rubio, Rubio, and RUBIO!!!

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         Walt Handelsman is a world-class Editorial Cartoonist for The New Orleans Advocate. Among his awards, he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997 and again in 2007.

       To honer Daylight Saving Time and Marco Rubio, this is the latest gem by Mr. Handelsman. It was featured in USA Today and hundreds of other U. S. newspapers. It shows Rubio, the first-term U. S. Senator from Miami, leapfrogging over his mentor Jeb following Rubio's betrayal of Bush in the last Republican presidential debate.

       Rubio's brutal knockout of Jeb Bush in 2015 reminded me of Rocky Marciano's brutal knockout of Joe Louis in 1951, as depicted above by this classic David Jukic photo. Marciano, at age 28, was in his prime as a heavyweight boxer; Louis, at age 37, was over-the-hill. Yes, Rubio's KO of Bush was reminiscent of Marciano's KO of Louis.

          From black-and-white to color, from 1951 to 2015, this photo captured young Marco Rubio's knockout of over-the-hill Jeb Bush. Rubio's scripted, memorized retort was brutal and fatal.

The KO of Bush clears the way for Marco Rubio's path to the White House.

         The KO of Jeb Bush starkly refurbished Marco Rubio's substantial and pivotal support from Fox News, the mainstream media, the Tea Party, and five extremely wealthy Jewish billionaires. More than any other presidential candidate, Rubio has signaled that he is the one that can be bought-and-paid-for by special interests. It has turned out to be a pivotal, but undemocratic, ploy.

      Voters are supposed to dismiss this photo. At age 26 when the now 44-year-old Marco Rubio entered the political arena in Florida, his first donation was a check from Jeb Bush. Rubio's trek from Miami-Tallahassee to the U. S. Senate was paved by Jeb Bush and from the beginning in 2011 Rubio has merely used his Senate platform to run for President, as pointed out by his hometown newspaper, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which suggested that he "resign" because he was "ripping off" his South Florida constituents. Letters-to-the-Editors in three South Florida newspapers, including The Miami Herald, have excoriated Rubio for betraying them by selling out to Jewish billionaires. Rubio's contemptuous response was to state repeatedly on the campaign trail that his first flight on Air Force One will be to Israel, not Miami. Regardless, Rubio's KO of Jeb Bush separates him from the Bush dynasty that greased his seat to the Senate, but Rubio firmly believes that he has garnered enough money-crazed right-wing acolytes to no longer need the Bush machine. But before this long, long presidential campaign is over, Rubio may regret throwing the still-viable Bush dynasty and some key supporters in Miami under the bus, proverbially and politically speaking. They gave Marco Rubio his very first political toy -- a leap-frogging trampoline. 

         All of which is a vivid reminder of the prescience and astuteness of Josefina Vidal, Cuba's Minister of North American Affairs. Vidal knows more about U.S.-Cuban relations and politics than all the pundits combined that nightly pollute U. S. cable news programs. Those pundits, mostly promoting themselves or their favorite politicians, can say anything regardless of how biased or absurd, and they'll still be back on the airways night-after-night. {Talking-head pundits save the networks from having to spend money to go out and actually cover the news}. Vidal comes from a far different perspective: Her job is to keep Cuba a sovereign nation. If she makes a major mistake in judging U.S.-Cuban relations, Revolutionary Cuba would probably become another Puerto Rico -- that is, a U. S. Territory. As I have documented earlier via reliable Spanish sources, Vidal many, many months ago predicted Rubio would be the next U. S. President.

       Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Cuba's Josefina Vidal already preparing for a Rubio presidency is her opinion of what it would mean for her tenacious but vulnerable island. She discussed her thoughts about Rubio with a surprised friend, a trusted journalist, visiting from Spain. The friend asked, "Then what would a Rubio presidency mean for Cuba?" Vidal instantly replied, "It would mean the Batistianos had captured the United States government before re-capturing the Cuban government." Americans are invited to ponder that quotation and that scenario, just as they would be wise to Google data and then decide if Josefina Vidal indeed knows more about U. S. politics than all the American political pundits combined!!

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A BIG Day for Cuba

Biggest In Half A Century!!

