Am I imagining this?

Did President Bush mention Cuba and/or fidel in his State of the Union speech? He mentioned lots of other dictatorships, including North Korea, but I did not hear one mention of Cuba.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

Holy Dewey Decimals!

Micheal Gorman, head of the American Library Association, took a licking the other day from Romanian born author Andre Codrescu. It seems Gorman is still a little rattled as he allowed himself to show his true colors, in a response to Robert Kent of the Friends of Cuban Libraries.

Cuban American Pundits has the whole exellent story.

The poo-poo hitting the fan

I weighed in rather perfunctorily on the Google/China debacle last week and I have felt rather bad about it since. Val's and Steve's actions were, I thought, the equivalent of using a spoon to bale the Titanic. But on further reflection, I have come closer to their solution. Dean's brilliant, angry and completely on-point post this morning crytallized my decision. I've decided kill my Gmail accounts.

As someone in the technology sector who admires the guts behind these offerings, I was not happy to do it. Gmail is a superb product that beats the competition hands down. (Yahoo!'s future release looks better, however.) Regardless, I killed my Universal Spectator Gmail account last week and plan to kill the rest of them this week. I do it sadly but willingly to show the folks at Google that, even though they produce a superb product, some of us will not beat a path to their door when their behavior vis-a-vis China (or Cuba, or any other country living under a dictatorship) is so reprehensible.

I urge the other technology giants who censor in these countries to take the right stance, not the expedient one.

P.S., This just in, and on a related note, TheStreet.com is reporting that Google's fourth-quarter profits well below Wall Street's estimates.

Too bad, so sad.

Flagpoles!!!

George of The Real Cuba does it again. Behold fidel's new flagpoles:

As I've stated before, that sure looks like a lot of concrete, wood, welded wire mesh and steel reinforcing that could be used to restore some Cubans' homes instead of being wasted in a failed attempt at blinding the Cuban people.

The only things missing...

..are the horns and the pinchfork.

Arguably the best political cartoonists around, Cox and Forkum give us a great caricature of the devil of the Caribbean:

Hopefully the next one will show the bearded bastard in a casket.

Unreasonable?

Nope. I think Dean is spot on.

Freedom made what you do for a living possible, Google, and now you crap all over that? Go to Hell.

Life in Cuba?

Here are three brief glimpses:

Telephone company refuses service to independent journalist

HAVANA, January 30 ( Roberto Pérez, Agencia Patria / www.cubanet.org) - Independent journalist Antonio Femenías Hechemendia thought he'd finally obtain a telephone when the ETECSA, the national telephone company, assigned numbers to those living in the historical center of the city of Ciego de Ávila.

However, when his wife, Irsy Adelina Rodríguez Pérez, went to the company to sign a contract for the telephone, she was told that service could not be connected and she would get an explanation from the government's Popular Power organization.

There she was told that "the benefits of the Revolution" were not available to dissidents. Then, officers of the political police visited Antonio Femenías Hechemendia and accused him of trying to enlist people to become independent journalists.

Finally, employees of the telephone went to the Femenías Hechemendia home and removed the telephone cable that had been installed.

Popular Power advised the block committee in the historic center that a telephone had mistakenly been assigned to Femenías Hechemendia.

*

Some 400 books seized from independent library

HAVANA, January 30 (Roberto Santana Rodríguez / www.cubanet.org) - Caridad González López, director of the Frank País independent library, said a State Security agent seized some 400 books from the library last week.

González López said the agent, named Rolando, was accompanied by a member of the Communist party. She said they arrived at the library at 7 a.m. with a search warrant.

"The warrant had as its objective to scare me into not continuing to work at the library and in the dissidency," she said, "but I will redouble my efforts. "

*

Dissident sentenced to year for failing to pay fine

HAVANA, January 30 (Roberto Santana Rodríguez / www.cubanet.org) - Rolando Aguirre Patterson, a member of the Cuban Liberal Movement, has been sentenced to a year in jail for failing to pay 10 fines for illegally operating a pedicab.

Aguirre Patterson, 26, had been operating a pedicab for four years, mainly in the historic tourist area.

"I didn't have a lawyer to defend me," Aguirre Patterson said. "There were two judges and the prosecutor in the courtroom. They only let my wife in."

Aguirre Patterson was accused of not possessing a government license and fined 4,580 pesos, the equivalent of two years' wages for an average worker.

Wanna make a difference?

Go here, right now, and let your voice be heard.

And tell all your friends as well.

Have I ever mentioned...

...that I love the Czechs?

Lots of bloggers covered this last week, but here's the beautiful new delicious outcome:

Top model to exhibit photos of Cuba she hid in bra during arrest

PRAGUE- Czech top model Helena Houdova, who was arrested in Cuba last week while taking photographs of Havana's slums, told journalist that she will display the pictures she took at an exhibition portraying the island not only as a tourist paradise but also as a land of political oppression.
Houdova, Miss Czech Republic 1999, spoke to journalists today after returning from Cuba.

"The revolution's watchmen rose up because I was taking pictures of something they do not like," said the top model, referring to the fact that the Communist regime of Fidel Castro denies the existence of slums on the island.

Houdova was arrested along with psychologist and fellow model Mariana Kroftova. The two women spent 11 hours in police custody.

They were not allowed to contact the Czech embassy throughout their arrest and could not communicate with their jailers in English. They in vain requested medical attention.

Upon their release, the women were requested to sign a statement saying they would not travel beyond Havana. They remained under police surveillance until their departure from the island.

The women received the support of locals, as well as of Czech embassy employees.

The Cuban police confiscated the roll of film that was in the Czech women's camera. However, Houdova managed to conceal the memory card of her digital camera inside her brassiere.

The pictures she thus saved will be included in an exhibition Houdova plans to organise together with People in Need (PINF), a Czech non-governmental humanitarian relief organisation with a track record of supporting Cuba's pro-democracy opposition.

Houdova said the exhibition should portray Cuba not only as a country with beautiful nature, interesting architecture and a captivating atmosphere but also as a state where people are imprisoned for their beliefs.

Houdova said her meetings with dissidents, the wives of political prisoners, as well as with ordinary Cubans during her ten-day stay in Cuba made her recollect her childhood in Communist Czechoslovakia.

"I am not an expert on the political situation in Cuba but I think some kind of change is necessary there," she said.

Houdova went to Cuba to find out whether her Sunflower foundation could assist the local children - orphans, the handicapped or those afflicted with AIDS. She pointed out that it is almost impossible to provide any assistance through official means because the Communist authorities refuse to admit anything in their country does not work.

However, Houdova personally ascertained the pathetic situation in several Cuban hospitals.

Although Houdova admitted she cannot predict how long Fidel Castro will manage to maintain his totalitarian regime on the island, she said she believes Cubans will soon live to experience liberty as have Czechs.

For the past two years, Houdova has been living mostly in New York and Los Angeles where she works as a model. At the same time, she tries to raise funds to help physically or socially handicapped children in different countries around the world.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has summoned the Cuban charge d'affairs in Prague to explain the conduct of the Cuban authorities in arresting the two Czech women.

The case provides additional evidence of the frosty nature of official Czech-Cuban political relations. Cuban officials have in the past described the Czech Republic as a lackey of the United States.

The News Ticker

Via Sirimba, here's just a few of the slogans being run on the news ticker at the US Interests Section in Havana:

PALESTINOS PARTICIPAN EN PRIMERAS ELECCIONES LEGISLATIVAS DESDE HACE 10 ANOS.

ONG REPORTEROS SIN FRONTERAS ACUSA A LA JUSTICIA VENEZOLANA DE CENSURA A LA PRENSA.

A SOLICITUD DE CHILE, EEUU DETUVO A HIJA MAYOR DE PINOCHET.

ESTADOS UNIDOS OTORGO PERMISO AL EQUIPO CUBANO PARA
PARTICIPAR EN EL CLASICO MUNDIAL DE BEISBOL.
PRIMER PARTIDO DE CUBA SERIA MARZO 8 EN PUERTO RICO.

SEGUN LA OEA, EN HAITI TODAS LAS GARANTIAS ESTAN DADAS PARA QUE SE REALICEN ELECCIONES FEBRERO 7.

LEA LO QUE QUIERA, DIGA LO QUE PIENSA, HAGA LO QUE LE PAREZCA CORRECTO.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: NINGUN HOMBRE ES LO SUFICIENTEMENTE BUENO
PARA GOBERNAR A OTRO HOMBRE SIN EL ACUERDO DE ESE OTRO.

INDIRA GANDHI: EL PODER DE CUESTIONAR ES EL BASE DE TODO DEL PROGRESO HUMANO.

VOLTAIRE: EL HOMBRE ES LIBRE EN EL MOMENTO QUE LO DESEA SER.

PRESIDENTE GEORGE W. BUSH: EL OBJETIVO DE EEUU ES AYUDAR A LOS DEMAS A ENCONTRAR SU PROPIA VOZ, LOGRAR SU PROPIA LIBERTAD, Y ABRIR SU PROPIO CAMINO.

WINSTON CHURCHILL: LA DEMOCRACIA ES LA PEOR FORMA DE GOBIERNO MENOS TODAS LAS DEMAS.

PORQUE LOS CUBANOS NO SE PUEDEN HOSPEDAR EN LOS HOTELES DE LUJO?

Looks like Michael Parmly understands the truth cant be beat in la Batalla de las Ideas.

A simple observation

I mentioned this earlier today at KillCastro, but, has anyone else noticed how last week, right after the US Interests Section in Havana put up the news ticker and fidel castro went absolutely ape shit and began the construction of whatever it was he was building that had to absolutely be finished by this past Saturday and wasnt finished in time, the MSM was all over the story?

And how today, the Monday after the much heralded construction didnt get finished so fidel is playing it low key there isnt even a mention, not so much as a tiny little iota of a peep about it in the MSM?

Nada. Zero. Zilch. Nicojones.

Does anyone else think that it's because if fidel castro doesnt open his mouth the MSM couldnt care less about Cuba?

I do.

If you must have proof, let's just wait til the damn thing is built and fidel castro needs the publicity. Then we'll see the gallant members of the MSM coming out of the woodwork and reporting the story, ad nauseum.

castro's 'doctors' killing off their patients

It sounded too good to be true. Free medical care, courtesy of fidel castro in all his dictatorial benevolence. castro, after all, unlike the evil capitalists, manufactures doctors by the bushel. He turns them out, he is a regular doctor-making machine. In fact, anyone can be a Cuban doctor. Never mind that there are no bandages to train doctors with, or working machinery or medical tools. Somehow, socialism in all its good intentions overcomes all of those minor training matters. And free medical care is meant to flow from Pakistan to Bolivia to Katrina New Orleans. All because of fidel's benevolence.

We did focus on how Cubans themselves were denied medical care because all of castro's doctors were in Venezuela. For all we know, they dodged a bullet.

It sounded too good to be true because it was too good to be true. Turns out castro's doctors are killing people. Another death from routine - routine! - castroite cataract surgery was reported in Zulia state in Venezuela. And Venezuelans are outraged. The item is here.

When medical care is "free" you get what you pay for.

I hate Mondays open thread

I get to the office this morning and all hell's broken loose at one of my jobsites. Ill probably be dodging bullets while putting out fires for most of the day so consider this an open thread for your comments or links.

If youve read something interesting of have a blog post youd like to present, please drop a link in the comments section.

Depressed from all the bad news?

Cindy Sheehan cozies up to hugo chavez and declares herself a candidate for Senate.

chavez wins the UNESCO award for some such thing.

Journalists with barely a peripheral knowledge of Cuba calling for an end to the embargo so that Americans can travel to Cuba and experience just how quaint it is.

The American Library Association just keeps shitting on Cuba's independent librarians.

The Iranians and Cuba are cozying up even further since fidel may want some Iranian nukes in Matanzas.

Kennedy and Kerry call for a filibuster of Alito.

Hamas wins an election.

Sheesh. I've been sitting here trying to get a grip and write on all these stories - and many more - and I cant get passed the f-bombs. It's hard some days to maintain one's sanity. Makes you want to stay in bed all day. Never leave the house, never turn on the news, never read a damn blog post.

But on days like today, when it seems like there is nothing but depressing news story upon depressing news story, when I just want to f bomb after f bomb, when the world seems to be going backwards, I know there's one thing for sure that always makes me happy. There's one thing for sure that's true and pure and good. There's one thing for sure I can count on.

This guy loves me:

Anonymous Voices Speak The Truth

I ran across an interesting article in El Nuevo Herald's Sunday edition regarding anonymous e-mails sent by Cubans to journalist Pablo Alfonso. The accounts and revelations of the messengers aren't surprising to those of us that know the reality of life in Cuba, but they are worth repeating for all to see.

Allow me to daydream a little on this Sunday afternoon...

Imagine if the ticker at the U.S. Interests Section could be used to display messages from frustrated Cubans. They could walk up to the Interests Section, leave their message, and it would be displayed on the ticker.

If this were to ever become a reality, some of what would be displayed would likely look a lot like what Alfonso writes in his article, which I have translated as closely as possible and appears below (emphasis is mine).

This article is proof that Cubans know what's going on in their ruined country, embargo or no embargo, sanctions or no sanctions. The article is written in a bit of a disjointed style that may be hard to grasp at first, but the general idea comes across nevertheless.

For the original article in Spanish, click here.

The Commander-in-Chief Indeed Has Those Who Can Write To Him

PABLO ALFONSO palfonso@herald.com

In the past few weeks I have received an unusual number of e-mail messages from Cuba. Some of these with commentaries, analysis, information and explanations. As I feel the obligation to respond to the desire of these readers, I have decided to gather as many as I can in this article.

I should let you know that the quotes included are mixed. In other words, they belong to two or more authors who gave an opinion on the same subject. However, I know that each one of the authors will recognize his part. The anonymity, of course, is essential.

These are some statistics I received on the subject of health, public health and corruption in the upper levels of the regime:

- The index of alcoholism in Cuba in those between the ages of 18 and 48 is at alarming levels, between 38 and 45 percent, the government is aware of this but prefers to keep it quiet.

- Heart attacks may not even be the leading cause of death anymore? [... ]. And
even things that were believed to have disappeared from the country: tuberculosis, leprosy, pneumonia, dengue, and so much more, are making waves, despite the lack of official statistics that reveal their existence.

- Cuba is very far from having a system of health at the level the government claims. The Maternal Hospital of Santa Clara, for example: dirty, floor, walls, no sheets, nor antiseptics for basic cleaning. The family doctors offices: horrible, an old chair, tables missing legs; broken and ancient instruments.

- While many sick Cubans wait for an operating room to become available, Venezuelans, Panamanians and now Bolivians can be attended due to political agreements. The Cuban people pay for the priorities of their "island dreamer".

The corruption begins at the military hierarchy; they have access to all the places that are forbidden to the average person: hotels, rural retreats, hunting reserves, etc. As far as technological equipment is concerned: telephones, videocameras, music, karaokes, DVDs. In addition, they have access to exported Cubita coffee, beef, lobster, imported hams and cheeses, shrimp, canned foods, concentrated juice, liquor, whisky, rum of the highest quality, all brands of beer, as well as imported clothing.

I would like it if one of the journalists that supposedly took a picture of Marta Beatriz Roque's refrigerator also took a picture of the refrigerators of Abelardo Colomé Ibarra (minister of the Interior), General Milián, General Gondín and even Raul Castro, just to mention of few.

