2.11.21

Miami Police Chief & the Cuban Mafia

Fired For SPEAKING Frankly!!
    Born in Havana-Cuba in 1964, Arturo {Art} Acevedo has been the powerful Police Chief of two major U. S. cities -- Houston and Miami.
     It is interesting, I believe, why Art Acevedo was fired as the Police Chief of Miami/Little Havana.
    The reason Art Acevedo was fired as the Police Chief of Miami was because he said the city that he protected was hard to protect because it was run "by the Cuban Mafia." In his letter to support that claim, Art Acevedo referred to Commissioner Joe Carollo, Mayor Francis Suarez, City Manager Arthur Noriega, etc., as the "Cuban Mafia."
   This {above} is how WPLX-ABC-10 TV in Miami explained Police Chief Art Acevedo's demise in Miami: "Acevedo made recent headlines for a comment about the 'Cuban mafia running Miami police,' a term used by late Cuban leader Fidel Castro referring to Cuban exiles."
     Many brave and well-known journalists/authors -- such as T. J. English and Ann Louise Bardach -- have written about "How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost It to the Revolution" and about "LOVE AND VENGEANCE IN MIAMI AND HAVANA."  And after the Mob lost Havana to the Revolution, the leaders of the U.S.-backed and the Mafia-backed Batista dictatorship in Havana fled to nearby Miami where very soon Little Havana was created beginning in January of 1959 and it has flourished economically and politically ever since, dictating self-serving U. S. policies since 1959 but, incredibly, never managing to recapture Cuba!! Yet, while the Cuban Revolution in 1959 reshaped the U. S. so much, the mainstream media in the U. S. for all these decades, with few exceptions, has had neither the courage nor the integrity to tell the truth about either Batista's Havana or about Little Havana's grip on not just Miami but also the entire United States.
        In fact, even famed Hollywood movies have told more truth about U.S.-Cuba relations since 1959 than the mainstream U. S. media has told!! For example, the still-ubiquitous 1983 classic Scarface was a product of legends such as screenwriter Oliver Stone, producer Martin Bergman, director Brian De Palma, and actor Al Pacino {who played the Cuban Tony Montana who took over the lucrative and bloody drug trade that roiled Miami after the Cuban Revolution chased the Mafia-riddled Batista dictatorship from Havana in the wee hours of January 1, 1959}.
     It is a known fact that Mafia kingpin Meyer Lansky one day in 1952 in his home in Hallandale, Florida, told his friend and neighbor Fulgencio Batista, the former brutal dictator of Cuba, that he always wanted for "the Mob to have its own country." That discussion spawned a second Batista dictatorship in Cuba from 1952 until 1959, one much more brutal than before and one supported by both the Mafia and by the United States, who condoned it because, via kickbacks, prime U. S. companies also partook in the extremely lucrative spoils from 1952 till 1959 {until the Cuban Revolution intervened on January 1, 1959!!!}.
    With Mafia kingpins such as Meyer Lansky ruling the Batista dictatorship, the wealth reaped from the Caribbean's largest and most beautiful nation in the 1950s was truly enormous for/from thriving U.S.-owned businesses, tourism, illegal drugs, gambling, prostitution, etc. The historic photo above shows Lansky leaving one of his casinos with a satchel of loot in Batista's Cuba.
    Although Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano are still reputed to be the all-time smartest Mafia leaders, they made two stupid mistakes in Cuba in the 1950s. While reaping vast fortunes on the island, the Mafiosi and Batistiano leaders weren't smart enough to at least toss some crumbs and even provide some education and health provisions for the majority peasants. While Americans, of course, are told the opposite, the true & typical photo above in Batista's Cuba truly explains the plight of peasant women and children in Batista's Cuba that was supported both by the Mafia and the United States, the strongest criminal organization in the world and the strongest nation in the world.
     Together...the two historic photos above chronicle the two mistakes that the the Lansky-Luciano-Batista Cuban dictators in the 1950s made -- which was to not even toss a few crumbs to the majority peasants...and then #2 using its U.S.-funded and U.S.-trained {at Fort Benning} police and army to commit wholesale murder against peasant children to deter dissent by their parents. The historic photo directly above shows the mother of Little Willie Soler {in the white jacket} marching with other distraught but brave mothers to protest the gruesome murders of their children. These were the marches that started the Cuban Revolution and galvanized virtually the entire majority population in dire hatred of Batista and with a dire love of rebel leader Fidel Castro. Today in Revolutionary Cuba the top Children's Hospital in Havana is named William Soler Children's Hospital.
      And so...yes, there were two reasons for the success and the longevity of Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution...and they both resulted in do-or-die island-wide support for the anti-Batista rebels.
