       Teddy Roosevelt, the most famed "Rough Rider" in the Spanish-American War, was President of the United States from 1901-1909. It ushered in a new era of money getting an iron grip on U. S. politics.

          Yet, 1952 was the year that America's right-wing fetish for Cuba reached its greedy zenith. This photo shows U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower joyfully hosting Cuba's brutal, thieving dictator Fulgencio Batista. Ike, World War II's supreme hero, was a good man. But in 1952 his Vice-President Richard Nixon, his Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and his CIA Director Allen Dulles were instrumental in teaming the U. S. democracy with the Mafia to support the vile Batista dictatorship in Cuba. By the 1970s when Nixon was President Americans would find out what a crook he was. And a couple of decades after that, Americans would learn that the Dulles brothers had private interests in the United Fruit Company, the most infamous U. S. business associated with the rape and robbery of helpless Latin American nations. Meanwhile, thanks to classified data and a lot of propaganda, Americans to this day have been proselytized not to blame Nixon, the Dulles brothers, Henry Kissinger, etc. for Latin American ventures that included America, beginning in 1953 and going deep into the 1970s, overthrowing democratically elected governments to install thieving and murderous but U.S.-friendly dictators, with the most notorious being in 1973 when the democratically elected Salvador Allende in Chile was killed in a coup that put the U.S.-friendly but thieving and extremely murderous Augusto Pinochet dictatorship in power for 17 bloody years.

       From an image standpoint, arguably the biggest mistake the United States has made was teaming with the Mafia to support the Batista dictatorship in Cuba beginning in 1952. If you disagree with that, you probably also think that the yearly 191-to-2 pro-Cuba & anti-U. S. vote in the United Nations makes the U. S. look good in the eyes of the world. The above image recaps the Mafia-fueled U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship in Cuba. That's the thuggish Batista in the upper-right. That's #1 Mafia kingpin Lucky Luciano in the upper-left. And that's #2 Mafia kingpin Meyer Lansky in the lower-middle. There are some democracy lovers who believe the U. S. could have found a better Cuban partner than...the notorious Mafia.

       During the 1952-1959 Batista dictatorship in Cuba, propagandized Americans were incessantly told that the island was the "Paradise of the Tropics" and indeed it was -- for the Batistianos, Mafiosi and Americans who were robbing Cuba blind. The three main enterprises were gambling, drugs and prostitution.

       But the peasants, not involved in the money-making schemes, were destitute in Batista's Cuba. They went hungry and they had zero help from the government in regards to health care, education or shelter.

      A peasant mother in Batista's Cuba. If they had been thrown a few crumbs, it is unlikely that this situation would have spawned a revolution. After all, a U.S.-backed dictatorship was deemed rock-solid.

      But this is the type photo that spawned the Cuban Revolution in Batista's U.S.-backed Cuba. Instead of at least throwing crumbs to the peasants, the Batista thugs routinely murdered dissidents. If you read the sign these brave women are heralding, it was the murders of children -- their hijos -- apparently as a warning to dissidents that led to these street marches, which in turn led to the Cuban Revolution.

This mother bravely blamed Batista for her son's murder.

     But the most famous childhood murder in Batista's Cuba was that of William Soler. The bodies of little Willie and three of his classmates were left in an abandoned warehouse. In the above photo in the center wearing the white jacket is Willie Soler's mother. Marches like this spurred the Cuban Revolution. Today in Revolutionary Cuba, the William Soler Children's Hospital is named for him and his very brave mother.

       The Cuban Revolution will always be synonymous with its leader, Fidel Castro. The victorious revolution shocked the world and cemented his legend, but his longevity -- which included his front-line defense at the Bay of Pigs in April of 1961 -- crowned his fame or, as his detractors say, his infamy. His revolution, against all odds, still rules Cuba and Fidel turns 90-years-old in a few days -- August 13th.