- Years ago, general Julio Casas "assigned'' an apartment to his son Julito in the building which was the first choice for the generals (in the Kohly neighborhood). He still lives there. His daughter Beatriz also had an apartment in that building, but she later moved to a better one.

In a luxury building, meters from the hotel El Bosque, also in the Kohly neighborhood, currently live his two daughters Beatriz (who works for the Gaviota Tourism Group) and the other whose name I can't recall (who works in TECUN), whose husband "deserted'' recently to the Dominican Republic. These buildings were once used for Russian advisers.

The procedure through which the apartment is given to Beatriz is very "congenial" and I'll give a little history on this: Beatriz Casas Rodriguez's husband is Juan Antonio Reyes who's approximately 45 years old, was Major of FAR (Revolutionary Armed Forces) and manager of systems and automatization of the Gaviota Tourism Group until 1999.

That same year, he requested to be discharged from FAR and receives his retirement. Months before retiring from FAR, he begins to negotiate with a Portuguese company (INFORMARCA) that installs computer information systems in hotels, and spends two months in Portugal.

Immediately after retiring he begins work as a manager when the company, "by chance", starts its representation in the Free Trade Zone after signing a contract to computerize all the hotels in the group, which meant hundreds of thousands of dollars for that company. That caught the attention of the employees of the group, but it was "understood" because he was the owner's son-in-law.

Julio Cazas is known within the military, even from high-ranking officials, as an extremist who has destroyed the careers of prestigious military officers for what he considered "violations". Nevertheless, Cazas, as sacred cow of the government, is untouchable.

- The Control Syndrome is taking the revolution, which in its beginnings appeared to be full of hope, to the precipice of its self-destruction.

This syndrome of "compañero" Fidel has been getting worse through the years. As this control is exerted over politics and ideology, its effects do not become apparent; therein lies that formidable invention of the double standard, that formidable membrane that make us see red and green on the outside without revealing the true colors.

The bad thing about this syndrome is that it is not limited to the individual or to certain sectors of society, it extends to the riches and natural resources (renewable or not) of the country. As a "bonus'', the invasion of this control in the economy kills whatever enterpreneureal initiative that could exist.

(castro) wants to control everything, from human thought (which is fortunately uncontrollable), to what is good to cook, in wanting to tame the economy through pure idealogy, he is leading us toward disaster.

Cuban towns seem like Western ghost towns, those of which dust is its only visible inhabitant; dirty, sad faces, without teeth, potholes in the streets, streams of dirty water. Discolored houses without paint, there is no town that can be said that has been maintained or taken care of.

- I am a 31-year-old biologist, white, and belong to the "lost generation"[...] yes, because many of my contemporaries have emigrated. It would be great if someday Cuba returned to what it was before, or at least, how my parents recall it. I wish to request peace for all the children (present and absent) and that in the not too distant future Cuba leaves this lethargy of two consecutive dictatorships.

In the end, now that I don't care about the revolucion of which I will receive few personal benefits, nor the battle of the "billboards", I say, now is the time of the "illuminated". And much less this system that crumbles step by step because the same people that in public say are helping are actually hurting people all over the place.

- Everything is suspended in time. Cuba is an old museum directed by an old man that looks for international recognition by imposing a system full of human misery.

THAT IS THE LEGACY OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION

I didnt forget

Psst

Is it quiet in here today or what?

For masochists only...

Straight from The Drudge Report:

Janet Reno Sings 'Respect' At Fundraiser; Karaoke Performance Caught On Tape. (Video)

CIA plot to separate fidel from his honey

Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is very upset about a new plot to "sully" him, saying that rumors of a romance between him and a sultry soap opera star are nothing more than the nefarious workings of the CIA. This, even though she is an attractive woman.

"I don't think this is innocent fun," the Venezuelan thug whimpered, breaking into every TV program in the nation to say it.

Now, this being Venezuela, the business of catching an attractive trophy wife is pretty much the national preoccupation. No one among the Venezuelans is going to lower their opinion of Chavez over a romance with a soap opera star. This is partly because they cannot lower their opinons any further already. But still, if they can lower their opinons of him, it's not going to be over this.

The only person who could possibly be upset by such a catch would be Hugo's authentic true love ... fidel castro. (Warning: Open that link with caution.) If he finds out that Chavez is carrying on with a non-Sheehan-lookalike, it certainly will indeed sully his image with the bearded beast.

The whole ridiculous story and its inevitable gross conclusion is here:

Chavez: Rumors of romance with soap star a plot to sully image

Caracas, Jan 27 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that rumors about his plans to wed a soap-opera star were an attempt to tarnish his image ahead of the December presidential vote, when he plans to seek re-election.

After denying any romantic relationship with Venezuelan actress Ruddy Rodriguez, Chavez postulated that the U.S. "empire" and its Venezuelan "lackeys" were behind what he called a disinformation campaign.

Chavez, a self-styled "revolutionary" who is a staunch ally of Cuba's fidel castro, regularly criticizes the United States for having an "imperialist and interventionist" position toward Venezuela.

"The campaign has already begun to tarnish my image, that's what this Ruddy business is about; I can't explain it because there's been nothing to spark (these rumors). I don't think this is innocent fun," Chavez said in a national television and radio broadcast.

Rodriguez, who has been married for more than 10 years to attorney Rodolfo Pizani, has also denied rumors about a supposed wedding with Chavez. But tabloids and other media outlets in Venezuela have kept the story alive.

The actress, who is currently a cast member of the Colombian soap opera "La Ex," produced by Caracol Television, is known for starring roles in several other soap operas, as well as for her appearance in the 1987 James Bond film "The Living Daylights." Presidential elections in Venezuela are scheduled for Dec. 3. EFE gf/mc

Flags for Obstruction

ABC News is confirming what we wrote about yesterday regarding the construction in front of the US Interests Section in Havana:

Castro Retaliates With Flags

U.S. Mission in Cuba Becomes Lightning Rod for Bilateral Tensions

By MARC FRANK

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan. 27, 2006 — Always-simmering tension between the United States and Cuba has burst out into the open over a news ticker mounted on the U.S. diplomatic mission that beams human rights and democracy messages in big crimson letters into the Havana night.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, after marching more than a million people by the building earlier this week, has ordered construction workers to extend an open-air stage in front of the mission right up to within yards of the gate. He plans to mount huge flags on the stage to block the ticker from view, a construction ministry source said.

The stage is called the anti-imperialist tribunal and was built during the tug of war between the United States and Cuba to have shipwreck victim Elian Gonzalez returned to his father from Miami. The venue is currently used for political and cultural events.

Cuba plans for the flags to fly by Saturday, the birthday of the country's founding father, Jose Marti, leader of the Caribbean island's independence war against Spain.

"We have five days to do this job, working 24 hours a day," a construction worker said on Tuesday when Cuban flag-sporting bulldozers and other heavy construction equipment began ripping up half of the U.S. diplomatic mission's parking lot.

Castro has waxed furious over the electronic sign, which he charges is a gross provocation aimed at torpedoing already fragile bilateral relations.

The sign has featured statements by famous U.S. figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln, but also by those who helped bring down European communism such as former Polish President Lech Walesa.

The United States broke diplomatic relations and imposed economic sanctions on Cuba soon after Castro came to power in a 1959 revolution. Consular-level Interests Sections were established in 1977 to handle visa and other administrative matters. An immigration agreement was signed in 1994 and a few years later the two countries began cooperating to interdict drug smugglers.

Since 2001 Cuba has purchased U.S. food for cash under an exception to the embargo passed in 2000.

"It is clear when they decided to do this outrageous act & they could not have had in mind anything but a provocation to destroy fragile relations," Castro said Wednesday while visiting the construction site.

Castro charged the Bush administration had turned the Interests Section into a command post to "organize and direct the counterrevolution" and funnel money and supplies to his opponents.

President Bush has made no secret of his close political ties with the hard-line Cuban-American establishment in Florida, which advocates an end to all contact with Cuba and a regime change.

However, Michael Parmly, the top U.S. diplomat in Havana, held a news conference on Thursday to say he found it strange that Cuba was upset by the ticker and to deny the United States was trying to provoke a rupture in relations.

"I see no reason to change what we are doing & we are simply trying to communicate with the Cuban people," he said.

Parmly said it would be a loss for both the Cuban and American people if all ties were ended.

"But we are going to keep trying to communicate with the Cuban people by any means we can," Parmly said, when asked what the United States would do if the electronic sign was blocked.

When it rains in Havana, they have what are called "derrumbes" - collapses - caused by the complete and total lack of maintenance and structural disprepair of buildings. Centuries old architectural treasures in Havana stand dilapidated and crumbling. Most are still occupied. These buildings are presently in the condition theyre in because of the lack of capital and building materials needed for their revitalization.

Photo from The Real Cuba

fidel castro has just proven to the world and, more importantly, his people - especially those that are relegated to living in squallid conditions within structurally unsafe buildings - that the censoring of information, by whatever means, even a ridiculously obvious and monstrous architectural structure, is more important than the lives, safety and living conditions of the Cuban People.

Update:The flag poles are up!

Related:

Times Square in Havana
Because truth can't be refuted
The Great Wall of Havana
More on the Havana Wall
The News Ticker, Flags and One Pissed Off Dictator

Journalistic integrity?

I have no love lost for The Miami Herald. I try never to read it, I never buy it, and I don't subscribe to it. My wife has occasionaly subscribed to the weekend edition against my wishes to get the sale info and, of course, the ubiquitous coupons. I read it (online) only when I absolutely have to and only when necessary for me to get a first-hand account that I want to comment on. I have told telemarketers and the young folks coming to my door selling it that I do not own a bird so I have no need for the Herald. If that doesn't work, I just tell them I'll buy it when they stop lying.

In that spirit, I present for our readers an exchange of emails between Antonio de la Cova, Ph.D, who is a professor of Latino Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. I publish them with his permission so that our readers can see a first-hand example of the Herald's editorial posture. (For a little background, go here.)

Continued below the fold.

Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 18:58:31 -0500
From: delacova@indiana.edu
Reply-To: delacova@indiana.edu
Subject: Ana Veciana Suarez
To: jweaver@MiamiHerald.com

Mr. Weaver,

Your article in today's Herald regarding reporter Ana Veciana Suarez, who lied under oath during voir dire, stated that her father Antonio Veciana was "convicted in 1974 in New York of conspiring to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to seven years."

Your information omitted that he was also convicted in the same case of "distribution of approximately seven kilograms of cocaine."
(http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/veciana-pomares.pdf)

After being released from jail, Veciana was slightly wounded by a bullet to the head in 1979, in what authorities estimated could have been motivated by "possible drug related relationships."
(http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/veciana-shooting.htm)

Veciana blamed "people who work for or have worked for the FBI" for the assassination attempt.
(http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/veciana-fbi.htm)

In 2004, as treasurer of Maurice Ferre's political campaign "Veciana received $17,500 that he used to make cash payments to poll workers and to reimburse expenses -- payments that exceed limits set in state law."
(http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/exile/veciana-ferre.htm)

Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington

---

Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 7:08 PM
From: delacova@indiana.edu [mailto:delacova@indiana.edu]
To: Fiedler, Tom
Subject: Fwd: Ana Veciana Suarez

Mr. Fiedler:

Here is yet another example of the Herald omitting important facts from a story.

Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington

---

Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:18:59 -0500
From: "Fiedler, Tom"
To: delacova@indiana.edu
Cc: "Weaver, Jay"
Subject: RE: Ana Veciana Suarez

Dear Professor de la Cova,

Thank you for this information. However, the article was not about Antonio Veciana, where it would have been relevant to go into more detail, but about his daughter and our colleague, Ana Veciana Suarez.

Regards,
Tom Fiedler

---

Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 4:38 PM
From: delacova@indiana.edu [mailto:delacova@indiana.edu]
To: Fiedler, Tom
Cc: Weaver, Jay
Subject: RE: Ana Veciana Suarez

Dear Mr. Fiedler,

Thank you for your response. You apparently missed my point. I brought this issue to the Herald's attention because the paper did not mention the full extent of what its reporter Ana Veciana-Suarez had concealed under oath in court. It only cited her father's conspiracy charge, neglecting the more substantial and despicable concurrent conviction of distributing seven kilos of cocaine. That omission gave the impression that the Herald was being lenient or partly covering up for its own colleague. As a former journalist, I was aware that the focus of the story was on Ms. Ana Veciana-Suarez, not her father. It is unfortunate that when Ms. Veciana-Suarez was pooled for the jury, she did not privately excuse herself with the prosecutor's office. She has been a journalist for more than twenty-five years and should have known that questions regarding a possible felony record of a juror or their relatives is generally asked during voir dire.

This is not the first time that Ms. Veciana-Suarez publicly tries to whitewash her father's criminal past. After he got nicked in the head by a bullet during a mysterious shooting, for which he blamed FBI agents, she wrote the article, "My family lives with danger - and pride," in the Miami News, Sept. 27, 1979, page 1. Ms. Veciana-Suarez knowingly did not report that he had served years in prison for drug trafficking and instead portrayed him as a Cuban patriot. She also neglected to address the issue raised in the Cuban community at the time that her father's drug money had probably helped finance her college education as a journalist.

It is regretful that you now have to make the decision whether to keep on your staff an admitted liar and convicted perjurer if she does not resign.

Sincerely,
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington

---

Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:12:52 -0500
From: "Fiedler, Tom"
To: delacova@indiana.edu
Subject: RE: Ana Veciana Suarez

Professor de la Cova,

Your vindictiveness on this subject astonishes and appalls me, although given your reputation I shouldn't be surprised. Ana Veciana-Suarez has admitted making an error in judgment during voir dire - a petty misdemeanor. She is not guilty of the crimes of her father and I will not stand for her to be smeared by you or others in that way.

Tom Fiedler
Executive Editor

---

Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 4:20 PM
From: delacova@indiana.edu [mailto:delacova@indiana.edu]
To: Fiedler, Tom
Subject: RE: Ana Veciana Suarez

Dear Mr. Fiedler,

Your reply is fraught with anger and misconception. I have not declared your reporter Ana Veciana-Suarez "guilty of the crimes of her father," nor have I smeared her, as you erroneously surmise. I cited the complete facts of her case to indicate yet another example of how the Herald, under your stewardship, provides only part of the story, especially when one of its reporters transcends the law.

Last summer I was privy to the fact that Ms. Veciana-Suarez would be accused of having lied under oath. When Toledo Blade reporter Mike Sallah informed me in July that he was going to work for the Herald, in the midst of the Jim DeFede scandal, I told him that a bigger embarrassment was brewing because a Herald reporter would soon be charged with perjury. I had no intention of smearing Ms. Veciana-Suarez then or now and never revealed her name.

Contrary to your opinion, my personal and professional reputation is solid in the Cuban exile community, where I am a frequent guest on Spanish-language radio and TV programs. However, if you inquire about me with those who sympathize or deal with Fidel Castro, like accused Castro agents Bernardo Benes and your editorial contributor Marifeli Perez-Stable, you will note that they hold me in the same contempt as you do. Ironically, the Herald previously had no qualms with what you now deride as my "reputation," when my academic expertise was sought after and quoted by three of your reporters.

You malign as "vindictiveness" my bid for complete journalistic disclosure of facts. In contrast, you never expressed similar disdain toward former Herald columnist Jim DeFede for his repeated offensive articles that prompted protests from the Cuban exile community.

