Cuba-Trump, What Now?

Surviving Trump and Rubio?

       Normally the mainstream media in the U. S. takes one of two stances regarding Cuba: {1} Ignore the island as insignificant; or {2} report only what the counter-revolutionary forces in Miami and the U. S. Congress want it to report or perhaps suffer the fates dished out to the two bravest Miami journalists -- Emilio Milian and Jim DeFede. But in recent days the U. S. media has featured countless articles about Cuba leading up to tomorrow's {June 16th} announcement IN MIAMI by President Trump about the latest Republican-Batistiano efforts to overthrow Cuba's revolutionary government, efforts that have failed miserably but have been brutal and continuous since January 1-1959, succeeding primarily in regularly brutalizing totally innocent everyday Cubans as well as projecting America internationally as a colossal imperial bully, a fact currently registered by a 191-to-0 condemnation of the U. S.'s Cuban policy in the UN.

       The plethora of U. S. articles about Cuba prior to Trump's cowardly announcement tomorrow in Miami have followed the U. S. media's pattern of being too afraid to depart from blistering counter-revolutionary/regime-change propaganda. But there are notable exceptions, such as Tracy Wilkinson, the superb Washington correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. Her article this week, in case you're interested, is entitled: "Trump Considers Reversing Historic Obama Opening With Cuba." She had the integrity, courage and insight to make these points:

                      "President Trump is expected to roll back parts of the historic Obama-era with Cuba, siding with hawks who oppose detente and rejecting demands from U. S. businesses for whom the island is a ripe potential market. Lobbying Trump against Cuba ties are two Cuban-American Republican lawmakers from Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart. The move will be controversial. It will dull a boom in tourism by Americans to Cuba...and it could allow Russia and China to more easily step in to fill the void." 

       For Americans today to sit back and allow self-serving counter-revolutionary Cuban-American zealots from Little Havana in Miami, like Marco Rubio and Mario Diaz-Balart, to dictate America's Cuban policy is equivalent to 1952 when that generation of Americans sat back and permitted Mafia thugs like Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky to align with the U. S. government in supporting the thieving Batista dictatorship. While the U. S. media is generally not permitted to mention it, Mario Diaz-Balart's father Rafael was a key Minister in the Batista dictatorship and, following Batista's overthrow in 1959, was one of the richest and most powerful counter-revolutionary forces in Miami and, in fact, the founder of "The White Rose, the very first of many paramilitary groups in Florida aiming to regain dictatorial control of Cuba.

          As for Marco Rubio, whom the American media portrays as a cute Mother Teresa-like choirboy, President Donald Trump's astounding path to the White House had to include a successful take down of highly financed Republican contender "Little Marco," whom then presidential-candidate Trump labeled as being "For Sale" to the highest bidders -- such as controversial multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

       One of America's most respected investigative journalists is the Washington-savvy Ken Silverstein. He earned that reputation after many years with the Associated Press, Harper's Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, etc. In one of his most deeply researched articles, he called Marco Rubio the most "For Sale" and most "corrupt" politician in Washington. As far as I know, he wasn't sued and the article wasn't refuted.

Graphic for Ken Silverstein's Rubio article.

       And so, you ask, How in the world can President Trump turn America's Cuban policy over to Mario Diaz-Balart and Marco Rubio -- one the son of a former Batista Minister and the other also a visceral counter-revolutionary Cuban-American from Miami? Well, Trump can do it and get away with it the same way vicious right-wing operatives in Washington along with self-serving entities such as the Bush dynasty have gotten away with supporting first Batista in Cuba and then the Batistianos in the U. S. since the 1950s. Also, in recent days even the mainstream U. S. media has indicated that Mario and Marco have nudged Trump towards their vindictive Cuban policies with what some might call BLACKMAIL. It's reported that Mario reminded Trump that he is on the House Appropriations Committee that doles out federal money Trump may need to fund his projects AND Marco has reportedly reminded Trump that he sits on the Senate committee that is INVESTIGATING TRUMP'S ALLEGED IMPEACHMENT-THREATENING TIES TO RUSSIA.

