Venezuela Election Hurts Cuba

Victory for Miami and Washington 

Photo courtesy: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

         The above photo was taken yesterday -- Sunday, December 6th, 2015, in Caracas -- and it is one that Cuba did not want to see this Monday morning. It shows opposition leaders in Venezuela's crucial National Assembly election celebrating a resounding victory over the socialist party led by President Nicolas Maduro, one of Cuba's dearest friends. The jubilant lady on the left above is Lilian Tintori, the wife of Leopoldo Lopez, a powerful opposition leader imprisoned by President Maduro. 

          This AP/Ariana Cubilos photo shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro right after casting his vote in Sunday's National Assembly election. His Socialist Party suffered a resounding defeat. The Democratic Unity Party won 99 of the 167 seats to only 46 for the Socialist Party with 24 additional seats undecided. In 1999 Hugo Chavez was elected President and then survived a brief coup in 2002 that he blamed on the George W. Bush White House in Washington along with rich Cuban-Americans in Miami. After the failed coup Chavez moved Venezuela more pro-Cuban and anti-American. Chavez died of cancer in 2013 at age 58 and his hand-picked successor, Maduro, won a close and fiercely contested presidential election. Maduro's term ends in 2019 but now the National Assembly will likely commence impeachment proceedings. Like Chavez, Maduro is supported by Venezuela's poor but the National Assembly election results were not surprising considering horrific problems in the oil rich but cash poor nation of 30 million people. Shortages of food and other staples, including diapers, have caused major headaches exacerbated by off-the-chart inflation. The tough-talking Maduro late Sunday surprised some by saying he would "accept" the result of the National Assembly election but he still wields considerable power as President supported by the military and a strong segment of the poorest Venezuelans. The political turmoil will continue unabated and, as always, it will pit the Socialist Party supported by the poor against the Democratic Unity Party that supposedly is supported by the rich in Venezuela as well as the rich in Miami. Indeed, both the BBC and AJAM networks reported Cuban and Venezuelan restaurants in Miami intently monitoring and then wildly cheering the election results in Venezuela. For the first time in 17 years, the rural poor in Venezuela have lost to the urban rich.

      Henrique Capriles is the big winner from Sunday's National Assembly elections in Venezuela. Capriles is the 43-year-old Governor of Miranda, a powerful state. Capriles barely lost the presidential election to Maduro in 2013. Capriles is considered an American-aligned capitalist. He attended Columbia University; his father had connections to Kraft Foods, Nabisco, etc. Capriles represents the rich U.S.-connected Venezuelan capitalists who promise, when they replace Maduro, that they will take care of the rural poor who benefited the last 16 years from Chavez-Maduro programs, but they also promise to tie Venezuela's economy to America's and put an end to Venezuela's massive deal with Cuba that involves such things as oil for Cuba in exchange for thousands of Cuban medical workers in poor areas.

        This photo is courtesy of Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images. It shows Maria Corina Machado, one of the happiest people in Caracas today -- Monday, December 7th. A powerful ally of Henrique Capriles, the 48-year-old Machado has spent the last 16 years in fierce opposition to a Chavez-Maduro socialist movement in Venezuela. She is shown above campaigning for the National Assembly election that handed Maduro a huge congressional defeat Sunday. Both the late Hugo Chazez and President Maduro have accused Machado of being aligned with the Cuban-Venezuelan faction in Miami as well as the Bush dynasty. In fact, Chavez...as well as historians...accused Machado of being involved with the George W. Bush administration in 2002 when Chavez was briefly overthrown in a coup. Indeed, as late as May of 2014, Maduro has accused Machado of plotting to overthrow him. Now, after Sunday's National Assembly triumph, Venezuela's U.S.-connected Capriles-Machado combine is primed to unseat Maduro by impeachment or by election.

           For sure, as a prime opponent of President Chavez, Maria Corina Machado was always welcome at the White House during the George W. Bush administration.

Maria Corina Machado and President George W. Bush, a photo that resonates in Venezuela to this very day.

