This year of 2025 marks the 66th anniversary of Revolutionary Cuba after the Cuban Revolution in January of 1959 overthrew the US/Mafia-backed Batista dictatorship. Now predictions about the end of the Cuban Revolution are escalating, perhaps by springtime in 2025. But Johana Tablada in Havana was flashing this smile in Havana today although the new U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is from Miami-Little Havana, now has the power to fulfill his lifelong dream, which is to finally end Cuba's revolutionary rule. Johana is supported by most Cubans in Cuba and she speaks for the Cuban goverment. Also she has a strong voice on Social Media forums. Below is one of her Facebook posts today on...uh...Marco Rubio:
As you might imagine, Johana Tablada has long been attuned to the prime enemies of the Cuban Revolution, and she has rated Marco Rubio as the most powerful threat to Cuba since 2011, which was the first year he represented Miami-Little Havana in the U. S. Senate. But since January of 2025 Johana Tablada believes Rubio, as President Donald Trump's new Secretary of State, now has been given the nationwide superpowers as Secretary of State to finally overthrow Revolutionary Cuba. Most of the top observers of U. S.-Cuban Relations agree with Johana Tablada.
Meanwhile, even with Marco Rubio now firmly entrenched as the USA's ultra-powerful Secretary of State, pugnacious little Cuba is still hoping for the U. S. to finally allow the nearby island to join all the other nations in the region that profit from open and unrestricted tourism. In fact, yes Cuba has just opened another 5-star hotel in Havana. And, in fact, the two Spanish hotel and resort giants -- Iberostar and Melia -- already have 42 4-star and 5-star Hotels & Resorts in Cuba...with all of them hoping for the day that the U. S. will allow them to fill their thousands of rooms with tourists. Above you can see how the Associated Press, the ubiquitous U. S. and worldwide News Agency, has blared out this massive headline: "A new luxury hotel towers over Havana as Cuba's economic troubles mount and tourism plummets."
Of course, just a few miles south of the ultra-rich Tourist playgrounds in southern Florida, Cuba is home to some of the region's and the world's top Tourist attractions. WOW!!! What if the United States allowed Tourists to freely visit Cuban spots such as Varadero Beach, which is due south of Key West, Florida?
Of course, back in the 1950s when the Batistianos and Mafiosi ruled Cuba, U. S. ads like the one shown above promoted vast tourism to Varadero Beach and other prime Cuban tourist attractions...along with other lures such as gambling casinos, prostituion, etc., etc. Back then dozans of rich U. S. companies, of course, partook in the wholesale rape and robbery of the luxurious island of Cuba...but, uh, no one at that time bothered to toss a few crumbs to the majority peasants who hungered for food, health, and education opportunities.
In the 1950s "Cuba's Mafia-backed dictator Batista" did not believe he needed to toss a few crumbs to the everyday Cubans. After all, the Batista dictatorship was supported by the strongest criminal organization in the world, and by the strongest nation in the world, the United States.
But not even crumbs were provided for the many poor Cuba families.
But the last straw for poor and middle class families in Batista's Cuba came when Cuban mothers {"Madres"} marched in the streets to protest the murders {"Asesinators"}} of their children, a gruesome ploy designed to keep mothers like the ones shown above from protesting what was happening in Cuba. But the killings had the opposite effect, provoking mothers to take to the streets to protest the murders of their children {"ninos"}. The mother shown above in the white blouse and sunglasses was the mother of Little Willie Soler, one of the murdered children. Today in Revolutionary Cuba the top Children's Hospital in Havana named for Little Willie.
And, for sure, the brave street marches by the brave Cuban mothers helped fuel the Cuban Revolution, which overthrew Batista on January 1st, 1959. In Revolutionary Cuba the rebel leader Fidel Castro gave masive power to female rebels such Celia Sanchez, Vilma Espin, Haydee Santamaria, etc. Thus, among the first two new revolutionary laws were: {1} Free food and shelter for every Cuban; and {2} Free health care and educations through college for every Cuban. And, oh Yes, Cuba's new Children's Hospital was named for Little Willie Soler.
Legendary Cuban fighters and decision-makers:
Vilma Espin, Celia Sanchez, and Haydee Santamaria.