          TWO ongoing and ominously looming factors may well impeach the 71-year-old Trump's presidency, but not before he lowers the boom on Cuba in Miami tomorrow. ONE of those factors is Trump having so many Republican foxes, such as Diaz-Balart and Rubio, in his own Republican hen-house. THE OTHER FACTOR is indicated above by the infamous Tweet from Rachel Maddow, the top anchor on MSNBC, flatly and unequivocally stating that "Donald Trump has to be taken out before he ruins our country." Every single anchor and almost every pundit on both MSNBC and CNN devote almost every second of their airtime towards an electronic coup designed to get Trump impeached. They are joined by every single columnist at the Washington Post and New York Times, and that comprises four entities that might be powerful enough to get the job done, as indicated by extreme left-wing antics that include...the Alexandria, Virginia shooting rampage this week, Madonna calling for the bombing of the Trump White House, Kathy Griffin's shamefully touting the bloody beheaded image of Trump, etc. Left-wing zealots, like right-wing zealots, abound but perhaps the biggest threat to America is not Trump but probably the MSNBC-CNN-NY TIMES-WASHINGTON POST media pretending to be journalists while primarily engaged only in left-wing, anti-Trump propaganda. "Donald Trump has to be taken out before he ruins our country." If a kook says such things in a democracy, it's very bad. But when the so-called mainstream media says it, it's downright scary to democracy-lovers.

       The former head of ExxonMobil and the former or current friend of Russia's Vladimir Putin, Rex Tillerson is now, as Secretary of State, the most powerful member of President Trump's cabinet. He strongly advocates lowering the boom on poor little Cuba but certainly not on big, strong threats like Russia or China. Tillerson told Congress: "We believe it is important that we take steps to restore the purpose of the Helms Burton legislation, which was to pressure the regime to change, and that pressure, in our view, has been largely lifted." The right-wing gutlessness of that anti-Obama, anti-American statement assumes that Americans are too stupid or too unpatriotic to know that the Helms Burton legislation was written by and rammed through Congress by the most vicious counter-revolutionary forces in Miami, such as Jorge Mas Canoso. Decades of uncontested Batistiano-dictated propaganda, of course, dispute that but there is no respectable Cuban expert in America that would dispute it. Helms Burton, pure and simply, was designed to bring about regime-change in Cuba while also enriching and empowering selected Cuban-American zealots and defying the wishes of most Cuban-Americans, even in Miami. I assume Tillerson understood that when he mentioned "Helms Burton" in that exact asinine quote depicted above.

America's greatest Cuban expert IS Julia E. Sweig.

      In her book -- "CUBA: What Everyone Needs To Know" -- Julia E. Sweig expertly explains how Helms Burton, as the dismal congressional linchpin of America's disgraceful and failed Cuban policy, came to shame both America and democracy while also cruelly punishing millions of totally innocent Cubans.

America's 2nd greatest Cuban expert IS Ann Louise Bardach.

       In her truly great book -- "CUBA Confidential: Love And Vengeance In Miami And Havana" -- Ann Louise Bardach expertly explains how Helms Burton, as a cruel linchpin of America's disgraced and failed Cuban policy, came to shame both America and democracy while also cruelly and unjustly punishing millions of totally innocent Cubans, including children in Cuba and children aboard the terrorist-bombed Cubana Flight 455 civilian airplane. Since the 1950s, Americans have loutishly swallowed bucket-loads of Batistiano propaganda while they should have shown more respect for America and for democracy by absorbing truthful Cuban information from unbiased experts like Julia E. Sweig and Ann Louise Bardach.

       Emblematic of a great failure of the U. S. democracy is the fact that truly decent members of Congress, like Senator Patrick Leahy, have not been permitted to have major impacts on America's Batistiano-driven Cuban policy. That is so even though most Americans, most Cuban-Americans, and, yes, that 191-to-0 vote in the UN agree with Mr. Leahy's sane approach to Cuba. On the eve of President Trump's announcement in Miami on June 16th about turning back former President Obama's sane and decent overtures to Cuba, Mr. Leahy wrote an article, which you can go online to read in its entirety, in which he begged President Trump not to do it. He wrote: "It would not only harm U. S. business and the Cuban people, it would leave a gaping vacuum, just over 90 miles offshore, for our adversaries to fill. Russia is eager to regain its diminished sphere of influence over our island neighbor. Recent events indicate the Kremlin may be seeking to return in full force to Cuba. The American people and the Cuban people overwhelmingly want closer relations."

       Prior to the election of Donald Trump, the brave and decent President Obama went to Cuba and, in the emotional and heartfelt speech above carried live on state television, he told the Cuban people: "Cuba does not need to fear a threat from the United States." Unfortunately for both Cuba and America, Mr. Obama's two terms as President are over and now the Miami-based Batistianos are back in charge. President Trump will remind the world of that tomorrow in Miami, reminding Cuba of THE U. S. THREAT.

