Cuba's No-Win Situation

Dissidents Free to Roam...Almost
Sunday, February 8th, 2015

         If you study this photo, which was taken on a street in Havana,  you can begin to comprehend a few important and topical facts about the U.S.-Cuban diaspora -- namely, why there is zero chance that the two nations will "normalize" relations. This is 46-year-old Tania Bruguera. She was born in 1968 in Havana. Her mother, Argelia, was an English-Spanish translator; her father, Miguel, was a high-ranking official in Revolutionary Cuba's government. He was Cuba's Ambassador to Lebanon and Panama before becoming Deputy Foreign Minister. Miguel supported the government. His wife, Tania's mother Argelia, opposed it. Tania sided with her mother. She received an excellent education, including a Masters in Art. Today she is a friend of Yoani Sanchez and other famed dissidents on the island, and Tania works with them hand-in-hand in fervent and well-funded efforts to overthrow the Cuban government. Tania splits her time between the United States, France, and Cuba. Cuba permits Tania and other dissidents, including Yoani Sanchez, to leave the island and fly back. Cuba assumes, when they fly back, dissidents such as Tania have more cash and other wherewithals to undermine the island's government. Many supporters and opponents of resilient but vulnerable little Cuba believe that allowing Tania, Yoani, etc., to leave and return will finally doom Cuba's hard-earned sovereignty and permit the colossus beyond its northern shore, the United States, to regain full control of it, as was the case after the Spanish-American War in 1898 till the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. As an acute observer of the U.S.-Cuban conundrum, I agree with the doomsayers about foreign dominance inevitably returning to Cuba within the next decade.

       Study and comprehend this photo. It was taken in Revolutionary Square in Havana on December 30, 2014. Since 1960 anytime Democratic U. S. Presidents -- Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, and now Obama -- have attempted to normalize relations with Cuba, Cuban-exile zealots in the U. S., aligned with sycophants in the U. S. Congress, conspire to thwart those efforts. They worked against Presidents Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton and they will work against Obama. Whenever it appears U. S. Presidents are making headway in normalizing relations with Cuba, the Cuban exiles and Congress markedly increase both the anti-Cuban rhetoric and anti-Cuban physical actions. Such historic tactics succeeded against Presidents Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton; and thus it surprises no one that similar duplicitous tactics are currently in play. The above photo is an example and is an offshoot of President Obama's December 17th announcement that he planned to normalize relations with Cuba. That promoted a return trip to Cuba by Tania Bruguera. She announced to the media world that she was holding a demonstration in Revolutionary Square. The media promoted her announcement and eagerly anticipated it. But, as you can see above, only the media showed up. Tania herself was a no-show. Reportedly, she was "detained" by Cuban security forces who "allegedly" released her when the media had exited Revolutionary Square. Such tit-for-tat episodes are regular features of Cuba's defensive mechanisms. Almost always, no one is ever harmed. Cuba believes that such dissident tactics are primarily designed to provoke Cuba into doing something that the Cuban exiles and Congress can use against the island to thwart any attempt by any President to ease the harsh and one-sided Cuban policy that most in the entire world, including the majority of Cuban Americans, deplore.

         This profile photo of Tania Bruguera is courtesy of Nashashibi Skoer/yo Tambien Exijo. A major article about her this week was written by Carlos Suarez De Jesus and entitled "Artist Tania Bruguera Is A Thorn in the Cuban Government's Side." The article, in the Miami New Times, began with these exact words: "Cuban authorities watch Tania Bruguera closely. They listen in on her phone calls. They constantly tail her. 'I can move around Havana, but I have a car following me everywhere I go,' the curly-haired 46-year-old artist says. 'I know they are listening to my calls, because recently, during a phone conversation with a friend, I mentioned I was going to pass out fliers that the government might find alarming. Then, 20 minutes later, a government blogger wrote, 'Tania is on her way to distribute inflammatory leaflets here.' Bruguera, who divides her time among Cuba, the United States and France, became a celebrity this past December 30th." Via the photos at the top of this essay I explained how Tania's anti-Cuban activity made her "a celebrity" on December 30th in Havana's Revolutionary Square although she didn't quite make it to her planned demonstration. Of course, as Tania and her friend Yoani Sanchez and many others have found out, one sure way to become a celebrity and probably a rich one is to let Cuban exiles and their friends in the U. S. Congress know that you will help them undermine, demean, and upend the Cuban government. Also this week, the Los Angeles Times had a major article on Tania Bruguera written by Caroline A. Miranda. The article featured the above photo of Tania with this caption: "Artist Tania Bruguera to remain in Cuba at least 60 more days as officials weigh performance-related charges against her." That photo-caption prefaced the long LA Times article by Ms. Miranda that typically excoriated Cuba, just as Tania Bruguera and the Cuban exiles intended. Of course, if they can indicate that Tania has been injured or otherwise mistreated, all the better for propaganda purposes. For five years, the incarceration in Cuba of Alan Gross was explained to the American people by biased benefactors that, for no reason whatsoever, Mr. Gross was scooped off the street and sentenced to 15 years in prison even though, of course, he was nothing more than a totally innocent tourist in Cuba. And, of course, Tania Bruguera has done nothing to provoke the ire of Cuba, according to the American media. And, of course, neither did the terrorist bomb that brought down Cubana Flight 455 in 1976. And, of course, neither did those airplane overflights in 1996, etc.