        Maria Corina Machado and the U.S.-friendly capitalists are now in control of Venezuela's powerful National Assembly. How, or if, they care for the poor people remains to be seen.   

Photo courtesy: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

         For sure, Cuba has no reason to rejoice about this photo that shows opposition forces in Venezuela celebrating their triumph in the country's National Assembly election yesterday. Similar celebrations resounded in Miami and Washington.  

       Posters like this -- featuring images of Hugo Chavez, Simon Bolivar and President Nicolas Maduro -- are ubiquitous in the poorest areas of Venezuela. But the rich elite now in control of the country's National Assembly can now begin the alignment of Venezuela with Miami and Washington. Bolivar's image is still safe but posters like this in Venezuela might soon fall victim to the shifting political winds.

        These three women are great admirers of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution and they have each twice been democratically elected as Presidents of extremely important, Cuban-friendly Latin American nations. That's President Cristina Fernandez of Argentina on the left; President Michelle Bachelet of Chile in the middle; and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil. But Fernandez is term-limited and last month her hand-picked successor lost an election to a U.S.-friendly capitalist named Mauricio Macri. Bachelet in Chile is facing anti-government street protests. And impeachment proceedings are now marring Dilma Rousseff's second term.

      This Vestei Marcelino/Reuters photo shows a harassed Dilma Rousseff fighting back against impeachment proceedings in her second term as President of Brazil, Latin America's richest and most powerful nation. This photo, coupled with the recent elections in Venezuela and Argentina, is emblematic of the winds of change in Latin America that are adversely affecting Cuba at a very inopportune time.

      Danny Ortega, the Cuban-friendly President of Nicaragua, is pointing his finger directly at Miami and Washington "as the prime instigators of the constant pressure democratically elected Presidents trying to help the poor people throughout Latin America are being subjected to by the Cubans in Miami and in the U. S. Congress. They are hell-bent and unchecked in targeting the legitimate governments of my country, Nicaragua, as well as Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and all the nations in the region friendly to Cuba. If they get their way, it will be like in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s when the U. S. dictated governments throughout Latin America, even if the CIA had to overthrow democratically elected governments, like in Guatemala in 1953, in Chile in 1973, and so forth. Only now it's not the CIA so much. It's Miami Cubans and congressional Cubans. Cuba's revolution in the 1950s and Nicaragua's in the 1970s changed things, but it's happening again." In the last couple of weeks, Ortega has been irked as Nicaragua's military blocked thousands of Cubans at the Costa Rican border, slowing their efforts to reach U. S. soil at the Mexican border.

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A Very Special Cuban

She's Quite A Woman!!
{Updated for Monday, December 7th, 2015}
UFirst:

        Today -- December 7th -- is a reminder of the Day of Infamy for America back in 1941. A surprise Japanese attack ushered America into World War II. The graphic above depicts the U. S. ships sunk, damaged or destroyed. That day, 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were severely wounded. My Uncle Ritchie, a proud member of the U. S. Navy and the man I was named for, was at Pearl Harbor that day. 

Photo courtesy: Cita con Angeles

       This lady, in my opinion, is the most interesting person in Cuba today. See if you agree. Maria Antonia Puyol Bravo was born 88 years ago in Biran, Cuba. She spent most of her youth fishing, riding horses, and mingling with three lifelong friends -- Ramon, Fidel, and Raul Castro. She never married and has no children. Today Maria owns and works the El Alcazar ranch in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra Mountains in southeastern Cuba. It's not just any ranch. In a book-length article about Florida billionaire John Parke Wright IV trying to revitalize the cattle industry in Cuba, Newsweek Magazine described Maria's pristine, 1500-acre ranch "One of the best cattle ranches in the Western Hemisphere." Not just Cuba, mind you, but THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE! El Alcazar means "the castle" or "the fortress" and it is both of those things thanks to Maria and, perhaps, thanks to her bond with the three Castro brothers -- 91-year-old Ramon, 89-year-old Fidel, and 84-year-old Raul. Maria told Newsweek she is not surprised the Castro brothers became the leaders of Cuba. She said, "Today they run all of Cuba the way they used to run Biran." At age 88, Maria still runs one of the BEST RANCHES IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE on 1500 pristine acres of gorgeous Cuban land. 