       The above image of America drastically embarrasses decent Americans like Barack Obama. As President, he tried his best to correct it. But Donald Trump is now President. And Trump is about to allow Marco Rubio and the Diaz-Balarts to resume the Batistiano dictation of America's Cuban policy. Meanwhile, the majority of Americans and Cuban-Americans will not have the guts or the patriotism to intervene.

      Cuba's brilliant Minster of North American Affairs, Josefina Vidal, negotiated every aspect of the island's positive relationship with the Obama administration. She will meticulously defend Cuba {note her quote} but remains very willing to cooperate with the Trump administration. Ms. Vidal is very proud that, thanks to the overtures from Obama, everyday Cubans have markedly benefited, with well over 8,000 private Cuban homes renting out accommodations, via AIRbnb traffic, to the increase in U. S. tourism.

       Note the above Tweet exchange between Josefina Vidal in Havana with Jose Ramon Cabanas, the head of Cuba's Embassy in Washington. It's about the Obama-orchestrated increase in U. S. tourism to Cuba. The counter-revolutionaries in the U. S. don't like it and much prefer an aspect of the embargo, since 1962, that still makes everyday Americans the only people in the world without the freedom to visit Cuba, an anti-democratic law designed, many assume, to just keep Americans from making their own Cuba judgments.

And by the way:

        The two photos below are courtesy of Cuba's superb young broadcast journalist Rosy Amaro Perez. The photos show a 12-year-old girl helping the doctor deliver her baby brother. Was she a bit excited? 

*&***********************&*

  

                          

Cuba Awaits Trump Decision

With No Capitulation Plans!
{Wednesday, June 14th, 2017}

      This photo, courtesy of Rosy Amaro Perez, shows a calm and peaceful Havana Harbor on the eve of U. S. President Donald Trump's pro-Batistiano and anti-Cuba announcements in Miami on Friday, June 16th.

 Superb Cuban broadcast journalist Rosy Amaro Perez.

       Revolutionary Cuba has survived 14 U. S. Presidential administrations, including the two-timers, and it plans to survive the Trump era even with what Cuba expects to be Trump's announcement in Miami of Marco Rubio as the island's next U.S.-backed dictator, the first since Fulgencio Batista back in the 1950s.

Whether the Trump-Rubio plan works, remains to be seen.

        A young generation of Cubans on the island, including Rosy Amaro Perez, is not at all anxious to be ruled by a Marco Rubio from Miami and Washington. So, fresh predictions of the long-awaited apocalyptic nihilism finally about to inundate the always vulnerable but pugnacious island may be premature...again. 

      The Cuban conundrum in June of 2017 pits underdog sovereignty-loving Cubans like Rosy Amaro Perez against the imperial-minded super-colossus just across the turbulent waters of the Florida Straits.

     A laughable but serious Rubio-Trump Cuban coup attempt?

    But Rosy thinks Cuba can ride out the Trump-Rubio era too.

*&***********************&*

Cuba: Surrender or Fight?

Trump Leaves Two Choices!!
{Monday, June 12th, 2017}

       The AP photo above was used last weekend by the Voice of America to illustrate its article about President Donald Trump's planned visit to Miami June 16th to announce his plans to reverse much of former President Obama's peaceful gestures regarding Cuba. The photo shows a Cuban watching coverage of the Jan. 20th-2017 inauguration of President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The VOA mentioned the pressure Trump is receiving from visceral counter-revolutionary Cuban-American members of Congress from Miami, Marco Rubio and Mario Diaz-Balart. But the VOA also hinted that Trump is also getting vast requests from business interests and many other members of Congress to continue the Obama-orchestrated detente with the Caribbean island. The VOA article even hinted that Trump may temper his decision or postpone it while he ponders it some more, although both those prospects are very long-shots.

     This coming Friday -- June 16-2017 -- U. S. President Donald Trump will be in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood to announce his Cuban policy. The fact he will do it in Miami is the tip-off that he will do what decent, democracy-loving Americans feared he would do, which is to essentially turn America's Cuban policy back over to Counter-Revolutionary extremists in Miami and the U. S. Congress. It's a reversal of former President Obama's sane and decent Cuban policies and reverts back to the hateful, cruel, right-wing Cuban policy that currently has the United States condemned by a 191-to-0 vote in the United Nations. The unanimous worldwide denunciation of America's Cuban policy is well-deserved but neither Trump nor the Counter-Revolutionaries nor unpatriotic Americans care. 