      The graphic above heralds the fact that today -- Monday, November 2nd, 2015 -- might be the biggest day in over half a century for the island of Cuba. Today starts the 33rd International Trade Fair on the outskirts of Havana. It is the first event since the thawing of Cold War animus in U.S.-Cuban relations, highlighted by the re-opening of embassies in Havana and Washington for the first time since 1961. More than 120 nations, including the U. S., are major participants in this year's Cuban Trade Fair.

       This photograph explains why today is a seminal day in the annals of Cuba. This is a brand-new Oggun Tractor. It was made at a Cleber LLC factory in Alabama. It is shown above after arriving at a port in Cuba and it will be one of the U. S. highlights at today's opening of the Cuban Trade Fair. Moreover, with the thawing of U.S.-Cuban relations, Cleber LLC plans to build a factory in Cuba to make such tractors using Cuban workers and Cuban materials. A major article in USA Today today points out that this tractor is "an unusual sight" in Cuba because "for decades Cuba was barred from importing most U. S. goods" such as "an American-owned, American-made tractor ready for sale." This tractor is already breaking fallow Cuban ground.

         Contrast the photo of the brand-new tractor with this photo. This image still coats the minds of Americans, like me, who have visited Cuba and witnessed hard-working Cuban farmers using Oxen to plow their fields. This photo was taken in the ultra-beautiful and fertile Vinales Valley. It helps explain why Cuba has to purchase about 80% of its food. It also explains one of the corollary, even genocidal, offshoots of the U. S. embargo against Cuba, which has shamed America as much as it has hurt Cuba since 1962. America's unmatched economic and military power influences all nation's of the world, including punishment of other nations that do business with Cuba. The embargo also prohibits modern farming equipment and spare parts that Cuban farmers sorely need. That's why, thanks to a brave President Obama, Americans should comprehend the difference between the photo of the new tractor and the photo of the Cuban farmer plowing his field using a pair of oxen.

Jodi Hanson Bond is Vice President of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce.

         Jodi Bond has visited Cuba many times in her untiring and courageous effort to help American businesses and the Cuban people in defiance of a U. S. embargo dictated by a handful of vicious Cuban-Americans and their easily acquired, self-serving sycophants in the U. S. Congress. In today's U. S. Today {November 2nd, 2015} Jodi Bond, a key participant in Cuba's International Trade Fair, said, "Who does the best entrepreneurial work in the world? U. S. businesses. So we have significant expertise in showing how entrepreneurs can grow a business and grow the island of Cuba to a place of prosperity." But she also told U. S. Today that obstacles remain, not only the embargo but also such Cuban impediments as its out-moded and confusing dual currency.

        The monumental detente/rapprochement/cordiality forged in 2015 by Presidents Castro and Obama is still strongly and shamefully opposed by a rich and powerful minority of second generation of Cuban-Americans who have massively benefited since 1959 by the lucrative Castro Industry in the United States, still going strong as Fidel, battling severe health issues, ages to 89.

         This Ramon Espinosa photo shows Josefina Vidal, Cuba's top Minister on all matters concerning the United States, hosting New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in Cuba back in April. Mr. Cuomo is being joined by a long, long list of American leaders who desire friendly business relations with Cuba as boons to their states' economy. Such a relationship would not only benefit most Cubans and most Americans but also strongly improve the image of the United States and democracy in the eyes of the entire world, as an emphatic statement in the UN stressed last week.

       Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Mario Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Robert Menendez and their easily acquired, self-serving sycophants in the U. S. Congress maintain that this Cuban farmer should be forced to continue using oxen -- instead of new tractors from Alabama -- to till his land. After over a half-century of sheer cowardice and unfathomable ignorance that has enabled such anti-democratic and inhumane dictations to exist, perhaps it is time for Americans to stand up for this innocent farmer...and for democracy...and challenge a policy that the civilized world abhors.