Will the Herald report the full scope of what Ms. Veciana-Suarez tried to cover up in court after she is sentenced tomorrow? After reading your response, I seriously doubt it. You will then have a difficult decision to make regarding her future employment. It appears that, just like with the DeFede debacle, no matter what course you take, you will be criticized and the Herald's credibility will be further tarnished.

Best wishes,

Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington

It's simple, really

Do you know why dissidents in Cuba continue to fight for what they believe? Because to them, they're alreaDy in prison. Only difference is the size of the cell.

Three dissidents imprisoned with no charges

HAVANA, January 26 (Juan Carlos Linares Balmaseda / www.cubanet.org) - Miguel López Santos, Raúl Martínez Prieto and Francisco Moure Saladriga, dissidents who had been held for six months in the Acosta jail with no charges leveled against them, were transferred to prisons last week.

The trio was detained when they supported an anti-government demonstration in front of the French embassy.

López Santos was sent to the psychiatric ward of a military hospital for prisoners, Martínez Prieto was taken to the Santa Clara provincial prison while Moure Saladriga was placed in the Melena II correctional institute in Havana province.

The Roster

For you fantasy baseball players out there, Scott's got the Cuban Baseball team roster for the World Baseball Classic up at JSB.

I say "fantasy" baseball because I truly believe that's the only way you'll get to "see" them play. I'm pretty certain the commissioner of everything in Cuba will find some excuse to not allow their leaving the island.

I could be wrong, of course. Pero lo dudo.

Perhaps we should start a pool on whether or not they'll show up?

The News Ticker, Flags and One Pissed Off Dictator (UPDATED)

There's much speculation as to what, exactly, it is that fidel castro is building in front of the US Interests Section in Havana. Obviously, whatever the finished product, it is meant to shield the messages being displayed by the news ticker. Cuba's totalitarian despot simply cannot allow his people access to outside information much less the liberty of thought it may lead to.

Being that the news ticker is a few stories up, it would be structurally almost impossible, and certainly impractical, to erect a free standing wall high enough to block the ticker from being seen.

Sources for The Real Cuba - and we probably will not be able to confirm this as fidel himself has boasted "If we tell you it would ruin the surprise" - are informing us that the work currently underway may be the structural base, platforms, for a series of very tall and tightly fit flagpoles which will fly numerous flags in the hopes that they will ultimately shield the news ticker from view.

Such is the nature of a totalitarian regime. Prefering to expend all its remaining resources on erecting a huge blinder as opposed to repairing the crumbling infrastructure of its country.

The Revolution: Evolution in reverse.

UPDATE: Via Charlie Bravo at KillCastro, here's a photo from the adjacent building the Someillan:

Charlie Bravo also has a report from sources in Havana on the extent of the construction activities. Apparently, the construction and equipment are taking up parts of the US Interests Section parking lot and are now but a mere few feet away from the ground's perimeter fence.

UPDATE: The Real Cuba sources cited in the original of this post were correct as ABC News has just confirmed:

Castro Retaliates With Flags

Cuban President Fidel Castro, after marching more than a million people by the building earlier this week, has ordered construction workers to extend an open-air stage in front of the mission right up to within yards of the gate. He plans to mount huge flags on the stage to block the ticker from view, a construction ministry source said.

Update January 31, 2006:The flag poles are up!

Pa' jode' na' mas

Hungry?

How about a pan con lechon?

Life in Miami

I ordered a Cuban sandwich for lunch yesterday from one of my favorite Cuban joints near the office. It was a busy day so I decided to pick it up and have lunch at my desk instead of enjoying the ambiance of a typical Cuban cafeteria.

As I waited at the counter with the aroma of Cafe Cubano wafting all around me, one of the waitresses comes in from the street out of uniform and carrying a big bag. She sits down at the counter across from me, says hello to her fellow waitresses and hands the bag over to one of them.

The woman takes the bag to the back and the waiting waitress sitting across from me makes idle chit chat with the others all the while almost nervously keeping her eyes on the door to the back where the woman with the bag disappeared into.

A few short minutes later, the door in the back opens and the woman comes out bag in hand. This time I can see the bag clearly. It's a Payless Shoe bag with what appears to be a few pairs of shoes inside.

"Four point three," the woman with the bag says to the waiting waitress.

"That can't be" the waitress responds. She takes the bag from the woman and ruffles around inside the bag. There was something in there that wasnt supposed to be so she takes it out and hands it back to the woman.

The woman dutifully takes the bag and heads to the back once again.

The one waitress that's still working in the place asks the one sitting at the counter "How do you get it over to..."

"I have a friend," the girl interrupts.

The door to the back opens once again and the Payless Shoe Bag carrying woman comes out.

"Four point one," she says.

The waiting waitress lets out a whispered "Coño" and takes the bag, opens it and starts taking out its contents and placing the shoes on the counter.

There's a pair of sneakers, two pairs of chancletas, flip flops, and one pair of nurse type shoes in black.

The waiting waitress picks up one of the pair of filp flops and takes the tags off, uses a knife to cut the little plastic tie and places the flip flops one by one in the bag. She goes on to do this for the other pairs of shoes.

Once she's done she hands the bag to the woman who heads to the back yet again.

The woman comes out a few seconds later "The same. Four point one."

The waiting waitress stands up, reaches into the bag that the woman is now holding open and pulls out one of the sneakers.

She takes the laces off and tosses it back in the bag. Pulls out the other sneaker and removes the laces. She then does the same for the nurse type shoes.

Once all the laces are removed, the woman takes the bag to the back and a moment later comes out smiling.

"Four point zero," she says. The waiting waitress smiles.

My sandwich finally arrives as the waiting waitress takes the bag, thanks all the girls with waved kisses and heads out the door.

I pay my bill. "Gracias, Irela," I say to my waitress and head out the door Cuban sandwich in hand.

As I get to my truck, I see the waiting waitress talking to a guy next to a van. The guy slides open the side door of the van, takes the Payless Shoes bag from the waiting waitress and tosses it on a scale he has sitting in the van.

I see the guy nod and as I'm driving out of the parking lot the waiting waitress hands the guy with the van some cash, kisses him on the cheek and walks away.

Someone somewhere in Cuba is about to get a package with two pairs of chancletas and a pair of sneakers and nurse shoes without shoelaces.

castrofication of Venezuelan health care UPDATED

...now that they've got all the Cuban doctors, they've also got the castro-style health care. This photo from a Venezuelan bulletin board says it all.

It's something worthy of The Real Cuba.

UPDATE: The unwashed socialist hippies from the World Social Forum in Caracas needed something to do and just happened upon a familiar sight in Caracas, that of angry striking medical professionals in Venezuela who are being bossed and bullied around by their Cuban masters. Given who they are, they actually did a pretty good job covering the story - they missed some details but I am happy they did it. Even socialists from the West occasionally get things right - especially when they see workers on strike. The story is here.

More on the Havana Wall (Updated)

This time, from the BBC:

Cuba 'blocking' American messages

By Stephen Gibbs
BBC News, Havana

Cuban bulldozers are digging up an area in front of the US interests section in the capital, Havana.

US diplomats say the move is designed to obscure the illuminated messages, mainly on human rights themes, that are being displayed on the building.

President Fidel Castro has described the scrolling messages as a gross provocation, saying he believes the US wants to sever all relations with Cuba.

The two countries have not had diplomatic links for 45 years.

Surprise

What was once the car park of the US mission in Havana is rapidly turning into a major construction site.

Huge cranes have been brought in and teams of builders are working there non-stop.

But no-one will say what is being built, not even President Castro.

On Wednesday night, his black Mercedes drew up to the site. He emerged to give the workers a pep talk.

American envoys in Havana, he said, were cockroaches.

Asked what was being built, he said he did not want to ruin the surprise.

As he spoke, the huge US electronic billboard scrolled out its illuminated messages across the building behind him.

One gave news that Palestinians had been voting for the first time in 10 years.

Another declared that President Bush believed people had the right to choose how they lived their lives.

The propaganda war between the US and Cuba is nothing new - but this is an escalation.

Already Cuba has put up scores of posters in the capital caricaturing President Bush as both a fascist and a vampire.

Where this will all end is not clear.

President Castro says he believes the US is intending to break off all relations with Cuba. He also says he does not believe Cuba would lose much if that happened.

Cuban-American Pundits has more.

Update:Fausta has an excellent round up here.

The Great Wall of Havana (Updated)

The news ticker at the US Interests Section in Havana has so infuriated fidel castro that they are now clearing the adjacent site and preparing it for the construction of the Great Wall of Havana.

In a country where even paint is hard to come by, where centuries old buildings crumble for lack of materials and maintenance, where there are even gas shortages for vehicles, much less construction equipment, the government is using what little resources it has to keep the population from reading the UN Declaration of Human Rights on a news ticker.

Photo from The Real Cuba

The only way a totalitarian state like fidel castro's can maintain it's grip on power is by keeping its people in the dark.

Update: Much more here, from the heart of the story. Warning: The language is much like mine when I get passionate about something.

Update January 31, 2006:The flag poles are up!

Hold your lunches...

... for this stream of photo footage documenting castro-worshippers in action among all the smelly hippies odoring up Caracas at the World Social Forum.

I'm not exaggerating.

I got nauseous.

This did it.

Such nice people

As Miguel likes to put it, 'such nice people.'

Read the new story of how the accused Alvarez spies targetted their 'good friend' the president of Florida International University, who attended their bail hearing, probably unwitting of their activities against him. He probably shouldn't have been so naive, but that's castroite ethics.

The Miami Herald reports that the FBI got hold of the Alvarez's home computers, which were accessible to office files, and reported to their Cuban handlers about the FIU chief's invitation to the White House, as well as all the student records they could get their hands on. There's a lot on the people-to-people exchange the Alvarezes ran, and how Cuban agents targetted the students - with the Alvarez's help. The Herald's story with all the sick details is here.

Defection watch

At the World Social Forum, the left's biggest hippiefest, some 800 Cuban delegates have arrived. But unlike the shiftless Sandalistas, who are scattered all over Caracas, making nuisances of themselves and leaving a lot of litter, these Cubans are being coocooned at a military base. The El Universal story is here:

Cuban delegation boards in Caracas major military base


The Cuban delegation, one of the largest groups attending the Fourth World Social Forum in Caracas -it comprises almost 800 people-, is staying at Fuerte Tiuna military base, southwest Caracas.

Alarcón talked about terror and said the United States should urgently release the so-called Five of Cuba, a group of prisoners comprising René González, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández and Ramón Labañino, accused of spying.

Even as pictures like these spatter Caracas (scroll down to Alek's 'Words Fail Me' post), the real deal in Caracas is that Cubans are taking every chance they can to defect, to flee, to run for their lives, even in Chavez's Venezuela. And the government knows it.

Decision prediction

In the next couple of days, remember the following quote that was all over the news vis a vis the Cuban baseball team being allowed to play in the World Baseball Classic:

It's not about politics! It's about baseball!

We heard or read that particular quote from every single proponent of allowing Cuba to travel to the US to play in the WBC.

Lock it into memory.

Because I hereby predict that fidel castro will use the World Baseball Classic and his National Baseball Team, along with all his media monkeys as leverage against the US Interests Section's news ticker.

Time it. I guarantee it will happen. And get ready for the media blitz.

Synchronize your watches, folks. Pretty soon we'll get to hear the media backspin on how fidel castro is, in fact, allowed to turn the baseball event into a political issue.

Google is gone

Ive removed the Google ads from the sidebar of this blog in protest of Google's recent decision to censor searches in China. I cannot and will not be an accomplice to the censoring of information.

I will also, like Steve, no longer use Google as my search engine. The dissemination of information should not be curtailed in the name of profit.

And the dumbass headline award goes to....

The New York Times Sports Section for the following falling off the turnip truck title:

Security Is an Issue for the Cuban Team

Gee, ya think?

When Cuba goes to San Juan, P.R., to participate in the World Baseball Classic in March, the team will have a scaled-back traveling party. A 45-person limit is part of the license that the Treasury Department issued to Cuba last Friday and to the other federations in the 16-team tournament.

It is a delicate issue for Cuba because its team normally travels to international competitions with as many security officials as players to help prevent the possibility of defections.

The Cubans will have 30 players and will presumably have a five- or six-man coaching staff, a few club executives, at least one trainer, a doctor and a traveling secretary. That seemingly leaves few slots for security personnel.

"They'll have the same number in their traveling party as everyone else," said Paul Archey, baseball's senior vice president for international matters. "People outside of that will be limited, not restricted."

Joe Kehoskie, an agent who has represented 15 Cubans in the last seven years, said he had attended tournaments in which there had been 25 security officials surrounding Cuba's dugout and several more guarding the team bus.

"They had 15 or 20 security for a mediocre team in Italy three years ago," Kehoskie said. "To think they were going to step on U.S. soil with anything less than that, I can't imagine it."

Archey refused to discuss the possibility of defections yesterday, but he has said tournament organizers could not give the Cubans a guarantee that none would occur. If a Cuban player defects during the tournament, it may generate more news-media coverage than the games.

"We need to provide security for the entire tournament," Archey said. "It's an international tournament. We think we have one of the best security forces in all of sports."

Archey said Cuba submitted its provisional 60-man roster last weekend, soon after the Treasury Department reversed itself and granted the license. Archey would not discuss who was on the roster and said he was uncertain when it would be released to the news media. The other 15 teams delivered rosters on Jan. 17, and those were publicized the next day.

A report by Reuters yesterday said that the news of Cuba's receiving a license to participate in the Classic had still not been reported in the Cuban news media.

So, fidel hasnt announced to his people that the evil, cockroach infested, led by a terrorist murderer United States of America has allowed his baseball slaves to enter the states to play ball at the World Basebal Classic?

Is anyone really surprised by this? Will anyone really be surprised if Cuba all of a sudden decides not to participate in the tourney?

Of course fidel is worried about defections. Of course he's worried that his security contingent is greatly reduced. But he's not losing sleep over it. Any one of those "trainers" or "coaches" or other non-players could very well be an actual security or G2 agent.

Not to mention the fact that fidel castro still has a few aces up his sleeve: human collateral. The baseball player's families who must remain on the island. They're the security deposit the players make to be allowed to leave Cuba. Who do you think would be punished if a player defects?

They're aces up fidel's sleeves alright, and fidel castro has proven time and again he's more than happy and willing to play them.

Today's Cuban Healthcare Post

Earlier this week, fidel castro offered to bring as many as 150,000 under-privileged Americans to the island prison for eye surgery. Yet another magnanimous gesture by the dictator aimed at showing just what a great guy he is.

But here's just a couple snapshots of the reality:

Operations suspended for lack of blood

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, January 24 (Guillermo Fariñas, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Various patients awaiting surgery in local hospitals were told to return home as the operations could not be done because of a lack of blood for transfusions.

Provincial radio station CMHW issued an appeal to listeners to donate blood to replenish the hospital supply.

Sources at ministry of health told Ismel Iglesias Martínez, vice president of the Independent Medical College of Villa Clara, that the shortage resulted from the supply of blood which accompanied Cuban doctors sent to Pakistan to treat earthquake victims.

But wait, there's more:

Blood given in exchange for breakfast

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, January 24 (Feliberto Pérez, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Edrey Fleites and Ortendo Rodríguez decided to donate blood when they learned donors were given breakfast as well as time off from work.

"Real objective was to eat something that day and get permission to miss two days work without pay," Rodríguez said.