   Josefina Vidal is Cuba's Minister of North American Affairs. She is shown here defending Cuba brilliantly, by all accounts, in last month's diplomatic meetings to discuss normalizing relations with her American counterpart Roberta Jacobson. As Cuba's primary asset in trying to defend the island against being swallowed up again by its northern neighbor, Ms. Vidal is the ultimate David against a whole bunch of Goliaths -- the U. S. government, the CIA, the U. S. media, and America's Cuban policy that is fully dictated by only the most vicious Cuban-exiles in Miami, Union City, and Washington. Eventually, she will lose. But not before her guts and determination prolong the denouement another decade or so. She has the backing of every Caribbean nation, every Latin American nation, and the nations of the world. According to recent polls, she even has the support of most Cuban-Americans in Miami. But a handful of Cuban exiles have total control of the U. S. Congress on Cuban issues, and that negates any sanity a Democratic President, such as Mr. Obama, tries to bring to the cauldron that benefits a few and harms everyone else, including Cubans and Americans. Ms. Vidal monitors the U. S. media, so she probably has read every line of the aforementioned Miami New Times and LA Times articles that lauded Tania Bruguera and lambasted Cuba this week. In defending Cuba, Ms. Vidal has said that her main concentration is on being aware of the continuing and well-funded efforts from the U. S. to provoke Cuba into doing something that the Cuban exiles and Congress can use to hurt Cuba, and maybe even getting the U. S. government to invade or attack Cuba once and for all. "Yes," Ms. Vidal says, "over a half-century of the longest and cruelest blockade ever imposed by a strong nation against a much weaker one has not put the Batistianos, the Mafia and the U. S. businessmen back in control of Cuba. The Bay of Pigs military attack and many acts of terrorism also have failed to bring Cuba to its knees. So, what's next? I must think about that each day. Like we have done for so long, we can't forget that the U. S., just to our north, is the strongest nuclear power in the world, by far. Align that fact with the other fact, which is that the Cuban policy of the unmatched nuclear power is in the hands of a few individuals that most desire to regain control of Cuba. The synergy of those two facts indicate what an underdog we are and also reveals the U. S. hypocrisy when it preaches democracy. Determination helps us. Being innovative, which is doing what we have to do when pushed against a wall, helps us. Being lucky, I guess, helps us. Having regional and world opinion on our side helps us. But we are still an island and the forces aligned against us are mammoth and unlimited. And nothing lasts forever, including sovereignty. Cuba for Cubans may not last forever. I understand and live with that."

      Helen Aguirre Ferre is one of the most ubiquitous journalists in South Florida, often dominating the anti-Castro delirium across the board -- on radio, television, newspapers, online, social media...you name it...and she's effective in fluent Spanish or English. Of course, all that has been ratcheted up since President Obama's December 17th announcement about trying to bring some sanity to U.S.-Cuban relations. In scathing op-eds in the Miami Herald  -- such as the one entitled "Castros The Beneficiaries of Perilous Policy Shift" -- she excoriates President Obama and heralds U. S. Senator Marco Rubio of Miami as the savior of America's ills, especially Cuba! In ratcheting up her rhetoric and extending her forums far beyond South Florida, Helen Aguirre Ferre is showing up on national and international venues, such as the worldwide Aljazeera television network. Of course, outside of South Florida she is not speaking just to the choir. In fact, all recent polls show that, even in her Miami-Dade County area, most Cuban-Americans agree with President Obama and not with her prolific attacks that demean the President and his exalted office.

A fiercely coveted island since its discovery in 1492.

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Cuba and the U. S. Congress

A Shameful and Toxic Combination
Thursday, February 5th, 2015

      The U. S. Congress stands tall as the greatest exemplar of democracy, the greatest form of government ever devised by humankind. It deserves and has one of the world's most famed and most beautiful structures. This Wikipedia photo shows the Western Front of the U. S. Capital Building in Washington, D. C.

      The U. S. Congress consists of two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are 535 democratically elected members, 435 Representatives and 100 Senators. Representatives are elected every two years and Senators every six years, with major advantages tilted toward incumbents. Each of America's 50 states has two Senators, meaning sparsely populated Wyoming has the same number of Senators as hugely populated states like California, Texas, New York, and Florida. Thus, the state of Florida has two Senators but the Miami area alone has three Representatives. Therein lies the Shameful and Toxic Combination that involves the U. S. Congress and the island of Cuba. Since the Spanish-American War in 1898, when the U. S. easily wrested control of Cuba from Spain, and especially since the Cuban Revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed and Mafia-backed Batista dictatorship in 1959, Cuba has been a major player in the Americas and on the international stage, far out of proportion to its size, wealth, or population. That's because of the island's tumultuous and continuous desire to be a sovereign nation, not a Spanish or American colony. The leaders of the overthrown Batista-Mafia dictatorship fled mostly to safe havens in the U. S., especially the Mafia-plagued cities of Miami, Florida and Union City, New Jersey. Today there are five Cuban-American members of the U. S. Congress from Miami {4} and Union City {1}. On the surface, in the world's greatest democracy, there is nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. But beneath the surface, there is something wrong. Those five Cuban-Americans seem to believe that they alone reserve the right to dictate America's Cuban policy. Unfortunately, that's the way things now stand in the U. S. Congress.

