13.11.19

Legal Free Flights to Cuba

Despite Trump Sanctions?
       One of America's top Travel Writers, Mary Forgione of the Los Angeles Times, today -- November 13, 2019 -- penned an interesting article entitled: "FREE FLIGHTS TO CUBA INCLUDED WITH THESE MULTIDAY TOURS." Mary Forgione began her insightful article with these words: "Insight Cuba is offering U. S. travelers free round-trip airfare between Miami and Havana on multidays to the island nation. Insight Cuba also provides a legal visa for U. S. travelers. Rules governing travel to Cuba have changed, most recently with the Trump administration banning U. S. carriers from flying to any city except Havana." Interesting words considering that the Trump administration's attempts to strangle Cuba's economy included such things as ending all cruise ships entering Cuba, ending all U. S. flights to 9 major Cuban cities although flights to Havana will be permitted, etc. Such dictates approved by the Trump administration are generally believed to be routinely dictated to Trump by Cuban extremists such as Marco Rubio and Mauricio Claver-Carone, and they often punish non-extremist Cuban-Americans who believe they should have the freedom to visit and relate to their relatives or friends in Cuba. Thus, Mary Forgione's article today indicates that individuals and organizations also routinely try to LEGALLY exist within the parameters of unpopular and stringent Cuban policies that are composed by Republican administrations merely to appease a handful rich and powerful Cuban counter revolutionaries in Miami and in the United States Congress...and, of course, in all Republican White Houses.
       The international tour operator Friendly Planet Travel has acquired New York-based Insight Cuba and the President of Friendly Planet Travel is Peggy Goldman. Ms. Goldman told travelpulse.com that even she is confused but she said, "Actually, the recent changes have had little impact on our ability to offer legal programs to American travelers...other then to confuse people."
     Most Cuban-Americans, like most Americans, believe they should not be the only people in the world lacking the freedom to visit Cuba IF they desire to do so. Moreover, most Cuban-Americans believe, if they want to, should be able to provide money and other needed help to help out poor relatives in Cuba. Therefore, it appears that the majority of Cuban-Americans are often the people most punished by a handful of Cuban extremists who are routinely empowered to do so by Republican administrations, of which the current Trump administration has been the most egregious in that regard, especially the activation of Title 3 of the infamous Helms-Burton Act, which even the Little Havana-aligned George W. Bush presidency considered to be too cruel and genocidal to activate. So, genocide in the Age of Trump against Cuban families in 2019 is one thing but routine restrictions on freedoms of Americans and Cuban-Americans is another thing altogether.
       So, today's aforementioned Los Angeles Times article {Nov. 13-2019} written by Mary Forgione provides some interesting insight to how Americans and Cuban-Americans are affected by ongoing Trump administration dictates regarding Cuba.
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12.11.19

Spain Strongly Supports Cuba

Openly Defying USA!!
      This Juan Karita/Associated Press photo shows opposition leader Jeanine Anez Chavez proclaiming that "I assume the Presidency" of Bolivia. The country's President since 2006, Evo Morales, was ousted Sunday night {Nov. 10, 2019} by what he calls a coup. Morales, fearing for his life, has been given asylum by Mexico after the Mexican government plane flyingl him to Mexico City was denied the air space of several countries who didn't want him to get there. Evo Morales is the latest of Cuban-friendly Latin American leaders who have unceremoniously been ousted from their positions, which Cuba and others believe is being generated and funded at least partly by anti-Cuban forces in the USA. It is not known if Jeanine Anez Chavez, a 52-year-old former television anchor, can hold onto power in Bolivia or win a future election considering that Evo Morales will always be beloved by most of Bolivia's poor people, who he says voted again in October 20th to keep him  in office in a disputed election that the U. S. and the Organization of American States said was fraudulent. Meanwhile, Cuba...amid teetering friends like Bolivia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua being fiercely opposed by the U. S...is hoping to bolster other friends, such as Spain.
  This Yamil Lage/AP photo shows Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia as they arrived Monday night {Nov. 11, 2019} at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. The 3-day visit to the island is designed to show support to the Cuban people who are being strongly targeted by the USA's Trump administration and Republican sycophants in Miami's Little Havana sector. For five centuries Havana was one of the most important cities in the Spanish empire, providing a primary port for its treasure fleet. Seeking independence, Cubans fought two bloody but losing wars in the 1890s against Spain...prior to the 1898 U.S.-Spanish War on Cuban soil that shifted domination of Cuba to the United States, at least till the Cuban Revolution shocked the world by defeating the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship on January 1, 1959. The visit by King Felipe this week marks the first time in 500 years that a Spanish king has had a state visit to Cuba. King Felipe's father King Carlos, never during his four decades on the throne, had a state visit to Cuba but in 2016 Carlos traveled to the island for Fidel Castro's funeral.
      This week's 3-day visit of Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia is timely and it means a lot to the Cuban people who are increasingly frustrated with unchecked heavy-handed assaults on their lives and the welfare of their children sanctioned by Trump on behalf of a few Miami Counter Revolutionaries.
      This London Daily Mail montage shows Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel hosting Spain's King Felipe for this week's 3-day state visit for the royals to Cuba.
     Today Cubans were ubiquitous on social media using this photo and proclaiming that they never expected to see such an image or gesture. It shows Spain's King Felipe bowing in reference at a statue of Cuban independence fighter Jose Marti who died in 1895 fighting occupied Spanish soldiers.
      Earlier this year Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the tall man walking in Old Havana next to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, had a productive visit to Cuba. Spain has emerged as Cuba's third-largest trading partner and is becoming a top investor on the island.
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11.11.19