"I just accompanied Ortendo, but one of the technicians at the blood bank asked me if I also wanted to donate and I replied that for two pieces of bread and some ham I'd fill a 500 milliliter flask," said Fleites.

After eating breakfast, they asked when they could return and donate more blood in exchange for a meal. They were told in two weeks.

And there you have it. fidel castro uses his "doctors" as human bargaining chips in the hopes of garnering sympathy and support and trying to remain a high rolling player on the world stage.

The Cuban people, meanwhile, get screwed. Not only do they pay the price - with their health and well being, among other things - for castro's need to remain in the limelight, but their own government suppresses any information that proves just how dire their circumstances are.

Cuba. An island full of people willing to donate their blood for a meal.

Because truth cant be refuted (Updated)

So, today's planned march is underway. Thousands of fidel castro's slaves marching in Havana in front of the US Interests Section in protest of the news ticker recently installed that runs the UN Declaration of Human Rights for all Cubans to see.

Of course, castro countered with the protest and calls for...wait for it... wait for it...Posada Carriles to be brought to justice. Because, you know, when you cant win an argument with truth, you try to direct attention away from it. Thus, Posada Carrilles, the new castro crutch.

And then there's this beautiful thing:

The sign was activated as Castro began speaking in front of the building Tuesday morning, relaying global news and quotes including Abraham Lincoln's: "No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent."

Castro glanced up at the building, saying, "They already turned on the little sign -- the cockroaches are brave," before starting his speech.

I absolutley freaken LOVE IT. Parmly and company waiting until fidel castro began his speech to turn on the news ticker. And fidel, of course, gracious and eloquent as ever. Subjected to calling the Americans, the very same people he buys over 75% of his food from, the very same people he wants and prays come to visit Cuba as tourists, cockroaches.

Got that my anglo friends? fidel castro says you are all cockroaches. As proud gusanos, worms, we exiled Cubans welcome you to the insect world.

MORE: Here's another beautiful tidbit from ABC News:

Even as Castro spoke, the ticker sprang to life with news interspersed between messages such as, "only in totalitarian societies do governments talk at their people and never listen."

BWUHAHAHAHA!!!!! OH MAN I ABSOLUTELY FREAKEN LOVE IT!!!!

MORE: From the Miami Herald:

The U.S. Interest Section says it only makes sense: ''if the point is to reach people, why not turn it on when a million people are cruising by?'' a U.S. official said.

Are the folks at the US Interests Section kicking some serious ass down there or what?

UPDATE: Of course, as with everything Cuba related, the good feelings are short lived. Mary Murray, Havana Bureau producer for NBC News, writes an entire article on the protests sparked by the news ticker and only in the very last paragraph does she mention the news ticker itself. the rest is a simple foillowing of the master's voice: Posada Carriles, ad nauseum. I wont quote the piece, but here's the link.

I took the liberty of shooting off the following email to Ms. Murray:

Ms. Murray,

As usual and in keeping with the mainstream media's penchant to coddle the dictator of Cuba for over forty years, you allowed yourself to be manipulated into missing the point of today's protest in Havana altogether. The gathering was called - a forced gathering as you very well know if you live in Havana and have taken the time to speak to Cubans - to protest the US Interests Section's recently installed news ticker. Of course, being that the news ticker runs mainly news and quotes from such figures a Walessa and Havel and MLK and Lincoln, along with the UN Declaration on Human Rights, the castro government cannot retort, thus, it focuses on Posada Carriles. A simple ploy of distraction and you fell for it.

You devoted a good ninety percent of your piece to fidel castro's remarks and Posada Carriles, a story we have heard ad nauseum and ad infintum for months. And only in the very last paragraph did you get to the reality of the story, but only scratching the surface. the truth is that Cubans with access to real news from the outside, with access to the UN declaration of Human Rights, with the support of esteemed leaders such as Walessa and Havel, is a bad thing for fidel castro. That is the real story here. And you missed it. Or ignored it. Whatever the case may be.

Instead, we got to read yet another recycled and trumped up non-story.

Par for the course, I suppose, fidel castro grinds the organ, and his media monkeys jump through the hoops.

Thanks,

Val Prieto
www.babablublog.com

UPDATE January 26, 12:40 PM: All of a sudden, there's a new "construction project" that work crews are getting ready to build. And it's...you guessed it... smack dab right in front of the news ticker.

From EFE News:

Cuba enlarging anti-U.S. rally venue across from mission

Havana, Jan 25 (EFE).- A day after U.S. authorities flashed pro-democracy messages to a huge crowd gathered outside its diplomatic mission here, dozens of construction workers began Wednesday the enlargement of the "anti-imperialist" forum installed in the plaza across from the building.

BWUHAHAHAHA!!! I just cant stop myself from laughing at the extent fidel castro will go to keep his people in the dark. How incredibly pathetic is that?

More here.

Update January 31, 2006:The flag poles are up!

I sounded nasally

Babalu Ace Reporter Julio Zangroniz just sent me a cassette with our Radio Mambi interview from the other day.

To be honest, when youre sitting in that little studio with all those microphones and the window looking into the sound engineer and being asked questions, you tend to get a bit nervous at first and to forget everything you said on the air.

What stuck me the most was how nasally I sounded. As if someone was standing there holding my noise when I spoke.

Still, I think we did OK for our first radio appearance and I will pick up the digital version of the radio show as soon as I get a chance and post it.

A huge thanks to Julio, my brother from another mother, for taking the time to record the show and dupe a tape for me. Gracias, Julio.

More and more repression

Stefania of Free Thought reports on the latest wave of actos de repudio, acts of revenge against Cuban dissidents over at Publius Pundit:

On last Saturday, Tania Nicolás Bernardo , member of the Femenine Movement “Martha Abreu” was savagely beaten by a terrorist mob made up with plainclothes agents of the Castroite militias. It occurred in a public street in Santa Clara, following a peaceful march of Tania alongside other activists, who were distributing copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, brochures with the word “Change” and other dissident material, to the people. Yesterday, other activists of such movement marched peacefully in Villa Clara in solidarity with the new victims of this wave of terror. The women reitered their pledge to keep fighting and said that no major force will be able to stop the brave women. Listen to the report from independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas Hernández in Santa Clara.

Yesterday, 50 members of governamental militias held an ‘act of repudiation’ against the Matanzas spokesman for the “Alternative Option Movement”. ” About 50 oppressors started shouting obscenities at me , such as ‘terrorist’, ‘mercenary’ plus other insults and threats, such as that of making my life harder by monitoring everything I do and organizing daily acts of public disorder against me. Despite all this, I’ll continue to denounce what’s going on in Cuba and attending dissident meetings”. Listen to his report from Matanzas.

On last Sunday, december 22, fascist mobs led by the political police held an ‘act of repudiation’ against peaceful opponents members of the “Alternative Option Movement”. The communist party and state security agents recruited employees, students and workers and forced them to sign a document in which they wrote that they’d participate in this terrorist act. The document stated that, in case they wouldn’t have participated, they’re going to loose their job and the students might be expelled from their universities.

The mob started shouted insults and obscenities at the freedom fighters,such as “dogs”, “murderers”, “negros” ( “blacks”, a racist insult shouted by people belonging to a regime the Western leftists claim is ‘anti-racist’ ..) and bad words about the Bible and the Gospel. Later, they issued death threats against Juan Sigler Amaya and her elder mother, who was hospitalized. Neighbors and citizens who seen such aggression were seen angry at the mob and some even advised the dissidents to take arms against the fascists.

Read the whole linked filled post here.

Alone again, naturally

Cuba's independent journalists - those that do not write or report for the state sponsored entities - have brass ones. Not only do they report on what the Cuban government does and conceals, but they do so at great risk to themselves and their families. And they also go at it alone, as their MSM comrades go to great lengths to ignore their plight.

Google news search Oscar Mario González and you'll find not one single mention of the man who languishes in prison for being a journalist.

Independent journalist Oscar Mario González moved to prison

HAVANA, January 23 (Lucas Garve, Fundación por la Libertad de Expresión / www.cubanet.org) - Independent journalist Oscar Mario González, who has been held since July 22, 2005 without being charged with any crime, was transferred last week to the San Miguel del Padrón Prison No. 1580, according to his wife, Mirta Wong.

Wong said she visited her husband for half an hour and found him to be in good spirits, although he is suffering from an ulcer.

González, who reported for the Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, had been held in Havana since his arrest.

González won a journalism prize in 2004 at the first awards sponsored by the Fundación por la Libertad de Expresión.

Or this man:

Jailed independent journalist lacks medical assistance

CAIBARIÉN, Cuba, January 23 (Juan Carlos Parrado Crespo, Villa Blanca Press / www.cubanet.org) - Normando Hernández González, an independent journalist imprisoned at the Kilo 5 ½ prison in Pinar del Río province, hasn't been receiving any medical assistance, according to his wife.

Yaraí Reyes Marín said he is in "a deplorable state of health" and that prison guards refuse to allow him any medicine brought in from the outside.

"At my last family visit, I found him very weak," she said, adding that he has lost 20pounds.

She said he complains of stomach aches and has stropped eating prison food.

These are just two of dozens of independent journalists in Cuba whose stories go unseen and unheard by many because of a lack of interest from the world's media.

B-b-b-b-but they have free health care!

Didn't matter. The Canadians threw out their leftwing government anyway.

Just as the AARP announced that it could supply prescription drugs at a cheaper price than even socialist, subsidized Canada - so much for that socialist panacea!

Fortunately, Canadians are seeing a little bit more than they like in all that socialism (was it too many trips like this to Cuba?) and have decided, with their un-Cuban, completely free votes, to try something different.

Instapundit has the most complete roundup of the big Canadian election that ended 12 years of Liberal rule and brought in the Conservatives here.

UPDATE: The American Thinker has several high-grade links here.

41, feeling like 141

A huge thanks to all who dropped by and wished me a happy birthday yesterday. We had a little shindig at ManCamp and today I am paying, full price, for the festivities. I have the granddaddy of all hangovers.

This getting older thing sucks.

Poland's Lech Walesa addresses Cuban dissidents

Only the Czechs and Poles and other people who have been through communism can know how Cubans feel. And the great leaders of their movements have not forgotten, but have lived to continue to give aid and succor to Cuba's oppressed people.

Stefania in Sardinia has the story and the pictures here.

On friendship

The Editor-in-chief of this august blog turned 41 today. I called him this morning after sleeping in late (and after I had had my coffee) to wish him a happy birthday. I was unable to go to his celebration at ManCamp II today because of work and some minor honey-do tasks I had. I did want to write a few words on this occasion.

In the course of one's life you meet people that change what you do and a certain direction you are going in. Val, to me, is one of those people. I met him quite by accident and through his wonderful niece Amanda, who I was in a class with at the University of Miami. When we first met, it was over a bowl of sopon marinero to discuss last year's Cuba Nostalgia show. We had spoken over the phone a few times. Reading his stuff, I had the feeling that we would hit it off, not only because of our political positions, but because he was a no-shit guy. We immediately hit it off like we had been long-lost college buddies or brothers separated at birth. And he turned out to be something else, as well: truly a friend in need and friend in deed. That, ladies and gentleman, is rare in the fucked-up times we live in.

So Val, my best wishes to you on your 41st. Next year, if Douglas Adams is correct, you may learn the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything, when you turn 42. In the interim, enjoy your birthday and slog back a few for me as well...

41

So I wake up this morning, 7:15 AM, Sunday morning, January 22, 2006, and my wife has been patiently watching me sleep, waiting for the moment I open my eyes.

"Happy Birthday, mi Rey" she says to me, smiling from ear to ear.

"Gracias, mi Reina" I say as I hug my wife and get my special birthday kiss.

I am, indeed, blessed to have such a wonderful woman sharing my life.

I walk over to my computer as I do every morning and check my email.

Among a few Happy Birthday emails, there's one from a Jim Franey, with the following mesage:

Chavez and Castro know that there are no Dictatorships without weapons.

So does Pres. Bush! Its funny left wing, right wing. There all the same! Power is the name of the game. Thank God we had weapons during our revolutionary war!

Your a nitwit Babalu but you do babble !

Ordinarily, I might have been a bit peeved. I might have responded. Gotten into yet another dick swinging contest against someone with a lot less leverage than me.

But not today. It's my birthday.

Forty-one years ago, my father gave the doctor that delivered me a bucket of lard and a guanajo, a turkey, as payment for the hours he spent bringing me into this world while ensuring that my mother would be fine.

Thirty-seven years ago, my father gave me the opportunity of enjoying my birthdays in freedom by exiling his family to the United States of America. It may have been in October of 1968, but it has been the best birthday present anyone could ever give or wish to receive.

This 41 year old nitwit loves his life.

My wife calls me her King. She is my Queen.

My dog loves me and never leaves my side.

I am my mother's niño lindo and my father's source of pride.

I was my grandparents "Primo" and the recipient of their love and knowledge and affection.

I am my nieces' and nephew's Uncle, my sister's brother and my family's Valen.

I've been chosen by many to be their friend.

I live in the United States of America and I am free.

And I am a Cuban with the liberty to know and speak the truth.

What more could any birthday nitwit ask for?

Refugee's Dream Comes True

From Big News
via Wall Street Cafe

Cuban immigrant writes his way from cement to soaps

A young man flees Cuba, takes a job at a factory but dreams of becoming a writer. On a whim, he enters a television writing contest - and wins big.

It's a story Erick Hernandez Mora easily could have invented during the 10 years he worked at the Supermix cement factory to support his family after emigrating to the United States.

But for the 32-year-old college dropout with earnest eyes and a mop of curly hair, it's the one story he didn't have to make up. He won the top prize last month in Telemundo's Spanish-language soap opera writing program, took a job at the network and nabbed a book contract with Simon & Schuster to write a spin-off pot-boiler.

Hernandez says he'd rather focus on his fiction than his own story.

"Even without wanting to, when I write I invent things, so it's better to write fiction because otherwise people will compare it to your real life," he said.

Executives at Telemundo and Simon & Schuster agreed it was Hernandez' frank writing and attention to detail that captured their attention - but it doesn't hurt that his personal tale makes an equally good script.

"He represents the story of the immigrant, who comes to this country with a dream, and in certain part, it is a dream that has come true for him," said Johanna Castillo, senior editor for Simon & Schuster's Atria Books.

Castillo said she didn't know about Hernandez' personal life when he won the contract to write a book based on a Telemundo soap for the company's new Latino publishing line.

This month Hernandez self-published his first novel about life in Cuba, and Castillo said she's already asked for a copy.

Hernandez grew up in the beachside town of Guanabo, about 25 miles east of Havana, and as a boy spent his days devouring Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie novels. He quickly read through his father's library of Hemingway and Latin American writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The son of a telecommunications engineer, he was expected to head to the university and eke out a quiet living, but the self-identified "black sheep" chafed under the dictates of life in Cuba, refusing to join the Communist Party and dropping out of the university when officials wouldn't let him choose what to study.

After a mandatory stint in the army, where he served two weeks behind bars for eating lunch with prisoners, Hernandez found work as a waiter, selling T-shirts and socks on the side.

Then in 1994, President fidel castro(sic) cracked down on dissidents, riots broke out and more than 30,000 Cubans fled to the United States in boats and homemade rafts.