One of Maria's prized bulls at El Alcazar.

Some of Maria's prized cattle at El Alcazar.

One of Maria's prized horses at El Alcazar.

        This photo shows the Castro brothers in 1941 when Maria was growing up with them in Biran, Cuba. Fidel and Raul, of course, need no introduction but their reclusive older brother Ramon Castro is not nearly as well known.

         Ramon Castro, on the left above, is shown here with friend John Parke Wright IV, the billionaire from Naples, Florida. It was Mr. Wright who reminded Newsweek Magazine of Maria Puyol's exquisite El Alcazar ranch. Because of Ramon's age, his son Angel now often accompanies Mr. Wright in Cuba.

        Ramon turned 91 on October 14th; Fidel turned 89 on August 13th; and Raul turns 85 on June 3rd, 2016. Ramon is shown here again with his billionaire friend John Parke Wright IV of Tampa, Florida. 

      John Parke Wright IV is a billionaire legend in South Florida like friend Maria Antonia Puyol is a very wealthy legend in southeastern Cuba. Mr. Wright's imperial, intriguing relationship with Cuba, especially Ramon Castro, has made him a few enemies -- especially in Miami and the U. S. Congress. Newsweek asked him if he's worried about Congress's reaction to his current efforts to improve the cattle industry in Cuba. He replied brusquely, "If Congress...wants to throw me in jail, let them try." 

       John Parke Wright IV is a very interesting figure in the U.S.-Cuban equation. He is a 5th generation member of Tampa's Lykes family that owned thousands of acres in pre-revolutionary Cuba and still owns countless thousands of acres in the U. S. today. Mr. Wright says when he was a youth in Tampa his uncle told him, "If you behave we'll send you to Cuba to run the Lykes cattle ranch. If you are bad, we will send you to work at our steamship line in China." In 1959 the victorious Cuban Revolution nationalized the Lykeses' 15,000-acre Cuban ranch. Yet, Wright became Cuba's, Ramon's, and Maria's dear friend, apparently because he believed...and apparently still does...that the sheer brutality and thievery of the Batista dictatorship in the 1950s made a revolution...uh...necessary.

Fidel and Raul {kneeling} as underdog rebels.

Fidel Castro when he was no longer the underdog.

        Fidel Castro, now 89, is unwell but still has an inquisitive mind and loves to read biographies. Is this one about President Barack Obama? Uh, yes!

Taylor J. Wofford, Newsweek

           The excellent and balanced Newsweek article on Dec. 2-2015 written by Taylor J. Wofford was entitled: "Cows, Capitalism and the Future of Cuba." It focused on Florida billionaire John Parke Wright IV and his continuing efforts to improve the cattle industry in Cuba. It also introduced Americans to a Cuban legend, 88-year-old cattle rancher Maria Antonia Puyol. But Mr. Wofford also expertly updated Cuba's ongoing struggle to feed its people, correctly pointing out that a combination of the U. S. embargo and flaws in its Socialist system have left 11.2 million Cubans struggling today. Wofford referenced the "thaw" in U.S.-Cuban relations being engineered by President Obama. He wrote: "Most Cubans welcome this development but few want things to go back how they were before the revolution, when Cuba was a de facto colony of Washington and Havana a decadent playpen for wealthy gringos." That sentence showed guts and insight about Cuba that the mainstream U. S. media doesn't have the courage to mention. The "decadent playpen for wealthy gringos" in pre-revolutionary Cuba was run by the top echelon of the Mafia -- Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Santo Trafficante, etc. A democracy teaming with the Mafia seemed unseemly.

          From 1952 till the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictators were overthrown on January 1, 1959, Americans flocked to Cuba because, indeed, it was as Taylor J. Wofford described it -- "a decadent playpen for wealthy gringos." This photo shows A-list American movie stars Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck at a bar in Batista's Cuba when Havana superseded Las Vegas as the Mafia's top prize.