       Headlines like this greeted Americans on January 1, 1959. But beginning on that day, the "fleeing" Batistianos and Mafiosi resettled on U. S. soil with the full cooperation of the U. S. government. The plan was to recapture Cuba in short order. Many of the most visceral anti-Castro exiles -- Luis Posada Carriles, Jorge Mas Canosa, etc. -- were sent to the then-secretive Army of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. They were trained there and in U.S.-friendly dictatorships -- such as Somoza's Nicaragua -- to attack Cuba, which they famously and unsuccessfully did, after a fierce bombing attack, at the Bay of Pigs in April of 1961. The Army of the Americas had already been set up at Fort Benning to secretly train soldiers and police from U.S.-friendly dictatorships who were then sent back to protect the dictators. Americans finally learned about the school when President Clinton held a news conference to apologize for it. And since the headline above on January 1, 1959, the Cuban narrative in the U. S. and the U. S. Cuban policy have largely or solely been dictated by two generations of the most visceral anti-Castro exiles and Cuban-Americans. 

     And that brings us right up to date with this Denver Post photo-montage. It shows New Jersey Governor Chris Christie during his cruel anti-Cuban tirade this week -- Tuesday, July 19th -- at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. It's a reminder that the self-serving anti-Cuban zealots in Miami, New Jersey and Washington STILL WANT CUBA, which you'll recall is the title of this Cubaninsider essay.

       This week -- Wed.-July 20th -- Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz made major speeches at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. They are first-term Cuban-American U. S. Senators and renowned anti-revolutionary zealots. Although polls show that most Cuban-Americans support President Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba, only anti-revolutionary Cuban-American zealots can get elected to Congress. Rubio and Cruz were prime presidential contenders because a huge contingent of right-wing and Israeli billionaires along with the right-wing Tea Party powerfully champion Rubio and Cruz. Donald Trump soundly trounced Rubio, Cruz, Christie and 13 other challengers for the Republican presidential nomination but Rubio and Cruz clearly have the financial backing, if not the qualifications, to purchase the White House in 2020 and beyond. Mr. Trump's personal decision to spotlight them last night in Cleveland is a decision he will regret. They will strive to trample Trump and all others politically.

In other words: 

        The bold New Era in U.S.-Cuba relations that President Obama created is more a fantasy than a reality. The fierce Cuban Cottage Industry in the U. S. remains a cornucopia of revenge, economic and political rewards for the counter-revolutionaries entrenched in the fabric of the U. S. democracy. It's been that way since 1959 and the U. S. does not seem strong enough to correct the luminescent situation that most Americans, most Cuban-Americans and almost all of America's worldwide friends badly want corrected.

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A Fresh Glance at Cuba

 An Island in Flux 
 {Updated: Tuesday, July 19th, 2016} 

        Josefina Vidal is Cuba's top minister in dealing with U. S. issues and normally she is tough but also quite poised and diplomatic. But sometimes in exasperation she throws up her hands in disgust. Yesterday was one of those days. Ecuador, more disgusted than Vidal, has deported 75 Cubans back to Cuba. They were among the thousands of Cubans and their traffickers taking the expensive air-land route to the Mexican border where Cubans who touch U. S. soil, and only Cubans, are awarded instant residency with instant benefits totally unavailable to all non-Cubans. "The U. S. Wet Foot/Dry Foot law related to Cubans is a joke," Vidal fumed, "but all other nations have never laughed at it. For heaven's sake! Instead of mocking the U. S. and democracy for another six decades, perhaps the Batista take-over of the U. S. Congress should be challenged by Americans interested in preserving their nice democracy!"

      Americans know but may not recognize this young Cuban. It's Elian Gonzalez. He's now 22-years-old and he has just graduated from college. Yes, at his graduation he sported a beard. His idol is Fidel Castro. He read a speech at his graduation and noted that Fidel turns 90-years-old "in less than a month." He also said, "I want him to know that my classmates and I will fight from whatever trench the revolution demands." After the ceremony, he said: "In my case, I like to study and in my free time I go out with my brothers, my friends. I enjoy swimming and I like baseball. What young Cuban doesn't like baseball? I like music and I read a lot. Fidel still sends me very nice books."