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Cubans Appreciate Obama

And Take Advantage of His Courage

            Online and in print London's great newspaper The Guardian does the best job of letting the world know what is happening in Cuba. This past weekend it used this Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images photo to illustrate an article written by Tyler Wetherall. He wrote: "Tour operators around the world are reporting such high demand for travel to Cuba that hotel rooms in Havana are selling out months in advance, with some agencies unable to offer availability until April of 2016. With an estimated 10 million Americans a year expected to visit Cuba when the 54-year-old U. S. trade embargo is lifted, other nations are already heading there in droves. But is the country ready for the influx?" The answer is: Not quite. Cuba has upped its hotel prices while the government is spending money upgrading and increasing its hotel rooms. So are individual Cubans who rent out rooms in their homes, a process known as Casa Particulars {Particular homes}. A handful of visceral Cuban-Americans in the U. S. Congress can block the lifting of the embargo but in doing so they will increasingly draw the wrath of everyday Americans, who desire and deserve the freedom to travel to Cuba, and American businesses who are anxious to make money in Cuba.

        Thanks to caring Americans, especially President Barack Obama, and caring leaders around the world, especially Pope Francis, this is now a very common sight throughout the island of Cuba. {Photo above courtesy: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images}. The caption read: "A few years ago, this would have been regarded as an act of treason in Cuba," meaning a U. S. flag flying beside a Cuban flag at a Cuban home.

         This photo is courtesy of Alamy and was used in the aforementioned article in The Guardian. It shows Nivia Melendez in her home in Santiago de Cuba preparing an excellent Cuban meal for her paying customers, tourists who covet and pay for such home-cooked meals. Restaurants in private Cuban homes are called Paladars. For many years experienced foreign visitors, including me, have frequented Paladars. There are now many more of them thanks to the Cuban government reacting to a thawing of U. S. relations by allowing for more-and-more entrepreneurs...like Nivia Melendez. Visceral Cuban-Americans in the U. S. Congress -- Rubio, Cruz, Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz-Balart, etc. -- want the embargo and other antagonisms against Cuba to continue for another 54 years. They assume the American people are stupid enough or coerced enough to believe that such cruel sanctions hurt the now 89-year-old Fidel Castro. Sane Americans, of course, agree with all the other countries around the world concerning the embargo: It hurts decent, innocent Cubans like Nivia Melendez who are trying to make decent, honest livings for their families. Restrictions from the Cuban government are not Nivia's biggest enemy but the cruel U. S. sanctions are. 

           The Cuban people still deeply appreciate this summer's visit of Pope Francis on the heels of his monumental influence in persuading Presidents Obama and Castro to become friendly neighbors.

 Mr. Obama is doing all he can do to help the Cuban people.

        The entire world, except for Israel, each year at the United Nations voices strong opposition to the continuation of the U. S. embargo against Cuba, a Cold War relic that shames the U. S. and democracy.

        Last week -- on October 27th, 2015 -- this was the final tally of the UN vote that vehemently opposed the U. S. embargo of Cuba -- 191-to-2 with no abstentions. The United States is unable to persuade even its best friends around the world to support its Cuban policy; the U. S. provides vast amounts of economic and military aid to a plethora of nations but only nuclear-powerful Israel, by far the biggest recipient of U. S. money and arms, can be enticed to support the U. S. embargo of Cuba. And...sane democracy-loving Americans should understand that a 191-to-2 majority opinion should be respected in a democracy.

        A handful of Cuban-American anti-Castro zealots in Miami -- such as Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart -- are able to dictate to the U. S. Congress a Cuban policy that most Americans, most Cuban-Americans, and the entire world opposes. The Diaz-Balart brothers have both been elected to the U. S. Congress from Miami as vicious anti-Castro zealots. Their father was a key Minister in the Batista dictatorship that was overthrown by the Cuban Revolution way back in 1959. Miami then became the new center for two generations of Cuban exiles, most of whom are now democracy-loving Americans but they, as well as America's Cuban policy, are dictated to by only a few very rich and very powerful anti-Castro zealots.