       Back on Oct. 25-2016, two weeks before the presidential election, Trump went to Little Havana in Miami and displayed the gutless cowardice and stupidity that has marked his first four tumultuous months as President of the United States. As shown above, standing in front of a huge "Brigade 2506 Assault" banner, Trump promised the few remaining Counter-Revolutionary Cuban exiles who -- backed by the air, land and sea support from the U. S. military -- attacked Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in mid-April of 1961, an attack that was supposed to recapture Cuba from the revolutionary forces that had overthrown the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship on Jan. 1-1959. But Revolutionary Cuba, led by Fidel Castro who raced to the frontlines, emphatically defeated the infamous and cowardly air-land-and-sea attack...and has somehow managed to maintain its independence ever since. But in the above speech, Trump promised, as President, he would reverse Brigade 2506's defeat. The apathetic and propagandized cowardice of this generation of Americans will surely afford Trump and the Miami counter-revolutionaries that opportunity. THUS, AS OF JUNE 16-2017 CUBA WILL BE LEFT WITH TWO CHOICES -- SURRENDER OR FIGHT. And there is no doubt that the island will choose to fight, and by sunset on June 16-2017 its do-or-die battle-plans will be firmed up...as if another Bay of Pigs, this time maybe nuclear-powered, was imminent.

        In Miami's Little Havana after he promised the surviving Brigade 2506 veterans that he would reverse the outcome of the 1961 Bay of Pigs attack against Cuba, Donald Trump was rewarded with the above keepsake -- the Brigade 2506 shield. 

      The most insightful Miami journalist is Marc Caputo. He formerly worked for the Counter-Revolutionary Miami Herald but now works in Miami for the Washington-based political juggernaut Politico. Caputo has Counter-Revolutionary instincts but those views intermingle with the fact that he is a brave and decent journalist even when the topic is CUBA!

       And so, it was Marc Caputo working in Miami for Politico who broke the long-awaited news that President Trump would venture to Miami on June 16th to announce that the U. S. would turn its Cuban policy over to a pair of Counter-Revolutionary/Cuban-American zealots from Miami -- Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart. That revelation from Caputo instantly sent the unmistakable ultimatum to Cuba -- SURRENDER OR FIGHT. Caputo buttressed his Politico reporting by using Twitter updates that made it plain that President Trump, and therefore the United States, would -- beginning on June 16-2017 -- have a Cuban policy that bears "the stamp" of Rubio and Diaz-Balart. While Americans are not supposed to care or comprehend that meaning, Cuba does care and comprehends that it means Cuba must surrender to the dictates of Rubio and Diaz-Balart or fight, and to Cuba that is actually no choice at all. It will fight to keep its sovereignty.

      While pusillanimous Americans may well deserve a government or dictatorship ruled by Mario Diaz-Balart and Marco Rubio, there are eleven million innocent Cubans on the island who do not deserve such a dreadful humiliation. Those Cubans remember, or have learned, what it was like from 1952 till 1959 under the thieving, brutal Batista-Mafia dictatorship. It is those memories that will force Cuba to now embark on a do-or-die posture reminiscent of its Revolutionary War and its Bay of Pigs triumphs. Mario Diaz-Balart's father Rafael was a key Minister in the Batista-Mafia dictatorship and, after 1959, was one of the richest and most volatile Counter-Revolutionary operatives in Miami. That Diaz-Balart nexus from the 1950s to today may be far beyond the scope of propagandized Americans but it surely is not lost on the still vivid memories of Cubans residing on the nearby island. Likewise beyond the scope of apathetic Americans is the fact that Cubans on the island view Rubio every bit as nefarious as the four rich and powerful Diaz-Balart brothers who have extended their father's fierce Counter-Revolutionary activities beyond the half-century mark but yet have not recaptured Cuba even as they lucratively hide behind the skirts of the superpower U. S. government AND the super-apathetic American citizens.

      The photo above shows Marco Rubio as a High School student in Miami. As far as the mainstream U. S. media is concerned, Rubio today has the same choirboy traits as he supposedly did back then. Such choirboy lies...coupled with allegedly being a diehard Counter-Revolutionary in Miami...has gotten Rubio elected twice to the U. S. Senate and also made him a serious Republican presidential candidate in 2016 when he and Donald Trump called each other vile names. While the mainstream American media delights in projecting Rubio as a choirboy, one of America's most respected investigative journalists -- Ken Silverstein in a long, famous, and easily Googled article -- depicts Rubio as being both the most "for sale" and the most "corrupt" politician in America. Also, many democracy-loving Americans are ashamed that Miami only seems to send a steady stream of Counter-Revolutionary Cuban-Americans to the United States Congress EVEN THOUGH MOST CUBAN-AMERICANS EVEN IN MIAMI FAVOR NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH CUBA.     