      This week {February 3rd, 2015} Senators Marco Rubio from Miami and Robert Menendez from Union City, in my democracy-loving opinion, shamed the U. S. Congress with their flagrant, self-serving, anti-Castro zealotry as opposed to addressing other issues, such as sanity towards Cuba or priorities towards a multitude of other vital issues affecting and confronting Americans. The tirades by Mr. Rubio and Mr. Menendez on Tuesday in the U. S. Congress would have been suited for the Cuban National Assembly in Havana, except that since January 1, 1959 hurling grenades at the island from the sanctity of the U. S. has been a lot safer and much more rewarding. Yesterday Mr. Rubio and Mr. Menendez dominated a packed Senate subcommittee examining the impact of President Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba, something that is desired by most Americans, most Cuban-Americans, most Caribbeans, most Latin Americans, and all democracy loving nations around the world. But yesterday as many times before Mr. Rubio and Mr. Menendez reveled in the fact that a handful of zealous Cuban-Americans can dictate America's Cuban policy. We American people, for allowing that to happen, are as much to blame as they are. Even so, I believe any American who watched on C-Span what unfurled at that packed Senate hearing yesterday would or should have been ashamed. As usual, during such sessions when Cuba is the topic, the exalted Cuban-Americans shame and demean important and decent people summoned before them. That seems to be why Cuban-Americans in Congress make bee-lines to serve on and lead the Foreign Relations Committee, the Western Hemisphere Committee, etc. Mr. Menendez recently chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Mr. Rubio is now the Chairman of the Senate's Western Hemisphere Committee. Unfortunately, Cuba is a foreign country and also is in the Western Hemisphere.

      I believe the saddest spectacle in the U. S. Senate this week, one that possibly brought tears to the eyes of some democracy lovers, was when Senator Rubio excoriated and demeaned, in my opinion, a decent American -- Roberta Jacobson. Watching a bully on a pedestal ruthlessly pick on a human or creature he deems vulnerable is not a pretty sight. {Photo courtesy: Brendon Smialowski/AFP}

      Roberta Jacobson, as this Brendon Smialowski/AFP photo shows, tried to defend herself against a cauldron of Senator Rubio's uncalled for harangues. But she was over-matched, and he knew it. After all, it was his show. He is the Chairman of the Western Hemisphere Committee in the U. S. Senate and Cuba is an island in the Western Hemisphere. Ms. Jacobson, sadly, will not get much empathy or sympathy from the proselytized or intimidated American people who are not supposed to have enough intelligence, enough guts, enough insight, or enough patriotism to support her. Mr. Rubio and his cohorts can easily sabotage Mr. Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba. That's been a foregone conclusion from the start, at least in the views of those who know a stacked deck when they see it. Grilling Ms. Jacobson so callously and unnecessarily yesterday in the Senate was merely another feather in his political hat. 

       Left to their own devises, two very decent, virtuous, and brilliant women -- Josefina Vidal and Roberta Jacobson -- could have negotiated normal relations between Cuba and the United States. Ms. Vidal is Cuba's Minister of North American Affairs. Ms. Jacobson is America's Minister of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Since 1959 the unparalleled hostilities between Cuba and the United States have harmed Cubans, Americans, Cuban-Americans, Caribbeans, Latin Americans, and citizens around the world. But those animosities have also helped sate the revenge, political, and economic motives of a handful of people, and when it comes to U.S.-Cuban relations the few have maintained dominance over the many. That won't change. And that's a shame. Especially for America, the world's all-time greatest democracy.

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Cuba Ready To Halt Negotiations

Normalizing Relations A No Go

       As this forum has indicated from the start, the euphoria attached to the presidential announcements in Washington and Havana at high noon on Dec. 17th-2015 that the two nations plan to normalize relations were pie-in-the-sky buckets of hot air. There are two reasons the efforts, if they were ever considered realistic by either side, will never come to fruition. Reason #1 is based on the fact that the U. S. will never come close to meeting Josefina Vidal's most basic Cuban demands. Reason #2 is the Cuban diaspora in the U. S. Congress controls America's Cuban policy and it will never allow a normalization of relations with Cuba to happen. In 1898 after the Spanish-American War the U. S. never considered democracy for Cuba when it had sole dominance of the island; since 1959, after the Cuban Revolution chased the Batista dictatorship first to Miami and Union City and then to Washington, the U. S. vision of Cuba has centered around everything except democracy -- namely, revenge and regaining control of the island. At least, that's Josefina Vidal's view of history. 

       Josefina Vidal, Cuba's powerful Minister of North America Affairs, last week received rave reviews for her spirited and astute handling of the diplomatic sessions in Havana that were heralded as the first of a series of such meetings designed to normalize relations between Cuba and the United States. Karen DeYoung, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist, seemed shocked at how deftly Ms. Vidal out-performed her American counterparts, and that was a universal opinion. She had an advantage because she can make her own decisions while U. S. diplomats often have to wait for instructions from the President or Secretary of State, leaving them weaklings in face-to-face confrontations with Ms. Vidal. In any case, Ms. Vidal has just addressed the Cuban people on state television and a study of her words -- a study that is happening today in Washington -- will indicate there is really no need for the second round of diplomatic meetings scheduled for next month in Washington. Ms. Vidal has long tired of the endless streams of U. S. schemes to support dissidents on the island and even to devise repeated efforts to create dissidents on the island. So study Ms. Vidal's exact words spoken to the Cuban people February 2nd, 2015:

      "The total freedom of movement of the negotiations, which the U. S. side is posing, is tied to a change in the behavior of its diplomatic mission and its officials. Matters of internal affairs in Cuba are not negotiable." {Josefina Vidal; February 2nd, 2015}

    Josefina Vidal has served at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. Since 2003 as Cuba's primary U. S. expert in Havana she has proclaimed:    My main job is to protect this island from another foreign takeover. My daily priority is to monitor efforts from Miami and Washington designed to provoke Cuba into doing something that the Cuban contingents in Miami, Union City, and Washington can use as a pretext to get the United States government to recapture Cuba for them. My second priority is to monitor the incredible amount of American tax dollars that go to contractors to fund or create dissidence on this island. If China or some other big boy did such things in the U. S., how would the U. S. react? Carefully I guess because Communist China is a nuclear power that is a trillion-dollar business partner. Well, that being said...little Cuba can be wiped out by a nuclear power but such imperialist criminals will never get a surrender from us. Only cowards and criminals blow up Cuban airplanes, hotels and coastal cabins. Only cowards and criminals hide behind the skirts of a superpower and hurl darts and shout epithets. If the United States wants another diplomatic session with me, why not have some of those brave dart-throwers on the other side of the table?

