Te lo dijeeeee!!!!! ( Updated)

I dont hate to say I told you so.

For the 'lift-the-embargo-and-flood-Cuba-with-US-goods-and-business' crowd:

Western businessmen bitter as Cuba closes doors

By Marc Frank - REUTERS - 12:11 p.m. May 31, 2005

HAVANA – Western companies welcomed in Cuba as heroes a decade ago for bucking the U.S. embargo are packing up and leaving as the Communist government rolls back market reforms and squeezes out intermediaries.
Embittered by the change in attitude, small and medium-sized foreign businesses complained this week that they no longer feel welcome and worried they would not recover money owed to them by Cuban partners.

President Fidel Castro's government, bolstered by growing economic ties to Venezuela and China, is cutting back the autonomy granted to state-run companies to do business in the 1990s and restoring central control over trade and finance.

The Spanish dairy firm Penasanta SA announced this month that its $8.5 million milk venture had failed due to the economic climate in Cuba, a view expressed by many other businessmen.

"Fidel thinks he does not need small joint ventures anymore, so they are only keeping the big ones in strategic sectors such as telecommunications, cigar and rum exports, energy, nickel and hotels," said an investor who was forced to abandon a 12-year-old business in the machine-building sector.

During a recent speeches, Castro has reminisced about the 1980s, when the economy was 100 percent Cuban-owned. He said Cuba reluctantly opened up to foreign investment during the deep crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"I don't think they ever wanted us here," said the manager of a major European company that is pulling out after 10 years.

"They always tried to get the most money, machinery and knowledge they could out of us while giving little in return. They owe us millions, but we are leaving mainly because of their attitude, the way they treated us," he said.

Cuba's Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Ministry (MINVEC) recently said it was still interested in investment by major foreign investors in priority sectors such as energy, mining, biotechnology and tourism but made clear that small and medium-sized businesses need not apply.

NO COMPENSATION

Western embassies report increasing complaints from their nationals whose businesses were liquidated without any guarantee they would be compensated.

"Cuban partners say they will pay back investments and money owed for operating costs from future profits, but it is doubtful the companies will even exist in the future," said the commercial attache at a European embassy.

Cuban officials did not answer requests for interviews on the trend.

Companies have the option of going to arbitration, but many feel they would be wasting time and money because the government would ignore the rulings anyway. "Castro does not blink at bucking the United States and Europe, so what chance do I have?" said one investor, in town to negotiate a liquidation.

Cuba reported that the number of joint ventures had dwindled to 313 at the end of 2004, down from 412 in 2002. Another 67 will be closed this year, according to a MINVEC source.

Of the 313 cooperative production ventures operating in 2003, only 133 remained at the beginning of this year, and most of them would be closed, the source said.

The Cuban state usually retains more than 50 percent control over joint ventures. Cooperative production agreements generally involve a foreign investor supplying machinery, credits and supplies in exchange for a percentage of profit or product.

Castro has repeatedly blasted foreign traders of late for overcharging on imports and usurious financing, while inside the ruling Communist Party they are often blamed for corrupt practices such as paying commissions and kickbacks.

Cuba has scrapped its free-trade zones that boasted more than 400 companies a few years ago. Some traders outside the zones report their licenses have not been renewed as the state has sought to do business directly with foreign suppliers.

Cuban officials insist that joint-venture exports and sales increased last year, despite the drop in their numbers, evidence that the "house cleaning" is working, they tell diplomats.

Joint ventures accounted for more than half of Cuba's exports last year and a third of all hard-currency earnings, or $1.3 billion and $2.3 billion respectively.

That's what happens when you deal with the devil. Te quemas por comemierda.

Update: As I expected, no input from those who complain about the embargo. Could be one of two things. Either there's a certain refusal to acknowledge this particular aspect of the issue, or, an official statement from the island's ruler is needed in order to see exactly how the government of Cuba is going to spin it. It's neither here nor there, really, as the silence thus far speaks volumes.

Fiction Break

Libby’s Tricycle” was written in memory of my father whom I adored. It was published in World Literature Today 2: A Student Publication, Vol. 2, Number 1, Autumn 2000.

Libby’s Tricycle

By Carmen Palmier-Anchia

When Libby was three years old, her mother went out on an errand one Saturday afternoon without her. Kneeling on the couch, staring out the window, she watches the blurry figure of her mother walking away. She stays there until her mom turns the corner and leaves Libby’s universe.

Libby isn’t your typical three-year old. She is a child, yet something about her is old. Her parents are old. Her mom was 43 when she was born and her dad 56. Libby’s best friend is her grandmother, who is 64. – Over 163 years of pain, guilt, regret, and joy. – All their emotions she seems to sense without fully understanding. They flow through her, and you can see them in her eyes. You can catch a glimpse of them in the way Libby sits quietly, sometimes for hours, looking out the window. Her strength makes itself known through those two hazel orbs. It’s their strength, but she serves as the vessel through which all of their aspirations will be fulfilled. And looking in her eyes, it’s as if she knows this. Their collective years of life filter through her eyes.

Her parents named her Libertad - Freedom. She was born in the United States, and she embodies the hope and freedom her parents fled to. Caridad and Ramón left Cuba, abandoning everything they had worked hard for. They had been married for five years and had resigned themselves to not having children. There were so many things that they would have to resign themselves to do without. There were so many people that they were leaving behind. Yet Ramón understood that these things and their family were already lost. Even before he and his wife ever set foot on the plane, their life was gone. And so they left on one of los vuelos de la libertad. And it was this flight towards freedom that they came to believe awakened the life within Caridad, who brought Libertad into the world eleven months later.

Libertad was born July 16, 1966. It was their next door neighbor, a Norwegian woman, who first called her Libby because she couldn’t pronounce Libertad, and the nickname stuck. Even her parents call her Libby. It is such an appropriate name for a little girl. Libertad is so formal and imposing. So much bigger than life and yet precisely life itself.

Libby plays games with her grandmother, who dotes over her. They spend hours playing house and drinking imaginary café out of tiny tin cups. Her grandmother’s rocker faces the open window, and she can see Caridad coming. She tells Libby, who runs to the couch and jumps on it to look out the window. She sees her mother dragging, struggling with a big box. When Caridad reaches the door, she’s out of breath and flushed – “Ábreme Mamá que estoy sudando la gota gorda.” “¿Qué’s eso Mami, qué’s eso?” asks Libby, moving out of the way so her mother can come in. Un velocípedo responds Caridad, and she sits on the couch with a glass of water. Libby doesn’t know what un velocípedo is, but it has to be good; it comes in a big box, and big is good.

Discipline and love are one in the same to Caridad. With discipline, she will prepare her daughter for life. Having discipline means that no matter where life drops her, she will land on her feet ready to move forward. So Libby has to wait until her mom rests before the box is open and the tricycle assembly begins. Caridad saved green stamps for months until she had enough to get it. Then she had to take the bus downtown where the showroom is to buy it and then lug it all the way back home on the bus.

By the time Ramón gets home. el velocípedo is built. It’s shiny red with a white seat. Red, white, and blue colored streamers hang off the handles. Libby looks at it from every angle. It looks really different from the rest of her toys. It’s heavy and big, and it’s hers.

Caridad sits back exhausted but satisfied. She never had toys growing up, and she is happy that her daughter does. Now it is time for Ramón to take her out for a ride. Libby has no idea how the thing works. Her tiny feet keep slipping off the pedals, and once or twice she’s hit in the shins by the swinging pedals. But her father encourages her; and when the excitement bursts out of her in the form of laughter, he laughs right along with her. The first time out, they only go around the block, but Libby’s universe suddenly expands. She lives on a big block, and she’s travelling fast on three wheels.

Ramón has to work on Sunday, but he promises that after work he will take her out again. This time they go further, and she is able to pedal better, quicker. She goes fast, and it’s fun to watch Papi running to keep up with her. Libby is tired by the time they turn back. Her legs ache and she doesn’t feel like going fast anymore. In fact, she wants to stop. Ramón realizes that they have gone too far and that his little girl is tired. He smiles to himself at how she doesn’t complain. Wanting to spare her dignity, he suggests, “¿por qué no caminamos aguantados de mano para la casa?” Of course, Libby can’t refuse. So she gets off her tricycle and he holds her hand and carries the tricycle home in the other.

The next time they go riding, he brings along a rope. When he notices that Libby is tired, he ties it around the handles and pulls her all the way home. Libby raises her legs up as he pulls her. It’s as much fun as riding it on her own. It may even be more fun with Papi pulling.

On one occasion they go further than they ever have. Ramón wants to pass by the old roach-infested building they lived in when they first arrived from Cuba, in a sense, to reflect on how much they have prospered. He looks down at Libby and smiles. His whole face changes, and all the worries fall away. For at that moment, the only thing that matters is sitting on a tricycle right beside him.

