Ignore US Problems While Starving Cuba!!!

 

     Yesterday -- Monday, July 4th, 2022 -- Democracy-lovers like me celebrated the 246th year of the United States democracy. Billions of people around the world...whether or not they were allowed to admit it...probably agree that it has been the greatest government in the entire history of the world. 

     In the past two-and-a-half centuries the fifty states that comprise the United States had long-ago enjoyed a democracy that emerged as the richest and strongest nation in the history of the world. Incredibly, the richest and strongest nation in the world was also considered the best and most decent nation in the world.

But in July of 2022 question marks emerge.

      In the United States in July of 2022 there are a multitude of mammoth problems...a huge number of unpopular politicians safely control high offices only because the U. S. political system revolves around mass amounts of political donation money; overwhelming chaos on the southern border with Mexico runs rampant; overwhelming and seemingly uncontrollable crime inundates and roils U. S. cities; the U. S. seems to have evolved into a political and media situation that serves the 10% of extreme left-wingers and the 10% of extreme right-wingers while ignoring the needs and opinions of the 80% of more decent middle-of-the-road Americans; dangerous and uncontrollable divisions pitting the extreme left-wingers vs. the extreme right-wingers while the rest of the majority population of 330 million citizens seem to be entirely left out in the cold; etc., etc., etc.

    In 1492 Spanish explorer Columbus discovered both Cuba and the United States...and virtually since then the U. S. relations with Cuba have done, perhaps, more than anything else to shape and color images of the U. S. democracy. Thomas Jefferson and other U. S. leaders dating back to the 1700s craved U. S. domination of Cuba. But Spain was the imperative power that most dominated the island until 1898 when the U. S. used the bombing of the US Maine warship in Havana Harbor to launch the easy Spanish-American War in Cuba, drastically changing who dominated Cuba. After 1898 those who anticipated a GREAT DEMOCRACY in Cuba have been rudely surprised. By 1903 the U. S. had ruled Cuba militarily and, uh, took perpetual control of the lush Guantanamo Bay that to this day is home to an unwanted and controversial U. S. military base and prison. But, incredibly, 1952 turned out to be, perhaps, the all-time most undemocratic year involving the U. S. domination of Cuba: IN 1952 THE U. S. TEAMED WITH THE MAFIA TO SUPPORT THE BRUTAL AND THIEVING BATISTA DICTATORSHIP SO RICH U. S. BUSINESSMEN COULD PARTAKE IN THE WHOLESALE RAPE AND ROBBERY OF CUBA, the Caribbean's largest and most beautiful island nation!!

     On January 1st, 1959 the Cuban Revolution shocked the world {and history} by overthrowing the powerful Batista dictatorship that had been supported by the Mafia, the most powerful criminal organization in the world; and by the United States, the most powerful nation in the world. Since January 1, 1959...incredibly...massive measures and attempts to destroy Revolutionary Cuba and regain control of the pugnacious island have yet to be consummated!! Yet, in the past 60+ years politically correct U. S. Cubans have grown ultra-rich and ultra-powerful...mostly the ones in Miami and Newark. Meanwhile, since January 1 of 1959 Americans have been successively told that all the good Cubans were in the U. S. while all the bad Cubans were still on the island, justifying U. S. efforts to starve Cubans in Cuba to induce them to overthrow their Revolutionary government! In a Caribbean nutshell, that is where U.S.-Cuban Relations are in July of 2022.

     In this first full week of July-2022, the headline shown above helps explain, perhaps, the major weakness of the U. S. democracy...namely, the U. S. media. The massive article headlined above comes on a day this first week in July-2022 when there are a plethora of non-Cuba stories that direly concern the daily issues that Americans are facing. But, of course...as usual...the U. S. media devotes abundant space in shaming and defaming Cubans in Cuba. Above, as you can see, the first paragraph says: "'When we go to sleep, it is with the fear of not waking up again,' says Elisa Bacyan, a resident in one of about 700 apartment buildings deemed unsafe in the Cuban capital, where collapses are frequent." As this headline/article reveals, the U. S. media loves to report drastic problems for Cubans in Cuba BUT IT FAILS TO REPORT THAT A SIX-DECADE GENOCIDAL U. S. EMBARGO/BLOCKADE OF THE ISLAND IS LARGELY TO BLAME. For example, if the superpower U. S. had treated Canada and Mexico -- the massive U. S. trading partners -- the way it has treated Cuba for more than six decades -- there would also be frequent collapsing buildings in Canadian and Mexican cities too!!