    Today {Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015} the three Cuban-Americans in the U. S. Senate will set aside their 2016 Presidential ambitions long enough to have a Cuban meeting. Then they likely will tell the American people what a horrible government the island has, implying that the Batista-Mafia regime that preceded it was a sweet Mother Teresa-type operation and the Batistiano regime that will replace it will make sure the island has a world-class democracy, albeit one run from Miami and Washington with Havana merely a decoy. And however they phrase it, they will probably expect everyone to accept their dictations as gospel. Meanwhile, it's for sure some less effusive elements in the White House and the State Department will be discussing Josefina Vidal's televised words to the Cuban people yesterday. Then they should simply cancel next month's tentatively scheduled second round of diplomatic meetings in Washington.

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The Cuban "Lopsided" Quagmire

Miami & Tampa View Cuba Differently
Updated: Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015

     This photo was released yesterday {February 2nd} in Havana but it was taken last week {January 23, 2015}. It shows the 88-year-old Fidel being shown a newspaper article by Randy Perdomo Garcia, a member of the University Student Federation of Havana. Twenty such photos were released yesterday apparently to show the Cuban people that Fidel is still around. Back in December plans were afoot, yet again, in Miami to prepare for wild celebrations after a respected Spanish newspaper said the Cuban icon had died. In recent weeks, Cubans on the island have been worried.

     This is another of the photos released yesterday but taken in Fidel Castro's home on January 23, 2015. It shows Fidel looking at pictures given to him by Perdomo. Standing between them is Fidel's wife Dalia Soto del Valle. She married him in 1980 shortly after the death from cancer of his soul-mate Celia Sanchez. Dalia is the mother of Fidel's last five sons. He has not been seen outside his home since January 8th, 2014 when he visited an art gallery. There have been, in recent months, persistent rumors that the 88-year-old Fidel had died or was dying. He is, in fact, very ill and the devoted Dalia meticulously decides if and when anyone can visit him. It is known that, in recent months, she has consistently denied such visits even to notable friends that, in the past, routinely visited on short notice. The portent is quite obvious.

 The star-studded Caribbean Baseball Classic got underway yesterday {February 2nd} in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This AP/Ricardo Arduengo photo shows Cuban first baseman William Saavedra losing his bat as he takes a hefty swing. Cuba lost its opener to Mexico 2-to-1. In the other game Venezuela beat Puerto Rico 5-to-2. Today {Tuesday} Cuba plays the Dominican Republic. All these teams except Cuba feature players and top prospects from the U. S. Major Leagues. U. S. superstars from Cuba, of which there are many, are not allowed to play internationally for Cuba, but Cuba's roster does include several players that play professionally in Japan but return home to play in Cuba's professional league.

    Jose Marti was born on January 28th, 1853 in Havana, Cuba. He died on the battlefield fighting the imperialist Spanish army on May 19th, 1895 near Dos Rios, Cuba. He remains a national Cuban hero and an international icon as a sovereignty-loving Cuban patriot, a brave freedom fighter, and acclaimed poet. His birthday was celebrated this week -- January 28th, 2015 -- at the Jose Marti Memorial in Havana's Revolutionary Square. Such events in Cuba more and more indicate that, in future years, if left to their own devices, Cubans will pay such homages to Fidel Castro, the man who actually named Revolutionary Square.

    This Reuters/Alexander Meneghini photo shows Cuban schoolchildren celebrating Jose Marti's birthday on January 28th, 2015 in Havana's Revolutionary Square. It was also, as you can detect, a tribute to the very ill 88-year-old Fidel Castro. If Cuba is still a sovereign nation when he dies, August 13th will likely spawn similar celebrations in Revolutionary Square, which got its name after the triumph of Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959. Fidel Castro was born on August 13th, 1926.

     This Ramon Espinosa/AP photo was taken in a Cuban classroom on December 17th, 2014. The teachers and children had just watched Cuban President Raul Castro's televised announcement that Cuba and the United States, for the first time in over five decades, had agreed to try to normalize relations. Note the euphoria on the face of the little girl in the center. She had reason to be ecstatic, at least for that moment in time. What she didn't realize was that nefarious forces powerful enough to disappoint her and to adversely affect her future had also just heard the very same thing announced at the very same time by the President of the United States.

     While the little Cuban schoolgirl was still celebrating on the island, Senator Marco Rubio was racing before every network television camera he and his aides could find. He repeatedly bragged that he could stop President Obama's plans to normalize relations with Cuba, loudly and boisterously bragging that he was the "upcoming Chairman of the Senate's Western Hemisphere Committee," a hemisphere that includes Cuba. Rubio, a Presidential contender for 2016, has emerged as the leader of the already powerful, visceral, dictatorial Miami-based members of the U. S. Congress. As long as self-serving zealots such as Rubio can dictate America's Cuban policy, the rest of the democracy-loving world will feel sorry for the United States. I also believe they should feel sorry for that little Cuban schoolgirl. She deserves better than Mr. Rubio and so, by the way, does the Senate and the White House.   