While stopped on the corner, a little girl walks up to them and speaks to Libby in English. Libby isn’t used to children her age, and the little girl fascinates her. Although she doesn’t understand her, Libby seems to know that she wants to ride her tricycle. So Libby gets up, and the little girl sits on the tricycle and rides off. At first, the little girl rides in the parking lot of an apartment building. Ramón watches, amazed that his little girl can communicate with la americanita. But his amazement turns to concern when the little girl hits the sidewalk with the tricycle at full speed and starts riding away from them. He hesitates a few seconds, but seeing that she isn’t turning back, he tells Libby, “quédate aquí y no te muevas,” and he takes off after the little girl. He runs past her, stopping in front of her breathlessly and, stretching his right hand out, motions her to stop. The little girl does, and he said, “oquey, ya, bai bai,” and he carries the tricycle back to Libby, who hasn’t moved an inch. Taking her hand, he tells her “vamos rápido que la americanita esa se quiere robar tu velocípedo.”

They walk fast and cover two blocks without stopping. Turning a corner, Ramón looks over his shoulder and starts laughing as the absurdity of it registers. Libby looks up at him confused, and he tells her, “Libertad, a lo mejor lo que te dijo esa americanita en ingéls fue que le regalaras tu velocípedo. ¡Qué malo es no entender!”

Years later, Libby and her father still laugh about that day, remembering how Libby just got off and let the little girl have the tricycle and how he ran after her and got it back. By the time they get to the part in the story of their big getaway, they are both laughing so hard that they can hardly speak. And just when they begin to recover their composure, her father says, “esa americanita por poco te mafea el velocípedo.” And they start laughing once again.

© 2000 Carmen Palmier-Anchia

Santa Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi, a woman who's political meanderings and blunders match those of her plethora of cosmetic surgeries - I hear her mouth goes agape when she sits - cosigned a disclosure form for one Caitlin O'Neill's - an assistant to Pelosi - travel expenses paid for by the Universal Life Church - stay with me here - for a recent trip to, you guessed it, Cuba, for - get ready now - Ms. O'Neill's "religious education."

Let's see, a known liberal fidel cultist Senator from the political party whining about religion and the separation of church and state sends an assistant to an atheistic island run by a dictatorial communist on a theological education tour all paid for by basically what amounts to a fake church.

Yeah, sure, makes all the sense in the world.

How does one even begin to shovel such incredible bullshit?

Le ronca el merequetengue.

T-shirts for Democracy

By Julio C. Zangroniz

One table at CubaNostalgia was busy virtually every moment that the event was open to the public --and even before the public was allowed through the gates-- yet the people in charge of it never made a profit. Or, at least, its staff didn't make any profit for themselves, or for any commercial business enterprise. They were collecting donations, for which they gave out souvenir t-shirts about the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba, a historical 2-day meeting that took place simultaneously, in the city of Havana, on May 20-21.

Jose Roiz, secretary of press and information for the exile organization Cuba Independiente y Democratica (CID), together with his wife Julia and their daughter, Sonia, put in a marathonic effort --each of them working the three full days of CubaNostalgia, lasting as much as 12 hours each-- plus about 3-4 hours on Thursday, in preparation for the arrival of the public. The trio, which wouldn't get to enjoy much of the rest of CubaNostalgia because "we simply didn't have time," used floor space donated to them by the Association of Former Employees of El Encanto.

Roiz, who came up with the idea of producing the colorful souvenir t-shirts, emphasized that every penny of profit from his family's efforts will go to help pay for the estimated $130,000 in expenses of the two-day conclave in Cuba.
Referring to the Assembly organizers in Cuba, he noted: "As of right now, they have raised only about $30,000," as CubaNostalgia began its 3-day run.

"They are in dire need of funds in Cuba, due to the expenses of the assembly," Roiz said. "I had a recent telephone conversation with Marta Beatriz Roque," one of the main organizers of the Assembly in Cuba that attracted hundreds of delegates from some 350 dissident organizations, added Roiz. "[In Cuba] they have no way to get funds, because they are not employed and they are unable to establish their own business enterprises. The Cuban government just won't allow it," he explained.

And what did the dissidents in Cuba need for the Assembly? he was asked. "They need to buy building materials and equipment such as folding chairs. When I last spoke with them, they told me they had managed to find about 105 of the 700 chairs they estimated they would need," he replied.
In an economy so tightly controlled by its totalitarian regime, in Cuba it is a near impossibility to accomplish even those simple tasks.

Once the assembly ended, Roiz said, the organizers will continue their peaceful dissident efforts, for instance, to recruit more members.

Their fundamental objective, explained Roiz, "is the rebirth of civil society: what are they going to do, how are they going to work to re-establish democracy in the country."

Other organizations outside of Cuba working to help carry out the Assembly --deemed very successful by virtually everyone who witnessed the events of May 20-21 in Havana-- include the Consejo por la Libertad de Cuba (Committee for Cuba's Freedom) and Mothers Against Repression (MAR).

"They (the Assembly organizers in Cuba) are all vitally interested that the American government is not funding this project. It's the Cuban exiles," emphasized Roiz.

All told, the CID table collected a total of around $3,000 in donations, of which at least $2,000 --after production expenses are paid-- will go to Cuba within the next week or so, declared Roiz.

Anyone wishing to make a donation --for which they will receive one of the commemorative t-shirts if the donation is for at least $10-- can do so by sending a check to Cuba Independiente y Democratica at 10020 SW 37 Terr., Miami, FL 33165, or by calling 305-560-2260.

For more information about CID, visit their website (which is only in the Spanish language) at www.cubacid.com.

Editor's note: My wife and I were actually the first to purchase tshirts the night prior to the convention. We immediately bought two shirts the minute we met Mr. Roiz and he explained what they were doing. After a brief conversation about how Babalu had been following and promoting the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba, we immediately became good friends.

All weekend long they were sending folks interested in the going on during the unprecedented meeting in Cuba over to our exhibit so they could see the photographs and articles almost live through the blog and the internet. - Val Prieto -

A well needed blog break

A major thanks to AM Mora and George Moneo for such excellent blogging the past couple of days, especially yesterday's coverage of the Hugo Chavez playing possum ala fidel castro which garnered us an Instalanche. Gracias, Mora!

I took advantage of the day off from work, slapped on the sunscreen and went dolphin fishing with Steve. I really needed a news and Cuba and blog break, even if only for a few hours. The past month or so has been incredibly stressful and there's nothing like a little fishing to take you mind off of things.

Here's Tommy and me after our first catch, a five pound Dorado:

I have a slew of things lined up for posting this week. Tons of photographs from the Cuba Nostalgia convention with accompanying editorials. A bunch of heartwrenching emails sent to fidel. Descriptions of the video and documentaries we ran during the Convention. Personal observations and interviews with Convention exhibitors.

It's back to work time, folks.

Is Hugo Chavez dead?

People are gathering in big numbers at Miraflores Palace in Caracas amid rumors Hugo Chavez had a heart attack or something like it. The goons have just shut down Avenida Urdaneta in front of the palace to stop inquiring questions from the adoring masses. Venezuelan government spokesman Andres Izarra says that Chavez cancelled his street rally appearance yesterday and his Alo Presidente weekly Sunday TV show "to spend more time with his family." And all's 'normal,' he says. Kim Il Sung's spokesman could not have said it better.

I wonder if spending more time with his family means one of his ex-wives did him in, they're the kind of people who throw frying pans. Some say he's reviewing military officer promotion lists, which from his point of view, is important, given that he trusts none of them. The castro press claims there was a new death plot - maybe it means they are preparing to say the guy was assassinated when in fact it might have been something like a cocaine binge. I don't know.

One friend on the ground in Caracas thinks it might be a publicity stunt, but thinks what's going on is getting weird. There still isn't any leaking information, which is odd.

Something's going on, and for some reason, Hugo Chavez won't come to the balcony to reassure the descamisados. If he doesn't come out soon, it means something. Already the rumors are flying. This may be nothing. But right now it seems to be building to something.

Keep an eye on the castro "press", bad as it is, this may be where we get the buildup to the news; also, they seem the leakiest, as well as the best-connected. Given Chavez government's hatred of the local press, they'll do everything they can to keep the news from them. And no doubt castro's minions are managing this apparent PR problem. And keep an eye on castro, this could be the most traumatic thing that ever happens to him.

Here is my writeup at American Thinker here.

UPDATE: The press in Spain has picked this news item up - the first to do so that I can tell from Google. They don't have any additional news.

UPDATE: The Far Eastern press is reporting the Venezuelan opposition has begun anti-Chavez marches. These are the first I've heard of since the end of the recall referendum.

UPDATE: El Nacional, citing chavista media Aporrea, says Chavez will appear at his balcony to speak to the masses soon. Here are some Aporrea photos of the people waiting on Avenida Urdaneta.
Hat tip: Eleggua

UPDATE: Eleggua has just gotten a phone call from Caracas. The rumors of a military coup are flying.