        This photo shows Fidel Castro welcoming Pope Francis to his modest home in Havana earlier this year. The photo was taken by Alex Castro, Fidel's son. Fidel is now 89-years-old -- unwell but also unbowed, except physically. Still keen of mind, he remains a voracious reader and avid newshound. But he is now only the eternal symbol of the Cuban Revolution and Revolutionary Cuba that replaced, back in 1959, the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship. That event shocked the world. But the longevity of Revolutionary Cuba, against imposing odds, has shocked the world even more. The two monumental events have thrust the island of Cuba onto the international stage far out of proportion to its size, population or wealth. As proven by last week's 191-to-2 vote in the UN, the rest of the world admires major aspects of Revolutionary Cuba, such as its resilience and tenacity. Fidel himself is now merely a spectator of the U.S.-Cuban relations that good people, like the Pope and President Obama, are trying to mend. But the vast and lucrative Fidel Castro Industry in the United States still benefits a handful of rich and powerful people, allowing a few extremists, through two generations now, to dictate a nefarious Cuban policy that {1} shames America's best friends around the world and {2}, as those friends pointed out during their vote in the UN last week, the U. S. Cuban policy is a violation of international laws that they, if not the U. S., respect. In 1976 Americans were successfully told to accept the terrorist bombing of a child-laden civilian Cuban airplane as "the biggest blow yet against Castro." In 2015 Americans are being told to disregard that 191-to-2 vote in the United Nations. Like in 1976, and all the years since 1959, this generation of Americans will passively and timidly accept the propaganda concerning the 2015 UN vote. Earlier this year, on his airplane flight from Cuba to the U. S., Pope Francis was asked what he told Fidel Castro. The Pope's face reportedly exuded emotion as he pondered the question. He cupped his hands together and looked downward as he tapped his knuckles against his chin for about a half minute. When he looked back up he said, "I told him I'm truly sorry, and that history will be much kinder to him than his enemies have been."

 President Obama treats President Raul Castro decently and cordially.

          The 89-year-old Fidel Castro has never met President Obama. Mr. Obama has never been to Cuba. However, he plans to visit the island in 2016, the last year of his 8-year, two-term presidency. If so, he will be warmly welcomed by Cubans who deeply appreciate what he has done on their behalf. In 2016 Fidel will turn 90. If he is still alive when President Obama visits Cuba, Fidel would welcome him into his home.

        As I said, Fidel is still keen of mind and a voracious reader. This photo shows him reading a biography of Barack Obama. Fidel has been told {by Josefina Vidal} that President Obama may not ask to see him in 2016 on his planned presidential visit to the island, but that Obama as a private citizen in 2017 would "most surely, if possible" like to meet Cuba's "greatest legend." Fidel's reply to Vidal was, "Then I'll try to make it a point to still be alive in 2017 because I think Cuba owes him a debt. He is brave and good."

           Back in 1973 Fidel Castro uttered the words quoted above. The U. S., remarkably, now has a black President, Mr. Obama, and Pope Francis, a native of Argentina, is, remarkably, the first Latin American Pope. In 2015 both the U. S., as represented by President Obama, and Pope Francis, the first Latin American Pope, have "come to talk to us." Only one human being on the planet, Fidel Castro, predicted those three things. Of course, many of America's best historians have concluded that, in Cuba's David vs. Goliath struggles against the United States since 1953, "Fidel Castro has out-smarted eleven consecutive U. S. presidents." Only the historians in Miami would disagree with that, and they may be a bit biased.

"The U. S. will come to talk to us...

when they have a black president....

and the world has a Latin American Pope."

{Fidel Castro, 1973}

Wow!!!!!!!!
No wonder the Batistianos are still in Miami, not Havana!!

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Rubio's Double-Cross of Jeb Bush

 Good for Rubio, Bad for America
Sharply updated: Saturday, October 31st

      There was a vote in the U. S. Senate yesterday -- Friday, October 30th -- and Senator Marco Rubio actually showed up and voted!! His hometown newspaper -- The South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- had chastised him for "ripping off" his Miami constituents and suggested he should "resign." Rubio didn't plan to vote Friday because he was too busy campaigning for President and fund-raising. But he changed his mind and actually flew to Washington to vote, which is his highly paid job! Letters-to-the-Editors in the Sun-Sentinel, Miami News, and the Miami Herald have berated Rubio for such things as "favoring Israel over the people who sent you to the Senate!" A Rubio as President, many feel, would "rip off" the United States and not just Miami.

       The fawning U. S. media is claiming that Rubio's canned verbal assault on his mentor, Jeb Bush, in this week's Republican debate in Colorado will catapult the first-term Senator from Miami into the White House. Uhhh, maybe. But...maybe not!