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner honeymooned in Cuba.

     The interesting, nostalgic image above is courtesy of the Tampa Tribune. It shows a huge ship, the S.S. Florida, returning to Miami after one of its regular visits to Havana during the Batista dictatorship. In the 1950s the legal and indomitable sea and air traffic to Cuba massively fueled what Newsweek's Taylor Wofford this week called "the decadent playpen for wealthy gringos."  

      The photo on the right was used by the BBC to illustrate an article about Maria Antonia Puyol Bravo, the 88-year-old lifetime friend of the three Castro brothers. That's Maria showing the BBC one of her prized bulls on her El Alcazar ranch, which Newsweek the first week of Dec.-2015 called, "One of the best cattle ranches in the Western Hemisphere." How Maria Antonia Puyol and El Alcazar both survived and thrived in Batista's Cuba and Castro's Cuba makes for very, very interesting reading!!

Meanwhile:

     This is Olga Tanon, the superstar singer/entertainer from Puerto Rico. As a United States citizen from that efficacious United States Territory, Olga is shown here inviting Americans to visit and "understand" the Cuba that she knows...and loves. Olga understands that, despite the efforts of President Obama to deal with a U. S. Congress dictated to by America's lush Castro Industry, everyday Americans still cannot visit one place on this earth -- Cuba. Saturday -- December. 5th -- Olga gave a free concert in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second largest city and former capital on the southeastern tip of the island. On December 12th she'll be back to give a free concert in the capital city of Havana. Olga seems intent on making up to the Cubans for what the Castro Industry in the United States has done to them since 1959.

An emotional Cuban listening to Olga sing.

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Blocking U.S.-Cuban Thaw

It's Easy As Pie, Really
{Monday, November 30th, 2015}

       With the exception of The Tampa Tribune, there are very few news outlets in the United States that have the necessary combination of courage-competence-integrity to tell the truth about U.S.-Cuban relations, a nexus that has drastically affected both nations since the USS Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana Harbor in 1898, giving the U. S. the pretext to gain control of Cuba from Spain in the Spanish-American War. On November 27th, 2015, an article in The Tampa Tribune written by excellent journalist Paul Guzzo expertly updated those ramifications. The article was illustrated by the Associated Press photo above that depicts Cuban fishermen. Guzzo's first sentence was: "It has been six months since the United States removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, but the legacy of the past designation has lingered on, hurting attempts to finally normalize relations between the two nations."

        Guzzo mentions that "There are over $8 billion dollars outstanding in property claims against Cuba." Those claims, of course, date back to January 1, 1959, when the Cuban Revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship, chasing the leaders to safer havens, mostly nearby Miami. Guzzo added, "Under U. S. law, the Cuban embargo can only be lifted after the two nations settle the property claims."

             In other words, there is zero chance that the U. S. embargo of Cuba, first imposed in 1962, can "be lifted" despite the optimism following the announcements on Dec. 19-2014 by Presidents Obama and Castro they they had agreed to "normalize relations." The abnormally bellicose relations between Cuba and the U. S. since 1959 have simply enriched and empowered too many Cuban exiles, especially in Miami. From 1959 till 1962, all-out efforts by the U. S. and the Cuban exiles to recapture Cuba included...assassination attempts against Cuba's revolutionary leaders, the Bay of Pigs military attack, and the U. S. embargo of Cuba that exists to this very day. And then by 1966 the U. S. Congress had come under the total control of anti-Castro extremists as far as America's Cuban policy was/is concerned. Thus in 1966 the infamous Cuban Adjustment Act began an endless stream of "legal" U. S. laws powered by two purposes: {1} Hurt Cuba, and {2} enrich and empower the Cuban exile anti-Castro leaders. Both purposes have been infinitely realized, thanks to unchallenged post-1966 laws such as The Torricelli Bill, Helms-Burton Act, etc. In that milieu, overwhelmed by fear or political correctness, American politicians and jounalists, with few exceptions, were persuaded to either support or at least not object to even excesses of the U.S. Cuban policy. That has particularly been true since 1976 when anti-Castro terrorists bombed the civilian airliner Cubana Flight 455, killing all 73 on board, and loudly proclaiming in the Miami media that it was "the biggest blow yet against Castro!" The top Cuban-American newsman in Miami, Emilio Milian, voiced opposition to such things, and he was car-bombed. Since 1976 very few U. S. politicians or journalists have taken up for people like Emilio Milian -- or former Miami Herald columnist Jim DeFede who denounced terrorism against Cuba -- but a lot have supported an American Cuban policy that the rest of the world, as indicated by a yearly United Nations vote each October, opposes as extremely partisan and an affront to the supposed pillars of the U. S. democracy. Along the way, propagandized Americans don't much care.