UPDATE: Various sources say the rumors are moving back to the assassination attempt. It would explain the statements in the Cuban press.

UPDATE: Source in Caracas says Chavez has appeared on national television and seems to be all right. Eleggua speculates Chavez may have orchestrated this to find out who was really on his side.

UPDATE: El Universal reports that Chavez, appearing on TV in the company of his ministers, said he skipped his TV show and the street rally to travel to a distant city to see his seven-year old daughter, Rosaina. Awww, what a family man! He also said he really reallllly wanted Venezuelans to see that volleyball game with Brazil. More than the rally or the TV show, I guess. I don't believe a word of it and I think this dictator's tottering.

UPDATE: A source says the Chavistas estimate the crowds at Miraflores at about 2000 people. Chavez said this on TV: "le gente tiende a no creerme. ¡que cosa no!. Mi mama no me creia". (sic). ¿por que sera?. Y "casi me vengo anoche porque me dijeron que habia un genio llegando a Miraflores" (sic) pero se quedaron en llegando.... "hable con Lina (Ron, a Chavez minister) y le dije que se llevara a esa gente que yo estaba bien". Pero la Lina no obedece porque se paso todo su programa de radio esta maÑana arengando a la gente que fuera a Miraflores. Y aqui viene lo importante, esta diciendo que hay que ver como estan la redes de comunicacion para est
as cosas, "si es que existen", los voceros. Aja! No le funciono la cosa....

Sounds like the same old Chavez, always clowning around. But he's hiding information about what happened, it was more than he claims.

UPDATE: Blogger Daniel weighs in, saying Chavez was playing possum, wanted to see who showed up to his funeral. He wanted to bathe in the mournful glow, hear the eulogies. Barf.
What a schmuck.

UPDATE: Let's hope he read Instapundit's assessment instead.

Some Teresa Dovalpage stories

I am a big fan of Teresa Dovalpage, the young Cuban writer whose 'A Girl Like Che Guevara' told the real deal on life inside Communist Cuba. Teresa's since escaped castro's hellhole and now lives to write about it so that people will understand. She's got this gentle, humanitarian personality that nevertheless makes no mistakes about the true nature of communist thuggery and it reflects in all her writing. She is a delight to read.

Today I discovered she has a Web site and on it, she has her short stories. I found one that was published a few months back about the experience of being a Cuban in the U.S., and the utterly creepy blanching experience she has encountering ignorant leftists' love of che guevara.

Given what she knows about che's hatred of the U.S., his hatred of freedom, and his brutal deeds in Cuba and the rest of the Americas and Africa, she can't believe her eyes. Nor the bone-stupid answers she gets from che tee shirt wearers when she asks them what they know about che. But she writes about it, a che smackdown that's also a good story - it can be read here.

On her Web site, she's got another good story about the isolation Cubans feel in longing to be foreigners entitled to special shops, hotels and all the perks castro's foreigners get when they come to Cuba. As the foreigners feast, the local Cubans stand on the outside looking in. It's good reading here.

Kickin' it up a notch...

Cookin' with fidel.

H/T Clem.

"It is the soldier" (Updated)

In rememberance of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our nation and its citizens, I am posting the poem, "It is the Soldier," by Charles M. Province. (Thanks to Karl B for posting the complete poem in the comments.)

IT IS THE SOLDIER

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

(© Charles M. Province)

The che reality tour splats Australia

It's like the execrable Motorsickle Diaries never ended. Today, che's potato-faced daughter, Aleida, continues the che tradition of making cash moolah off dead dad's image from the gullible fools of the ignorant left who inhabit the free world. No more Bolivia. Bolivia's for sissies. (read" her dad.) Cash-rich Australia is where it's at, now that they've learned that Bolivia, despite its vast and deep proletariat, doesn't put up with che crap.

So off she's goes on this che tour Down Under, hawking tripe about che and her newest hero, Venezuelan clown-dictator Hugo Chavez. She must be under orders for this, I recall at least one news editorial that kicked Chavez's ass over his pathetic alliance with fidel castro, a man of no value to Venezuela whatsoever.

Meanwhile, the Aussie news article says:

Speaking at a packed book launch in Sydney on Friday night, Ms Guevara said the Alba oil treaty - signed between Cuba and Venezuela in March - had had a marked impact in both countries.

She lies:

"This is very important because for the first time in Latin America two countries can exchange the things they need, can trade," she said, through a translator.

Somebody needs to tell her the damn deal hasn't even started.

Why the Aussies would care about this oil deal is unknown. It goes to show she's got orders from Havana Central. What a shill. She spews a lot of other garbage, lying through her teeth. And no wonder. She's trusted to travel when ordinary Cubans are not, and apparently, nobody asks her about this life of privilege, of hard currency book earnings and free travel around the world that she gets and Cubans do not.

But there's relief for us in sight. Too many Aussies know the deal on che guevara and they're not pleased about this tramp showing up in Oz. The Australian blog Whacking Day has some choice commentary about "the filthy slag" well worth reading here. Professor Bunyip has pungent words for the tramp too.

Let's hope the Aussies are all over che's spawn like Vegemite.

Let's Make a Deal!

Remember that game show? Daytime TV with Monty Hall and all the contestants dressed up in costumes? Well, let's see what's behind curtain number one with our latest contestant dressed in green military fatigues, shall we?

Castro Shows Off Energy-Saving Appliances

Friday May 27, 12:39 pm ET
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer
Castro Shows Off Energy-Saving Appliances Being Distributed to Cubans

HAVANA (AP) -- Looking more like a game-show host than a head of state, a jovial Fidel Castro dressed in military uniform and flanked by government ministers went on live television to show millions of Cuban viewers how to use new energy-saving rice steamers and pressure cookers.

In one of his increasingly frequent live appearances on state television, Castro joked Thursday night as he demonstrated kitchen appliances which Cuba has begun distributing at heavily subsidized prices to combat the island's energy problems.

He assured Cubans that those who did not have them yet would have them soon.

The cookers, light bulbs, electric fans and other appliances are designed to help prevent blackouts common here in summer when Cuba's aging electrical grid is overtaxed.

"They are our hope that we get to August without Yadira having to kill herself," Castro joked, referring to Yadira Garcia, Cuba's Basic Industry Minister, who held a microphone for him.

Castro announced in March that 100,000 new pressure cookers would be made available to Cubans each month, saying the appliances will use half the energy of the homemade ones they are replacing, at about the same price.

In another recent television appearance, the Cuban leader stood up to lecture around a display of unique Cuban appliances -- including homemade rice cookers and an old fan operating on a Russian refrigerator motor -- which he said were hazardous and used too much electricity.

This, folks, was the big speech Cubans were waiting for yesterday. I dont know whether to laugh my ass off or cry.

Un mensage

To the fuckwit coming to this site via a google search for "casa particular de sexo en Cuba":

Me cago en el coño tu madre.

Negative Media?

It wasnt until I was about halfway thorugh my ride to work this morning that I realized I didnt have my sports talk station on the radio. I hadnt noticed that I was listening to a local spanish language station, Radio Mambi, which I switched to yesterday as I was told Babalu Blog had been mentioned in an interview. It's funny when youre bilingual, sometimes you dont even realize what language you're listening to.

It wasnt until the station ran a PSA that I realized I was, in fact, listening to Radio Mambi. It said the following (as near as I can recall):

"Este lunes entrante, tomen un tiempo para conmemorar los fallecidos del pais que ha derramado tanta sangre para la libertad y democracia de tantos paises en el mundo"

This coming Monday, take some time to remember the fallen serving the country that has shed so much blood for the freedom and democracy of so many countries in the world.

I got a little choked up and felt, I am almost ashamed to admit, proud.

Now, I dont listen to Radio Mambi all that often. It's a rare occassion when my radio is tuned into 710, but, you know, at least they get it.

I am so completely sick and tired of the MSM bashing away at our troops. Criticizing people, fellow Americans, who are half way around the world fighting for a just and noble cause. All in the name of selling papers and advertising. Demonize the Armed Forces and sell more shit. Every single MSM outlet goes out of its way, above and beyond, to take stabs at the War on Terror and those who have the fortitude and dedication to their country to fight it.

Blackfive is also sick and tired of the media spinning:

I don't really care for what the motivation is...I just want them to give the military a fair shake. No suppositions, no lies, just the truth. I want them to do their job.

He and a host of other excellent bloggers have put together a new blog - MediaSlander - with the hopes of countering all the negativity displayed towards the Armed Forces through the MSM.

The goal of Media Slander is to hold journalists and bloggers to high ethical standards regarding coverage of the War on Terror and other military-related issues. We plan to achieve this by highlighting bias, rumor and falsehoods that have been creeping into military coverage under the guise of objective news.