Hernandez and his girlfriend, now his wife and mother of their two young daughters, were among them. The two left in a 20-foot fishing boat with 18 other migrants on the morning of Aug. 20. By midnight they reached Miami.
Hernandez still remembers seeing failed homemade rafts bobbing in the sea as his boat chugged toward U.S. shores, but he refuses to dwell on what might have happened.

"I always look forward. I don't believe in looking back," he said.

Hernandez found a job cleaning at the cement factory and was soon promoted to running the computers that controlled the concrete mixers, but after a few years, he wanted more. He began reading again, and then he got out a pen and paper began to write.

Few took his efforts too seriously.

"It was his passion," recalled Supermix truck driver Orlando Perez, who enjoyed reading bits of the novel Hernandez worked on in his spare time. "But, I told him he was crazy. 'You work in concrete,' I told him."

Perez stopped laughing when Hernandez entered an Internet contest from Spain in 2002 and won second place for his short story.

Then in 2004, Hernandez spied an ad for a new program to train Spanish-language soap opera writers, co-sponsored by Telemundo and Miami-Dade Community College.

He and 14 others were selected from among more than 4,000 applicants from around the world. Mimi Belt, Telemundo vice president of artistic development, said part of Hernandez's success is his willingness to learn.

She recalled sending a script back to him requesting significant changes. Hearing nothing for several days, she assumed he was upset. But when she finally called, "he told me 'No, no, I've spent all these days studying why you wanted the changes so next time I can do it better.'"

Hernandez said he enjoys writing the simple love stories that are the heart of most telenovelas and the immediate feedback he gets when they are aired. But his literary work is more salty, infused with slang and the gritty details of life in Cuba.

To this day, Hernandez prefers pen and paper to computers.

"When you write by hand it just flows," he said. "It's not the same as the machine, where it's ta-ca-ta-ca. ... If I make a spelling mistake I have to stop. I can't see it looking bad on the screen."

He has too much to write now to do it all by hand. He's been hired full-time by Telemundo and is finishing the book for Atria.

The family is now building a study to give him a place to work where he won't be interrupted by his daughters and their Barbies.

"It's different now because I no longer write as a hobby. I can't just stop when friends come by or go watch the game," he said wistfully.

But he still has to pinch himself sometimes in the morning when he thinks about where he started.

"I never thought that this would happen. I thought I'd be a waiter," Hernandez said. "That's all I knew how to do."

God bless America, the land of opportunity.

Oh Happy Day

Writing on the wall enrages castro

From correspondents in Havana
The Australian
January 21, 2006

THE US has launched a glaring new chapter in its diplomatic fight with Cuba: an electronic screen broadcasting messages on its diplomatic building's side in a move Cuba calls a provocation.

"I must analyse the provocations, the outlandish things (US authorities) are doing," Cuban "President" fidel castro said on state television yesterday.

***

The rest of the story is here.

castro and bin Laden in Blum

You may have read about the book plug Osama bin Laden gave to one William Blum, a habitual Sandalista who's made a career out of seeing conspiracies where none exist. He writes books and bin Laden hawks them.

Not only is he popular on the bin Laden book circuit, he's also a favorite of castro's, and was recently denied a visa to Havana to give aid and succor to the bearded beast. Blum has quite a readership.

The story is here.

The Pain of Exile

Dan Le Batard is a sports columnist for the Miami Herald, sports radio talk show host, and writer for ESPN The Magazine. I have read hundreds of Le Batard's columns, and I can honestly say that I've disagreed with about 80% of his opinions. Despite being an excellent writer, he tends toward the sensationalistic just to get a reaction from his readers.

Why am I writing this? Well, Le Batard also happens to be a Cuban-American. Le Batard wrote a column in today's Herald that everyone here should read, regardless of which side of the fence you stand on the Cuba-WBC issue. Because it's not just about allowing Cuba to play in a baseball tournament. It's about our internal struggle to deal with the pain of our parents and grandparents and balancing that with our "Americanism".

Le Batard has never written a better, more heartfelt column. He probably never will. When I first read it, I could have sworn that Val wrote it. It wouldn't totally shock me if Val perhaps slipped it to him! ;)

Without further ado, here's Le Batard's outstanding piece.

Friday's decision hurts deep down

By DAN LE BATARD
dlebatard@MiamiHerald.com

This brings it rushing back up on me. Brings it rushing up from that awful, empty place in the stomach. Brings it rushing up with anger and sadness and horror.

The tears of my late grandparents? The suffering of my parents? It all rushes up on me and gathers, as it sometimes does, in a pool in my eyes.

They're just games. That's what I keep hearing. What's the big deal? It's just a bunch of baseball exhibitions. Why can't Cuba play, too? And that's fair and reasonable, perfectly so. I know I have a losing argument here, more than ever today because the United States government Friday reversed itself and is allowing Fidel Castro's team in the most hyped international baseball tournament ever.

But I can't help it. This still hurts. Hurts the way my mother did over Elian Gonzalez because she had all this pain in her past -- visiting her wrongly arrested brother in prison for nearly a decade, being chased through the streets with chains by Cuba's thug police, having her land and her childhood stolen from her -- and the rest of America either couldn't understand her tears for Elian or didn't care enough to try.

What the hell are all those crazy Cubans down in Miami so angry about, exactly?
That was America's reaction to Elian, as it is today.

A little boy. A baseball tournament. They're just symbols, right?

And some people look at the American flag and see only fabric and thread.

EMOTIONAL ARGUMENT

This is an emotional argument, not a rational one. I usually don't want government interfering in the great escape of sports. I usually think games ought to be a unifying symbol, transcending politics. That's my head talking, unfeeling as a calculator.

But then I start thinking about all that my grandparents and parents lost, and how I get to be spoiled and free and Americanized because of their suffering. And what rushes back upon on me -- the sadness, the love, the gratitude -- are not feelings produced by the head.

Fidel Castro is our Hitler, our Saddam, our bin Laden. Before quibbling over the analogies or getting into a comparison of atrocities, please absorb that. Viscerally, immediately, how would you feel about playing games today with them? Would they just be exhibitions then?

Castro has the blood of my people on his hands. His prisons, his firing squads, his politics, his evil.

The beautiful island of my parents and grandparents is rotting and stuck in the 1950s just 90 miles away because of an assortment of human-rights violations that keep an American embargo in place and wrongly jailed my uncle for nearly a decade.

The desperation on the island is such that people drown in the ocean trying to escape it, literally throwing their lives to the wind.

How oppressed would you have to feel to put your children on a flimsy raft made of wood and tires?

So you understand why I don't exactly want to play baseball with this man, why I don't want him wrapping these games in his politics and propaganda, why I don't want him to even have the chance to feel the way our triumphant country did with the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team. That was only the biggest and most emotional upset in the history of American sports. And America doesn't even care about hockey.

HIS PROUDEST TOY

But baseball is Castro's proudest toy, a propaganda army with bats, perhaps the strongest thing left in his bloody reign.

And he has played us for clowns throughout this political debate, at first suggesting that America was afraid to play his mighty team and then getting around the embargo by offering all tournament profits to Katrina victims.

The only remaining solace for those who don't want Cuba playing is that maybe another batch of Castro's players will shame Castro by defecting.

But Friday still hurt.

Yes, my pain is borrowed. Learned. Passed down. It is not mine. I have not earned it.

But I feel it today nonetheless, on behalf of those who felt it so I never would, and it stings in my eyes.

A novel idea?

Senator Martinez on the World Baseball Classic reversal, via NewsMax:

Sen. Martinez Disapproves of Bush Baseball Move

Not everyone is happy that Cuba will be allowed to participate in Major League Baseball’s upcoming World Baseball Classic.

With international teams set to begin play in March, the Bush Administration – which had initially banned Cuba’s participation in the event - today gave the green light for Cuba to participate after the Communist country promised to donate any profits it may receive from the tournament to U.S. victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Yet, Cuban-born U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., still finds fault with the decision.

"This is a disappointing reversal. Even though this decision allows the Cuban government to field a team, that team will not be wholly representative of Cuba,” said Sen. Martinez. "The Cuban government has already announced that Cuban players who defected to the U.S. to play in Major League Baseball will not be allowed to play for Cuba.”

Martinez said if it Major League Baseball hopes to remove politics from the World Baseball Classic, and focus on the athletic competition and pride of the countries involved, it should insist that Cuban-born players have a chance to play for Cuba.

""Just like other Major Leaguers can play for their home-countries like David Ortiz and Miguel Olivo of the Dominican Republic or Johan Santana and Miguel Cabrera of Venezuela, so too should Orlando and Livan Hernandez and Jose Contreras and any other Cubans in the Majors be allowed to play for Cuba,” said the senator.

"I call on Major League Baseball to insist they play ... They are Cuban; they have a right to represent Cuba if they so choose and that right ought to be respected.”

A novel idea, Senator. But the problem with allowing a communist dictatorship to come to the US is that it forces the host country to accept the standard by which the communist government treats its people. In other words, the United States will be a de facto accomplice in the disregard for the Cuban baseball team's rights. Moreover, it also prevents American players of Cuban descent from representing Cuba in the tournament if they so desire. Thus, in essense, taking away their right to choose who they play for.

castro has a 'scheduling difficulty'

Oh what basura!

The greatest thing since sliced croquetas to hit the bearded bastard, the inauguration of Evo Morales, his second minime, the che dream come true, and he's all of a sudden not going? Even though he said he was going? Due to .... SCHEDULING DIFFICULTIES?

The dictator just can't stop lying, can he?

There's some reason, some serious reason the monster can't go to this thing, it may mean he's on his last legs, which we all hope is true, but it also may mean that the Bolivian military, which took care of che, put its foot down. There have been a lot of firings in the ranks so that possibility is only a possibility.

What I think may have happened is Morales flew to Cuba with Cuban guards, in a Venezuelan jet earlier this month, got down on his knees to meet castro, and at some point on this trip .... decided he wasn't impressed with the grime, the filth, the poverty, the dirt-poor horror of the castroite communist regime.

Morales got elected president TO GET RID OF poverty, not create more of it. There's something really weird about this sudden absence of Boss castro to this crew. I really wonder if they had a falling out or Morales decided he didn't have much use for this bearded island thug.

It coincides with his saying he wouldn't rule out a free trade pact with the U.S., which, for him, is the flip side of George Bush saying he wouldn't rule out liking bin Laden. It's one of those improbable things that isn't supposed to happen. But it did.

I hope like anything Morales and castro had a falling out.

If so: HAPPYHAPPYHAPPYHAPPY!!!!

Adios, Baseball.

My grandfather loved baseball. He lived and breathed the sport. Played it in his youth on clay colored fields in his rural hometown in Cuba. In his spare time away from his job at the railroad, he would umpire local games.

Here in the states, despite having left an emormity of a family behind in Cuba, he was consoled by baseball. He may have left brothers and sisters and daughters and grandchildren back on the island, but he had baseball to keep him company. At least, here in the US of A he could follow his passion, baseball, and baseball played by the very best. Major League Baseball.

On any given game day he would be watching a game on tv while listening to another one on the little transistor radio held up to his ear. He kept box scores for every single game he went to, watched or listened to on the radio. Hundreds of game stats meticulously kept in his already trembling handwriting in big blue denim binders. Pages and pages filled with love for the sport. Love for America's pastime.

And the old man's love for the game was contagious, especially for a 4 year old kid just arrived from Cuba who'd never even heard of baseball. He taught that kid, me, all about the game. The subtle nuances, the right plays, how to catch a fly ball, when to swing at a pitch. The whole beautiful American thing.

When I was old enough, he encouraged my parents to sign me up for Little League. He paid the fees as my parents werent able to afford them. He took me to every single practice and every single game. And in the Spring we'd hop on busses and see the major leaguers play. We just couldnt get enough of it. There was a certain purity to it, a certain serenity. No matter what was happening around us, no matter how much bad news there may have been in the family back then, we always had Baseball.

Baseball. Just the thought of it brings back such beautiful and tender and carefree memories. And a few painful ones as well.

My grandfather passed away many years ago. Yet my love for the game never dwindled. I may not remember his scent or the sound of his voice, but I remember when to steal a base or when to bunt. When to swing for the wall and when to sacrifice. When to be prudent. When to be patient. When to go for it all.

I write this not because I want everyone to get all all melancholic. It's not my intention. But given today's news of the Cuban National Team being allowed to play in the World Baseball Classic, I cant help but think of my grandfather.

Today, where would he go for consolation? Would he feel like me? A little less Cuban and a little less American?

That American security blanket my grandfather and I wove, the one of called strikes and home runs, of green fields and clay diamonds, of stats and percentages, that security blanket we could always count on to keep us safe from the evils of this world...it's gone for me now. Major League Baseball will no longer console me. It will no longer be something pure in my mind. There will never be truth to baseball for me again.

I cannot, in good conscience watch another baseball game. And I know there's many people out there that might think Im exagerrating. Taking this all too seriously or being ridiculous. It's just a game, they'll say.

But it isnt about a game. It isnt about baseball. It's about truth. Dignity. Compassion. It is about what is wrong and what is right.

See, as much as my grandfather loved the game of baseball, there was one thing he loved much much more. One thing he held in much higher regard.

Freedom.

My grandfather loved Major League Baseball, but I know, deep down in the very soul he helped to mold, that he would have given up that love in an instant, without remorse and without so much as a second thought, if it had meant the freedom of the people he left behind.

Once again, the truth gets the shaft

Cuba will be allowed to spew its communist propaganda on our fields of dreams:

Cuba allowed to play in World Baseball Classic
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer January 20, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- Cuba will be allowed to play in the World Baseball Classic, after all.

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a license Friday allowing the Cubans to participate in the 16-team tournament.

Baseball's first application was denied in mid-December by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, but the commissioner's office and the players' association reapplied after Cuba said it would donate any profits it receives to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

U.S. laws aimed at punishing Fidel Castro's communist government prohibit certain commercial transactions with Cuba, generally attempting to deny money.

"Working closely with World Baseball Inc. and the State Department, we were able to reach a licensable agreement that upholds both the legal scope and the spirit of the sanctions," Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said.

"This agreement ensures that no funding will make its way into the hands of the Castro regime. The Treasury is pleased to now be able to issue this license and looks forward to seeing all of the teams showcase their talents on the international stage."

After the initial rejection, the International Baseball Federation threatened to withdraw its sanction of the tournament if Cuba was not allowed to participate. In addition, Puerto Rico threatened to withdraw as a host.

"We were always positive," said Antonio Munoz, the promoter who paid millions of dollars to stage the first two rounds in Puerto Rico. "There were some negative people, but they were wrong in the end."

Initial reaction among Cuban fans was positive.

"Oh, magnificent! Tremendous!" exclaimed Osvaldo Herrera, who was standing on a street corner in Havana with three other sports lovers discussing Cuban baseball.

The tournament, the first in which the world's top players will participate on national teams, runs from March 3-20. The other 15 teams submitted their 60-man preliminary rosters earlier this week.

Cuba won the Olympic gold medal in 1992, 1996 and 2004, and the United States won in 2000. Olympic baseball was initially limited to amateur players, but even after professionals were allowed in for the 2000 Sydney Games, major leaguers didn't participate because baseball doesn't stop its regular season for the Olympics.

Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens are among the big-name players on the U.S. roster, and Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols and Vladimir Guerrero are on the Dominican team. Puerto Rico and Japan also are expected to be among the top teams at the tournament.