      For sure...tropical rains, storms, hurricanes, and other calamities often assault Cuba's capital city of Havana -- not to mention disasters such as the COVID-19 Pandemic!!!! But in July of 2022 most of the everyday Cubans most dread the U. S. blockade of the island. And if the U. S. media was an unbiased source...as it once was...honest reports regarding Cuba would again be welcomed by America's democracy-lovers. Cuba is America's neighbor but, unwittingly, it also says much more about the United States than it should say. Mostly, Cuba and the United should be NEIGHBORS.

NEIGHBORS!!

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A Powerful Cuban Dies Unexpectedly

 

      On July 1st-2022 the death of Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Calleia in Villa Clara has shocked Cuban watchers on the island and in the United States. He was 62-years-old and he apparently died from a heart attack. For many years Lopez-Calleria has reportedly been in total charge of about 80% of Cuba's economy. He was personally sanctioned when the Trump presidency expanded the 60-year-old Embargo into what many observers consider to be a genocidal Blockade.

     The mainstream U. S. media, as shown above, is abundantly aware of what the death of  Lopez-Calleia means. Despite rampant speculations inside the wild and unknowing gazes of the media, there is simply no one on the island that has been groomed to replace the irreplaceable Lopez-Calleia and his passing at age 62 was unexpected.

     For decades any listing of the Power Elite of Cuba has included Luis Alberto Rodriguez Calleia. He was formerly married to Raul Castro's daughter Deborah but his power evolved from his position within the Cuban military, as well as his closeness to both Fidel and Raul Castro.

     Fidel Castro died six years ago at age 90 but Raul Castro, at age 91, is still alive. His main bodyguard has been his grandson, also named Raul, who is the son of Lopez-Calleia and Deborah Castro Espin. It is not believed by insiders that any of the Castro children have serious political ambitions or political support.

    The death on July 1-2022 of the 62-year-old Rodriguez Lopez-Calleia while his 91-year-old mentor and father-in-law Raul Castro still lives, adds immensely to the new equation in Cuba.

     But while Rodriguez Lopez-Calleia was still alive, Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel since 2018 has already carved out a strong niche as Revolutionary Cuba's leader as the predecessor to the Castro brothers Fidel & Raul. That is so, but often overlooked by analysts, even though Diaz-Canel, the island's former Education Minister, was born after the January-1959 triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Thus...Diaz-Canel will decide who inherits Lopez-Calleia's former, and unique, power in Cuba.

      Although he was not a rebel, President Diaz-Canel worships the Cuban Revolution because Fidel Castro is his all-time hero. From Havana to Santiago de Cuba on the other end of the island, Diaz-Canel often worships at Fidel's tomb.

    Contrary to what Americans are told, from the 1950s until July of 2022 there have always been plenty enough Fidel Castro worshippers in Cuba to keep the Revolution viable against staggering odds for seven decades. While counter revolutionary powers eagerly deny that fact, it remains the main reason -- against all odds -- Fidel's Cuba has not been overturned.

     Even though he died almost six years ago at age 90, Cuba remains Fidel Castro's Cuba...and that will remain so until someone overthrows or destroys his Revolution.

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Is Revolutionally Cuba Doomed...finally?

 

    Two prime left-wing U. S. news sources -- AP & NPR -- this week appeared to join the ubiquitous right-wing media that endlessly champions and predicts the demise of Revolutionary Cuba on a daily basis and does so ceaselessly. As noted above, the AP & NPR reported this week about Cubans being among the hundreds of thousands of migrants crossing the porous Rio Grande border that separates Mexico and the United States. The widely dispersed article shown above explained that virtually everyone is leaving Cuba and selling "all" possessions that they have to finance their trips to get into the United States. Yet, every day since January of 1959 the imminent demise of Revolutionary Cuba has been lavishly reported by the U. S. media...and it hasn't happened... Not Yet.