We by no means advocate censorship or the deliberate suppression of well-researched and relevant stories about the war and the military.

As much as journalists feel that they are the guardians of the First Amendment, its true protectors are standing watch in Iraq, Afghanistan and places no one will ever hear about. Journalists owe it to the true gatekeepers of our liberties to be fair, balanced, relevant and accurate in covering them.

I commend Blackfive and his partners for their effort and duly offer all my support with their cause and with MediaSlander. I am, after all, a Cuban-American, and am well aware of what bias and negative press from the MSM feels like.

Cuba Nostalgia Blog Links

As I stated yesterday, not everything went as planned during the Cuba Nostalgia Convention. Among other things, I had wanted to blog a sort of linkfest highlighting other bloggers that posted entries about the Convention. Unfortunately we didnt have a chance to get to it. We were all pretty busy most of the time and while we did have a few minutes here and there where we weren't, I think all of us working the convention were a bit overwhelmed mentally and emotionally.

There was so much to take in, so many exhibits to see, so many people to talk to, so many folks stopping by our booth that it made it almost impossible to sit down in front of a computer and write, much less blog. Putting together a post with a lot of links while tending to the booth was basically not possible with so many pleasant interruptions.

Below is a link filled list (in no particular order) of fellow bloggers that supported Babalu during the Cuba Nostalgia Convention. Please drop by their blogs and offer up a heartfelt thanks.

My sincerest and heartfelt thanks to all of the above and if I have missed someone, please let me know. Next year, if we are invited once more to participate in the Cuba Nostalgia Convention, I will have at least one person at all times manning blog links, thus all that attend the convention and drop by our booth will have a chance to see what a great bunch of people show solidarity through their blogs and writings. Gracias a todos.

Fontova in Miami

Humberto Fontova is in Miami - much to our chagrin as he should have made his publishers bring him down last weekend for the Cuba Nostalgia Convention - and will be appearing for interviews on Ninoska's show today at 2:00 PM at Radio Mambi and also will be on Maria Elvira Confronta on Channel 22 at 6:30 PM.

He will have a book signing at Books & Books in Coral Gables Sunday at 2:00 PM.

If you havent picked up his lastest book "Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant" you should. Not only does he rip the limousine liberal crowd new ones, but it's a fantastic read. I read mine in one sitting.

If you're in the Miami area, I urge you to drop by Books & Books on Sunday and show your support.

Unprecedented

On the Assembly to Promote Civil Society from the Weekly Standard:

CUBAN DISSIDENTS have never had a Lech Walesa or a Václav Havel. Nor is there a pro-democracy force on the island comparable to Solidarity or Charter 77. But that might be changing.

Last Friday and Saturday saw the inaugural meeting of Marta Beatriz Roque's Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba. About 200 Cubans attended the two-day event, which took place in a dirt-filled garden outside Félix Bonne's Havana home. Cheers (in Spanish) of "Down with Fidel!" and "Freedom! Freedom!" reportedly rang out, as participants marked Cuba's original Independence Day (May 20).

Assorted Western diplomats--including officials from the European Union, Czech Republic, Poland, Canada, and Japan--came to observe. James Cason, America's senior envoy in Cuba, dropped by to deliver a videotaped message from President Bush. "We are working for the day of Cuban freedom," Bush told the assembled delegates (some of whom yelled back "Viva Bush!"). And "we are confident that Cuba sera libre pronto." Bush praised the "courage" of those gathered to "protest oppression" in their homeland.

To appreciate the Assembly's truly historic character, consider the following. Never before had such a well-publicized pro-democracy summit occurred on Fidel Castro's watch. (Oppositionists tried it before, in the mid 1990s, but a string of arrests scuttled their hopes.) Never before had so many leading Cuban dissidents thronged a single area to thumb their noses at the government. Never before, according to a Miami Herald report, had any dissident meeting in Cuba gone off "without incident or obvious police presence." (Though a day prior to the summit, Cuban authorities expelled a Czech senator and a German deputy who planned to attend, and on May 20 they detained four Polish journalists.) And never before--since 1959--had Cubans on the island drafted and promulgated a 10-point resolution for transitioning to democracy.

Read the whole thing.

H/T RiverRat

Ilario Pantano - Charges dropped

May 26, 2005 — ASSOCIATED PRESS

Murder Charges Dropped Against Marine

By TOM FOREMAN JR.

The Marine Corps dropped murder charges Thursday against an officer accused of riddling two Iraqis with bullets and hanging a warning sign on their corpses as a grisly example to other suspected insurgents.

Autopsies conducted on the Iraqis' exhumed bodies backed 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano's assertion that he shot them in self-defense after the men disobeyed his instructions and made a menacing move toward him, Marine officials said.

"The initial findings of the autopsies did not support the allegation that 2nd Lt. Pantano committed premeditated murder," Marine spokesman 2nd Lt. Barry Edwards said. "Rather, the initial findings corroborated 2nd Lt. Pantano's version of the events."

The decision to drop the charges was made by Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commander of the 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune. The move ends the prosecution of Pantano, a former Wall Street trader who rejoined the Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Down at the unit level, there was never a question about Ilario's conduct and whether or not he did the right thing," said Charles Gittins, Pantano's civilian lawyer. "It was up in the higher echelons. The people removed from combat situations needed to put more trust in their officers rather than assuming they're guilty."

The two Iraqis were killed during an April 2004 search outside a suspected terrorist hideout in Mahmudiyah, Iraq.

Prosecutors said Pantano, 33, intended to make an example of the men by shooting them 60 times and hanging a sign over their bodies Ñ "No better friend, no worse enemy," a Marine slogan. Pantano did not deny hanging the sign or shooting the men repeatedly.

Huck's decision was based in part on autopsies performed in the past few months. In the past, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Marines did not feel secure enough to exhume bodies in Iraq.

Earlier this month, a Marine hearing officer recommended the murder charges be dropped, saying that one witness' accusation that Pantano shot the men while they were kneeling with their backs to him was unsupported by other testimony or evidence.

Witnesses testified that the sergeant who was Pantano's main accuser was a weak Marine who was bitter about being removed by Pantano from a leadership role in the platoon. More than a half-dozen Marines who served with Pantano in Iraq portrayed him as an able leader who remained cool in combat and was friendly toward Iraqis.

The hearing officer recommended Pantano face nonjudicial punishment for allegedly desecrating the bodies by reloading and repeatedly shooting them. But the commanding general decided Pantano should face no punishment for any of his actions.

"The best interests of 2nd Lt. Pantano and the government have been served by this process," the Marine Corps said in a statement.

Supporters of Pantano had complained that troops were being second-guessed for decisions made in the heat of combat. A North Carolina congressman had urged President Bush to intervene and dismiss charges.

"Needless to say, we are quite ecstatic," said Pantano's mother, Merry Pantano of New York.

Pantano is now helping to train troops at Camp Lejeune, but his attorney said he hopes the decision will clear the way for the Marine to return to a combat unit.

The ruling "demonstrates that Ilario acted honorably in combat and the suggestion that he didn't that tarnished his reputation was unjustified," Gittins said. "I'm pleased for Ilario and his family because the nightmare is over."

Sotheby's and fidel

Thieves working hand in hand.

I just received the following:

PRESS RELEASE....

Local Family Demands Sotheby's Return Stolen Cuban Painting

A New York family demands justice from Sotheby's, which has already been targeted for "trading with the enemy" sanctions for prior dealings with Fidel Castro's Cuba.

In 1960, when Architect and Professor Manuel de la Torre protested Castro's suspension of academic freedom at the University of Havana, he was given 24 hours to leave Cuba or be arrested. He had to leave behind his country, his family, and his personal art collection, including a painting called "La Hamaca" (the Hammock), by Cuban Artist Mariano Rodriquez.

He left the paintings with his sister-in-law, from whom they were stolen in 1971 in a series of home invasions by the Cuban version of the Gestapo - the Communist Block Committees.

Imagine his shock four years ago, when he opened the 2001 Sotheby's Latin Art catalog and saw his painting up for auction - together with his own name listed in Sotheby's catalog - to enhance the "provenance" of his stolen painting.

De la Torre, a resident of Hicksville, Long Island, spent four years trying to get Sotheby's to return his property. On March 2nd of this year, de la Torre passed away, but his widow Sylvia and son Manny, Jr. have vowed to continue his quest and not rest until the painting is returned to the family.

When Sotheby's refused to return the painting in 2001 - and then arrogantly purchased the painting itself - for its "in-house" collection, de la Torre had no choice but to stop the auction, plead for its return and subsequently sue for the return of his painting.

Sotheby's then played every legal trick they could to exhaust an old man and continue to delay the return of his beloved painting.

First they filed a collusive third-party action to include Michael De Navasques, the son of the former Spanish Ambassador to Cuba - from the government of fascist dictator and Hitler ally General Francisco Franco - claiming that Sotheby's interest flows somehow from that bloody dictator's envoy.