            Paul Guzzo's Nov. 27-2015 article in The Tampa Tribune discussed ramifications of a U. S. Cuban policy designed to hurt Cuba and enrich/empower Cuban-Americans. He wrote: "6 months ago the U. S. removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism." It had been on the books for 33 years as a prime excuse for the Cubans in Miami, backed by the U. S. government, to sue Cuba in Miami courts without Cuba being represented to defend itself. The verdicts, of course, in the Miami courtrooms were pre-ordained. Guzzo wrote: "In 2003, when a Cuban plane was hijacked and flown to Key West, for instance, Cuba demanded the plane's return, but it was instead auctioned. The money was used to settle part of a $27 million judgment won by a Cuban-American woman who said she had unwittingly married a Cuban spy as part of his cover." Guzzo referenced other successful anti-Cuban lawsuits: "...one granting $2.8 billion that, with interest, is now $3.2 billion." Yes, billion with a "b." He also mentioned "another for $49.3 million and another for $454 million" awarded to Miami families for men allegedly killed or executed on missions to Cuba. Guzzo added, "In each of the lawsuits the plaintiffs won by default when Cuba chose not to defend itself in court." 
            Paul Guzzo's Nov. 27-2015 article in the The Tampa Tribune indicated that the U. S., even with Cuba off the terrorist list, can still "freeze" Cuban assets. He mentioned the "over $200 million in Cuban assets the U. S. government has frozen" relating to Cuba's share of money from U.S.-Cuban phone calls. Guzzo pointed out the George W. Bush administration, tightly aligned with the Miami Cubans, "seized more than $100 million in long-distance fees in 2002 to pay some of those judgments" that were routinely made.
            Remember what Guzzo wrote: "Under U. S. law, the Cuban embargo can only be lifted after the two nations settle the property claims." Guzzo says there are "$8 billion" worth of claims outstanding. Even if Cuba had that much loose change lying around in Havana, it wouldn't pay such U. S. claims even though, indeed, it has settled property claims with other countries. But against the U. S., Cuba has claims of its own that it would love to have arbitrated by international courts. Cuba has minutely made the case about the untold billions of dollars the U. S. embargo has cost it since 1962 and Cuba believes an international court would rule the embargo illegal. Moreover, Cuba can easily document numerous terrorist acts against innocent Cubans that have been victims of coastal airplane and speed-boat strafings, hotel bombings, and, of course, the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 that killed 73 civilians including teenage athletes.

         Even Cuba's brilliant, influential, and highly respected news anchor, 27-year-old Cristina Escobar -- on air via Cuban and regional newscasts and while covering the U.S.-Cuban diplomatic sessions in Washington earlier this year -- has referenced the Miami court decisions against Cuba that Paul Guzzo himself referenced on November 27th in The Tampa Tribune. Escobar frames it this way: "Miami courts make outrageous and successful lawsuits against Cuba when Cuba it is not even represented. So, I wonder if the U. S. would be so kind as to allow Cuba to be represented in an unbiased international courtroom, like in the Hague, when Cuba would be allowed to defend itself and then present its lawsuits against the U. S. for such things as the theft and continued illegal occupation of Guantanamo Bay since 1903 and the illegal embargo/blockade since 1962, not to mention the long and deadly lists of terrorist acts against us." 