    Susan D. Greenbaum is the author of the insightful book "More Than Black: Afro-Cubans in Tampa." Ms. Greenbaum is a Professor emerita at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her book was published by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. She knows Florida. This week {Jan. 28th} she penned a long, insightful, internationally published article entitled "Florida's Lopsided Cuban Embrace." In the article she tackles the delicate issue concerning the contrasting manner in which the Florida cities of Miami and Tampa view the Cuban conundrum, a quagmire that engulfed Florida after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in the first week of January, 1959. The leading elements of the defeated Batista-Mafia dictatorship in Cuba fled, switching their capital from Havana to Miami for all intents and purposes. But as Ms. Greenbaum astutely pointed out, the migration of Cubans and Afro-Cubans to Tampa many decades prior to Batista's 1952 till 1959 dictatorship shaped Tampa differently than the fleeing Batistianos shaped Miami -- leaving a contrast in how the two major Florida cities view the volatile Cuban issue today. She calls it "Florida's Lopsided Cuban Embrace." I would recommend that you go online and read it. However, instead of taking her words or my words or the Batistiano's words, I believe most of all, when it comes to Cuba, you should use your Google research engine to confirm or deny anything you read or are told about Cuba.

     Recognizing Susan Greenbaum's intimate knowledge of Florida's history, I eagerly studied her January 28th article entitled "Florida's Lopsided Cuban Embrace" in which she contrasted Miami's visceral views of Cuba with Tampa's much more friendly views. Ms. Greenbaum wrote: "Tampa ties to Cuba date back to the late 19th century during Cuba's revolution with Spain." Those Tampa Cubans, she notes, later were strong supporters of Fidel Castro's fight against the Batista dictatorship and then were far more tolerant of Revolutionary Cuba than Miami's Cubans. Miami, unlike Tampa, was overwhelmed by remnants of the Batista-Mafia regime that, for two generations since 1959, have frantically tried to regain control of the island or seek revenge against it. Ms. Greenbaum wrote: "Although both Tampa and Miami have large Cuban populations, prospects for business with Cuba are obstructed by a handful of powerful Cuban exiles who wield outsize political influence. It is thus other ports and cities with far less connection to Cuba that stand to reap the largest benefits of the changing relationship between the two countries." She referenced the major ports of Norfolk and New Orleans as examples of cities that would take advantage of Florida's "lopsided" Cuban perspectives. Ms. Greenbaum began her article with this paragraph: "The warming of relations with Cuba would appear to be uniquely good for Florida. It is the state closest to Cuba, with the country's largest Cuban population and the largest history of trade and immigration with the island nation. But it also faces major obstacles in reviving this legacy. Two cities, Miami and Tampa, show why. But...even in Tampa an extremist minority has stifled the promise of better relations and a more prosperous future." {While Miami received the bulk of the Batistiano exiles, Mafia kingpin Santo Trafficante Jr. and a few other top Batistiano leaders fled Havana for the safety of Tampa, where Trafficante Sr. and Jr. were Mafia kingpins for decades both before and after Trafficante Jr. teamed with Batista in Cuba}.

This map shows Havana southwest of Miami and due south of Tampa.

       This photo is courtesy of Eric Barton. It shows a band in the main terminal of Tampa's main airport touting flights back and forth to Cuba, emphasizing Tampa's traditional friendliness towards the island.

           In stark contrast to the Tampa Airport strongly soliciting business to and from Cuba, study the above photo. It shows Vivian Mannerud, the President of a very successful company -- Airline Brokers Company, Inc. -- in the Coral Gables-Miami area. Vivian flew Americans, mostly Cuban-Americans, from Miami to Cuba.

       This photo shows Vivian Mannerud in April of 2012 the morning after she learned that her company had been totally bombed out of business. Similar fates, of course, had befallen other such businesses in the Miami area -- Marazul Charters, Maira and Family Services, etc. -- that dared to do business with Cuba, including businesses that were mostly serving Cuban-Americans. Vivian Mannerud told me that, "not surprisingly," she is "not at all pleased" with how the destruction of her business was investigated.

          Kathy Castor was born in Miami but she represents Tampa in the United States Congress. And she indeed represents the best interests of the people in the Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg area, not the best interests of a few who seek revenge against Cuba or a few who personally benefit economically and/or politically from hostility towards Cuba. Ms. Castor has bravely taken Tampa-area entrepreneurs to Cuba to enhance their chances of beneficially engaging in legal business with the island. In the halls of Congress, where right-wingers dictate America's harsh Cuban policy, Congresswoman Castor bravely stands up and tries her best to inject a measure of decency, fairness and sanity into America's flawed Cuban policy.

   Like Congresswoman Kathy Castor, U. S. Senator Marco Rubio was born in Miami. But there the similarity ends. Ms. Castor advocates a sane, decent Cuban policy that would benefit the vast majority of her constituents; Mr. Rubio, like five other visceral members of the U. S. Congress from Miami, advocates a harsh, indecent Cuban policy, apparently because it benefits his cash-filled PACS and his presidential ambitions. {In the aforementioned article by Susan Greenbaum entitled "Florida's lopsided Cuban Embrace," she mentioned the contrasts between Castor and Rubio to emphasize the contrast between Tampa and Miami when it comes to Cuba. Also, Ms. Greenbaum referenced the bombing of Ms. Mannerud's business with these exact words: "In April 2012 arsonists struck the Coral Gables office of Airline Brokers, the main conduit for legal flights to Cuba."}.