Next, they wasted nine months trying to remove the case to Federal Court in Brooklyn. The Federal Judge rejected this outrage, and returned the case to the Nassau County Supreme Court. This action still served Sotheby's tactics of trying to outlast Mr. de la Torre, by causing delays and costing him money. In at least one way, Sotheby's succeeded by delaying: Mr. de la Torre died without ever reclaiming his painting.

The legal battle still continues as Sotheby's delays the inevitable.

"The artist Mariano Rodriguez was a friend of mine. He gave me, and I purchased, several of his paintings, which I had in my collection in Havana," said Mr. de la Torre. "Mariano was a guest at my wedding."

Under the Libertad Act, signed by President Clinton in 1996, the rights of U.S. citizens to reclaim property stolen by Castro's government is protected, and companies can be sanctioned for being accessories after the fact.

This is not the first detestable regime for whom Sotheby's has acted as a fence, selling stolen property. Until they were forced to change their ways, Sotheby's profited by selling artwork stolen by the Nazis from European Jews. The rightful owners were sent to death camps, but that didn't give Sotheby's reason to pause.

Under New York state law, "a thief cannot pass good title"( Menzel v. List, 49 Misc2d 300, 315 [NY Sup. 1966] quoting Salsbury v. McCoon, 3 NY 379, 383-384 [1850]).

Sotheby's has no receipts, certificates of import /export, nor claim or title to Mr. de la Torre's painting. For the last four years Sotheby's has just kept it away from de la Torre and his family, in a storeroom where no one can enjoy it, hoping for the opportunity to reap a profit by selling a painting stolen from its rightful owner by a communist goon squad.

"The conduct of Sotheby's in trying to take and then resell stolen property is disgraceful" said Grant Lally, attorney for Mr. de la Torre. "Sotheby's has no title, no claim, and no legal or moral leg to stand on."

Before he died, Mr. de la Torre said: "I am an old man and just want to enjoy my painting for my remaining years. It is part of my family legacy."

Sotheby's recently settled with the billionaire Fanjul family to return their stolen Cuban art. There is no difference in principle between them and the de la Torre family.

For further information contact Grant M. Lally, Esq. at (516) 741-2666, or Manny de la Torre, Jr. at (516) 250-0310

Cuba Nostalgia Blogging - Remote Edition

I had planned on creating some major linkage and posting numerous entries from blogs during the Cuba Nostalgia Convention. Planned.

Unfortunately, I had no idea we were going to be so incredibly busy every single moment of the day. From trying to conduct interviews to showing people how blogs work to emailing and typing emails to fidel castro to downloading and uploading the 2000 or so photographs we took to chatting with folks and meeting readers from all over the country. It was, in a word, exhausting.

But right now, I want to highlight a couple of excellent posts that were written specifically for Cuba Nostalgia and which I, in my dizzying efforts at the convention couldnt get to posting. All are from Paxety Pages.

From Sal:

The rafts themselves, some emptied by rescue, some by the sea and sharks, drifted northward and landed on the beaches of northeast Florida - from New Smyrna Beach north to St. Augustine. . I walked the beaches for miles and miles, carrying my old Speed Graphic camera with its bad shutter, to photograph the wrecks. I found the cup, with its one handwritten word jammed into a corner of one of the empty rafts. The inside had filled with sand.

Do read the whole thing, there are some incredibly touching photographs.

From the Cuban Musician )I couldnt just quote it, so I am posting the whole thing):

A few years ago, I was between TV jobs and, in order to eat, did time at the local Office Depot Copy Center. I had never worked in retail before and was shocked at the carryings on. To keep my sanity, I wrote stories about the people I met and things I saw - I used the third person character "Br'er Juan" to reflect both my Middle Georgia Anglo and Florida Hispanic heritage. A lot of these stories are now posted in the humor section of this blog. One story I held back, though, keeping it in my head because I knew a special occasion would arise. Cuba Nostalgia is the occasion, and here's the story:

Br'er Juan, knees aching, pulled himself upright after clearing the maw of the huge Xerox machine. As he tossed shreds of paper into the trash, he saw a bit of movement behind one of the displays on the counter.

"Uh, oh," thought Br'er Juan. "One of those damned mystery shoppers hiding again. She'll write me up for sure and say I failed to wait on her." His creaking knees carried him to the counter, and he peeped around the display.

It was not a mystery shopper at all, but an old man, scarcely 5' 3" tall, dressed in a manner that's unusual this far north. He wore khaki pants, a perfectly pressed guayabera, and pushed back from his forehead at a jaunty angle was an immaculate Panama fedora.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Yes,"answered his soft, old-man's voice in only lightly accented English. " I understand you can make copies of old photographs." He clutched a stack of pictures to his chest the way many old people do, as though afraid to lose touch with the photographs that bring back such important memories.

"Let me see one, and I'll show you what we can do."

The old man handed over the smallest of the photographs, an average snapshot of a woman and a couple of kids on a beach. Br'er Juan made a copy, then made an enlargement for the man.

"Where was this taken?" asked Br'er Juan.

"Cardenas - - - Cuba,." the old Cuban Man answered.

"Cardenas. My family owned a home there many years ago. When was the picture taken?"

"1934."

"That was right after Batista took over wasn't it?"

"Yes, the bastard."

"You know, he lived for awhile just down the road in Daytona Beach."

"I know. I thought many times of driving there to kill him." A little fire rose in the old Cuban Man's eyes.

Thinking he'd better change the subject before someone overheard, Br'er Juan asked the Cuban Man if he had more photographs. Yes, he did.

Holding up one, he said, "I left Cuba to go to New York. I played in a band until the end of World War II."

Br'er Juan gasped at the photo. "You must have been good to play for so long. "

"Cugat, Arnez, they were nothing compared to us. People who knew good music came whenever we played." He puffed out his chest a little, and surrendered a stack of photographs for Br'er Juan to copy.

The Cuban Man smiled as he shuffeled through the copies. When he came to the beach photo again he stopped and asked, "When did your family lose their home in Cardenas?"

"fidel."

"Bastard," he said with venom in his voice. "Even worse than Batista. But, at least fidel keeps me alive."

"How is that, Abuelo?"

"I'm going to outlive him. I'm only 92, I'm sure I can do it. I don't have his evil in my heart."

He picked up his photographs and copies and walked towards the door. After a couple of steps he turned, looked at Br'er Juan, saluted and said, "Cuba libre."

"Cuba libre, sir."

Br'er Juan turned to the trash barrel and pulled out a test copy of one of the photographs. He carefully slipped it into his briefcase.

"Cuba libre, Abuelo," he muttered under his breath. "I pray you do outlive that bastard."

Si, Abuelo. Cuba Libre.

And then there's three excellent posts on the Assembly Meeting in Cuba last weekend:

Cuba Weekend.

Did fidel Overreact?

Reporters Arrested.

And he's got plenty of excellent blogging up at Paxety Pages. Do drop in and say hello.

Gracias, Juan, you totally rock man.

Cuba Nostalgia Sponsors

I would like to take a moment to express my sincerest gratitude to those that helped out via donations and sponsorships for the Cuba Nostalgia Convention. Had it not been for the following people and companies the Babalu Blog exhibit space would never have come to fruition.

First, there were number of private donors, folks who read this blog daily who sent in monetary donations while wishing to remain anonymous. I cant even begin to tell these fine people just what their sacrifice means to me, knowing that I have good friends out there that share my love for Cuba's freedom and that stand here beside me when I need them. When it came time to answer the call you guys proudly stepped forward with your "We're here!" Gracias, from the bottom of my heart.

I need to thank my boss, not only for his monetary contribution, but for putting up with all of my frantic running around and missing work and for allowing me the time to take care of everything that needed to be taken care of. It is an incredible honor and privilege to work with such a noble and understanding man who has been a bastion of support with my work on the blog and the convention. Not only that, but he urged and nagged his friends until they too, came up with donations of their own. Gracias, Opie. Es un orgullo ser tu amigo.

One of the first donations I recieved was from WA Berry and Associates, a consulting engineering firm we work with at our office. Chiqui, a Cubanita-American and her husband Saeed, and Iranian American, were the first to step up to the plate no questions asked. When I first told them about what I was planning the checkbook came out lightning speed. Gracias, guys. You have no idea how I cried as I sat in the car after leaving your office that day.

I also received a sizable donation from Design Drywall, Inc. An interiors and drywall installation company whose owners have never met me, never spoken to me, and had never read the blog until the day my boss called them up and told them they had to help me out with the Convention. Another donation built on trust and a solidarity for the cause. Thank you, sir, for your having believed in me despite the fact that you have never met me in person.

