With ya until the last bullet is fired, bro.

Band of Blog-Brothers and Sisters...that's it in a nutshell.

MSM = Muddled Shitty Media - don't let them get to you, they're becoming more irrelevant and losing more and more credibility. You even hear some of the MSM pundits comment on that these days...so rest assured something is being accomplished.

La batalla continua, babalu brigade leads the charge!!!!

"..o'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave..."
I picture the American flag waving in the breeze and then, faint but coming into focus, the Cuban flag too.

Propaganda can't erase the truth. It hides it for awhile, but with sources of truth like The Real Cuba, Babalu, and all the 'cubiches,' the curtain begins to tear and then falls completely. To win, we have to be as relentless as Granma and its tools but to spread truth to counter their lies.

I read in a soldier's eulogy somewhere in which the author pondered along the lines of, "Do act like I deserve the freedom which this soldier lived & died for, for me? Do I honor his sacrifice with the words I say and the work I do?" Well, I believe blogs like this are a way of showing appreciation for the freedom we have...by exposing castro's oppressive lies and keeping hope alive for people trapped by tyranny.

Press on, through thick & thin.

Excellent post!

As an honorary cubiche, I'm honored to be in your blogroll.

Ditto, all the above with love. Gracias Val,and all of you, I am proud beyond words to count myself among you.

Whenever you get discouraged, look at your own blogroll - a year ago, you were pretty much the only one regularly writing about Cuba.

Now you have four other contributers here at Babalu - plus the long list of others on their own sites who are fighting for the cause.

We are winning and, more importantly, the Cuban people are winning.

Listen to Juan, Val, because he speaketh the truth.
And remember that all those others whose names appear more or less regularly --or even irregularly-- here in the Babalublog neighborhood, also have voted with our feet.
And they are standing firmly alongside you.
Al combate, corred, bayameses, que la Patria os contempla orgullosa...!!!
Julio

Listen to Juan, Val. For the only ones who scream that you are not making a difference, are a part of the problem, etc. are those on the other side you scare. And you scare them badly. BTW, if I haven't said it before in these words, I am so proud of and glad for what you do here. It is a privilege to come behind and have your back.

I'm just upset that Val wrote something personal... Tsk, tsk.

It's tough in the trenches soldier but stay the course, you're making a difference. Oh and thanks for not mentioning the Dolphins.

Yeah right, that is true Sqt Hook, THANKS FOR NOT MENTIONING THE DOLPHINS BABALU.

Hi Val, happy and proud to be at your side defending those who are defenseless and speaking for those who are not allowed to speak.
Give up? Never! We have just begun to fight. The Internet will penetrate the bagazo curtain that Castro has put in place to stop the Cubans inside the island from knowing the real World and the rest of the world from knowing the real Cuba.
We will prevail!

Val: In this single post, you explained why this is one of the most important sites on the 'Net, period. Whenever you feel the bile of anger rising in the pit of your soul, just remember that what you do is pissing off many more and teaching even more.

You and everyone who fights for a free Cuba will be rewarded. I'm proud to be one of the honarary Cubiches who will get to share that day with you.

Val,

Like Juan said, look at all the people you've inspired and motivated to join the cause on the internet.

I should know...I'm one of them. You should be very proud of yourself. We feel the same frustrations and dissapointments you do, and we'll feel the same joy when Cuba is free once again.

Here's a freakin' long for quote for you, it's actually prayer -but I think it applies.

"It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said....
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not yet our own."

-Oscar Romero

It is true that the left love to quote him. Yet that is only because they can't see beyond the narrow vision of their failed ideology to realize that, like Romero, oppression must be fought -regardless of who is oppressing. And we all have our little part to contribute, be it protests, politics, or blogs.

"We plant the seed that one day may grow", and sometimes that's all we can ever hope for.

Hi Val, I dropped by to say Hi and find this inspiring post. I know what you mean about fighting from the blog, and also the blog friends who back you up. And the work. Good job Val, every push gets us a little bit closer.

Mr. Prieto, I don't know you and I've never posted to this site, but make no mistake: you're making a difference and this one's got your back, be it on the "cyberline of battle" or otherwise. Our fight is the Good Fight, and with people like you, we cannot lose. Keep up the great work, my friend. God Bless..

This is why Val is the torch bearer. He has the exact words to lead the charge. My family never discussed Fidel, or the problems in Cuba in front of me as a child. The only hint of Castro being a bad man came to me at about age four when I found a broken picture frame of Fidel in the back of my grandmother's large closet and asked her about it. All she told me or ever told me was that he was a bad man in Cuba. Later on as I grew and learned of her seperation from some of her family members in Cuba and not being able to see them again because of this same Fidel, and also having studied American History and of the beauty of the love of liberty early on in school, how could I be but on the side that wants to end the illegal rule of Cuba. Thank you Val for giving us a place to belong.

You thank us and yet we should be the ones thanking you, Val. Seriously, what you have done is truly righteous work, and I'm humbled to count you as a friend.