      Americans who are neither patriotic enough nor brave enough to oppose or even acknowledge the Batistiano-grip on their democracy should read the above notation penned by the aforementioned Miami journalist Marc Caputo. It references the fact that both Diaz-Balart and Rubio have essentially black-mailed President Trump into doing their nefarious bidding regarding Cuba. Rubio reportedly used his position as one of the 10 U. S. Senators charged with investigating Trump's alleged ties with Russia to scare Trump into assaulting Cuba. Diaz-Balart, as reported above by Caputo, used his position on the House Appropriations Committee to remind Trump that the President will need Diaz-Balart's support to get financial backing in Congress for his key programs, such as replacing the Affordable Care Act. To forge a cruel, nefarious Cuban policy for all these decades, the tools include blackmail, payoffs and paybacks, intimidation, and apathy from American citizens. 

       In 1989 Havana-born Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was elected to the U. S. Congress from Miami when the self-serving Jeb Bush was her Campaign Manager. She is still there as a visceral Counter-Revolutionary. And since 1989 a steady stream of Counter-Revolutionary Cuban-Americans in Miami, all powered by the Bush dynasty and by Little Havana's dominance of Miami politics, has reached the U. S. Congress. That, of course, includes prime Trump-"adviser" Rubio as well as Carlos Curbelo -- second from the left above -- as well as the Diaz-Balart Brothers, Havana-born Lincoln on the far left and, of course, Mario on the far right.

      Across the Atlantic Ocean in London, the BBC used the above AFP photo in an article telling the world about President Trump's upcoming trip to Miami on June 16-2017, the city and the date in which Trump will essentially declare war on Cuba to sate the fervent desires of a mere handful of Cuban-Americans.

     The side-by-side U. S. and Cuban flags fronting a street in Havana reflects how the BBC-AFP, as non-American -- thus non-intimidated -- international news organizations told their worldwide audiences how President Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba has massively helped everyday Cubans on the island as well as many Americans and Cuban-Americans via increased business and social interactions.

       While the mainstream U. S. media is too afraid or too politically correct to report fairly about Cuba, there are exceptions in some key non-national newspapers -- such as the Houston Chronicle. The Ramon Espinosa/AP photo above, which shows Cubans at sunset on Havana's famed Malecon seawall, was used by the Chronicle this weekend to illustrate an article entitled: "ENGAGE CUBA: End The Embargo And Press Forward On Improving Relations with the Island Nation." The article stressed how Trump's June 16th-2017 declaration of war against Cuba will harm millions of innocent Cubans, Cuban-Americans and Americans to sate the nefarious appetites of a few Counter-Revolutionaries by reversing Obama's policies that "unwound bits and pieces of the U. S. trade embargo put in place in 1962 to topple Fidel Castro...it failed but remains in place." By remaining it place it has enriched and empowered some Counter-Revolutionaries and rightly resulted in an international 191-to-0 condemnation of the United States in the United Nations. The article also called Trump's upcoming June 16th announcement a "political payoff" to Counter-Revolutionaries, which he can do because he can assume apathetic and unpatriotic Americans will allow him to do it. The Houston Chronicle article this week also states bluntly and factually that "Trump's main goal is to curry favor with the same old Miami crowd that has held U.S.-Cuba policy hostage for years."

        The Cuba-United States conundrum has actually held the U. S. hostage since 1952 when the American people didn't object to right-wing thugs in Washington aligning the U. S. with the Mafia to support the brutal, thieving Batista dictatorship in Cuba. After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the American people didn't object to an ongoing, unending and unpunished sequence of terrorist acts against totally innocent Cubans, such as the Oct. 6-1976 bombing of the child-laden civilian Cubana Flight 455 in which the Miami media was joyously used to herald the chant: "It's the biggest blow yet against Castro!!" Was it, or was it one of the many Biggest Blows against the U. S. democracy? In any case, with that backdrop since 1952, don't expect the American people, beginning on June 16th-2017, to give a damn even if Trump would announce plans for a nuclear Bay of Pigs against Cuba. But, for the record, decent Americans should at least be cognizant of that exact sentence in this week's Houston Chronicle:

                 "Trump's main goal is to curry favor with the same old Miami crowd that has held U.S.-Cuba policy hostage for years."