       Perhaps to many the most gripping part of Susan Greenbaum's article "Florida's lopsided Cuban Embrace" was her stark account of the Bush dynasty's indelible ties to the most radical anti-Castro zealots in Miami. Ms. Greenbaum referenced 2002 -- when George W. Bush was President and Jeb Bush was Governor of Florida. She mentioned an episode when "both Bush brothers were ramping up opposition to Cuba." At the time, Alberto Fox, "a respected Tampa Democrat," had created the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation. He worked with the then Tampa Mayor Dick Greco to take Tampa business people, including the Chairman of the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, to the island on what were exciting and promising trips. The "pragmatic Greco" then naively requested help from Governor Jeb Bush to facilitate more such friendly and beneficial missions from Tampa to Havana. Ms. Greenbaum wrote: "All who went to Cuba were buoyed by the possibilities and eager to move forward. Greco contacted his friend Jeb Bush, who squashed his enthusiasm with menacing threats conveyed indirectly by a scary Cuban exile." Ms. Greenbaum opined that the dire threat imparted to Mr. Greco by the  "scary Cuban exile" that apparently had close ties to Governor Bush has had "long-term consequences" from that "scary" day in 2002 till this very day. 2002, the year referenced by Ms. Greenbaum, was the second of George W. Bush's eight years as U. S. President and the third of eight years as Florida Governor for Jeb Bush. In other words, they both had many years left to appoint and otherwise align with anti-Cuban extremists to bring the island of Cuba to its knees.

     In the late 1980s Jeb left his family mansions in Massachusetts and Texas for Miami. When a reporter for the Miami Herald asked him why, he said, "to get rich." He was already rich because of his grandfather Preston and his father George H. W. Bush. So, apparently he wanted to "get rich" on his own by taking advantage of his last name. Any google search of Jeb's early "get rich" years in Miami would reveal his highly controversial real estate deals with highly controversial Cuban-Americans. But an even better way to get rich in Miami, it seems, was entering politics. He did, as Campaign Manager for Havana-born Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, one of Miami's all-time most visceral anti-Castro zealots. This photo shows Campaign Manager Jeb Bush celebrating Ros-Lehtinen's 1989 election to the U. S. Congress from Miami. And 27 years later, she's still there and still one of the most anti-Castro zealots on the planet. That 1989 Ros-Lehtinen election elevated Jeb to his two-terms as Florida's governor. In the decade since his political term ended in Florida, Jeb has gotten much, much richer. Now at age 61 he easily has the billion-plus dollars from rich Republicans to aim at the Presidency in 2016. Of course, once he made that decision Jeb first of all resigned from a host of lucrative but, uh, politically damaging corporate deals. You may want to google those deals.

         Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio -- two peas in one pod that were both prominently mentioned in Susan Greenbaum's article this week -- are both campaigning hard for the presidency in 2016. Jeb is the favorite because he has the most money. But Marco is catching up; he had a very successful western trip last week to beg the billionaire Koch brothers for a bundle of their millions. Charles Krauthammer, the renowned nationally syndicated journalist and Fox pundit, has said that if he had to wage money in Las Vegas on the presidential race, he would bet on Marco. Regardless, as a lifelong democracy-loving conservative Republican, permit me to simply say this: If either Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio ever becomes President, it will signify that the Batistianos have captured the United States of America before they re-captured Cuba.

       And study this AP Photo. It shows the Havana-born Ileana Ros-Lehtinen paying homage to her mentor Jeb Bush, He, remember, was her Campaign Manager when she was elected to the U. S. Congress from Miami in 1989. Still there, she was the first of six anti-Castro zealots from Miami who have, essentially, been allowed to dictate America's Cuban policy since the 1980s. The only checks-and-balances related to Cuba come from the Executive Branch, the Presidency, but only when Democrats are in the White House. Jeb's last name was his entry into politics but his move to Miami in the late 1980s to align with the Cuban-exiles was his smartest political move, largely thanks to the fact that the nefarious aspects, for the most part, remain unknown to the general public, including those who cast their votes without bothering to use their google search engines. While Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen was Jeb Bush's protege, Marco Rubio, a fellow Cuban-American, was Ros-Lehtinen's protege and worked for her. Interestingly enough, Ros-Lehtinen has already said she will favor Jeb over Marco in their bids for the Republican presidential nomination. That is not a surprise to anyone who has even a basic comprehension of the Bush dynasty's stunning connection to Miami's most anti-Castro community. Robert Parry, the great investigative journalist for the Associated Press, Newsweek, etc., wouldn't be surprised by this photo nor by Ros-Lehtinen's presidential choice. Ask him. {Google "Robert Parry" or his superb "consortiumnews.com."}

And by the way................  

      .......Susan Greenbaum's article about the lopsidedness of Tampa-Miami and Castor-Rubio when it comes to Cuba reminds me of the above photo. It was taken in 1956 in Tampa. Fidel had spent two years in a Batista prison and when he got out he needed money to continue his revolution. This photo, which he autographed, shows some of the cash he got in Tampa. He got lots more in New York City and Mexico City before arriving back in Cuba in December of 1956 to hook up with Celia Sanchez in the Sierra Maestra to resume his revolution to topple Batista. It was the historic event that predicated a lot of things, including this week's article by Susan Greenbaum.

 Castro's trek from Mexico to Sierra Maestra to Havana.
And by the way #2..............

   ........someone said these were the nine most vicious anti-Cuban zealots in the U. S. Congress. But...they just look like lions to me, probably just heading out to lunch.