Are Cuba-Friendly Nations Targeted?

Evo Morales Thinks It's Happening!!
       This photo shows Evo Morales' predicament the night after his ouster on the night of November 10-2019 as the President of Bolivia, a job he had held since 2006.  Here are Evo's exact words describing this photo: "This was my first night after leaving the presidency forced by the coup and Comacho with the help of the police. So I remembered time of leader. Very grateful to my brothers from the federation of the tropic of cochabamba for providing us with safety and care." Evo seems convinced of two things: {1} Cuban-friendly nations like Bolivia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua are targeted by factions that are primarily "funded" from Miami and Washington that are mainly focused on recapturing Cuba while Trump remains in the White House; and {2} it is apparent that Evo believes he will face assassination because the indigenous Bolivians still "love me so much." Soon after spending time on his Smart Phone and then leaving his blanket-pallet, Evo Morales accepted political asylum in Mexico and then boarded a Mexican government airplane.
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10.11.19

cubaninsider: Pro-Cuba Bolivia Leader Ousted

cubaninsider: Pro-Cuba Bolivia Leader Ousted: Trend   Hurts  Cuba !!         After resigning Sunday night to end his reign as Bolivia's Cuba-friendly President since 2006, the ...

Pro-Cuba Bolivia Leader Ousted

Trend Hurts Cuba!!
        After resigning Sunday night to end his reign as Bolivia's Cuba-friendly President since 2006, the 60-year-old Evo Morales has caved in to pressure. Just last month he claimed another term after an election that many considered fraudulent. The last straw for Morales came Sunday when Bolivia's military chief General William Kaliman told him to resign.
       Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel quickly fired off Tweets like the one above denouncing the demise of Evo Morales in Bolivia, calling it a coup d'etat. Diaz-Canel said: "Cuba condemns and rejects the coup d'etat in Bolivia and gives full solidarity with President Evo Morales. The world must be mobilized for the life and freedom of Evo." Speaking on behalf Bolivia's poor people, Evo Morales said, "Our sin is being indigenous and anti-imperial people. That's our sin."
     Both Bolivia's now-former President Evo Morales and Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, shown in this REUTERS photo earlier this year, agreed Sunday that the tumultuous Nov. 10th-2019 turnover in Bolivia is a product of the overall desire of the Trump administration in the U. S. enlisting the Bolsonaro administration in Brazil to bring about the overthrow of Revolutionary Cuba "but also" creating regime-changes in prime Cuban allies such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, etc. Early Sunday night in Paz, Morales was openly describing his own regime-change this way to a friendly and well-known scribe: "We know that Trump and Bolsonaro are the muppet masters regarding leftward coups in Latin and South America. It started with a Cuban bent but Trump and Bolsonaro have bigger domestic and global pots to stir while, behind the scenes, two Cuban USA Flyweights...M. Rubio and M. Claver-Carone...have total freedom to use the power of the American and Brazilian governments to create right-wing regional leaders. Non-rich people will pay terrible prices."
     This Cuban poster pays tribute to Evo Morales: "How much ingratitude for a man who gave so much to the poor people of Bolivia."
      And this hastily produced graphic in Cuba Sunday night said: "Cuba calls for worldwide mobilization for the life and freedom of Evo."
     This map shows Bolivia landlocked between Brazil, Peru,  Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina.
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9.11.19