*&***********************&*

      

America's Cuban Debate

NY Times vs. Miami Herald!
{Thursday, June 8th, 2017}

        This week -- June 5th, 2017 -- the New York Times used the above graphic created by Daniel Zander to illustrate a long and important article written by the Times' Editorial Board. The article is entitled: "Undoing All the Good Work on Cuba." It sanely and decently laments the insatiable work currently underway by counter-revolutionary Cuban-American extremists to erase...or "undo"...the sane and decent overtures towards Cuba undertaken by former President Barack Obama. In other words, this Editorial shows deep respect for both the United States of America and for democracy. BY CONTRAST, the very same day -- June 5th, 2017 -- the Miami Herald quite typically featured a major article penned by a renowned counter-revolutionary extremist to goad and lobby for current President Donald Trump to erase...or "undo all the good work"...the brave Mr. Obama did on behalf of AMERICA, DEMOCRACY and innocent CUBANS.

           Yes, this week -- June 5th, 2017 -- the Miami Herald very typically countered the sane and decent Editorial in the New York Times with an insane, indecent, anti-Cuban propaganda spiel written by notorious Cuban-American counter-revolutionary Frank Calzon. His article is entitled: "Cuba Continues to Support Terrorism." It reflects two things: {1} The latest tactic to push President Trump into targeting Cuba and keeping the voluminous cash pipelines flowing steadily to anti-Cuban Cuban-Americans; and {2} to continue the time-honored tactic of Cuban-American extremists, since 1959, believing they can say anything about Cuba and assume the American people are too stupid or too scared or too unpatriotic not to believe them. Calzon was born in Cuba in 1947 and came to the U. S. in 1960 shortly after the Cuban Revolution overthrew the Batista-Mafia dictatorship. Any Google search of "Frank Calzon, Cuba" will reveal that, since his days as a student at Georgetown University, he has been tied to just about every devious, well-funded {by U. S. taxpayers} counter-revolutionary effort in America -- with the CIA, infamous groups such as Alpha 66 and Abdala, steady streams of USAID dollars, the Bush dynasty, the Cuban American National Foundation, anti-Cuban propaganda tax-bunnies in Miami such as the still-lucratic Radio-TV Marti, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc. Frank Calzon epitomizes how lucrative the counter-revolutionary Castro Cottage Industry in the United States has been for an elitist cast of Cuban-Americans since January of 1959. The title of Calzon's propaganda article in the Miami Herald June 5th-2017 is interesting: "Cuba Continues to Support Terrorism." It is also interesting, I believe, that THE VERY FIRST COMMENT beneath that article was from a Cuban-American who fired back at Calzon with a stark reminder of extreme terrorism against innocent Cubans and the Comment specifically mentioned the bombing of the civilian Cubana Flight 455 airplane and the fact that the well-known alleged bomber is to this day walking free as a celebrated celebrity in Miami. 

       Since 1959, rich and powerful counter-revolutionary Cuban-Americans like Frank Calzon have been able to use such assets as the mainstream media; a handful of right-wing Congressmen like Jesse Helms, Dan Burton, and Bob Torricelli; the Bush dynasty; and the Tea Party to perpetuate their usually unchallenged agendas. More and more the prime agenda seems to be to keep the pipelines of tax dollars flowing unimpeded for projects such as Radio-TV Marti or any other propitiously named and always lucrative anti-Cuban enterprise. Secondly, seeking revenge against the Cuban Revolution from 1959 till today remains a bulwark of the counter-revolutionary architects. All the while, considering that the Cuban Revolution has yet to be countered, the primary victims have been totally innocent Cubans on the island, the U. S. tax-payers, and America's reputation. IF THAT IS NOT SO, then perhaps Frank Calzon should be asked to explain the current 191-to-0 condemnation of America's Cuban policy in the United Nations, with the very judicious reminder that the 191 number includes ALL of America's best friends in the world.

       When a decent U. S. President, Mr. Obama, bravely and decently tried to correct the insults to democracy caused by America's Cuban policy, well-funded counter-revolutionary zealots like Frank Calzon were anxious to pounce on Mr. Obama's pro-American advocacy. And the same day -- June 5th-2017 -- the NY Times Editorial Board penned a sane and decent article regarding Cuba, Frank Calzon countered it with a brazenly insane and indecent assault in the always available pages of the Miami Herald.

        Cuban-Americans in Miami, like Frank Del Rio, are AMONG THE MAJORITY OF CUBAN-AMERICANS EVEN IN MIAMI who support former President Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba. Like most every one of the top Cuban-American business executives in Miami, Frank Del Rio is anxious for his cruise line to have the freedom to cruise back-and-forth to Cuba, providing jobs for Cubans and Americans.