     Again...I suggest if you want to truly know how the Cuba Revolution won in 1959 and has survived all these decades since, study the explanation depicted by the three photos above. The ultra-powerful and ultra-important heroine Celia Sanchez, as shown above, made the definitive quote: "We rebels...get far too much credit for winning the Revolution. Our enemies deserve most of the credit, for being greedy cowards and idiots."
      And of course, while since 1959 Americans have been advised not to acknowledge the true and historic photos about the extreme poverty and brutality in Batista's Cuba, Little Havana's dictation of the USA's lucrative but genocidal policies since 1959 have always lied about many positive aspects of Revolutionary Cuba...such as the Revolution's vast LITERARY CAMPAIGN that quickly in 1959 began an extremely fruitful effort to education the majority Cubans who were totally neglected or brutalized while the Batistianos, the Mafiosi, and the U. S. businessmen were raking in mass financial fortunes. The photo above shows a young female rebel that helped win the Revolution who then joined about 400,000 other educated rebels into engaging in a massive campaign to educate the majority Cubans across the island. Perhaps, in November of 2021 it will finally & hopefully be allowed for Americans to understand what that photo of the young female-rebel-turned teacher  shown above is all about.
    In November of 2021 Americans are not supposed to know the name of Jose Antonio Echeverria nor know about the vital role he played in the Cuban Revolution. In 1957 Cuba's dictator Fulgencio Batista closed the University of Havana because it was a hotbed of support of the rebels beginning to make serious headway on the southeastern half of the island. Batista then sent his most famed assassins out to murder the student leaders, especially Jose Antonio Echeverria.
    Like other student leaders, four of whom were famously murdered in an apartment they thought was a safe-house, Jose Antonio Echeverria was captured and gruesomely murdered on March 13th-1957 and his body {above} left on a street to serve as a warning. Such episodes of the Revolution are not known to Americans but in November of 2021 memorials to Jose Antonio Echeverria include an airport and other edifices named for him, a stamp in his honor, and many statutes and billboards saluting his important role as an anti-Batista leader in the crucial year of 1957. It is well known that in the first 8 days of January in 1959, as they drove from Santiago de Cuba to Havana to take over as the new rebel leaders of Cuba, Fidel Castro and Celia Sanchez made it a point to stop off and spend a night with Jose Antonio Echeverria's mother.
     Of course, in November of 2021 Americans are also not to understand this photo/graphic shown above, so let me tell its historic truth. In 1958 Mafia kingpin Meyer Lansky built and opened his lavish Hotel Riveria in Havana even though on the southeast end of the island rebel armies were beginning to capture cities and hold them as they began driving toward the capital of Havana.
     As shown above, the Mob/Mafia had thrived in Cuba from the 1930s as the U. S. had dominated the island since the 1898 Spanish-American War. Above in the update posted in the Traveler, it is truthfully revealed: "The Mob had enjoyed part ownership of the grand old Hotel Nacional from at least the 1930s. Sitting on an incomparable site overlooking the Bay of Havana, the Nacional famously hosted Lucky Luciano's 1946 Mafia conclave at which Frank Sinatra performed the entertainment. But it was in 1957 and 1958 that the grand new Havana hotels were built -- notably the Riviera and the Hilton. Lansky concentrated his efforts on the 21-story, 440-room Havana Riviera..." All of that, of course, is history but, also of course, anything that doesn't compute with Little Havana's self-serving history of Batista's Cuba is simply not readily permitted in Little Havana's USA in November of 2021.
      This is a very truthful graphic depicting Batista's Cuba in 1958 right after Meyer Lansky's luxurious new Hotel Riviera was opened to tourists. And, yes, in 1958 tourism was fueling windfalls in Cuba for the Mafia, the Batistianos, and major U. S. companies. Please contrast this image of Batista's Cuba in 1958 as opposed to Revolutionary Cuba in November-2021 when Cuba's tourism has been greatly restricted by Little Havana USA for the past six+ decades as the nearby United States, the richest & strongest nation in the world, is intent on starving Cuba's economy, including tourism, at the behest of the rich-and-powerful Cubans in charge of Little Havana and Miami. Somehow, billions of people around the world are ashamed about that but, in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, the mainstream U. S. media in November of 2021 is neither Free enough nor Brave enough to tell the American people the Truth about...images such as the one above that depict Batista's Cuba that spawned the triumph of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The fact is...in 1958 the United States lavishly promoted tourism to Batista's Cuba but since 1959, as a part of its efforts to starve Revolutionary Cuba, the United States has greatly tried to block/blockade tourism to Cuba.
Decade AFTER Decade!!
 Is there no shame for shameful things?
*&***********************&*
