Garcia and Garcia, Cerified Public Accountants also stepped up to the plate knowing very little, if anything, about my work on the blog. While I have spoken to Fico and Isa, whom I met for the very first time in person Friday during the convention, they helped out this stranger with a sizable contribution no questions asked. Gracias not only for the donation, but for coming by and supporting us during the convention.

Rodriguez and Currier, consulting engineers, also made a sizable contribution for the convention. I work with these two gentlemen and I consider it an honor to have their support. Not only do I appreciate their monetary sponsorship, but I gain strength by the way Charlie's eyes light up when he speaks of his youth in Cuba. Gracias, señores, del alma.

The minute Ines Flax heard about what I was doing, she immediately came to offer us support. She donated the first laptop, which was literally in our hands less than an hour after my wife contacted her and told her about the convention. Having come from Nicaragua and her family facing conditions similar to those some face in Cuba, she stepped up, front and center, and expressed her solidarity with the cause. Gracias, Ines, es un privilegio having you on our side.

Our friend Ari of Universal Trust Lenders came through with a second laptop for the convention, no questions asked. "Take my own personal laptop" he said to my wife when she spoke to him about our plans. I was a little wary of using his personal laptop, scared that I might break it or it would get stolen or dropped or something, but Ari insisted, knowing how important this whole thing was to us. Gracias Ari, for the laptop, but speically for your friendship and support. Without you I wouldnt have the home I have now.

When I designed the exhibit space I knew I needed a round conference type table as the central blogging and computer space. A square or a rectangular table wouldnt do. I had to have a 5 foot diameter conference table and, if youve ever looked for a table like that one in particular, you know how rare they are. But then Camilo Office Furniture came to the rescue. Not only did they have a 5 foot diameter table, but they loaned us a beautiful solid cherry wood table whose design and elegance was way beyond my expectations. Gracias, Camilo y gracias Ana Maria for your support and kindness and for providing the Babalu exhibit with its beautiful blogging heart.

The minute Jim of Smoke on the Water got wind of the Babalu Blog exhibit at the Cuba Nostalgia convention he immediately contacted his friend Al at Cuban Crafters Cigars. Al in turn immediately contacted me and said "Whatever you need, it's yours." Not only did Cuban Crafters Cigars offer up a sizable contribution, but donated a box of their finest cigars. Al not only came through, but his zeal in helping me was an inspiration when frustration with the preparation had started to set in. Coño, Al, gracias mi hermano.

One of the biggest surprises for this whole thing was meeting Robert of Meeting Solutions. When I called him about needing audio/visual equipment he picked up the ball and ran with it. Not only did he come up with the perfect plan for the A/V presentations, but he donated the equipment and his time. He was there during the build and the tear down and without so much as a second thought was there with "What else do you need? Cables? Power strips? Extensions? Lo que sea." Thanks Robert, you rock dude.

When I designed the structure for the exhibit space I wanted it to graphically depict the blog in one way or another and decided that I would have canvas banners as the "walls" of the framework. Freddie of Hi-Tech Signs and Graphics took the artwork reader CB made up and came up with some beautiful high-res banners that had patrons of the event enthralled. The banners he offered up were what brought people straight to the booth and kept them there reading. Gracias, Freddie, not only for printing those incredible banners but for dealing with my panicky self and coming through in the clinch.

My old man took the sketches I drew up for the framework and made the thing in 2 days. I dropped off the sketches on a Saturday morning and Monday at lunch time they were ready to be picked up. You have no idea how proud I am of that structure, not because I designed it, but because my old man built it. He poured his heart into it knowing it was important to me. He kept asking why I didnt want to paint it, leaving it showing slight signs of rust, and I basically told him "just because."

But it wasnt just because. I wanted to show his work. I wanted each and every weld to show, each and every scratch from the grinder, each and every part of that thing that he had to sweat for and work on with his calloused hands to be there for all to see. I dont think my father had any idea of what the actual finished product of that framework would look like, but I wish I could describe the look on his face when he first saw it there on the convention room floor, all decked out with banners and canopies and laptops and most importantly, people standing side by side with his son, working their behinds off for an entity that lives in their hearts: Cuba. Gracias, viejo, por tanto y por todo.

There are many many more people to thank, it wasnt just sponsors who got this thing rolling, but a bunch of folks who volunteered their time and efforts to help make the Babalu Blog exhibit at Cuba Nostalgia a success. Ill be posting about all their work this weekend.

The coming liberation of Cuba

Why isn't our friend Stefania Lapenna in Sardinia, Italy running Europe? I ask you.

Stefania's what Europe's supposed to be! You know, the authentic Europe we are in awe of. It's the awe you feel when you taste real French food or Italian wine that knocks your socks off because you've never had anything so good. In fact, the awe you feel because you can't even compare it to anything you've actually lived on before that. THAT kind of Europe!

Stefania's all about ideas, though, not feasts, but the 'wow!' impact is exactly the same. She's got a dazzling essay out this morning on The American Thinker about Cuba's coming revolution. She apparently has some incredible sources on the island and in Italy's sane political circles who know how to read the situation in Cuba quite accurately. With nice cold Guicciardini-like or Machiavelli-like detachment based on an accurate understanding of human nature.

Among other things Stefania shows in this essay the inherent weakness of the castro regime, the importance of not mistaking castro's acquiescence to the democracy conference as a sign of his turning 'humane,' the ridiculous, disgusting behavior of clownish Premier Zapatero of Spain (a man beneath his office), and insights into the Martha Beatriz Roque-Osvaldo Paya rift, something the mainstream media has no insights whatsoever on. It's a superb essay, a superb feast. Bellissima!

Stefania's voice is so fresh and and so on-target, her observations are so original and so real that you will want to read this a couple times. Don't miss it. Read it here.

The Anti-castro Mafia

Kathleen made a comment in a previous post that deserves a long answer:

Since I've returned home from South Florida I've been catching up on the news. I've noticed something, and it makes me sick. We always see the Miami Cubans referred to as the Cuban Mafia, those crazy anti-castro Cubans, etc. I assumed that this came from the liberal politics of the media. I've changed my mind. It comes from hate. The same kind of ignorant, irrational evil hate that drives the kkk, neo-nazis and others of their ilk. I'm hoping someone can convince me I'm wrong about this but I don't think so.

I agree with you. Cuban Americans are the most successful group of immigrants this country has ever seen. In one generation we had become a part of the American dream -- with very little help from Uncle Sam. As Val has written before, Cubans resuelven. We take care of what needs to be done and we do it well. The bias that exists is a reflection of the political and racial prejudice of the MSM and the pointy-headed leftist "intellectuals" (and I use that term almost humorously). We do not kowtow to them and act like victims; we do not like their politics and they know it because we tell them; we vote Republican in large numbers and they hate us for it; when we protest an evil man and his evil regime they call us crazy or they call us the "mafia" as if to imply that poor fidel is the victim and not us, who lost everything to that SOB.

We want to solve our problems (Cuba, for example) if only somebody would let us do it. All in all, we are a people that have been blessed by "can-do-it-iveness" -- regardless of the obstacle and regardless of circumstance. My grandparents came here and didn't speak a word of English. They survived by hard work. My parents worked their butts off as well. I have worked since the age of 16. Their is nothing we have attempted that we have not achieved -- save one, and that is the liberation of the country of our birth from a monster. With this blog Val is making his contribution to that cause.

We embrace the USA and love it. As I told you last weekend -- I think it was you; too many mojitos may have impaired my memory -- America has given me everything I have and I thank and love her for it from the bottom of my heart.

One of the t-shirts that we did not have the funds or time to do for the show was one I designed that said on the back:

I did that as a parody, and as a message as well, to the leftist "bomb-throwers" who love to take shots at us. They can call us whatever they want. We don’t care. Our cause is noble and our cause is right. Names like that one only reflect the ignorance, stupidity, and vapidity of the ones hurling it.

The problem with emailing fidel...

...is that you have to spend the next few weeks monitoring your site and "debating" all the sympathizers he sends your way.

Sigh....

Que lastima que hay gente tan completamente inutiles en este mundo.

Fontova on Carriles

A Tale of Two Terrorists

Via Newsmax

Humberto Fontova

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

The mainstream media are in a tizzy. They can hardly contain their glee. They have a Cuban exile to bash, you see, one recently arrested for illegal entry into the U.S. The mainstream media hammer away daily that this man, Luis Posada Carriles, is "linked to terrorism," more specifically to the bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people in October 1976.

Posada Carriles has Venezuelan residency status. He has a long history of anti-Castro militancy, once lived in Miami and worked for the CIA. Plus he has contacts among the "Miami Mafia" (i.e., Cuban-Americans who refuse to recite the talking points on Castro/Cuba handed out by the mainstream media-Democratic National Committee axis). So yes, he'll do magnificently as a media whipping boy.

Recall that during the Elian media orgy even normally cagey pundits like Mark Steyn, John Leo and Tony Snow swallowed the Castroite spin hook, line and sinker.