         Even if Americans dismiss the facts respected journalist Paul Guzzo referenced in his Nov. 27-2015 article in The Tampa Tribune or conveniently dispute the points raised by Cuba's superstar news anchor Cristina Escobar, no one can deny that there are two sides to the U.S.-Cuban conundrum. Moreover, perhaps it is time for both sides to be fairly aired in both nations. In the U. S., that would mean my democracy would have to cease allowing just a handful of revengeful Cuban-Americans to mandate, decade after decade, biased and undemocratic U. S. laws that harm everyone but them.

Meanwhile:

             This beautiful little Cuban girl is a reminder of the uniquely and long-standing enigmatic nature of U.S.-Cuban relations. Her name is Gema Hernandez Perez.

        Famed American actor Danny Glover kicked off the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season by flying to Cuba to meet Gema. Her parents -- Gerardo Hernandez and Adriana Perez -- were glad to oblige. Danny had visited Gerardo when it was believed he would spend the rest of his life in prison in Victorville, California. As the most famed member of the famed Cuba 5, Gerardo had been sentenced to life in prison by a Miami court for being an alleged Cuban spy. The Cuba 5 gained international fame as many tried to prove they were in Miami trying to prevent terrorist acts against innocent Cubans. After serving almost 15 years of their sentences, the Cuba 5 are back in Cuba as heroes. Gerardo arrived back in Cuba in December of 2014 in the famous swap for the imprisoned American Alan Gross, a stunning exchange that allowed for Presidents Obama and Castro to announce plans for a thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations. Adriana, badly wanting a baby by her beloved husband Gerardo, was not allowed to visit him in his U. S. prison. Also, she was convinced he would never be released. That's when, amazingly, a lot of friendly people -- including Danny Glover and a powerful U. S. Senator {you can google that information} arranged for Gerardo's sperm to be flown from California to Cuba to impregnate Adriana!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for all the exclamation points, but neither I nor a great novelist could make this up. Shortly after Gerardo was freed, he was there when Adriana gave birth to Gema in a Cuban hospital. On his trip to Cuba to see the little girl that owes him so much, Danny Glover told the press: "When I joined the liberation committee for the Cuba Five and studied the men, I saw in them a bridge to the world of justice and equality that we want to build."

Gema and her proud parents, Adriana and Gerardo.

Danny Glover saying and waving good-bye to Gema Hernandez Perez.

Uh, did I say amazing?

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Unraveling U.S.-Cuba Detente

It Was Doomed From The Start

        This photo was taken yesterday -- Friday, November 27th, 2015. It shows angry Cubans protesting at the Ecuadorian embassy in Havana. The sign, translated to English, reads: "Justice! My visa or my money." Ecuador had been the only nation that allowed Cubans onto its soil without a visa. But that, coupled with fears that U.S.-Cuban detente might spell the end to United States laws that favor only Cubans, prompted thousands of Cubans to fly to Ecuador and then trek north before finally stepping onto U. S. soil at the Mexican border. Cubans, and only Cubans, have permanent U. S. residency and instant welfare the moment they step onto U. S. soil. Thousands were on that journey till they were stopped by Nicaragua at its border with Costa Rica. Tired of the turmoil, Ecuador changed its no-visa rule for Cubans. These Cubans still in Havana were demanding either their visas or the prompt return of the money they had paid for them.