LA Times Spotlights Cuba

An Accurate Update!!
     Today -- on Saturday, November 9th, 2019 -- a top article in the Los Angeles Times written by Catharine Hamm ACTUALLY gave Americans an accurate update of Cuba as it navigates the genocidal plans of the USA's Trump administration to strangle the island so it will revert back to the long-awaiting {since 1959} Batista exiles still chomping at the bit in nearby Little Havana. The article was illustrated by the photo above taken by Brian van der Brug that shows Cubans on Santa Maria del Mar beach near Havana. The article is entitled: "IF CUBA'S ON YOUR BUCKET LIST, HERE'S WHAT THE MOST RECENT CHANGES MEAN FOR YOU."
       I suggest Americans read the article simply because it updates the Cuba-U.S. conundrum accurately, which is not something that the U. S. media is customary to doing. So, check it out.
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8.11.19

Lulu Out of Brazilian Prison

Cuba's Friend Is Free!!
     Cubans were ecstatic Friday {Nov. 8th, 2019} when they learned that 74-year-old Lula da Silva had been released from a Brazilian prison where he had been behind bars for the past year-and-a-half. His supporters, especially his powerful base of poor Brazilians, had camped outside shouting that their hero had "not been defeated yet!" During two terms as president, Lulu was the most popular leader in Brazil's recent history and he was leading the polls heading into last October's presidential election even though he had been sentenced to 12 years in prison, which his supporters blamed on right-wing friends of his lightly regarded prime enemy, Jair Bolsonaro, who has been Brazil's controversial anti-Lulu and anti-Cuban president since October. The right-wing Brazilian government says despite his release from prison Friday, Lulu da Silva will return to prison if his appeals are exhausted.
      Beloved by poor Brazilians, Lula da Silva was twice elected as Brazil's powerful President from January 1, 2003, till January 1, 2011. During those 8 years da Silva was Cuba's fervent foreign supporter.
    Unabashedly, Lula da Silva idolized both the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro, who died at age 90 in 2016.
      After his two terms as Brazil's President from 2003 till 2011, Lula da Silva's political ally Dilma Rousseff was herself elected Brazil's President for two terms starting in January 1, 2011. But before finishing her second term, Rousseff was booted out of office on August 31, 2016, by what she and her followers still maintain was a "right-wing coup" that used the corruption charges to imprison da Silva and oust Rousseff during as her second term as Brazil's President.
      Like Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff idolized the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro. As shown above, even as President of Brazil, Rousseff often flew to Havana to be with Fidel after he became very ill.
     After Dilma Rousseff was ousted before finishing her second term as Brazil's President and while her predecessor and former two-term President of Brazil Lula da Silva was being sentenced to 12 years in prison, Cuba's two most important friends in the world in 2016 were shackled in Brazil, by far Latin America's largest and richest nation, at about the same time in the United States Cuba's friend President Barack Obama was being replaced by President Donald Trump, who quickly in 2017 became determined during the past three years to strangled Cuba and finally overthrow Revolutionary Cuba.
      The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States in November of 2016 and the election of Jair Bolsonaro as President of Brazil in October of 2018 were drastic, watershed disasters  for Cuba. Both Trump and Bolsonaro want to wipe Revolutionary Cuba off the Caribbean and world maps, and the U. S. is the world's strongest nation and Brazil is Latin America's strongest nation. SO CONTRAST, if you will, THAT PRIOR TO TRUMP THAT CUBA HAD A DEAR FRIEND IN OBAMA AND PRIOR TO BOLSONARO BRAZIL HAD LULA DA SILVA AND DILMA ROUSSEFF AS CUBA'S TWO MOST IMPORTANT FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE WORLD.
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cubaninsider: "The Country That Raped Me" (A True Story)

cubaninsider: "The Country That Raped Me" (A True Story) : Note : This particular essay on  Ana Margarita Martinez  was first ...