Well, here we have it again. The epidemic of vituperation against this Cuban-exile "terrorist" has proved highly contagious and is crossing the aisles. Dick Morris, writing in the New York Post, says that Carriles "richly deserves to face a Castro firing squad."

I don't know if Posada Carriles is guilty of this bombing. I can't say for certain either way. But the Havana-incited media orgy against him leaves out many pertinent facts. As in the Elian case, Castro's U.S. echo chamber again chants constantly about "the rule of law." Yet they neglect to mention that Carriles has been twice acquitted of the crime. Doesn't "the rule of law" also mean protection against double jeopardy?

>From the New York Times to USA Today to the Miami Herald, all the big guns of the mainstream media want this anti-Castro "terrorist," who was recently arrested for illegal entry into the U.S., immediately deported.

While hosting "Nightline," Ted Koppel outdid himself on the Carriles case, interviewing – along with the usual Castro parrots like Anna Louise Bardach and Peter Kornbluh – the highly reliable and impartial legal expert, Ricardo Alarcon, also known as Castro's "President of the Cuban National Assembly."

Ted Koppel habitually sneers and snorts when interviewing a Republican senator. He was a veritable Vishinsky when interrogating Swiftvet John O'Neill. But Koppel's demeanor was markedly different as he addressed the propagandist for a mass-murdering Stalinist government, who broadcast from Havana demanding Posada Carriles' immediate extradition. Koppel mutated into a purring little puddycat.

"I think you're teasing me a little bit here, Mr. Alarcon," the newly amiable Koppel answered a tart comment by the Communist weasel.

An intrepid interviewer could have had a field day. "Mr. Alarcon, here you ask for the extradition of Mr. Carriles to Venezuela [read Cuba]," Koppel might have started, "yet the Cuban government itself is currently harboring 77 fugitives from U.S justice, many on the FBI's most wanted list. And unlike Mr. Carriles, who has already been acquitted twice, by independent courts, of any involvement in the plane bombing you accuse him of – and who recently passed a lie detector test on the plane bombing matter – unlike all of this, Mr. Alarcon, many of the U.S. fugitives your government harbors even as we speak have been convicted by U.S. juries of murder and terror. Yet your government has repeatedly and scornfully rebuffed every request for their return."

"Also, Mr. Alarcon, protection against double jeopardy is a legal principle that goes back to ancient Greece," Koppel might have continued. "The United States, the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of American States, the International Criminal Court and the Venezuelan government itself when it tried Mr. Carriles all uphold this principle.

"Yet now you demand that the United States become an accomplice in triple jeopardy – and at the request of Stalinists who will promptly drag him to a Stalinist show trial, then a firing squad?

"Also, Mr. Alarcon, according to our Defense Department, over 42,000 guerrillas and terrorists from three different continents – everyone from the PLO to the Tupamaros to the IRA to SWAPO to the Black Panthers – received their explosives training in Cuba from 1959-1985. The death toll from their terrorism reaches into the thousands, not to mention the death toll from your government's use of poison gas against Angolan villagers. To some people this makes your newfound concern over terrorism seem somewhat suspect, sir. Any comments on that?"

Dream on, amigos. Though all of the above is thoroughly documented and easily available to any "Nightline" producer after five minutes of research, those "gallant crusaders for truth" (as Columbia Journalism Schools hails its graduates) wouldn't DREAM of such impertinence when confronting a Communist liar (excuse my redundancy.)

"Documents link" is a constant phrase in every article on Posada Carriles. This "revelation" had Castro's parrots squirming in their seats with anticipation during the "Nightline" Posada bashfest. Even better, many of these documents are "recently declassified." Wow! You know how that plays on a headline, especially when these "documents" all "link" the Cuban exile to the blowing up of a Castro airliner.

Fine, but as I said – and as five minutes of research by "Nightline's" producers could have confirm – the implications in these documents have all had their day in court. The result was two acquittals, one by a civilian court and another by a military court. Somehow "Nightline" neglected to mention this detail.

Castro has snapped his fingers and – as usual – the mainstream media have snapped to attention. He nodded impatiently and they lined up obediently. Now they're acting dutifully on their marching orders and talking points. Castro is an old hand at this. We saw it most vividly during the Elian orgy, but it started much earlier.

Back in 1957, when the only thing he lorded over was a raggedy band of a dozen "guerrillas" (winos, wastrels and petty crooks) in Cuba's Sierra Maestra mountains, Castro was approached by some of his wealthy urban backers (they all scrambled into exile for their very lives three years later, by the way).

"What can we do?" They asked. "How can we help your glorious rebellion? We can write you some checks. We can buy you some arms. We can recruit more men. Tell us, Fidel, what can we do to help?"

"For now," answered Castro, "get me a New York Times reporter up here."

Bingo! The rest is history. They quickly complied and within weeks Castro was being equated with Robin Hood on the front page of the world's most prestigious papers. Within a year and a half he was running Cuba while being hailed as "the George Washington of Cuba!" by everyone from Jack Paar to Walter Lippmann to Ed Sullivan to Harry Truman.

(One prominent American who wasn't snookered was Vice President Richard Nixon, and one American publication that bucked the "Castro-as-democratic hero!" tide was Human Events, who outed him as a Communist terrorist from day one.)

Alas, these were voices in the wilderness.

The media spin on the twice-acquitted anti-Communist Posada versus their spin on convicted Communist terrorists also begs for scrutiny. To this task I now apply myself.

"Nightline," the New York Times, USA Today and the rest of the mainstream media cabal might be interested that I've recently "uncovered documents" that "link " last year's Presidential Medal of Freedom winner – a man they've been hymning to the high heavens for the past 20 years as hero and saint – to terrorism! But with a major difference: When these documents had their day in court, they convicted the media's hero-saint (Nelson Mandela) of terrorism. How's that!

"The preparation, manufacture and use of explosives, including 210,000 hand grenades, 48,000 anti-personnel mines, 1,500 time devices, 144 tons of ammonium nitrate, 21.6 tons of aluminum powder and a ton of black powder. 193 counts of terrorism committed between 1961 and 1963" say the documents.

But those documents come from the prosecutor on behalf of the odious Apartheid regime, some might counter (whereas Posada Carriles' trial in a Stalinist nation will be scrupulously fair, I suppose.)

In fact, South Africa was not a totalitarian country in 1964. It had a totally independent judiciary and Mandela's trial had observers from around the world. Here's the March 1964 London Observer (no bunker of right-wingers, no defender of apartheid) that covered the trial where Nelson Mandela, head of the ANC's (African National Congress') terrorist wing was convicted of terrorism. "The trial has been properly conducted," wrote correspondent Anthony Sampson (who later wrote Mandela's authorized biography). "The judge, Mr Justice Quartus de Wet, has been scrupulously fair."

Here's Amnesty International (again, no Klan of rabid right-wingers) in 1985 explaining why it refused to list the media's hero-saint as a political prisoner: "Nelson Mandela had participated in planning acts of sabotage and inciting violence, so that he could no longer fulfill the criteria for the classification of political prisoners."

"The cause of Communism is the greatest cause in the history of mankind!'" proclaimed Nelson Mandela in 1961. "There's one place where Fidel Castro stands out head and shoulders above the rest. That is in his love for human rights and liberty!" proclaimed Saint Mandela as Castro awarded him Cuba's prestigious Playa Giron Award.

When Nelson Mandela first visited the U.S. in 1990, Accuracy in Media termed the tumultuous and laudatory media coverage as "Mandela Mania." The hero of oppressed people everywhere!" (ABC); "A larger-than-life figure!" (CNN); "A virtual symbol of freedom!" ( CBS). "His name has a mystical quality!" gushed Dan Rather. "A worldwide hero!" continued Gunga Dan, who went on to compare Mandela to Mother Teresa.

Other reports compared Mandela to the pope, Jesus Christ and Moses. The New York Times devoted 23 pages for laudatory articles on Saint Mandela in one single week. Ted Koppel hosted an ABC "Town Meeting" with Mandela where every question was sugar and spice and everything nice.

Interestingly, at that very time the U.S. State Department, along with the U.S. Defense Department, both listed Mandela's ANC as a terrorist organization.

"With our necklaces we will liberate this country," crowed Winnie Mandela in April 1986 about the practice of capturing fellow South African blacks, binding them, drenching them with gasoline, putting a tire around their necks and burning them alive, a crazed mob whooping in glee as the victims writhed and shrieked in agony. Mrs. Mandela's incitement of this charming practice was actually captured on film.

Naturally, nary a one of those intrepid, fearless and cheeky Beltway reporter broached these touchy matters.

By now the former head of the ANC's terror wing has won everything from the Congressional Gold Medal (presented by Maxine Waters) to the Nobel Peace Prize. He has squares, parks and boulevards named after him everyplace from New York City to New Delhi. He has honorary degrees everyplace from the Sorbonne to Harvard. He has honorary citizenship everyplace from Greece to Canada.