29.10.21

Cuba Focuses on Tourism, not Miami Coups

   Cuban beaches such as Cayo Santa Maria and Varadero are ready for the winter tourism season that starts for Cuba on November 15-2021. Varadero has been rated the top beach in the world by tourist-related polls and this year of 2021 Cayo Santa Maria has been rated as the Second Best Beach in the World by TripAdvisorThe two giant Spanish hotel chains -- Iberostar and Melia -- are currently producing ads like the one above to promote the fact that Cuba is reopening its world-class beaches to international tourism on November 15th-2021. Between them, Iberostar and Melia have forty luxurious 4-star & 5-star Hotels & Resorts in Cuba.
    Today -- October 29th-2021 -- the COVID-19 statistics for the past 24 hours reveal just 4 deaths and just 866 new cases, numbers that pale to previous numbers prior to Cuba's massive vaccination campaign using its own COVID-19 vaccinations.
     This week at the United Nations in New York the Cuban representative, Pedro Luis Pedroso, warned the international community that, "The latest well-promoted U.S.-funded coup set for next month on November 15th will fail like the others because of the strong-willed and sovereignty-loving Cuban people." Also this week at the UN Pedro Luis Pedroso took a few minutes to denounce the United States for failing to pay its UN dues. Today -- October 29th-2021 -- Prensa Latina said: "Padrosa also highlighted how Cuba has fully complied with all its payments, making colossal efforts and sacrifices, despite having to deal with a tense scenario this year, mainly associated with Covid-19 and the immovable economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States." In the rest of the article above, as you can see, Pedrosa was even more defiant in denouncing the U. S. for enhancing the 6-decade-old Blockade during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
    Although the U. S. media and the U. S. government categorically deny it, it seems...as shown above...that most of the rest of the world agrees with what Pedro Luis Padrosa told the UN today...and he lambasted the Trump and Biden administrations for greatly expanding the Embargo/Blockade during the Covid-19 pandemic.
    And interestingly today -- October 29th-2021 -- this is the most ubiquitous Cuban photo today in both the Cuban media and Social Media. It shows Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel almost 500 miles southeast of Havana today. At the site where Fidel Castro's ashes are entombed, President Diaz-Canel, who was born after the 1959 triumph of the Cuban Revolution, is shown paying homage to the Revolution's undisputed historic leader.
    Next to Fidel Castro himself, it is reported that President Miguel Diaz-Canel's next most cherished historic revolutionary figure is Celia Sanchez. Prior to becoming Cuba's leader, Diaz-Canel was the island's popular Education Minister and it is known he memorized some of Celia Sanchez's most memorable quotations about the Revolution that she devoted her life to as an incomparable  fighter, leader, and recruiter. After the revolutionary victory in 1959, even the renowned U. S. conservative journalist Georgie Anne Geyer -- who wrote a great and very important bio of Fidel Castro -- correctly concluded that "During the war and after 1959 till her death in 1980, Celia Sanchez over-ruled Fidel whenever she chose to do so." The incomparable Celia Sanchez died of throat cancer at age 59 on January 11th, 1980. Disclosure: In 2004 the George W. Bush administration, which was very intent on helping Little Havana regain control of Cuba, had tight restrictions on Americans going to Cuba. But apparently someone close to President Bush knew about a book I had just written entitled "Sacajawea: Her True Story." And alas, I was permitted to go to Cuba for the purpose of studying why there were so many statues on the island of Celia while Fidel had already made it known he never wanted any statues of him to ever be erected. Well, in 2004...like most Americans...I had never heard about Celia Sanchez and, moreover, I believed that every citizen in Cuba hated Fidel and his {and Celia's} Revolution. But in 2004 I made it to Cuba and, to me, it was truly a revelatory visit!!!
       Yes, As a democracy-loving American, I believe that the true story of the Native American Sacajawea should be told.
     And as a democracy-loving American, I believe that Americans have a right to know the true story of Celia Sanchez, such as why today there are so many statues of her in Cuba.
    And if you take the time to study why there are so many statues of Celia Sanchez in Cuba today, you might learn why this historic Lee Lockwood photo is pertinent to explaining some truth about Revolutionary Cuba. It shows a typical morning after the triumph of the Revolution when Fidel was relaxing in his favorite rocking chair while the tireless Celia was on the couch writing down a new law for Revolutionary Cuba. Whatever she ruled, and whether or not Fidel liked it, it is well known that Fidel always made sure it would became official, and to this day most Cubans on the island worship whatever the beloved Celia Sanchez said.
       So...I believe for Americans to understand Cuba today they need to understand the Lee Lockwood photo above...as well as the earlier photo that showed President Diaz-Canel today -- October 29th, 2021 -- visiting Fidel Castro's tomb.
    Of course, my point is also this: For Americans to understand either the victory or the longevity of the Cuban Revolution, I believe Americans need to know why most of the everyday Cubans on the island still love the legacy of their revolutionary heroine Celia Sanchez. Without her, neither of those historic and topical events would have happened. And by the way, the famous quotation by Celia Sanchez shown above said: "We rebels...get too much credit for winning the revolution. Our enemies deserve most of the credit, for being greedy cowards and idiots." And after all these decades later, its resonance and truth seems more historic than ever.
*&***********************&*