            The New York Times this week used this photo to show anti-Cuban demonstrations in the section of Miami known at Little Havana. From Kennedy in 1963 to Carter in the 1970s to Clinton in the 1990s, Democratic U. S. presidents have tried to normalize relations with Cuba. Each time fierce opposition, originating in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood and then easily extending to the U. S. Congress, has not only stopped those plans but resulting conflicts have been used to sharply strengthen America's anti-Cuban policy. That's why the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act was followed by the Torricelli Bill and the Helms-Burton Act -- all essentially dictated to the U. S. Congress by Fidel Castro's most visceral Miami opponents. {To fully understand those congressional laws you need to study two seminal books: Ann Louise Bardach's "Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana" and Julie E. Sweig's "What Everyone Needs to Know About Cuba."}. Those decades-old congressional laws have had two purposes: {1} to hurt Cuba; and {2} to enrich and empower Cuban exiles and Cuban-Americans. They have succeeded in both ventures -- hurting Cuba while enriching and empowering Cubans who defect to the U. S. For example, since 1966 what is known as the Wet Foot/Dry foot law encourages Cubans to defect to the U. S. and once their front foot touches U. S. soil they have permanent residency and instantly begin receiving welfare. That law benefits only Cubans and discriminates against all other would-be migrants, not to mention unwitting U. S. taxpayers. It also casts, around the world, an undemocratic image of the U. S. Yet, Wet Foot/Dry Foot has prevailed since 1966 and it will remain. The conflict on the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border is merely an ephemeral offshoot. If it doesn't end Mr. Obama's detente, something else will soon evolve that will.

         This is Nicaraguan General Julio Cesar Aviles. It is his soldiers that have blocked the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. He says, "People entering or passing through Nicaragua must do it legally. That includes Cubans benefiting from special United States laws that harm everyone else, creating real chaos."

         This AFP photo shows a Cuban woman, stranded at the Costa Rican-Nicaraguan border for a week, drying her clothes yesterday. She is now just one of thousands in the same very irritating predicament.

        This AFP photo shows Costa Rica's Ambassador to the Netherlands, Jorge Urbina, testifying at the International Court in the Hague concerning Costa Rica's heated border disputes with Nicaragua that date back to 2010. Now the blocking of Cubans at that border by Nicaraguan soldiers is tossing fuel onto the smoldering flames and bringing other nations into the fray to try to de-escalate the rising tensions.

        This Marco Ruiz/Miami Herald graphic explains why many Cubans are stuck at the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. The juicy 1966 Wet Foot/Dry Foot law this month had a confluence with President Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba, causing many Cubans and many human traffickers to think that lucrative incentives for Cubans only might finally end. Ecuador, till this week, was the only nation that allowed Cubans to fly in without a visa. Then from Ecuador they would travel north through Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala to reach the U.S.-Mexican border where they would be home free with welfare the moment they touched U. S. soil. But Nicaragua, one of Cuba's closest allies, altered those plans just a bit by closing its border with Costa Rica. It's a headache the region didn't need.

         It was at high noon on Demceber 17th, 2014, that President Obama went on television to tell the American people that he and Cuban President Raul Castro had agreed to normalize relations between the two countries. Indeed, since the Cuban Revolution chased the Batista-Mafia dictatorship off the island {mostly to Miami} on January 1, 1959, Obama has come much closer than his ten predecessors to actually normalizing relations with the largest Caribbean island. He took Cuba off the Sponsors of Terrorism list; he exchanged notable Cuban prisoners in the U. S. for two notable American prisoners in Cuba; he orchestrated the reopening of embassies in Havana and Cuba for the first time since 1961; he removed some of the restrictions on Americans visiting Cuba; etc. However, President Obama -- like the three previous Democratic Presidents Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton -- will discover a hard fact of life regarding Cuba: There are too many people making too much money from America's Batistiano-like Cuban policy for him to change it anymore than he already has. In fact, when Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton tried to change it, they were so powerfully rebuked that harsher anti-Cuban laws resulted each time -- such as The Cuban Adjustment Act, Wet Foot/Dry Foot, The Torricelli Bill, and The Helms-Burton Act. The same thing will happen to President Obama's honorable efforts regarding Cuba. Sure, the impasse on the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border will resolve soon enough, but other provocations are just around the complex Cuban corner.

           Cubans enticed to defect to the United States are not the only ones laughing out loud at U. S. laws -- such as Wet Foot/Dry Foot -- designed to enrich and empower Cubans and only Cubans. The rest of the world, except for the embarrassment it causes America's best democratic friends, is laughing out loud too.

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