      And...meanwhile...every day since January of 1959 there also seems to be a few glimmers of hope that Revolutionary Cuba will, somehow, survive at least another FEW DAYS. For example, on July 1-2022 the airplane shown below provides a glimmer of hope for Revolutionary Cuba.

     In recent years two dire anti-Cuba perils -- the Pandemic and the Blockade -- have conspired and combined to wipe out Revolutionary Cuba once and FOR all time!! For over sixty years the U. S. Embargo has been imposed to starve Cuba's economy...a Superpower ploy that probably would have long ago overthrown most nations, including many that are much larger than Cuba. But at the start of July-2022 the airplane above offers a little glimmer that a Cuban lifeline -- tourism -- might blunt a little of the U. S. effort to starve Cuba. This week the Canadian airline Off We GO began flights by its Boeing 737-400 planes "from Montreal and Toronto from Thursday to Sunday to the destinations of Holguin, Villa Clara, Varadero and Cayo Coco in Cuba." Of course, the Miami Cubans who have dictated U. S. policy regarding Cuba for decades will seek to end these flights or anything else that might permit a peso or a euro or a dollar, etc.,  to enter Cuba's tourism lifeline.

    The Miami Cubans are also aware of the above headline and sub-headline that states: "American Airlines Eyes Return To Cuba: American Airlines is looking to resume five routes to Cuba in November 2022." Let's see? November 2022 is still five months away, so Miami Cubans have five months to dissuade American Airlines from its Cuban overtures. I mean...uh...the U. S. can't allow a tourist dollar to fly to Cuba, right???

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Miami's Gun Battles With Cuba??

 

   Unfortunately for American journalism, often the Top Stories/Headlines regarding Cuban issues originate with the Miami Herald, such as the items above: "Gun battles at sea: Cuba says it was in shootouts with boats heading to pick up migrants."

        Yes, it is true that Cuba complains that its border patrols are increasingly having gun-battles with speed-boats that they assume are well-funded and well-protected in Miami.

     Today -- June 29th-2022 -- the Miami Herald article telling the world about the "Gun battles at sea...shootouts" along the coasts of Cuba was written by Nora Gamez Torres. Therefore, anyone who reads it is only wanting to read about what a destitute hell-hole Havana is and how ultra-rich and  perfect Miami is since the Cuban Revolution in 1959 re-altered both cities...although the "gun battles/shootouts" near Havana today are actually a pertinent story that needs to be told!!

     In addition to Nora Gamez Torres at the Miami Herald, many mainstream news sources in the U. S. have prominent journalist that specialize in being extremely anti-Cuban...including Mary Anastasia O'Grady at the Wall Street Journal. She is an ultra-powerful editorialist/columnist whose blaring anti-Cuban tirade during this last week of June-2022 is typical.

     As you can see from the headline above and then the start of the Mary O'Grady-Wall Street Journal editorial this week, Americans are being told that poor, little, blockaded, and embargoed Cuba is about to pull off a massive "POWER GRAB INSIDE WASHINGTON." Of course, unfortunately for U. S. journalism, Americans are constantly being fed such weird anti-Cuban theories...and, most unfortunately of all, Americans are supposed to believe it because it comes from the ultra-powerful pages of media such as the Wall Street Journal.

       It is the WSJ's OPINION...in the last days of June of 2022... that poor little Cuba is about to overwhelm Washington so the island nation can, uh, "get control of PAHO, an arm of the World Health Organization." PAHO stands for the Pan American Health Organization. I assume that it is also WSJ's OPINION that poor little Cuba, after getting control of the PAHO, will then get control of, for example, the many regional banks, including the one in Washington, that impact the financial situations of many non-rich Latin American and Caribbean nations.

     Since 1961 when the Bay of Pigs military attack and other drastic Miami-Washington escapades failed to regain control of Cuba, US-Cuba Relations have featured the "genocidal/genocidio blockade/bloqueo" that has been designed to starve Cubans on the island to persuade them to overthrow their Revolutionary government. Incredibly, it hasn't worked. So...perhaps Miami and Washington should try another tactic.