  
 

28.10.21

Cuba Preparing for an Overthrow?

 U. S. Media Fixated On Next Month's Coup!!

     In these last days of October of 2021 the high-profile & mainstream Counter Revolutionary journalists in the United States are giddy in their belief that November 15th of 2021 will finally signify the overthrow of Revolutionary Cuba!! That, of course, includes Andres Oppenheimer, the renowned and wealthy top Columnist/Editorialist at the Miami Herald. Born 69 years ago in Buenos Aires, Oppenheimer's giddy anti-Cuba spiel this week is entitled "ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD SHOULD HONOR CUBANS' CALL......"

   Andres Oppenheimer began his article this week in the giddy Miami Herald promoting the upcoming November 15th-2021 protests/coup in Cuba/Havana/Little Havana/Miami by showing a photo and extolling artist Tania Bruguera. Shown above in a New York Times photo, Bruguera was born 53 years ago in Havana and she has spent her adult life trying to overthrow Revolutionary Cuba...as chronicled by many very gross/pornographic photos I choose not to show. As explained this week by Oppenheimer {and others}high-profiled Counter Revolutionary Cubans like Bruguera believe wholeheartedly that next month -- namely Nov. 15th-2021 -- will mark the long-desired demise of Revolutionary Cuba. Of course, such Counter Revolutionary journalists such as Andres Oppenheimer and artists such as Tania Bruguera always make sure to never mention TWO PERTINENT THINGS: {1} Why the extremely brutal and thieving Mafia-riddled Batista dictatorship was overthrown by the Cuban Revolution way back on January 1, 1959; and {2} today, while extreme Counter Revolutionary Cubans such as Tania Bruguera are lavishly publicized and supposedly well-funded in the U. S., the high-profile Counter Revolutionary journalists in the U. S. make sure not to mention the opinions of everyday Cubans on the island, most of whom apparently vastly supported Fidel Castro's long-shot revolution and most of whom today apparently vastly support President Miguel Diaz-Canel's long-shot defense of the revolution.
     Since January of 1959 the Little Havana section of Miami has progressively grown richer-and-richer and more powerful within the bowels of the USA's two-party political system. Batistiano Cubans, including Batista in Havana and later Canosa and the Diaz-Balarts in Little Havana, always had the total support of the USA's Republican Party from 1952 until today. But only in 2021 during the Biden administration has Little Havana had the support of the Democratic Party...so in October-November of 2021, for the first time, Little Havana now also has control of both of the USA's two political parties.
     And therefore, in October of 2021 -- with Little Havana's Counter Revolutionary zealots in control of Washington as well as Miami, etc. -- you can better understand why extremists such as journalist Andres Oppenheimer and artist Tania Bruguera are so convinced that the massive protests set for November 15-2021 will finally spell doom for Revolutionary Cuba...YOU KNOWthe little Revolution that -- way back on the morning of January 1, 1959 -- overthrew the powerful dictator Batista that was supported by the ultra-powerful Mafia and by the ultra-powerful USA!!
     And uh...when I started Cubaninsider a decade ago, as you can still see at the very top of each page, it was because I believed that the Cuban Revolution SAYS a lot more about the United States than it SAYS about Cuba. And now at the end of October-2021, with Little Havana in control of Miami and Washington, my belief is amplified.