     Jeb Bush has shocked the political establishment by relinquishing his once taken-for-granted dominance of the Republican presidential campaign. He now seems unable to fathom what he, his powerful family, and the top echelon of the Republican party consider Marco Rubio's double-cross. The media might be right; it might propel Rubio to the White House. But it also might be Rubio's biggest mistake. A longtime key Jeb supporter, a Cuban-American in Miami, this weekend stated: "When the media smoke from Colorado clears, Rubio will be back begging for Jeb's help. Marco was a very poor high school student. He wasn't much better in college. At age 26, and you can look it up, he decided to use his Cubanism to get into politics in Miami and Florida. The very first cash donation he got was a $50 dollar check from Jeb Bush. Marco still shows off a copy of that check. What he forgot in Colorado this week was this: the Bush family still dominates the Republican Party and Marco is a Republican. As a Cuban-American, Marco should remember first off that he is an American. He flies off to Israel with his biggest money-backers. Just two Jewish billionaires -- Norman Braman and Sheldon Adelson -- are worth over $40 billion and they alone say they can put Marco in the White House. Marco says the first trip he will take on Air Force One is to Israel. It should be to Miami, where Jeb and others gave him his start and where there are a lot of people who need both help and representation. As Commander-in-Chief it appears Marco's first task would be to recapture Cuba while, maybe, he should admit that most Cuban-Americans in Miami disapprove of his Cuban vitriol, which mostly harms innocent Cubans. Maybe, as the newsmen are saying, Jeb doesn't want the presidency bad enough. But it is for sure that Marco wants it too much. That, even from a Miami perspective, is dangerous for the future of America."

        Meanwhile, Rubio and his staff this weekend are bragging about a fresh tsunami of donated cash and about the suspected boost in the polls. He has the powerful support of Tea Party zealots, a cluster of Jewish billionaires, most of the mainstream media, the influential Fox News operation, and even the support of my favorite sister-in-law who likes "his looks." I asked her if she knew where he was from? She replied, "Uh, Minnesota...I think." I didn't ask her anything else. Rubio, in addition to these aforementioned assets, has a scripted stump speech and scripted, memorized retorts to tough questions, such as his disdain for the Senate and his highly questionable financial background. But he is not nearly as smart at Ted Cruz, the other first-term Cuban-American Republican Senator running for president. Also, Cruz, unlike Rubio, is a brilliant debater and extemporaneous speaker...although Cruz is too far to the right to win the Republican nomination that would be available to a better-directed and better-intentioned, and less vain, Rubio. However, if Rubio can win the Republican nomination for President while going to war with the Bush dynasty, then going to war against ISIS, Russia, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, China, etc. -- once he reaches the White House -- should be a veritable piece of cake!! Yikes!!!     

               On October 22nd, the New York Times had a pertinent article regarding U. S. diplomat Roberta Jacobson that explained how a couple of Cuban-Americans politicians...Senators, actually...from Miami and New Jersey can harm America without any fear of ever being held accountable. {Photo courtesy: Cliff Owen/Associated Press}. The Editorial began with these three paragraphs that Americans should heed:

               "Washington's relationship with Mexico is one of its most important and at the moment one of its thorniest. Yet, the American diplomat who was nominated to serve as ambassador to Mexico in June has yet to be confirmed by the Senate to take up the post.
                 "The reasons for that have nothing to do with the qualifications of the nominee, Roberta Jacobson, a veteran State Department official who runs the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
                "Ms. Jacobson played a leading role in re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. This has greatly annoyed two influential Cuban-American senators, Marco Rubio of Florida and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who want to keep America's policy toward Cuba stuck in a Cold War mentality. And under the Senate's opaque confirmation process, all it takes to sink the nomination of a qualified public servant is one or two people with a grievance."