        A Cuban-born businessman in Miami, Hugo Cancio, is "sick and tired" that his views, which parallel the opinions of MOST Cuban-Americans, are "not represented in Miami or Washington or very often in the media." He wonders aloud why only counter-revolutionary zealots get elected to the U. S. Congress from Miami and he wonders aloud why someone like him can't contribute to the Miami Herald while high-profile counter-revolutionaries like Frank Calzon can use it to pen huge counter-revolutionary propaganda.

       If you ask why Cuban-American Hugo Cancio in Miami sometimes "throws his hands in the air in disgust" when asked to discuss America's Cuban policy, the answer is: Like most Cuban-Americans even in Miami, like most Americans, and like all 191 nations that voted on the topic in the UN, Hugo Cancio wonders why the U. S. democracy is not strong enough to include his "majority opinion" when it comes to Cuba.

       America's belligerent Cuban policy has been a failure for 50+ years merely to sate the greed and revenge motives of a handful of miscreants. Most democracy-lovers, and that includes most Cuban-Americans, are still waiting for America to have enough guts, enough decency, and enough intelligence to correct this disgrace that has persisted for over half-a-century.

*&***********************&*

     

Trump's Cuban Pressure

Dark and Threatening!

         This photo-graphic is courtesy of Scott McIntyre. The photo shows the Little Havana neighbor of Miami and it's fronted by the graphic of the Cuban flag. It highlights a major editorial in today's New York Times entitled: "TRUMP'S HYPOCRISY ON CUBA." The opening words are: "The appalling cynicism of the Trump White House is on display once again in 'citing human rights abuses by the Castro government as justification for a more punitive approach to Cuba.' Repeatedly President Trump has shown fervent admiration for leaders who abuse human rights to the extent of murdering their own citizens, such as Rodrigo Dutarte of the Philippines, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and, of course, Vladimir Putin of Russia." The NY Times, of course, could also have pointed out this fact: Since 1952, while justifying its own dictatorial designs on Cuba, the U. S government supported many of history's most oppressive, thieving and  murderous dictators -- Batista, Somoza, Trujillo, Pinochet, Videla, Mobutu, etc. -- while blatantly lying about its reasons for supporting the Batista-Mafia rule in Cuba and, after that brutal dicatatorship was overthrown by the Cuban Revolution, for shamefully supporting the transplanted counter-revolutionary Batistiano-Mafiosi zealots headquartered in their new capital -- Little Havana in Miami. The NY Times editorial today -- June 5-2017 -- is merely a reminder that President Trump is on the eve of rehashing similar lies to justify doing the bidding of today's Batistiano leaders to erase former President Obama's sane and decent overtures to innocent Cubans. Obama, of course, was also trying to make a sane and decent gesture on behalf of America and democracy because he, unlike the Batistianos and unpatriotic Americans, was/is embarrassed by such things as the worldwide 191-to-0 condemnation in the United Nations of America's Batistiano-driven Cuban policies.

         Of course, in cities large and small across the U. S., there are demands calling for the impeachment of President Trump and that's a possibility but not before he lowers the boom on Cuba. The photo above is courtesy of WINA RADIO in the small university city of Charlottesville, Virginia. But far more emphatic than steady streams of anti-Trump protests like this is the full-time coup being waged 24-hours-a-day by powerful elements in the mainstream media -- led by the NY Times, Washington Post, CNN and NBC-MSNBC. Yet, if Trump is a threat to the U. S. as those entities claim, a media-powered coup is actually far more of a threat because it would leave in its wake a much more everlasting effect. Caught in the Trump-media vice in the world's superpower nation is poor little Cuba, which is still trying to chart its own sovereign course after finally gaining its independence with its remarkable 1959 revolutionary victory.

         The gruesome Batistiano grip on America's Cuban policy is reflected by the photo above. It shows Alan Gomez, the primary writer on all things Cuban for America's largest newspaper, USA Today, which I have subscribed to since it was founded by Al Neuharth in 1982. Alan Gomez is a counter-revolutionary Cuban-American based in Miami. The intimidated, incompetent or politically correct mainstream U. S. media does not have the guts or integrity to have unbiased reporters report on Cuba. In fact, if a mainstream journalist in the U. S. wrote an unbiased article about Cuba, that journalist would likely be fired {like Jim DeFede was} or car-bombed {like Emilio Milian was} when they famously criticized deadly terrorist acts against totally innocent Cubans. In the past 24 hours the latest Alan Gomez article in USA Today blared this headline: "YOUR WINDOW TO VISIT CUBA MAY BE CLOSING." It began: "President Trump likely will fulfill a campaign promise this month by curbing some of the ties with Cuba that former President Barack Obama adopted..." An earlier article co-published with its affiliate newspaper in Naples, Florida, blared this headline: "PRESIDENT TRUMP'S CUBA POLICY, LARGELY INFLUENCED BY TWO FLORIDA LAWMAKERS, IS..."