Associated Press writers Anne-Marie Garcia in Havana and Pedro Zayas in San Juan contributed to this report

Irony, live and in living color:

Government supporters prevent baseball game by pacifists

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, January 19 (Alain Ramón Gómez Ramos, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Officials from the municipality of Santo Domingo last week prevented a local team of pacifists, Coalición Juvenil Martiana, from playing a visiting Santa Clara team on the grounds government officials and the local Communist Party had to give their approval first.

When one of the pacifist players protested the cancellation, Nilo Castro, sports director in Santo Domingo, became angry and threatened to hit the player.

Baseball, for me, has just committed suicide.

H/T Mike P.

Cuban Reality, in Black and White

I received a very kind and curteous email from a fellow exile, an artist and photographer, expressing his support after having heard us on Radio Mambi the other day. He also sent me the following absolutely incredible photographs:

A once thriving island, with an industrious and hard working people, reduced to a haunting squallor.

Hey Ziva!

Another victory!

I caught 'em in the act!

We'll now watch 'em squirm!

HappyHappyHappyHappy!!!!

Happy happy, joy joy!

Colorado Governor Bill Owens rocks.

Via Cuban American Pundits:

"You do have to look at who you're dealing with," Owens said. "They have blood on their hands. The state of Colorado won't be part of it. If I went, I'd have a private dinner with Fidel Castro, I'd be in the presidential palace, I'd see things I'd love to see. But I don't want to be part of what he represents."

Owens was just getting warmed up.

"I don't believe Fidel is a kindly avuncular cigar-smoking guy in fatigues we look at as a bit of an irritant. And I don't regard Che Guevara as a romantic figure. Fidel is a mass murderer who wishes only harm on our country. The fact he hasn't been able to doesn't mean we should forget it.

"As a young man during the Cold War, I decided the greatest challenge facing us was communism," Owens continued. "As far as I'm concerned, Castro is only a step or two removed in capability and in lust for power from people like Stalin, Mao and others. He is the person who tried to get the Soviet Union to launch nuclear weapons against us during the Cuban missile crisis. He's the same guy who was putting people against the wall and shooting them. I'm not willing to be a part of any effort to help his economy so long as he's in power."

Oh, yes. I'm liking this happy thoughts business.

Dominos

From a beautiful post at Texidor's:

Each one is anxious to make their play. En la sombrita juegan con sus manos arrugadas. Their hands speak of their desespero ... murmurando con las fichas.

I watch them. They ignore me. But we are connected. They will never die.

Happythoughtshappythoughts

It's been a rough week or so hasnt it? Lots of stuff going on, lots of bad news, alot of stuff to rant about, etc.. You all know what I mean. I had wanted to make this past week politics and bad news free since it is the week leading to my birthday this coming Sunday. But, obviously, that didnt happen as there was just too much shit flying around to cover. Compound the past week or so with the morning I had today and you get one very stressed out, pissed off, blood pressure through the roof, mid-life encroaching blogger.

With that in mind, I am officially declaring Babalú a "bad news and politics free zone" until Monday. I think we could all use a break, I know I could.

For the next three days its gonna be
happythoughtshappythoughtshappythoughts.

Of course, should the news be that the bearded bastard has finally kicked the bucket, I'll be here covering that story because, well, it dont get more happythoughts than that.

When castro makes promises...

Look out!

Why you should never let me guest blog...

Because I might just write something like this.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Just received the video of the German documentary "Rendezvous With Death" sent to me by reader Greg R. If you'll recall, this documentary states that fidel castro was behind the Kennedy assasination.

I cant wait to see it but, obviously, there's a little problem. I dont speak German. If there's anyone out there that can lend a hand, drop me a line.

Me cago en la mierda

You ever have one of those mornings where absolutely nothing goes right? Cant find your keys... car wont start... traffic accident on your way to work... left your wallet at home... all of the above?

Welcome to my Thursday.

It feels different...

...when it happens to you.

I can't quite describe it. But I know los cubanos know what I mean.

When I stayed in Caracas last month, I spent a lot of time at the Country Club. It was a safe meeting place outside the main drags of the city, a place you didn't have to worry about thieves and muggers, and not far from the escualida beauty parlor I wrote about earlier.

At the Country Club, it was nice but not nearly as luxurious as you might suppose. It was just a common place, a meeting place, it had greenery, it was stately and lushly tropical, and yet I did not sense it was particularly exclusive. After all, some of the members had invited me.

There was a gate with a guard and a small parking lot. Then there was a group of buildings, done in an elegant traditional Spanish style, with painted tiles, open beams and stucco, housing a couple of inexpensive restaurants, and a club room and a bar, against a swimming pool, a tennis court and a mango circled green golf course against the great green Avila mountain range. Young barrio kids would come there and work as caddies for some income and the relations were always cordial and respectful.

This place was one of the very few green spaces in Caracas. Meals, about five bucks each, let you dine outside and watch some pretty yellow little birds around it, the national bird of Venezuela, as well as flocks of noisy red parrots darting from mango tree to mango tree and across the golf course.

My friends told me to be sure to take a picture of it. They told me it wouldn't be around much longer. Juan Barreto, the freakish thug mayor of Caracas wanted to get his hands on it - to turn into a shantytown. Why should there be green spaces, he wanted to know, when there could be low-income housing? He also wanted to make it a slum in order to increase the Chavista voter count dependent on handouts in this particular district, which didn't have many pro-Chavistas.

Today, it happened. The pretty green Country Club got its first confiscation invasion. Thugs rolled in and trashed one of the libraries. You can see the picture here. They finally struck. It makes me terribly sad. It was a place I knew and spent time in. The barbarians truly have reached the gate now, just as I was warned they would. It was so much sooner than I would have thought. All I think is that Cubans, who must recall this themselves, must know exactly what I mean.

In light of the collapse of Viaducto 1 on the highway to the Caracas Maiquetia airport, something I took one of the last rides out on, and now this attack on the Country Club, one that is surely a first shot to be repeated, it's like Caracas is crashing down behind me since I've left.

I fear I saw the last of what will exist in the pre-Chavez era in those weeks when I was there. It's all going to be destroyed.

If you arent reading Chantel...

...you dont know what your missing.

She wrote about los Pollitos as well today and she got to where I wanted to get to in my post.

Gracias, Chantel. Once again, you got me all misty eyed.

che-whacking

This is a hot new trend in Venezuela, with che after che getting its head lopped off, creating a sensation in the statue community. Venezuelans do it because it just somehow makes them feel good. It's hot. It's hip. It's the craze so get out and thwack your own che!

See The Real Cuba's photos (scroll down) on it here. (Note the pig-nosed bozo behind the intact che statue.)

See the followup whacking in Paseo Vargas, Caracas, in El Universal here.

Be nice if they could try it on a live castro. But in the meantime, join the fun!

castro confiscating the rice cookers?

Now tell me this Agencia EFE story doesn't have a buried lede!

castro promises Cubans light, literally, at end of tunnel

Havana, Jan 18 (EFE).- fidel castro has unveiled a master plan to overhaul Cuba's dilapidated network for generating and distributing electricity, vowing that by May Day the frequent long blackouts that increasingly have bedeviled his compatriots will be a thing of the past.

Calling 2006 the year of the "energy revolution," the man who has ruled uninterruptedly since 1959 declared war on blackouts in a speech Tuesday night.

"By the first of May - the glorious day of the workers - at the latest," the outages will cease, he promised during a ceremony in the western city of Pinar del Rio.

castro thereby set a deadline for substituting the old methods of electricity generation with modern equipment, which is to guarantee power supplies and result in savings of roughly $1 billion per year.

This energy upgrade, castro explained to high-ranking members of his government and the Communist Party, as well as hundreds of ordinary Cubans, will lead to "considerable savings for the country in terms of convertible currency" and "put an end to the annoying inconvenience caused by the frequent and unexpected blackouts (that are product of) an antiquated system and conception of power distribution." "There will be a before and an after of Cuba's energy revolution," castro (lied).

"Pinar del Rio will no longer experience blackouts," said the Cuban leader, who added that the energy improvements also would soon arrive to other provinces on the island, including Havana province.

To bring the project to fruition, castro announced plans to install "more efficient and safe" electricity generators and repair old and inefficient power lines "that adversely affected the cost and strength of the electrical current."

Additionally, he announced plans for an "intensive research project and the development of the use of wind and solar power." All told, the plan envisions a 60 percent increase in the Cuban thermo-electric power system's 2.94 million kilowatts per hour of generating capacity.

Most of the island's electricity is generated with obsolete technology that had been provided by the former Soviet Union.

"The country will not build more thermo-electric plants, that's history; it will only build gas-fired plants, which use a combined cycle system or another highly economical (technology)," castro (lied).

"Once this project is concluded, on which we're working intensively, the country will save a billion dollars a year," said the president, who for months has led a concerted energy-conversation campaign.

The campaign includes not only the renovation of the country's electrical infrastructure, but also the substitution of incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs and the replacement of obsolete, energy-inefficient appliances.

"A total of 57,289 old, energy-wasting appliances have been picked up in (Pinar del Rio province)," castro said in praising the efforts of young social workers and university students that have worked to combat the wasting of electricity in western Cuba.

The blackouts in recent years have forced the temporary closure of businesses and the adjustment of work and classroom schedules.
EFE mar/mc

***

So the bearded beast is promising Cubans the moon in already-electricity-perfect (just ask a Sandalista!) Cuba and oh by the way, has somehow expropriated 57,289 appliances that actually work well enough to take an electrical current from Pinar del Rio's impoverished residents. That's a hell of a lot of appliances from just one province that doesn't have much electricity anyway. How exactly did they do it? Why the heck hasn't this been reported? And how many of them were rice cookers?

***

UPDATE: I should have gone here first: Cubanet has the scoop on this massive harassment of citizens in Pinar del Rio and the pieces from its story fit together perfectly with the EFE account just like a puzzle:

ECONOMIA INFORMAL
Intensifican operativos contra vendedores privados en Pinar del Río

PINAR DEL RIO, Cuba - 17 de enero (Rafael Ferro Salas, Abdala Press / www.cubanet.org) - Brigadas de la policía cubana llevan a cabo operativos de registros y ocupaciones contra comerciantes particulares. Para estos trabajos los agentes del orden se apoyan en los destacamentos de trabajadores sociales que a lo largo y ancho de la isla han sido designados para enfrentar la creciente corrupción en diferentes sectores de la economía cubana.

Los vendedores particulares están ubicados en plazas y parques donde realizan ventas de productos alimenticios a la población. Las autoridades han detectado que en su mayoría los productos son sacados de manera clandestina de las entidades estatales.

El mandatario cubano Fidel Castro habló en uno de sus últimos discursos sobre la ola de corrupción que azota a la nación cubana, incluyendo las altas esferas del gobierno. Para enfrentar este estado de cosas, Castro designó a más de doscientos mil jóvenes trabajadores sociales que serán apoyados en sus tareas por las autoridades políticas y de gobierno en cada provincia del archipiélago.

Hunger Strike Over, Sanchez says

Via the AP:

Cuban exile leader says to end 11-day-old hunger strike over repatriation

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
Associated Press
Posted January 18 2006, 12:04 PM EST

MIAMI -- A Cuban-American leader said Wednesday that he is ending his 11-day hunger strike now that it appears the Bush administration will discuss its Cuban immigration policy.

Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the Cuban advocacy group, Democracy Movement, began the hunger strike Jan. 7 in protest over the U.S. government's treatment of 15 Cubans who were sent back to the communist island after they landed on an old bridge's piling in the Florida Keys.

Sanchez said representatives of Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, and U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, told him that he would receive official word from the White House later Wednesday. White House officials did not return calls Wednesday from The Associated Press seeking confirmation.

``Because the president has listened to us, I am dropping the hunger strike,'' a gaunt and unshaven Sanchez told supporters as an ambulance waited to take him to the hospital.

Sanchez has been asking the Bush administration to meet with lawmakers, clergy and Democracy Movement attorneys to discuss the country's wet-foot, dry-foot immigration policy.

That policy, instituted under President Clinton and continued by President Bush, says that Cubans who are picked up at sea are usually returned home, while those who reach U.S. soil are allowed to stay.

The Coast Guard picked up the 15 Cubans from the piling Jan. 4. Because the bridge no longer connected to land on either side, the federal government decided that the group had not reached land and sent them back.

Sanchez has protested against the wet-foot, dry-foot policy since it was instituted as a way to stem the flow of Cubans making the often dangerous 90-mile voyage across the Florida Straits. Before the policy, Cubans picked up at sea were generally brought to the United States.

Sanchez lay Wednesday in a makeshift tent on Calle Ocho, the main street through Miami's Little Havana, his legs covered in a gray plaid blanket with photos of Pope John Paul II and the Cuban flag hanging behind him. He was surrounded by supporters and families of the Cubans who were repatriated last week.

He said he's not asking that the U.S. open its borders completely.

``If that happens, everyone would leave and Cuba would fall apart,'' he said.

Instead, Sanchez said he wants a more humane immigration policy that insures migrants have access to attorneys and alert families of migrants when they have been detained.

``Right now, you have a lot of families suffering because they don't know what happened to their loved ones when the Coast Guard stops them,'' he said.

Im with Songuacassal on this.

Hat tip: Michael Pancier

How pathetic

Still no mention of rafters or wet foot/dry foot or hunger strike on CNN, but they do have some space for quoting fidel castro. And an especially childish remark at that:

HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro suggested the United States doesn't want to play Cuba in the World Baseball Classic, which is awaiting word on whether the U.S. government will let the island's players take part.

"We aren't afraid of anything,'' Castro said in a wide-ranging speech late Tuesday. "It's very difficult to compete against us in any area ... not even in baseball do they want to compete with Cuba.''

Castro's comments appeared to refer to the inaugural World Classic, a 16-team tournament scheduled for March 3-20 and organized by Major League Baseball and its players' union.

The U.S. Treasury Department last month denied MLB's application for Cuba to play its scheduled first-round games in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. Later rounds are to be played on the U.S. mainland.

The license is required under 45-year-old American sanctions against Cuba aimed at preventing Castro's government from receiving U.S. currency.

After Cuba promised to donate any money it received to victims of Hurricane Katrina, MLB reapplied for a license a second time and is awaiting a response.

Tuesday was the deadline for teams to submit preliminary player lists. Each team initially will present a list of 60 names that will be reduced to 30.

The International Baseball Federation has said it will not sanction the tournament if Cuba isn't allowed to play.

MLB senior vice president Paul Archey and union lawyer Doyle Pryor visited the island last week to review plans with Cuban officials in case the second license application is approved.

Sheesh, how pathetic. Next we'll hear fidel threatening to tell his mommy on the US if they dont let Cuba play.

Hunger Strike, Day 11

Looks like some sources of media outside of Miami are starting to get with the program. The New York Sun has a pretty good and rather complete write up today, including a comment from a White House spokespman::

A spokesman for the White House, Kenneth Lisaius, responded yesterday that "the administration has reached out to representatives of the Cuban-American community to express our interest in hearing and understanding their concerns about U.S. migration policy toward Cuba," adding that "the administration remains committed to helping the Cuban people hasten the day of Cuba's democratic transition, and fully understands that the fundamental cause of migration from Cuba is the dictatorship of Fidel Castro."

Personally, I like any newspaper that uses the following three words in any article relating Cuba: "the castro dictatorship."

Let's keep working on those emails and letters to the MSM outlets around the country. Hopefully some more will follow suit. Ziva has a good list here as do the Cuban American Pundits here.