A little love...perhaps.

Or at least a handshake!!!!!

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U.S. Cubans Who Fight the Blockade

And Devote Their Lives to Ending It!! 

     Although the mainstream U. S. media and the plethora of anti-Cuban blogs and Miami-style 'journalists' have vehemently denied it for over sixty years, most Cuban-Americans are deeply ashamed of the endlessly cruel U. S. assaults on Cuban families on the island to appease a minority of rich and politically powerful Cuban-Americans in Miami, Newark, and Washington. Carlos Lazo is devoting his fervent life to helping Cuban women and children survive the unending barrage from the nearby Superpower nation.

       So...who is the Carlos Lazo that the U. S. media, Miami, and the U. S. government fervently don't want you to know??? Well, Carlos Lazo is a Cuban-American professor in Seattle. He and some of his students rode their bicycles Three Thousand Miles from Seattle to Washington to beg President Trump to end his expansion of the Embargo up into the cruelest-ever genocidal stratosphere against Cuban women and children on the island. Of course, neither Trump nor the U. S. media would listen to a word Carlos Lazo said. And then he and some of his students walked the Three Hundred Miles from Little Havana in the heart of Miami to Washington to beg President Biden to stop trying to starve Cuban women and children in Cuba to appease a minority of Cubans in Miami, Newark, and Washington. Of course once again, neither President Biden nor the U. S. media had the courtesy or the integrity to even listen to a word that Carlos Lazo said.

    Such blatant treatment from the U. S. government and the U. S. media has only made Carlos Lazo even more determined to keep the world Superpower from starving Cuban women and children on the island. He amassed a huge following on Social Media and created an organization called BRIDGES of LOVE/PUENTES of AMOR. And Carlos Lazo now flies planeloads of food and other supplies to Cuba. Recently one of his planes included, among other necessities, 5,000 cans of Tuna. Recently the U. S. media loudly tried to shame Cuba for not being able to keep its promises that all children on the island had milk. Of course, the U. S. media blamed Cuba for the shortage but Carlos Lazo blamed the Embargo-Blockade that forced Cuba to buy powdered milk it needed from faraway New Zealand, and when shipping problems blocked some deliveries, some Cuban children were unable to get their normal supplies of free milk. But this week -- in the last week of June-2022 -- Carlos Lazo's latest planeload of supplies to Cuban women and children on the island included many bags of powdered milk, AS YOU SEE IN THE PHOTO ABOVE.

     In the front-center of the photo above, that is the great Carlos Lazo kneeling this week with a bag of his powdered milk...and note that the bag is about as tall as the little Cuban child that is with him. All the Cubans on the island now know who Carlos Lazo is, and they love him. Of course, Americans are not supposed to know who he is...and certainly not to love him.

     Yes, children in Cuba sing the praises of Carlos Lazo and his PUENTES de AMOR/BRIDGES of LOVE and his planes that bring his food, clothes, toys, and other things that the U. S. Embargo deprives them of.

   "Carlos to Biden: Could you show at least a tiny bit of humanity for Cuban families and lift the sanctions?"

    This photo was taken on a hot day in July of 2021 when Carlos Lazo was about halfway on his 300 mile walk from Little Havana in the heart of Miami to Washington. His mission was to beg President Biden to ease the Embargo's starvation tactics against Cuban women and children in Cuba. Of course, neither President Biden nor the U. S. media care even a little bit about what Carlos Lazo says. Thus, Americans are not supposed to even know about Carlos because he happens to be a great Cuban-American who happens to love Cuban children in Cuba...and therefore doesn't think a few rich people in a powerful country should ever, and certainly not endlessly, assault children is a much-weaker country. Carlos maintains that Little Havana Cubans are "spewing propaganda" when they claim that the Embargo doesn't primarily impact women and children on the island..."while also making a few people richer and more powerful in the United States."

     Yes, there are two sides to the two images above -- "The Embargo" and "Little Havana USA." And the side espoused loudly by Carlos Lazo should also be allowed to be heard.

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