       Senator Marco Rubio from Miami and Senator Robert Menendez from New Jersey have a free reign in the U. S. Congress to stuff their Cuban bias down the throats of Americans without fear of being held accountable by pusillanimous or passive American voters and taxpayers. Each October in a UN vote the nations of the world, as they did yet again on Tuesday of this week, resoundingly denounce such behavior but propagandized Americans have been properly schooled to dismiss it. The aforementioned New York Times editorial on October 22nd dealt with "the pettiness" of Rubio and Menendez in blocking the confirmation of the brilliant U. S. diplomat, Roberta Jacobson, and keeping her from taking up her important assignment as Ambassador to Mexico. WHY? Because Jacobson brilliantly and decently represented the U. S. in the diplomatic sessions that helped ease the punitive U. S. relations with Cuba, so punitive and illegal under international law that all 191 nations, including America's best friends in the world, powerfully voted to support Cuba and denounce the U. S. in the UN this week. {The vote was 191-to-2 with only dependent Israel siding with the U. S.}. So, in addition to stuffing their Cuban vendettas down the throats of Americans, Senators Rubio and Menendez seem to care not a bit that their Cuban bias, in the eyes of the world, makes the U. S. more resemble a cruel Banana Republic than a decent democracy.

      This photo shows Senators Rubio and Menendez flanking Yoani Sanchez, Cuba's most famed dissident. This image points out two things: {1} Cuba is trying real hard to get past the Cold War animosity that has shaped U.S.-Cuban relations since the U. S. teamed with the Mafia to support the brutal Batista dictatorship in Cuba in 1952; after the Cuban Revolution overthrew the Batista dictatorship in 1959, Cuba did not expect the Batistianos to quickly reconstitute their regime on U. S. soil, not even in the two Mafia-havens of Miami and New Jersey. One indication that Cuba is looking to a more peaceful future is the fact that it allows its most famous dissident, Yoani Sanchez, to fly to Miami, Washington, etc., to gain sustenance, or whatever, and then return to Cuba where her anti-Castro literary endeavors become better funded and better promoted for her worldwide anti-Castro market. In Cuba as well as the U.S. the lush Castro Industry thrives. In Miami and Washington especially, Sanchez is treated like a superstar as well as the Queen and First Lady of Cuba. Meanwhile, {2} Cuban-American members of Congress insist on punishing 11 million Cubans on the island with such abominations as the embargo that was begun way back in 1962 for the stated purpose of starving and depriving Cubans to induce them to rise up and overthrow the now 89-year-old and un-thrown Fidel Castro. Additionally, everyday Americans are unconscionably punished by not having the freedom to visit one place on this planet -- Cuba. That, apparently, is so Cuban-Americans like Rubio and Menendez can control the Cuban narrative in the U. S. and, if Americans could freely visit the nearby island, they...heavens forbid!!...might form their own opinions. That, if it became a reality, might cut sharply into the wealth and power of America's very lucrative Castro Industry, which is powered by a handful of Cuban-Americans and enabled/legalized by the malleable, lobbyist-infested United States Congress.

        The New York Times editorial excoriating Senators Marco Rubio and Robert Mendendez for blocking the badly needed Ambassadorship to Mexico of the highly qualified Roberta Jacobson was dated October 22, 2015, in case you missed it. It is one of the endless stream of anti-American ploys perpetrated by Cuban-American members of the U. S. Congress from Miami and New Jersey to shove their Cuban bias down the throats of Americans, democracy, and America's best friends all around the world.

        The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is the best and most respected newspaper in South Florida. On October 23rd -- the day after the NY Times editorial slammed Rubio and Menendez -- the Sun-Sentinel published a long, scathing editorial expressing its frustration about the "criminal" activity of Cuban-American politicians in South Florida, nefarious efforts that adversely affect not only the citizens of South Florida but also sharply impacts all Americans. The Sun-Sentinel editorial seemed mostly intent on castigating South Florida's contemptuous contributions to the U. S. Congress. For example, it deeply excoriated what it called {exact words}: "A revolving-door criminal pipeline enabled by our nation's unique immigration policy for Cubans." Later, in another even more graphic editorial, the Sun-Sentinel -- on Marco Rubio's home soil -- strongly suggested that "Marco Rubio should resign" and "and stop ripping us off."