UPDATE: Gracias, Bill.

Cuba & Iran

Who says Cuba is not a threat to the United States?

From Front Page Magazine:

The Iran-Cuba Axis

In a letter to then Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev regarding his role in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro reflected upon the possible use of nuclear weapons during the U.S.-Soviet confrontation, “It was my opinion that, in case of an American invasion [Cuba], a massive and total nuclear strike would have to be launched.” Given Castro’s affection for nuclear weapons, it should come as no surprise to observers that the aging terrorist has befriended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Just last week, Ahmadinejad, a recognized anti-Semite and human rights violator, threatened unspecified retaliation against the West unless it recognized his own country’s nuclear ambitions. “If they want to deny us our right, we have ways to secure those rights,” he said in Tehran.

Given Castro and Ahmadinejad’s mutual distaste for the U.S. and Western-styled democracy, increased bilateral cooperation between the two countries presents serious national security concerns for the U.S. This month, Iranian Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani noted the importance of expanding Tehran-Havana relations saying both countries must come together to confront unilateralism of “the big power” -- an obvious reference to the U.S.

In the past year, Rafsanjani has noted Iran’s desire to play a role in meeting the “technical and engineering requirements” of Cuba and other states in Latin America. Rafsanjani has also called Castro, “An impressive character in contemporary history,” praising the Cuban leader for his resistance to the “hegemonic policies of the U.S. and anti-imperialism.” Not surprisingly, Cuban Ambassador to Iran Fernando Garcia pledged his country’s support for Iran’s right to use nuclear energy earlier this month.

Si vas a la carniceria...

...no me traigas carne ni de aqui...

...ni de aqui...

Im sure all of you Cubans remember that one, right? When as a kid your mother or father or grandfather would grab you by the hand and do the carniceria thing?

"If you go to the butcher's dont bring me meat from here" they'd say as their finger sliced and imaginary line on your wrist.

"Or from here" as the finger slice moved up your arm a little more.

"Or from here" the slice this time a little higher up on your arm.

And it would continue all the way to your upper arm, until they'd finally say Pero de aqui si!!! "But from here yes!" and they'd tickle you in the armpit. And even though you knew you'd get tickled in the end you'd still love to play la carniceria.

My grandparents did that to their children. My parents did it to me and my sister. My sister and I did it to her kids. My niece does it to hers. Generations doing the carniceria thing.

There are things and sayings and little songs that we have passed on from one generation to the next. Little things like la carniceria or aserrin aserran or los pollitos dicen.... These are all an irrefutable part of our culture and something we should work to pass on to the next generation in the hopes that they, too, will pass it on to their kids.

And now we have a little help in maintaining and passing on those little morsels of our heritage.

I introduce to you Los Pollitos Dicen. A line of American made, Cuban inspired clothes for babies and toddlers with those old sayings from your childhood.

I dont usually plug stuff here on Babalú, but those little tees are just too darned cute. If you get a chance today, check out their catalog.

Here's my personal favorite:

On the FIU/Cuban Spy Scandal

From Hank Tester at NBC6:

Cuban Spy Scandal

How sensitive is the Florida International University Cuban spy scandal?

Professors and administrators are so gun shy that none will go on television, even those who are not involved. I had a conversation with a long-time source while standing in the middle of FIU's University Commons. He wouldn't talk above a whisper, and was nervous about being seen with me.

The tension is compounded by the refusal of the University President Dr. Mitch Maidique to conduct an interview with the media. NBC 6 has contacted his office, the campus public relations office, the special counsel to the university and all, except for the director of the officer of media relations, have taken a duck when it comes to TV.

To be fair, Maidique’s office offered a written statement late last week. The message was delivered to media outlets minutes prior to the 6 p.m. newscasts. There was no opportunity to ask questions, no opportunity to analyze what he had to say. The timing smacked of manipulation. There are a number of concerns swirling around the whole affair, including the future of the university's Cuban study programs.

It's time for answers from the horse's mouth.

Im told that this year's Cuba Nostalgia Convention is supposed to have FIU's Cuba Studies Program as its main feature. No word on any repercussions as yet.

Hunger Strike May be Over

La Ventanita has the breaking news.

Day 10

Ramon Saul Sanchez is still on hunger strike protesting the wet-foot/dry-foot policy. Governor Jeb Bush has contacted his brother in the White House and requested that the wet foot/dry foot issue be addressed with himself, members of the religious community and Congressmen Diaz-Balart and Ros Lehtinen, among others.

Ive seen no word on this issue in the national media. A google news search yields no attention from CNN, Fox News, Reuters, Ap, ABC, CBS, NBC or any other national news network or media source.

Apparently the MSM is sitting back and waiting. Waiting for perhaps Ramon to die or suffer irreparable damage to his health and the subsequent uproar from the Cuban-American community against the Bush Administration. Then the MSM will have a story more to its liking. The headlines would probably read something like:

"Cuban-American Community Betrayed by Bush and GOP!"

Because the MSM in this country isnt content with just giving us the news. They prefer to set policy by swaying public opinion. The wet foot/dry foot policy means nothing to them now. If anything, it is something they prefer to ignore because it was set by a Democratic administration. This story only has value to the MSM in the fact that it can lead to pointing a finger at the evil, war mongering Bush administration.

So Ramon starves himself for a just cause and the national press sits on the fence. Waiting. Why cover a small story about Cuban refugees when you can make a huge hullabaloo about the Bush administration screwing one of it's biggest supporters?

We can continue to email the government all we want. But if we really want to make a difference, we need the real policy makers: the mainstream media.

And, unfortunately, right now, being that we are the Cuban-American community, our issues are not needed and not "newsworthy." At least until we join the MSM's bandwagon and bash Bush. And by then, Ramon may very well be dead and the Cubans seeking freedom, as usual, will still be screwed.

Triste, pero cierto.

Thank you, Jay

Jay Nordlinger of National Review weighs in on the controversy:

Many readers have asked me to comment on the 15 Cubans who were recently sent back to Castro. Fleeing on a small, homemade boat, they reached a bridge in the Florida Keys. Only it wasn't really a bridge: It was an "abandoned bridge piling," as the AP account put it. [ . . . ] Under America's "wet foot, dry foot" policy, the Cubans were sent back — because they had not succeeded in reaching U.S. land.

To me, the most poignant paragraph in the AP story was this: "The Cubans thought they were safe . . . when they reached the Old Seven Mile Bridge. But the historic bridge, which runs side by side with a newer bridge, is missing several chunks, and the Cubans had the misfortune of reaching pilings from a section that no longer touches land."

Well, readers have asked me to comment on this forcible return of 15 wretches to a vicious police state, where their punishment will be horrendous. I think you know what I think already: It's disgusting and damnable and immoral, and Americans ought to be ashamed of it. If the Left hadn't prettified the "Castro revolution" for the last 45 years, opinion leaders would be more sensitive to what Cuba is, and so would our country at large. [My emphasis]

Disgusting, damnable and immoral indeed.

Times Square in Havana?

The US Interests Section in Havana has just installed a ticker running news, commentary and information on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all Cubans to see. Read all about it, including a photograph, at Nuestra Cuba Libre's new blog.

Also, check out yet another addition to the anti-fidel blog ranks: Ya No Mas!

We love Peru

Peruvians can't stand Hugo Chavez. The castroite Thug from Caracas insulted their fine President, Alejandro Toledo, and a lady named Lourdes Flores, who is running for president ahead of Peru's elections in April. Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez yelled to the Peruvian president: "You're so like Bush!" insulting everyone. He also went cavorting with a Peruvian coupmeister named Ollanta Humala who is rising in the polls, the clear result of Chavez parading around with him and at least implicitly offering him money.

As a result of this sorry show, Peru yanked its ambassador and warned Chavez he'd better apologize and quit meddling or he'd not be welcome in Peru. But it wasn't just the government that was disgusted. People in the streets were, too. Peruvians don't put up with that kind of crap out of Chavez.

Here's what went on in Lima today:

The sign says women can't stand Chavez and that the dictator needs to shut his trap.

Here, Peruvians beat a clown, who represents none other than Hugo Chavez. Amazing how universal the idea of calling Chavez a clown is - no matter where he goes or what culture he annoys, everyone always comes to the same 'clown' conclusion about the castro protege.

More pictures of the demonstration in Lima can be seen here.

Daniel has additional analysis about the Chavez-Peru situation here.

Alarcon spills more than he means to

castro's president of the National Assembly of the People's Government, the featherweight fool, Ricardo Alarcon, has declared the Alvarez spy case to be:

"Strange." and "Worrisome."

He goes on to say it's a plot to discredit the Cuban 5, (since they probably don't want to change it to '7' on the Web site, as Val has noted). Alarcon adds that the couple confessed over the summer and only got charged now.

"So why come out with this case now? Obviously it has to do with something that goes beyond these two people," Alarcon said.

Then he denied anything was ever going on at all, so never mind the confession, there was never anything to confess.

Alarcon said "it appears the most grievous thing they did was come to Cuba and have academic exchanges."

Oops! In light of the confession he admitted earlier, Ricardo got caught in a lie!

But the most intriguing thing is this statement of his here where he projects more than he means to:

Alarcon said the latest case underlines growing censorship in South Florida, home to many Cuban immigrants opposed to Castro and his communist government.

"It seems to me that at this moment in Miami, there are many people worried about freedom of expression and academic freedoms," he said.

Ricardo's projecting.

(What a joke to hear 'freedom of expression' and 'academic freedom' coming out of the mouth of a spokescreature for the hemisphere's most brutal tyranny for one thing.)

What Ricardo means by that is that he's got a lot more academics squirreled away on castro's spy list and he's worried about when they'll be popped like the Alvarezes. He's trying to protect his other assets by saying there's a lot of McCarthyism going around. He's saying that because there's a lot of spying going around.

Won't work, Ricardo: Your spies all getting arrested, at a time and place of the U.S.' choosing. Your castroite network is getting rolled up before your very eyes.

Keep spilling those beans, though, Ricardo old chump. It's kinda funny to watch.

Everyone's on board...

Again, via Net for Cuba:

Letter from Bob Menendez, Member of Congress, to President George W. Bush

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to express my disagreement with your administration's treatment of Cuban nationals attempting to flee the Castro regime. During your 2000 campaign, you criticized the "wet foot, dry foot" policy which forces Cubans to return to a country run by a brutal dictator determined to carry out revenge on those who try to leave. Yet, over the past five years, your administration has repatriated over 7,740 Cuban nationals. You have had the power to change US policy on repatriating Cubans during those five years, and have not done so. I urge you to use this power to take immediate action, as I explain in detail below, to ensure that the United States does not repatriate Cuban nationals who are in grave danger of repression and mistreatment by the Castro regime.

Your administration recently repatriated 15 Cuban refugees, who, under current law, did reach US territory when they touched the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys. This act only demonstrates another example of your administration's arbitrary and dangerous decision-making regarding the repatriation of Cuban nationals.

Over the past five years, the human rights situation in Cuba has deteriored. In the spring of 2003, the Castro regime arrested 75 political dissidents, who were subjected to summary trials and imprisoned for nothing more than expressing a point of view not sanctioned by the Castro regime. Castro's human rights record has been repeatedly condemned by Amnesty International, Freedom House, and other human rights groups. Cuban refugees forced to return to Cuba would surely face political repression and even possible jail time.

I am deeply concerned, therefore, about the treatment of Cuban asylum seekers intercepted at sea. Less than 3 percent of Cuban asylum seekers, who were intercepted at sea between May 1995 and 2005, were taken to Guantanamo Naval Base (GITMO) based on the determination that they demonstrated a "credible fear of persecution." Yet, according to the Department of Homeland Security, 75 percent of Cubans who filed for refugee status in FY2004 were approved.

This apparent disparity in treatment cannot be allowed to continue and underlines the inadecuacy of the existing process on board the Coast Guard vessels. In an effort to remedy this situation, I join my colleagues Representatives Lincoln Diaz_Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in recommending the following:

1. An immediate, through review of how the interviews of Cuban nationals intercepted at sea are conducted and "credible fear of persecution"is determined;

1. Legal counsel from recognized Volunteer Agencies should be allowed aboard the Coast Guard vessels in order to provide legal advice to refugees;

2. If it is determined that it is not feasible to have legal counsel on board US Coast vessels, all Cuban nationals intercepted at sea should be taken to GITMO for their cases to be properly evaluated and for the refugees to be afforded procedural rights consistent with Cuban nationals who seek asylum on land;

3. A percentage fo the unallocated reserve of 20,000 refugees in FY 2005 should be reallocated to Cuban nationals who are not relocated to a third country after 120 days of the date they arrive at GITMO; and

4. The United States Interests Section should issue a report on the status of Cubans who have been repatriated to determine if they have sought and obtained refugee questionnaires as well as the status of their applications for refugee visas.

I believe that your administration must take immediate action to protect people in danger of persecution from the Castro regime, whether they reach our shores or are intercepted at sea. The United States has long been a refuge for those from around the world fleeing persecution to obtain freedom. We must ensure that our current policy reflects this proud tradition.

I urge you to review these recommendations and look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

Robert Menendez
Member of Congress

cc: Secretary Michael Chertoff

(Pdf can be found here.)

...Now let's get the thing moving, shall we?

From Ramon Saul Sanchez

Via Net for Cuba, a statement from Ramon Saul Sanchez, on his ninth day on hunger strike:

STATEMENT FROM RAMÓN SAUL SÁNCHEZ

My express Will and Determination:

I, Ramón Saúl Sánchez, prohibits that any person, entity or government institution including the paramedics, remove me from this site of the hunger strike, at the Monument of the Martyrs of the 2506 Brigade, to be transported to any hospital, clinic and or other location that provides medical services. This I ask in the event that I loose consciousness, I humbly ask that my will be respected in this prohibition and determination.

This prohibition will be instantly lifted in the event in which the President of the United States, or whom he designates, proves in writing or gives public Testimony that the United States government is willing to meet with the Commission that represents The Cuban Community.

Signed by:

Ramón Saúl Sánchez
Exilio, 16 de enero del 2006
10:40 AM
Mi voluntad expresa

Witnesses:
Josefina Vento – 1/16/06
Ahmed Y. Martel – 1/16/06

As I mentioned in this post, please contact the White House, contact your senators and representatives, and lobby for the end of the inhumane and ridiculous wet-foot/dry-foot policy.

Pssst, fidel. Oye. Listen.

Here's another Cubanito on the net that speaks the truth.

And here's another one. And next week there will be a few more. And the week after that there will be a few more. And the week after that and so on and so on..

That Cubiches blogroll is getting bigger and bigger, fidelito. And the truth growing louder and louder.

Update: Y otro mas.

MLK, Ramon and a dream

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life for what he believed in. He fought tooth and nail for equality for African Americans. For civil rights. For what was moral and just. Today is a national holiday in this country honoring the life and work of the late reverend.

All over the country there will be parades and homages. Speeches and sermons. Vigils. Marches. All of them, of course, well deserved. Earned. Martin Luther King paid with his life for what he believed in. For what was right.

Today, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as this country both mourns the death of and celebrates the life of MLK, there is another man, a leader of a community following the footsteps of today's honoree and fighting, risking his own life for what is moral and just and right.

It is the ninth day of Ramon Saul Sanchez's hunger strike. Nine days without food, in solemn protest of the wet foot/dry foot policy that has repatriated thousands of Cubans seeking freedom. Seeking equality. Seeking civil and human rights. The very same thing Martin Luther King gave his life for.