*&***********************&*

















27.10.21

COVID Eases but COUP on Horizon!!

As Cuba Navigates Its 2 Perils!!

     This photo in Havana today shows Cubans thanking their scientists for producing the vaccines that they believe are greatly reducing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

   Today -- October 27th-2021 -- Cubans on the island continue to rejoice about the results of the intense vaccination program that appears to be drastically lessening the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. Today the COVID statistics reveal 9 deaths in the past 24 hours and 912 new cases, sharply down from previous days. Thus...Cuba has decided to resume classroom schooling on November 15th; to open its borders to international tourism on November 15th; and to hold military exercises on November 15th. Meanwhile, and not totally coincidental, an ultra-powerful and highly publicized "Protest" on the island is also set for November 15th-2021 that many believe will finally topple Revolutionary Cuba, which has ruled the island since 1959.
    As crucial Cuba-US conundrums close out October-2021, the Top Cuban Headlines for Oct. 27th show that the mainstream U. S. media -- as reflected above by NBC News and the Miami Herald -- pretends there are no positive vides from Cuba regarding things like the Pandemic but only negative vides such as the upcoming coup on Nov. 15th!! Today, as usual, London-based Reuters, which has four unbiased and superb journalists that report from Cuba, even reports on Cuba's positive results surrounding their own COVID vaccines. Of course, the Miami Herald and NBC News today are only concerned with promoting the Nov. 15th-2021 coup.
    Most mainstream U. S. media outlets, including NBC News, have extreme Counter Revolutionary 'journalists' such as Carmen Sesin as their primary Cuban propagandists. Above is Sesin's promotion about why the Nov. 15th COUP in Cuba is necessary.
   Yes, Cuba's president Miguel Diaz-Canel "accuses the U. S. of involvement" in the nationwide protests on the island set for November 15th-2021. Is he correct, partially correct, or totally wrong???
     On state Cuban media and on Social Media, there is an alleged phone call from Ramon Saul Sanchez to Yunior Garcia Aguilera related importantly to the November 15th Protests in Cuba. Yunior Garcia is the Cuban artist leading the November 15th-2021 Protests on the island while Ramon Saul is one of the all-time most-famed Counter Revolutionary Cubans ever to reside in Miami. The first two words in the interesting phone call are: "Yunior?" and "Si."
    The biography of Ramon Saul Sanchez is no secret and, as shown above, the excerpt above...as far I know...is never disputed...including: "As a fifteen-year-old, he joined the radical guerrilla group Alpha 66 in Miami."
     A simple Google search of "Alpha 66" will reveal pertinent aspects of U.S.-Cuban Relations since January of 1959.
    And whether or not the November 15th-2021 Protests, led by Yunior Garcia, succeed or fail to remove Cuba's Revolutionary government, it will be one of many such efforts that have existed since January 1st of 1959.
     And...in other words...the island of Cuba remains on October 27th-2021 what it has always been, Which Is: The largest, most pugnacious, and most interesting nation in the Caribbean!!!!
*&***********************&*