      This is the Elian Gonzalez photo that will forever be seared in history. In 1999 in the Florida Straits his mother drowned trying to reach the United States but saved 5-year-old Elian's life via a final motherly gesture by putting him on an inner tube, which drifted near Florida where he was rescued by two fishermen. For months a tug-of-war for Elian's custody gripped the world with his father and Cuba battling anti-Castro Cuban-Americans who had control of him, defying the U. S. government till U. S. Marshals, as depicted above, rescued a frightened Elian who was flown back to Cuba on June 28, 2000.

        This photo was taken in July of 2001 in Elian's hometown of Cardenas, Cuba. The six-year-old Elian is shown smiling at and listening intently to Fidel Castro who has remained in close touch with Elian. To this day Castro equates the return to Cuban soil of Elian with his victory at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

       This is Adrian Morejon. He was born just 17 years ago in a very poor Cuban town. He is now a multi-millionaire. The San Diego Padres wrote him an $11 million dollar check as a signing bonus. In fact, the Padres wanted Adrian so badly that, after giving him an $11 million check, they had to give Major League Baseball another $11 million check as a penalty for over-spending on "international players" such as the teenage Adrian. It's a microcosm of the U.S.-Cuban conundrum that has left Cuba very, very poor while reminding the island of nearby gluttony.

       American baseball scouts spotted Adrian Morejon as a left-handed pitcher for Cuba's 15-and-under Mayabeque team. They then fawned over him at the 15-and-under World Cup in Mexico.

      Cuba is an absolute gold mine for producing baseball players. The pipeline of Cuban stars defecting to the U. S. creates a lot of instant millionaires -- the players and, in many cases, their traffickers, some of whom have imprisoned the players till they got their share of the huge bonuses. Embargoed for over a half century by the U. S. government, the Cuba-to-the-U.S. baseball pipeline is reminiscent of the 1950s when the rape and robbery of Cuba was on Cuban soil by the U.S-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship. Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the rape and robbery of Cuba has taken place off the island. Of course, propagandized Americans accepted the Batista-Mafia rule of Cuba in the 1950s and now accept the U. S. Congress's dictation of Cuba. But if you're a baseball prospect, the upfront million-dollar bonuses are indeed real money.

          Fidel Castro's all-time favorite baseball player was Yulieski Gourriel, shown here with the island's revolutionary legend. The operative word this weekend is was. Yulieski last played in Cuba in 2015 and this weekend he is signing a $47.5 million contract with the Houston Astros in the money-crazed U. S. 

       For over a decade Yulieski Gourriel was Fidel's and the country's most beloved baseball player. That was so because of his talent and his refusal to defect and become an instant multi-millionaire in the U. S., which craves Cuba's baseball stars. Yulieski is now 32-years-old. The $47.5 million contract with Houston is totally guaranteed even if he never gets a Major League base hit. He will be paid $3.5 million the rest of this season and then in the next four seasons his guaranteed salaries will be $14 million, $12 million, $10 million and $8 million.

     This photo shows Yuliesky Gourriel {on the left} and his brother Lourdes when they decided to leave Cuba and become multi-millionaire baseball players in the United States. The guaranteed $47.5 million Houston has given Yuliesky realizes his dream. But Lourdes will get far more. The even-more-talented Lourdes is just 22-years-old, ten years younger than Gourriel. The Houston Astros have already announced that they will bid "highly" for Lourdes against the other 29 MLB teams. Lourdes said, "I've been beside Yuliesky all my life. I would love to be with my brother in the Houston Astros organization."