        First off, the Trump "promise" that the mainstream media brags about refers to the above Al Diaz-AP photo taken in Miami's Little Havana on October 25, 2016. Standing before a huge Brigade 2506 Assault banner, Trump promised survivors of the April-1961 Bay of Pigs attack on Cuba that he would, as President, reverse the outcome of that historic attack, which resulted in a monumental victory of Revolutionary Cuba over a U.S. government-CIA-Batistiano air-sea-and-land military assault funded by U. S. taxpayers with the expectation of recapturing Cuba. Tax dollars still fund further regime-change efforts.

          Secondly, when the mainstream U. S. media this week flashed the headline about the "TWO FLORIDA LAWMAKERS" dictating President Trump's anti-Obama and anti-democracy Cuban policy, it was referring to U. S. Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart and U. S. Senator Marco Rubio -- both from Miami and both Cuban-American counter-revolutionary zealots. USA Today did at least have the courage to report that Mario and Marco have some blackmail pressure on Trump because Mario sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee that doles out federal funds Trump needs while Marco sits on the Senate committee currently investigating Trump's alleged ties to Russia. Such articles remind many that only counter-revolutionary zealots can be elected to Congress from Miami EVEN THOUGH POLLS SHOW THAT MOST CUBAN-AMERICANS IN MIAMI STRONGLY FAVOR THE OBAMA APPROACH OF NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH CUBA. When the mainstream media refuses to point out such facts, it is lying; and when the mainstream media refuses to tell the truth about Mario, such as his father was a key Batista minister in Cuba and then a rich and ultra-powerful counter-revolutionary operative in South Florida, then it is lying. And when the mainstream media refuses to tell the truth about Marco, such as his myriad of real estate, credit card and other controversies in Miami, then it is lying. But America's Cuban policy, dictated since 1959 by the likes of Mario and Marco, has shamed democracy-loving Americans AND America's best friends all around the world, as evidenced by the current 191-to-0 condemnation of America's Cuban policy in the United Nations, a unanimity that PROBABLY no other international issue could gain in a diverse world.

       From the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s till the 2-term, 8-year Obama administration that began in January of 2009 and ended in January of this year, America's Cuban policy was purely and undeniably crafted by self-serving, right-wing extremists to sate their economic greed and fuel their extreme right-wing political ideology and agendas. Prior to Obama, not a single U. S. President...not even the very smart and the very decent Jimmy Carter...could rally enough decent and patriotic Americans to correct a Cuban policy that defies all the great aspects so painstakingly enshrined in the U. S. democracy. In 1952 powerful entities in the malleable Eisenhower administration...including Vice-President Nixon and the Dulles brothers John and Allen, who were the Secretary of State and CIA Director -- teamed the U. S. government with the highest echelons of the Mafia to support the thieving and brutal Batista dictatorship in Cuba. In January of 1959 the Cuban Revolution overthrew the Batista-Mafia regime only to have the primary leaders flee and then quickly create a new capital...Little Havana in Miami...with the continued support of their sycophants in Washington. This means, since January of 1959, they have continued to have the support of unlimited tax dollars, the world's strongest military, and America's two most unpatriotic generations. Therefore Cuba...poor little embargoed Cuba...in June of 2017 still is the catalyst in presenting to the world the ugliest image of the United States of America, a fact that galls and embarrasses democracy-loving Americans but certainly doesn't faze the Batistianos and their self-serving supporters.

       Way back in 1952 miscreants in the U. S. government were allowed to sic the Mafia on Cuba. Today {in June of 2017} the remnants of that devious deed are still being sicced on Cuba but also on the U. S. government, both in Trump's Republican White House and in the Republican-controlled U. S. Congress. The end-result has yet to be determined but don't discount an ever-growing Batistiano-like influence on the United States of America, the world's most renowned democracy. With no interference to be feared or anticipated from either the U. S. media or unpatriotic U. S. citizens, a U. S. government dominated by a Mario or a Marco might be what Americans deserve but those same Americans would likely soon be reminded of the image depicted above, which spawned a rather famous revolution on a nearby island.

*&***********************&*