      Yes, the The South Florida Sun-Sentinel was talking about this Marco Rubio. The powerful paper in his own backyard wants him to "resign" from the U. S. Senate because the paper's Editorial Board believes he is "ripping us off." Rubio reached the hallowed halls of the U. S. Senate four years ago because {1} he is a Cuban-American from Miami; {2} he latched onto the coattails of Jeb Bush and the entire Bush dynasty; and {3} he latched onto the right-wing coattails of the Tea Party. Except for vowing to shutdown the U. S. government if he didn't get his way, and vowing to block or turn back every positive overture President Obama makes regarding Cuba, Rubio has accomplished nothing in the Senate. His main venture was sponsorship of an immigration bill that famously tanked. By his own admission, Rubio finds his highly lucrative and powerful position in the U. S. Senate boring. He hit the Senate running breathlessly for President of the U. S. Of the 100 Senators, he has by far the worst record for even showing up to vote. He's too busy campaigning for President and begging America's Jewish, right-wing, and conservative billionaires for money to fill his campaign coffers and Super-PACs. Meanwhile, even perfunctory research reveals an astonishing history of financial irregularities associated with Rubio -- credit cards, personal use of campaign funds, real estate deals including the purchase of houses with no down payments and the weird purchase of a house in Tallahassee with a controversial politician as his partner, etc. The NY Times devoted a famous article delineating some of Rubio's questionable financial dealings. The next morning one of his acolytes -- MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough on his politically influential "Morning Joe" program -- held up that NY Times and loudly proclaimed, "This will get Rubio elected President!"  Scarborough, a multi-million-dollar anchor and former conservative Republican member of the U. S. Congress from Florida, is typical of the Teflon-coated treatment Rubio gets and will continue to get in the media. He made it all the way to the U. S. Senate with his bio claiming his parents escaped the Castro tyranny in Cuba for the freedom of Miami. That obligatory lie prevailed till...uh...it was pointed out that Rubio's parents escaped the Batista tyranny in Cuba long before Castro took over. Rubio's primary stump speech and campaign retorts stress his "rags to riches story." He never fails to point out that his Cuban father in Miami was a barkeeper and his Cuban mother in Miami was a hotel maid. Of course, what he conveniently fails to mention is the sheer fact that being Cuban or Cuban-American in Miami affords him privileges that non-Cubans or non-Cuban-Americans do not have. That has resulted from startling anti-democratic laws in the U. S. Congress designed to enrich and empower Cubans, and only Cubans, who touch or have touched U. S. soil. When his hometown newspaper, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, suggested that Rubio "resign" from the Senate and "stop ripping off" his constituents in South Florida, the paper's editorial correctly mentioned the "revolving-door criminal pipeline" from Miami-to-Washington and then from Washington-back-to-Miami. Of course, there is now a legion of volatile and highly paid Rubio pundits/propagandists who will successfully make lemonade out of Rubio's lemons, and Americans will be expected to drink every drop of it.

          In 1989 Jeb Bush put a very lucrative halo around the head of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. She was one of Miami's most visceral Cuban-born anti-Castro zealots. Jeb was her Campaign Manager. He and the Bush dynasty put Ros-Lehtinen in the U. S. Congress in 1989...where she remains entrenched to this day. It was Jeb's way of laying down his political roots in Florida, leading to his two terms as Florida's Governor. Since 1989 every Miami Cuban-American who has made it to the U. S. Congress has been attached to the Bush dynasty. That includes Ros-Lehtinen, the Diaz-Balart brothers Lincoln and Mario {whose father was a key Minister in the Batista dictatorship}, and...Marco Rubio, the man who is double-crossing Jeb Bush.

         Marco Rubio was hand-picked for the U. S. Senate by his dear friend and mentor Jeb Bush. Jeb, because of the immense financial clout of the Bush dynasty in a money-crazed political system, was the presumptive easy victor in the Republican presidential sweepstakes. As President, Jeb would have given Rubio whatever position he wanted -- Secretary of Defense or State, etc. And after Jeb's one or two terms as President, the Bush machine would have promoted a still-young Rubio as President. But things have changed drastically. The young, ambitious, and vain Rubio has roundly double-crossed his mentor, Jeb.