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Cubans Await Normal U.S. Ties

The Island and U. S. Adjust to Detente
Updated: Friday, January 30th, 2015

      This AP/Roberto Carlos Sanchez photo was taken this week {Wednesday, Jan. 28th} at the Summit of the Community of Latin American States in San Antonio de Belen in Costa Rica. It shows Cuba's 83-year-old President Raul Castro addressing the forum and making a very pertinent reference to the detente that Mr. Castro and U. S. President Barack Obama announced to the world on Dec. 17th, 2014. The ongoing detente is attempting to accomplish what many consider the impossible, which is to normalize relations between the two countries. At this week's very friendly forum in Costa Rica, Raul Castro said: "If three problems aren't resolved, this diplomatic re-approachment wouldn't make any sense." He then stated three basic demands:

#1: U.S. must return Guantanamo Bay to Cuba.

#2: U.S. must lift the trade embargo.

#3: U.S. must remove Cuba from its Sponsors of Terrorism list.

       As strong as those three "demands" were this week in Costa Rica, the early word is that key Obama diplomats were not surprised or "taken aback." They realize Mr. Castro was speaking to the choir because all Caribbean and Latin American nations agree with him on those three points. The above photo shows Mr. Obama and Mr. Castro when they met briefly at the Nelson Mandela memorial in South Africa in December, 2013. Raul Castro took advantage with this comment, "Mr. President, we need to have sane relations." It was, many believe, enough to expedite Mr. Obama's efforts in that regard, quickly resulting in secretive but high-level diplomacy at various locales, including Canada. That led up to the December 17th announcements in both countries and then the January 22nd and 23rd diplomatic meetings in Havana. The three points Raul Castro raised in Costa Rica Wednesday will convince pro-embargo zealots that Cuba does not want to normalize relations. That is wrong, of course, just as the U. S. Cuban policy, dating back to 1952 when the U. S. teamed with the Mafia to support the brutal Batista dictatorship in Cuba, has been wrong and just as hurtful to the image of the U. S. democracy as it has been to the island of Cuba.

      This graphic depicts a pugnacious and cute little Cuban schoolgirl proudly toting a Cuban flag while she lets Uncle Sam, the U. S. scrooge, know how she feels about the harsh U. S. embargo. Undoubtedly, she feels just as strongly about the U. S. theft of Guantanamo Bay. And she probably would also like to give Uncle Sam a whack on the noggin for keeping Cuba on its State Sponsors of Terrorism list. And you know what? Every nation in the Caribbean, every nation in Latin America, and every nation in the world {except the U. S. and U.S.-dependent Israel} agrees with her. Go girl!

The fourteen provinces of Cuba

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Up, up and away toward Cuba!!

      American Airlines President Scott Kirby has announced that he plans to begin regular flights to Cuba from Miami. Delta, United, JetBlue, and Southwest airlines say that they will compete for such flights. Already American Airlines has about 20 charter flights a week to Cuba. U. S. ports, farm enterprises, and many other American businesses are also mulling ways to benefit from President Obama's plans to create at least a degree of detente with Cuba. Thus, similar daily headlines will occur.

     Fidel Castro has issued a public statement about the ongoing diplomatic efforts of Cuba and the United States to normalize relations. He wrote: "I don't trust the U. S., nor have I exchanged a word with them. But this does not mean I reject a peaceful solution to conflicts. We will always defend cooperation and friendship with all the people of the world, including our political adversaries. My brother Raul has taken the pertinent steps in accordance with his prerogatives and the powers given to him." The statement by the 88-year-old Fidel Castro was first published in Monday's Granma newspaper on the island but then quickly picked up by the international news media.

      The photo above was taken on January 8th of 2014, over a year ago, and is the last time Fidel Castro has been seen in public. He attended an art exhibit in Havana that day. The last photo taken of him in his home was on August 21, 2014 with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro. In July of 2014 Fidel's son Alex took photos of his father hosting China's President Xi Jinping and Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Castro's home. Fidel's last "Reflections" column was on October 18, 2014 when he wrote about Africa's Ebola crisis. Because he had not been seen in public since January 8, 2014 and not photographed at home since August 21, 2014 and not been published since October 18, 2014, reports surfaced that he had died. A respected Spanish newspaper briefly reported online that he had, in fact, died. That was quickly squashed but not before it predictably set off the latest rounds of celebrations in Miami. He has had three very close calls...the last one was in December...since he almost died back on July 26, 2006 when he was first felled by an omnipotent respiratory illness.

    On Saturday and Sunday of this past weekend {Photo courtesy: AFP} a major sports event took place in Havana. Agence France Presse and other international news organizations gave it front-page headlines. Some 372 athletes from 29 nations took part in the Triathlon as they biked, swam, and ran in a hugely exciting and successful event. The 25 Americans who participated raved about how they were received, with several of them shedding very visible tears as they stood for the U. S. national anthem and then staunchly advocated further U.S.-Cuban detente.  

     Cuba has announced its roster for the upcoming Caribbean Baseball Classic that will be held in Puerto Rico from February the 2nd through the 8th. {Photo: baseballdecuba.com} The Cuban squad headed to Puerto Rico will feature the three right-handed pitchers shown above -- Norge Ruiz, Freddy Asiel Alvarez, and Hector Mendoza. The competition will be stiff from other strong teams -- the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. Major League scouts from the U. S. will be on hand to particularly monitor the Cuban and Dominican players. Also, as Cuba realizes, non-baseball scouts will be looking to entice Cuban players to defect as an added bonus, which is to hurt Cuba, and to make money on human trafficking.

    Alfonso Urquiola will be the manager the Cuban team in the Caribbean Baseball Classic next month in Puerto Rico because his Pinar del Rio squad, celebrating above, is Cuba's reigning championship team. {Photo: baseballdecuba.com}.