 

 





26.10.21

Cuba On Oct. 26-2021

Reacting to Threats Foreign & Domestic!!

       Today -- on October 26th-2021 -- the top leaders of Cuba made major and very topical speeches before an important session of the Cuban Parliament in Havana. The island's top leader -- Miguel Diaz-Canel -- reported that, "Thanks to our own scientists and vaccines we are winning our battles against the Covid-19 pandemic. And because of our own revolutionary citizens, we will win our battles against the herculean and well-funded efforts of the leaders in Miami and Washington to destroy our sovereign nation and our Revolution that, in 1959, was able to defeat a ruthless dictator, the Mafia, and the United States. We must now be as heroic as were our revolutionaries from 1953 till 1959."
 Then...in the three sentences shown above...President Miguel Diaz-Canel spoke directly about the next highly publicized "Protests" set for November 15th-2021 that he believes will "again" be organized and conducted by well-paid U. S. mercenaries. President Diaz-Canel told the Parliamentary members that they and the citizens must be prepared to stay peaceful "because" the mercenaries will try to provoke incidents in which they can video or photograph supposed police brutality "as always."
       As you can see in the first sentence, President Diaz-Canel also said: "There are enough revolutionaries here to face any type of demonstration that attempts to destroy the revolution. Our struggle is with intelligence, with respect and in defense of our Constitution, also with energy and courage."
 
The very important Cuban Parliament {"Parlamento cubano"} session held today -- October 26-2021 -- in Havana focused on Cuba's two current prime perils -- the U. S. Blockade and the COVID-19 Pandemic. And clearly the Blockade and what it portends on November 15th-2021 garnered the most concern.
        President Miguel Diaz-Canel believes that he is strongly supported by most of the 13 million everyday Cubans on the island. But, as he acknowledged today -- October 26-2021 -- during his speech to Parliament, that support will be tested again by the powerful Counter Revolutionary protests set for November 15th-2021.
      Meanwhile on October 26-2021, today the COVID-19 statistics as shown above continued to prove that Cuba's vaccination program is producing extremely encouraging dividends. In the past 24 hours the number of COVID deaths numbered 10 and the new cases were 975. Just a few weeks ago these numbers were vastly higher each day.
    The renowned journalist for CBS News -- Portia Siegelbaum -- has lived in Havana for many years, and she is very impressed with the results Cuba is now getting from its own home-produced vaccines, which are sharply reducing the effects from COVID-19. Today Portia Siegelbaum proudly Tweeted: "Domestic created vaccines have positive impact."
        Also, across the entire island today Cubans are sadly remembering the 62nd anniversary of one of their most beloved revolutionary heroes -- CAMILO CIENFUEGOS!! In 1953 while in his early 20s, Camilo was planning on opening a clothing store in Havana. But instead he joined the Cuban Revolution and became one of the most important Commanders, famed for such things as his leadership in the Battle of Santa Clara, the rebel victory in the closing hours of 1958 that convinced Dictator Batista to flee Havana for safer havens before daylight on January 1, 1959. But then...at age 27 and wildly popular as a prime Revolutionary hero, Camilo died in the crash of a small airplane during a coastal storm on October 26th-1959, exactly 62 years ago today.
*&***********************&*

 

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 ...