           This is now the photo that best depicts the Marco Rubio-Jeb Bush relationship. They are enemies, estranged, etc., regardless of what their high-priced publicists say. Jeb is flummoxed and unforgiving over the betrayal of being double-crossed by Rubio. Having said all this, if you bear with me, I will herewith tell you how the Jeb-Rubio spat will evolve and, moreover, I'll tell you who will end up as the Republican presidential candidate in 2016. And, oh yes, I will even divulge HOW I know IF you keep it a secret.

        Josefina Vidal is Cuba's Minister of North American Affairs. Readers of this Cubaninsider blog may recall that many months ago I published an essay in which I revealed that Vidal had told close friends visiting Cuba from Spain: "I am working hard as I can, with the concurrence of Presidents Castro and Obama, to normalize relations with Cuba. We can and will attain a lot but only because of Obama and even with him Congress can block most of it, and roll back much of what we achieve. We are, as you may know, making a lot of changes in order to keep Cuba as safe as possible and as sovereign as possible. Normalization of relations with the U. S. is best for Cuba and will occupy me forever. But I am also focused on post-Obama...what will follow him as U. S. President and, just as important to us, the U. S. Commander-in-Chief. In that regard, I am preparing for what will be the Marco Rubio presidency in the United States beginning in January of 2017. That's how it will be. If we are not prepared for that eventuality, Rubio, our demise will be our fault."

         When Josefina Vidal had that visit from her Spanish friends, Rubio's poll numbers were at a dismal 4%. If, at the time, any human other than Vidal had predicted a Rubio presidency in 2017 I would have laughed out loud. But not at Vidal. Not when the topic is the United States. So, you may recall, months ago when I got that inside info from a reliable source, I wrote a long essay about it on Cubaninsider explaining my belief in Vidal's prediction. Vidal's knowledge of U.S-Cuban relations is nonpareil. The ubiquitous pundits on cable television in the U. S. are not even close. Since the year 2000 her uncanny assessment of the U. S. government and U. S. politics has been Cuba's greatest asset. Cuba survived the George H. W. Bush one-term Presidency because of sheer luck. Cuba survived the George W. Bush two-term Presidency because of Josefina Vidal. Going forward past President Obama, if Cuba is to survive and sustain its sovereignty, it will be because of Josefina Vidal. If Cuba is allowed to prosper in the next decade, it will be because of her. She is that unique. That special. That talented. And, mostly, she is pure Cuban!

         The United States has a plethora of advantages over Cuba. But it does not have a diplomat or a politician that can either out-smart or out-maneuver Josefina Vidal. So, in the ongoing David vs. Goliath tussle, she makes it sort of even. When she said months ago that she was "preparing for" Rubio to be the next U. S. president, no one really believed her. Some do now. More will later. Speaking in Spanish or English, either on Cuban soil or U. S. soil, Vidal never backs down when it comes to defending Cuba. No one intimidates her. Months ago, her Spanish friends had never heard of Marco Rubio. She explained who he was/is. One of her Spanish friends then marveled, "We over in Spain think about the moneybags, Bush or Clinton. But Rubio? What would that mean?" Quickly and sternly, Vidal retorted, "It would mean that the Batistianos had captured the U. S. government BEFORE they recaptured the Cuban government!"

America and Jeb Bush may not be ready for a Rubio presidency,

But.........

Josefina Vidal is!!

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Cuba Moves Forward Boldly

Relishes International Support

Thursday, October 29th, 2015

        Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is in Cuba this week, pointing out to Cuban President Raul Castro that "the entire world" supports what Cuba "is trying positively to do against imposing odds." Mr. Renzi was referencing Tuesday's UN vote in which the entire world, except for the U. S. and acolyte Israel, emphatically denounced the U. S. embargo of Cuba. Renzi said, "I am strongly urging Italian businesses to invest very heavily in Cuba. The Italian government maintains and will maintain this commitment with renewed confidence." Already 120 Italian companies have signed up to participate in the upcoming Havana Fair, the island's chief trade showcase.

        Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuba's Foreign Trade and Investment Minister, heralded Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's strong support of Cuba's economic future. Then Malmierca made this significant statement, "As the Prime Minister Renzi understands, Cuba has a political will to diversify in our bright new economic scenario." 

"a political will to diversify"

"our bright new economic scenario"

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