      Frederich Cepeda, this switch-hitting outfielder, will lead the Cuban squad in the Caribbean World Series the first week of February in Puerto Rico. Last year Frederic led Cuba to the championship in the highly competitive Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico. In 2009 Frederich hit a resounding .500 with 3 homers in six games and 24 at bats in the World Baseball Classic. He has been the best player in Cuba in the past decade. He has also seen a plethora of lesser Cuban players defect to the United States with guaranteed contracts in the $70 million range. Cepeda, while playing for Cuba in other countries, has also had numerous opportunities to defect and, for sure, he has had to resist continuing pleas to leave the island for the American Major Leagues and live as a multi-millionaire in the U. S.

      Frederich Cepeda, shown above in his #23 uniform for the Yomiuri Giants in the Japanese Major Leagues, has become a millionaire thanks to his contract in Japan. The Cuban government allows Frederick to play in Japan as long as he promises to return and play for his Cuban team, which is Sancti Spiritus. Frederich has kept that promise out of his love for the island and his family. Cuba has normal relations with every country in the world, except the United States. If, although it's a long-shot, Cuba normalizes relations with the U. S., the extreme recruitment of the island's abundance of baseball talent by the 30 U. S. Major League teams would be drastically altered.

     Josefina Vidal, Cuba's audacious and no-nonsense Minister of North American Affairs, addressed the issue of Cuban baseball last week when she represented Cuba in the historic diplomatic meetings in Havana. So, her thoughts on the topic are pertinent because if, indeed, the U. S. and Cuba are able to normalize relations it can come about not by intimidating her but by reaching accords with her. When the question surrounding "the barrage of $70 million offers from the U. S. to entice Cuban baseball players" came up, here is the way Josefina Vidal addressed the issue:

               "I am aware that this island produces far more great baseball players, far more great doctors, and far more great ballet performers -- per capita -- than the United States can ever hope to produce. That is because, I believe, that Cuba devotes a much bigger portion of its wealth to training such young talent and giving them the opportunity to evolve. I am also aware that extremely rich American entities, such as the 30 Major League baseball teams, can shower defecting Cubans with, as you said, 70-million-dollar guaranteed deals if they defect. That, of course is a lure many cannot resist. Yes, I understand the greed of U. S. baseball teams intent on improving their teams. But, coupled with that, what I most resent is the fact that the other motive -- to hurt Cuba -- comes into play from revengeful criminal elements. Cuban baseball players on the island and when they play in other countries are besieged with offers from both elements -- the rich baseball teams and the criminals who only want to hurt Cuba. But, please understand, those criminals besiege Cuban doctors serving abroad and Cuban ballet stars performing in other countries for two unmistakable reasons -- because we have devoted the most to training baseball players, doctors, ballet stars, and such. The U. S. doesn't really need to recruit Cuban doctors but our doctors serving abroad, whom we have trained totally free, are repeatedly offered obscene bonus dollars to defect because it hurts Cuba. The same with our baseball players, our ballet stars, and others. The Miami Ballet regularly entices Cubans to join the Cubans it has already enticed. The ballet units in New York, San Francisco, London and other cities also desire Cuban stars even more than natives of their own countries, apart from hurting Cuba. But the U. S. allows criminal activity related only to Cubans because it hurts Cuba. As this island's main defender of such policies, I am amazed that the Western Hemisphere's most famed terrorists are anti-Cuban terrorists freely protected and honored in Miami. The special U. S. laws related only to Cuba entice Cubans to risk their lives to touch U. S. soil, in which case they are home free with special privileges not available to people in nations not named Cuba. Lastly, having lived in the United States and to this day closely monitoring the U. S. media, I am aware that the U. S. Congress is totally controlled by anti-Cuban extremists on anything related to Cuba. But what astounds me is that the main U. S. media...newspapers, television news...is either unwilling or unable to tell the truth about relations between our two countries. Americans, I have noticed, are thus unable to judge such things as...well, whether are not a civilian Cuban plane loaded only with innocents, mostly children, should or should not have been blown out of the sky by terrorist bombs, and whether or not such well-known terrorists thrive in the U. S. while the U. S. lists Cuba as a Sponsor, not the victim, of Terrorism. The rest of the world can make such judgments. But not Americans. What does that say about Americans and their love of democracy? Oh, gosh! I'm sorry. I did not mean to ask a question. That's your job. Did I answer your question about Cuban baseball players?"

      Josefina Vidal has a reputation for tirelessly answering questions related to Cuba's relations with America. Karen DeYoung, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist, made that very point in her coverage of last week's diplomatic meetings in Havana. Ms. DeYoung seemed amazed how "easily" Ms. Vidal confidently detailed her replies in fluent Spanish or English. Other major unbiased and un-intimidated journalists -- such as DeWayne Wickham of USA Today, Sarah Rainsford of the BBC, and Daniel Trotta of Reuters -- have long considered Ms. Vidal the best source for truthful and insightful information regarding U.S.-Cuban relations. She is the single best hope if there is soon to be anything resembling a normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States. For all those reasons, she has emerged, after the Castro brothers, as the most pilloried Cuban by propagandists who benefit from and thus powerfully desire a continuation of hostile relations between Cuba and the United States. Asked about that, she gave Reuters this reply: "I sleep very well at night because I don't fight for dollar bills or to condone criminals who harm Cuban children and then brag in the U. S. media that such things are 'big blows' against Fidel. If that doesn't answer your question, say so and I will gladly explain it further."  

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