       Major League baseball in the United States is already awash with Cuban stars, such as Yoenis Cespedes, the 30-year-old outfielder with the New York Mets. Wikipedia says Yoenis is being paid $17.5 million this year but that is outdated. USA Today correctly says Yoenis is being paid exactly $27,328,046 this year by the Mets. He is a free agent at the end of the season, meaning all 30 Major League teams can bid for Yoenis Cespedes this coming winter.

      This is a rich young Cuban named Yoan Moncada. He is a speedy 21-year-old switch-hitting second baseman in the Minor League system of the Boston Red Sox. He is currently rated the best baseball prospect in the world. Boston gave Yoan a guaranteed $31.5 million signing bonus -- a bonus, not a salary. And the Red Sox wouldn't think of taking a $250 million offer for Yoan today.

         28-year-old Cuban lefthander Aroldis Chapman is the lights out closer for the New York Yankees. Before Boston gave Yoan Moncada that $31.5 million signing bonus, the largest in baseball history had been the $16.25 million signing bonus the Cincinnati Reds gave Chapman in 2010. Chapman too is a free agent at the end of this season and all 30 teams can bid for him, the only man on the planet with fast balls up to 105 miles-per-hour. There are pitchers who don't have 105 mph fast balls -- like Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and David Price -- who are making in excess of $30 million per year on long-term, guaranteed contracts. With the island of Cuba being a baseball mecca, no wonder U. S. teams salivate over getting Cubans to defect. And if you study the above bonuses and salaries, it is also no wonder that even the most loyal Cuban, Yulieski Gourriel, has finally capitulated to those Yankee dollars.

         The red dots on this map reflect the six Cuban cities that will soon be getting commercial flights from American Airlines. Till President Obama intervened, they had not been allowed for over half-a-century. 

       The co-founder of MEDICC, Gail Reed, is one of many American medical experts yearning for U.S.-Cuban medical cooperation when and if the U. S. Congress ever lifts the ancient embargo of Cuba.

       The democracy-loving Congresswoman from California, Barbara Lee, has always fought tenaciously to get the U. S. to normalize relations with Cuba. Congresswoman Lee is second from the left in this photo that includes three young doctors. She was impressed with Cuba's Latin American hospital that provides totally free educations to poor foreign students who are only asked to return and, at least for a time, serve their home areas. Ms. Lee was instrumental in persuading the Cuban government to include Americans.

       One of the gracious Americans who have graduated from Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine is Dr. Lillian Holloway. Back home now as a skilled U. S. doctor, she doesn't owe Cuba a single penny.

Dr. Lillian Holloway.

      This Getty Images photo shows the beautiful Cuban Port of Cienfuegos. As you can see on the map at the top of this report, Cienfuegos is one of the Cuban cities that will soon have U. S. commercial airplane flights for the first time in half a century. Cienfuegos is also now one of the stops for U. S. cruise ships.

       Cienfuegos is in south-central Cuba, northwest of the gorgeous colonial city of Trinidad. West of Cienfuegos is a beautiful, historic beach called Playa Giron. Americans know it in English as the Bay of Pigs and in Spanish as Bahia de Cochinos, the site of a surprising Cuban military triumph in April of 1961.

Tourist love the beach at Playa Giron, the old battle site.

Playa Giron now has a very beautiful hotel.

The Playa Giron museum reminds visitors of the battle.

       Tourists who visit Playa Giron will be reminded that Fidel Castro, when he realized the U.S.-Cuban exile attack would be at the Bay of Pigs in April of 1961, rushed to the frontlines and led the successful defense.

       But today -- as Fidel Castro nears his 90th birthday on August 13th and as President Obama bravely believes Americans have a right to visit Cuba -- this is the peaceful beach tourists will find at Playa Giron.

And speaking of baseball:

       This is Melissa Mayeux. She is French and now 17-years-old. She doesn't speak English or Spanish but she is the only female in history who has been put on the list that makes her eligible to be signed by a Major League baseball team. If you Google her name and watch the videos of her and listen to what MLB scouts say about her, you'll understand why. She is a brilliant defensive shortstop and a powerful hitter.

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