Bill Clinton hailed him as "a gift to humanity!" When awarding him the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom (America's highest civilian award) in 2002, President Bush hailed Nelson Mandela as "the most revered statesman of our time."

While addressing the International Women's conference in Johannesburg a few months later, Mandela thanked President Bush with the following: "If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America! [wild and deafening applause] They don't care for human beings!"

The recent New York Times editorial urging the prompt arrest and extradition of Luis Posada Carriles is titled "A Single Standard for Terrorists."

Fine, New York Times. Then why such an editorial? Why not nominate Luis Posada Carriles for the Nobel Peace Price and the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

Posada Carriles' lawyer should instruct his client to start bashing America, to start hailing Mao and Ho Chi Minh, and to deck himself out in a Che Guevara T-shirt. Then we might get somewhere.

Orgullo

I have a lot of thank yous to post to many folks for all their help with the Cuba Nostalgia Convention, and I will post every single one. But I think I should acknowledge the two people whom I started this blog for.

Amanda, my Goddaughter and niece, for having taken time away from her beautiful son Brandon to stand by me for three days during the convention and Maura, my niece, who flew down from Virginia to spend her birthday with family and to come spend a little while with her uncle Val when he needed her.

Gracias, mis niñas. You two are my pride and my source of heartfelt happiness.

Fiction Break

This story was published in a very different format in the Miami-Dade College Literary Magazine “Miambiance” Vol. XI, 2001. The story is loosely based on my childhood friend and neighbor, Maria Teresa. - Teté was in her late sixties and I was seven when we became friends, and I had more fun playing with her than with most of the kids my age. She passed away two years ago, but her essence lives on in “The Visit.”

THE VISIT
BY Carmen Palmier-Anchia

I grew up in a six-unit apartment building in a lower-middle class neighborhood. I felt lucky and so did my parents. But a stranger looking in might feel lucky not to live there. Different people feel differently about the exact same thing. We lived on the ground floor in apartment number one looking out onto a quiet street surrounded by neighbors who through the years became the closest thing to family I had ever known. The neighbors were close, my family lived far away and I saw them only on holidays. I felt closer to my neighbors than to my own family. And it’s funny to me now how I can still remember their names.

I idealized Barbara, who lived upstairs and was three years older than I was. I thought she was terribly sophisticated. I remember Lourdes, the single mother with three kids: Maribel, Mabel and Robert. I went to the beach for the first time with them one summer, we had Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch and I got my first sunburn. Willy lived next door and he was my first boyfriend, only I didn’t know it at the time. We would play Monopoly and eat soda crackers with butter. He had golden brown hair and green eyes and he would punch me often. In apartment number six lived Diana with her mom and dad who were both alcoholics, she was happy in anyone’s apartment but her own. There was also Jaqui, who lived with her parents upstairs in apartment number five. She was eighteen years old and beautiful. She was a “hippie.” Barbara, Maribel, Diana and I loved to go over to her apartment.

Jaqui had a perfectly round face with beautiful dark caramel eyes, porcelain skin and the smallest, pinkest mouth I had ever seen. She used lip-gloss in different flavors … bubble gum, cinnamon, peppermint, and strawberry … that came in glass bottles with a plastic ball on top that rolled the gloss onto the lips and she’d let us borrow them. She’d comb our hair and braid it with different colored beads in it. She taught us how to put on nail polish with our left hand and how to make the shape of a half moon on the cuticle line. We all missed her when she moved away. With the passing of the years I saw all of my friends move away one-by-one.

By the time I was twelve they were all gone. An elderly woman, Maria, moved in were Barbara used to live and oddly enough I became her friend. She must have been in her late sixties then, she lived with her brother and her older sister. She had never gotten married nor had children, but many nieces and nephews called her ‘Mami.” We became friends when a great-niece came to stay with her one summer. Marilu was four years old and didn’t understand Spanish very well, and Maria knew only a few words in English. I was called upstairs one afternoon to translate, and by the end of two weeks Marilu knew enough Spanish and Maria knew enough English to communicate harmoniously. The rest of the summer was spent playing with Maria’s things and listening to her telling stories.

When the summer ended Marilu went back to Houston, and Maria and I stayed friends. Often after school I would go upstairs to visit her. I could easily get along with her because I was used to being around older people. My parents were older than most parents were; my mom was forty-four when she had me, and my father fifty-two. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters to play with, just my grandmother who was sixty-five when I was born. I consider myself lucky to have always been in the company of older folks, I learned early to be compassionate and to have empathy for others and I really owe that to them. I also learned to converse for hours, listening intently and being listened to with genuine interest. I learned to be patient and content with myself by watching them, especially my grandmother and Maria; they would sit for hours and sew or knit even read using a magnifying glass.

Maria still lives in the same apartment and although I have moved away, I still keep in touch with her. I’ve been thinking about her a great deal lately, as memories keep intruding into my mind, interrupting me at work or at home. My mother says the memories are Maria’s own desire to see me and they are nagging at my conscience. I think it’s probably my own guilt about having stayed away so long that’s nagging at my conscience. So I decide to surprise her with a visit.

Her brother opens the door and lets me in. He walks ahead of me and I notice that his back is hunched over, having assumed the shape of the chair where he was sitting. He’s old, I’d say about 70 now, and he’s worked hard for the better part of those years. His hands are coarse and his fingers are crooked. He walks slowly to the bedroom in the rear that is hers, and tells her I’m here. Walking back just as slowly over to the chair that still remembers his body’s shape he sits down; he looks better sitting down, the chair hides the signs of a life of hard work, and it cradles him. With the palm of his hands facing upward, he motions me to the sofa next to him for me to sit. Then he gives me a smile that crackles his face into a dozen pieces of skin that were once one complete shape. We talk about the weather and the old neighborhood. His voice is raspy, coated with traces of nicotine, although he quit smoking seven years ago.

Our conversation is interrupted by his sister who comes into the room following her walker. He knows it is she whom I came to see. She has aged more than I had expected. Her feet move slowly, fearful of not being able to complete the journey. She grabs the walker with such force that it shakes with every movement. The trip from the hall to the living room is completed only after numerous trembling lifts and equally shaky placements of the walker on the floor. I look on wondering if she wouldn’t fall from exhaustion, so great is the effort she has to expend to complete each motion and so tight is her grasp on the metal and rubber prop before her. The muscles in her arms have long since abandoned their post and only the sheer will of her brain, still fresh as ever, make each movement possible. She finally reaches the middle of the living room where we now stand, her brother and I, poised to catch her if she had fallen. I hug her across the metal walker and am surprised both at the strength of her hug and at the frailty of her body. She smells of lavender and baby powder and the skin of her face feels soft on my lips when I kiss her.

We sit down after a moment and I am amazed that she manages it with greater ease than I expected. Using the walker to steady herself, she eases down to the tip of the recliner chair that is obviously hers, and using the arms of the chair she pushes her way back until she finally comes to rest comfortably in it. I can’t help but smile, she seems so proud and proper in her light blue dress, stockings and black orthopedic shoes; and her gray and white hair is combed back and held in place with two pins on either side of her head. She was never a beauty, her nose always too big for her face with a downward swooping curve that makes her profile distinctive. But she was attractive, and her face memorable, even now, with a tiny mouth that always curves up in a smile when she talks. The little dab of pink lipstick, lighting her face and making her cheeks less hollow. But it was her eyes that make me forget what I had just witnessed; they are alive and sparkling with questions. I haven’t seen her in over two years and she wants to know everything I have been doing.

We talk about her great nieces and nephews and she has her brother bring pictures for me to see. It strikes me how she really brightens the room, the room that hasn’t changed in over fifteen years. Even her brother looks better and younger and appears to move with more freedom. If the walker weren’t right beside her I could forget that she has aged so much. Sitting in the chair she is liberated from the force of age and she moves gracefully. She laughs and hands me photographs of kids playing with dogs and blowing out birthday candles. She motions with her hands as she speaks of weddings and graduations, and her movements are gentle and dainty and full of vibrancy.

But it is always her eyes that hold my attention. They are full of life and hope and energy and they engage mine and I listen intently to every word she says. Before I realize it two hours pass, filled with memories and tales and conversations. I feel as if I still live downstairs and have come up for a visit. I often came to visit her – she was always funny and had such beautiful things, dresses and hats and makeup. She had lived in New York when she was young and told me stories of boyfriends and parties. She’s a marvelous storyteller, and she can really make the scene come alive and she’s always right in the middle of it, reliving the moment once again.

It is hard leaving, and once she stands up the chair no longer camouflages what time has done and I am reminded that she had aged. My heart aches, the transformation in her form seems to have taken place overnight and I feel guilty at having stayed away so long. I kiss them both and I promise to be by again soon. Driving home I recall sitting wit