As the above headline & photo explains, the ageless U. S. Embargo/Blockade of Cuba that began in 1962 was/is designed to starve Cuba from getting tourist income. After the six-decade-old U. S. Embargo continues, Revolutionary Cuba in 2025 is starved for money as more and more nations submit to the Embargo's influence on foreign countries.
Meanwhile, as shown by the two maps above, Cuba is the largest nation and arguably the most beautiful nation in the Caribbean. Yet, the only nation in the Caribbean that is terribly suffering from not being able to fully benefit from tourism is Cuba. As the richest and strongest nation in the world, the U. S. uses its unique influence to restrict Cuban tourism that other nations massively enjoy.
In 2023 the above chart showed the population of Caribbean countries with Haiti, Dominican Republican, and Cuba being the three leaders, each with over 11 million citizens. The U. S. Territtory of Puerto Rico, for example, had only 3.3 million people.
In 2025 this giant Associated Press headline screams out: "A new luxury hotel towers over Havana as Cuba's economic troubles mount and tourism plummets" Well, what the AP fails to mention is this: EVEN IF YOU ARE STARVING YOU MUST CLING TO HOPE THAT THINGS WILL IMPROVE. Below is how the AP mocks how Cuba's "new luxury hotel towers over Havana" while Cuba starves, just as the U. S. Embargo since 1962 has intended.
The new Iberostar Packard Hotel is now the tallest building in Havana. It has 42 stories and 594 rooms. Everything is 5-star, including the 4 bars, 4 restaurants, and the 3 meeting/conference rooms. No, this is not the only 5-star hotel in Havana. In fact, the two giant Spanish Hotel & Resort Chains Iberostar and Melia have over forty 4-star and 5-star hotels that are built near the top tourist sites on the island. Moreover, despite the massive six-decade-old U. S. Economic/Blockade against the island, both Cuba and the two Spanish hotel giants are advertising their array of Cuban hotels, in hopes that one day the ultra-powerful United States will stop restricting tourism to the Caribbean's largest and, arguably, its most beautiful and historic nation.
Just a few miles due south of the ultra-rich tourist-loving mecca of southern Florida, the blockaded nation of Cuba has lures like Varadero Beach. Yet to appease the rich and politically powerful Miami Cuban-Americans such as Marco Rubio, the U. S. Embargo/Blockade and other anti-Cuba actions in Miami and Washington successfully limit tourism even to Cuban tourist lures such as Varadero.
But, of course, AGAIN remember back to the 1950s -- when as shown above -- the U. S. and top U. S. companies raked in tons of tourist dollars in Cuba when the Mafiosi-run Batista dictatorship ruled Cuba with brutal force. The U. S. government and U. S. media back in the 1950s wildly promoted Cuban sites such as Varadero to lure as many toourists as possible to the Caribbean's most enticing island.
The classic image above depicts the Mafiosi-ravaged Batista dictatorship in Cuba that was led by Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, and Fulgencio Batista. Of course, such true history of the 1940s and 1950s is not supposed to be mentioned in the United States since 1959, the year the Cuban Revolution overthrow the Lansky-Luciano-Batista dictatorship in Cuba.
And speaking of 5-star Iberostar/Melia-run hotels in Cuba now, above was the famous 5-star Hotel Riviera that Mafia kingpin Meyer Lansky opened in Havana on December 10th in 1957. History confirms that the opening night for the Riviera was headlined by Hollywood celebrities such as Ginger Rogers, Nat King Cole, William Holden, etc., etc...and wildly promoted in the United States.
And speaking about all of those 5-star Iberostar and Melia hotels in Cuba begging for tourists, do not FORGET that the famed National Hotel in Havana is still "The Best Luxury Historical Hotel in North America and the Best Luxury Conference & Event Hotel in the Caribbean and still the Best Luxury Hotel in the Caribbean." Back in the 1940s and 1950s Hollywood headliners like Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner homemooned at the National Hotel and, of course, top Mafia kingpins like Lucky Luciano and Al Capone loved the National Hotel in Havana. So would tourists in 2025 because poor little blockaded Cuba has managed to restore it to heights exceeding how it was maintained in the financially glorious days of the 1940s and 1950s.
In 1951 Frank Sinatra & Ava Gardner at the National Hotel.
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