Somewhere in Little Havana, Ramon Saul Sanchez, his body weakening from lack of sustenance, is lying on a bed ready to give his life for others.

So I urge you all, today, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, to find a littlle bit of that spirit for freedom, of that spirit for what is right and support Ramon Saul Sanchez. All he is asking is that you contact your government and ask them to put an end to the wet foot/dry foot policy.

Please, email the White House, contact your senators and representatives, and let them know that there are others who have a dream.

More here, here, here, here, and and excellent source of contact information links here.

Words of a Cardinal

As Hugo Chavez consolidates Marxist power in his Cubazuelan dictatorship, putting the unions, the civil societies, the media, and the soldiers into prison, his only lingering opposition is one he hates and fears, the Roman Catholic Church. And like the Church in Eastern Europe during the Iron Curtain, it is now beginning to challenge him.

Its senior Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara, has this to say about the nightmare descending on Venezuela:

"A government democratically elected seven years ago has lost its democratic way and shows signs of dictatorship, where all powers are in the hands of one person who exercises them in an arbitrary and despotic way," Cardinal Castillo added, “not for the purposes of bringing about the greater common good of the nation, but rather for a twisted and archaic political project: that of implanting in Venezuela a disastrous regime like the one fidel castro has imposed on Cuba, at the cost of so many human lives and the progress of his nation.”

“The seven years of this government,” he warned, “provide abundant proof of what the future of Venezuela will be like if this regime continues in power.”

Daniel in Yaracuy has a sober and brilliantly thoughtful analysis of what is happening in castro's colony, well worth reading here.

In Daniel's post, note the sad irony of the joy now in one Santiago, reveling in its happy Chilean democracy, while we all know there is no such thing in the other Santiago, the Santiago of beloved Cuba.

Hunger Strike Continues (UPDATE)

Courtesy of Net For Cuba:

DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT
4545 NW 7 Street, Suite 14
Miami, Florida 33126
Tel: 264-7200

AS RAMON SAUL SANCHEZ BECOMES WEAKER BECAUSE OF THE HUNGER STRIKE HE HAS REQUESTED TO BE TRANSFERED TO THE HEART OF LITTLE HAVANA TO BE AMONG HIS PEOPLE IN THE EVENT THAT SOMETHING HAPPENS TO HIM

Miami Jan 13, 2006-Ramon Saul Sanchez in the 6th day of his hunger strike, and becoming weaker day by day, has requested that he be transferred to Little Havana so that he can be among his people in the event something happens to him.

Members of the Democracy Movement, friends and supporters consenting to his wishes will proceed to transfer him on Saturday, January 14, 2006 at 12:00 PM to SW 8 Street and 13th Avenue in Miami in front of the Monument to the Cuban Martyrs where he will continue on a hunger strike until President Bush listens to his demands.

We urge Cubans and all people who believe and stand for human rights to come and show their support to the appeal he is respectfully making to President Bush.

__________________________________________________________

RAMÓN SAUL SANCHEZ AL SUFRIR LOS EFECTOS DE SU HUELGA DE HAMBRE PIDE SER TRASLADADO AL CORAZON DE LA PEQUEÑA HABANA PARA ESTAR CON SU PUEBLO EN LA EVENTUALIDAD DE QUE LE OCURRA ALGO

Miami 13 DE ENERO DEL 2006-Ramón Saul Sanchez en su sexto dia de huelga de hambre debilitándose dia a dia ha solicitado ser trasladado al corazón de la Pequeña Habana para estar con su pueblo en la eventualidad de que algo le ocurra.

Miembros del Movimiento Democracia, amigos y simpatizantes han escuchado sus deseos y sera transferrido este sabado 14 de enero a las 12 del dia a la calle 8 y la 13 avenida del southwest, frente al monumento a los mártires cubanos donde continuará su huelga de hambre hasta que el Presidente Busch escuche sus demandas.

Urgimos a todos los cubanos y a todas las personas que creen en los Derechos Humanos que pasen a saludar a Ramon Saul Sanchez para de esta manera mostrar apoyo a la justa reclamacion que se le hace al Presidente Bush.

Por el ejecutivo

Norman del Valle
Alberto Pérez
Luis Felipe Rojas

UPDATE: Click here for the latest info.

Radio wasteland?

I had a difficult week.

I had multiple deadlines at work that had me working till after 8 on two nights and almost midnight on Thursday. I had an emergency root canal on Tuesday afternoon, and then went back to work until almost 9; the after procedure pain was so intense that three Tylenol with codeine didn't even make a dent in the pain. To end my week on a positive note, I had a minor fender-bender yesterday -- on Friday the 13th -- that was my fault. "Hello, State Farm? Start sucking the dollars out of my account now, please."

So this weekend was going to contain major chilling. Last night I had a double Old Heaven Hill Kentucky ten-year old bourbon on ice that began the decompression process. Today I slept in a little and woke up to find a beautiful SoFla winter morning: sunny, cool and breezy. I decided to go buy breakfast for the crew (tostada cubana, the obligatory croquetas for my son, pastelitos, and cafecito -- ain't America grand?).

I get in the car and after I've driven a bit I realize that I hadn't brought my iPod with a great Cachao album I've been obsessing over (¡Ahora Si! -- listen to the seventeen minute "Guajira Clasica" and marvel at this music!). So I turn on the radio and tune to the local News Talk station WIOD. I didn't recognize the talk show host that was on. After a minute or so the host intoned:

Ladies and gentleman, it's Friday the 13th all over again...

Quote of the Day

From the ever-fertile mind of William F. Buckley, Jr. via Jay Nordlinger at National Review:

The purpose of an open mind is to close it, on particular subjects. If you never do — you've simply abdicated the responsibility to think.

Isn't that beautiful?

That's the message for all of those in the media and the castro apologia crowd that accuse us anti-castro Cubiches of being closed-minded and intolerant: Yes, our minds are closed shut on the subject of the asesino and are not subject to reopening...

You wanna know what I think?

A Babalu exclusive! Must credit Babalu!

The blogosphere's first posting of blogger brain MRI photos:

Sheer brilliance

Shamelessly lifted from our friend and cohort Mahone Dunbar at Paxety, I introduce you to the 2006 version of belafonte's "Day-O":

The cartoon at the top of Paxety's post is excellent, but the editorial "Some Reflections On The Black Left In America" following the lyrics is a must read.

Today's must read

Via Scott G., the following from FrontPageMag:

Symposium: The Southern Front

By Jamie Glazov
FrontPageMagazine.com | January 13, 2006

On December 18, 2005, Evo Morales and his Socialist Party won the presidency in Bolivia. Regarding Che Guevera as a personal hero and vowing to be America's "nightmare" during his campaign, Morales met with Cuba's dictator Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez after his election victory -- making his political allegiances clear. Just recently, Morales met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and called communist China an "ideological ally." These developments are of increasing concern to the U.S., recognizing that Morales' new membership in the Castro-Chavez southern offensive has become obvious.

To discuss America’s Southern Front with us today, we are joined by a distinguished panel of experts. Our guests today are:

Humberto Fontova, the author of Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant.

Steve Johnson, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation whose area of expertise includes Latin American and Cuban affairs.

Philip Peters, the vice president of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. He is an analyst of U.S. policy toward Cuba and advisor to the Cuba Working Group in the House of Representatives. He has testified before Congressional committees and the U.S. International Trade Commission and served as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on U.S.-Cuba Relations. (ed. Alright Philip!!)

and

Jaime Suchlicki, the Emilio Bacardi Moreau Distinguished Professor of History and International Studies and Director of The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami. He directs the Cuba Transition Project sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development. He is the author of a dozen books on Cuba and Latin America, including Cuba: From Columbus to Castro.

I urge all of you to take a few minutes of your day and read the whole thing.

Caite pa' 'tras!

This editorial from the Miami Herald on the 2 FIU Cuban spies threw me for a loop just now. Not the whole thing mind you, but just the last line:

The charges are serious. If the government proves its case, the punishment should be equally severe.

Whodathunkit? The Miami Herald actually allying itself with its Cuban-American community.

Much ado about nothing

There have been a bunch of articles and editorials written about Cuba's success in the treatment of AIDS. I guess if one ignores the quaranteening and the mistreatement of homosexuals on the island one might be persuaded by fidel castro's propaganda machine to believe such nonsense. But the reality is a little more like the following:

Sanitation poor at AIDS sanatorium

HAVANA, Cuba - January 11 (Amarilis C. Rey, Cuba Verdad / www.cubanet.org) - A patient at an AIDS sanatorium in Menocal, Havana province, complained here that sanitation at the facility is so poor that it imperils patients' lives.

"The water is contaminated with trash, stones, and leaves. The tanks are not cleaned and neither is the drinking water boiled. One can often see cats, dogs, and even cattle ambling through the kitchens and dining area," said Frank Leal.

Leal, who said he had been struck with diarrhea along with other patients recently, pointed out a sample of what he said was the sugar used at the hospital. It was noticeably contaminated with foreign particles.

There are more than 100 patients at the sanatorium.

Triskaidekaphobia

Happy Friday the 13th folks! For those that are superstitious, it's probably going to be a long day for you. Not only is it Friday the 13th, there's a full moon on the horizon....

Just for kicks...

Go to Google, type in "fuck fidel" and click IM FEELING LUCKY.

I know I know, my mom would have fits if she saw me being so...so...tan prosaico.

Still, it's got to stick in someone's craw, dont ya think?

BTW "Comemierda" works perfectly as well.

Miami Herald finally catches up to Babalu

They have reported the 1982 congressional testimony about Elsa Prieto Alvarez that was described on Babalu three days ago here. That testimony described how accused Cuban agent Elsa Prieto gave mental health records of hospitalized Cuban emigres to castro's henchmen in Havana.

Score one for Babalu, we were there with this detestable detail first.

More seriously, they confirmed what I didn't have time to do (this is the difference between journalism and blogging), which is the fact that this woman was the same Elsa Prieto Alvarez who had just been charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of the castro regime.

This congressional testimony suggests that as an unregistered foreign agent, Elsa committed human rights violations againt Cuban refugees, U.S. citizens and the standards of her profession, by revealing confidential records, all in the name of castrodom.

That's a losing, hopeless cause if there ever was one, because castro does not even have history on his side, and it's a crime that's sure to put her in jail for a long long time with no castro to ever bail her out. Not that he cares, of course. She wanted to be castro's toilet paper so that made it easy for her to hand over mental health records of innocent Cubans to uninnocent castro. She's one sick, sick woman.

Too little, too late?

The saga of the 15 bridge rafters continues:

MIAMI (AP) -- A federal judge hinted Thursday that he thinks the federal government may have erred when it repatriated this week 15 Cubans who had landed on an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno said he would not rule immediately on the emergency lawsuit filed on the Cubans' behalf by family members and an advocacy group seeking their return, but he questioned the government's reasoning.

The government said it repatriated the Cubans because the bridge no longer connects to land. Under the government's "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay while those caught at sea are returned to the communist island.

Moreno said even those who disagreed with giving Cubans special protections under U.S. immigration law would have a hard time seeing the logic of the government's decision.

"So the question is whether this bridge is U.S. territory," Moreno told Assistant U.S. Attorney Dexter Lee. "I'll follow the law, whatever it is. I guess the law is very technical, but the average person would say that's a ridiculous distinction" of whether the bridge was U.S. land.

Moreno called the abandoned bridge built by railroad magnate Henry Flagler and converted into the centerpiece of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway in 1938 "as American as apple pie." The bridge was used for transport until 1982, when a new bridge opened.

Given the importance of the issue, which could affect thousands of potential immigrants, Moreno said he would not be rushed to judgment.

"When we act in haste, we repent in leisure," he said.

Lee said that the government would issue its response to the lawsuit by Jan. 26 and would ask the judge to dismiss the case. Even if it were ruled that the 15 Cubans could return, it is highly unlikely Cuban President Fidel Castro would permit it.

The attorneys representing the migrants, as well as the Cuban advocacy group Democracy Movement, also urged Moreno to clarify U.S. policy as to what constitutes U.S. territory under the wet-foot, dry-foot policy.

Moreno scheduled the next hearing for Feb. 15 but suggested the issue could be resolved before then if the Bush administration steps into the case.

"Maybe by then there will be some decision from Washington, and the plaintiffs will decide it is moot," he said.

After the hearing, migrant attorney William Hernandez said he was pleased by the judge's comments.

"He's not going to prejudge the issue," he said. "But it appears he thinks it's a very important issue.

The Cubans thought they were safe when they reached the bridge Jan. 4 after more than a day at sea. But the historic bridge, which runs side by side with a newer bridge, is missing several chunks, and the group had the misfortune of reaching a section that no longer touches land.

Earlier this week, U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart, all Florida Republicans, urged the White House to support a review of the policy.

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., went a step further, calling for an overhaul of U.S.-Cuba immigration policy.

The wet-foot, dry-foot rule was established in 1995 as a way to stem a massive wave of Haitians and Cuban immigrants, while still offering a safe harbor for Cubans who reached U.S. shores.

Heh. Looks like someone was sitting there looking out of La Ventanita and got the scoop on old Babalu.

Pastors Pricks for Peace

Finally, the Treasury Department is showing some cojones and going after all the members of the Pastors for Peace and the Venceremos Brigade who travel to the island prison to help maintain the Cuban people in bondage.

Via Net for Cuba via Free Thoughts:

The Treasury Department is threatening to slap fines on activists from two organizations that openly defy U.S. restrictions on travel to Cuba.

BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com
THE MIAMI HERALD

WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department is cracking down on members of Pastors for Peace and the Venceremos Brigade, U.S. groups that have long organized trips to Cuba in open defiance of U.S. regulations restricting travel to the island, the groups say.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Treasury branch that enforces U.S. sanctions against Cuba, has sent letters to about 200 travelers from the groups asking them to provide information on their latest trips. The letters are the first step in a process that could lead to fines of about $7,500 per traveler.

Pastors for Peace has been organizing caravans of vehicles carrying aid from the United States to Mexico then on to Cuba since 1992, and members have received OFAC letters in the past, said spokeswoman Lucia Bruno. But this is the first time OFAC has sent out so many letters, she said, suggesting a more aggressive enforcement attempt.
''This time it's different in that virtually everyone in the last caravan received the letter. Before it was sort of here and there,'' she said.

A HARDER LINE

The Bush administration has been tightening restrictions on travel to Cuba, and enforcing them more strongly, arguing that it wants to deny resources to the communist government and hasten its fall. In 2004, the administration collected $1.5 million in fines from 894 individuals caught traveling to Cuba without a license.

Only a few groups can travel legally to Cuba, including Cuban Americans, journalists, lawmakers and some trade delegations.
Most of the letters to Pastors for Peace and Venceremos Brigade were sent out in August and September but have only now been made public by the groups, Bruno said.

140 TONS OF AID

In July of last year, 130 members of Pastors for Peace, which defines itself as a special ministry of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizations, crossed the Texas-Mexico border with 140 tons of aid for Cuba. U.S. Customs officials let most of the aid through but confiscated 43 boxes containing personal computers and other computer supplies.

About 70 members of the Venceremos Brigade, which openly says it acts in solidarity with the Cuban revolution, went to Cuba via Canada in August to protest the travel restrictions and were slapped with warning letters, Bruno said. Both groups refuse to apply for licenses to travel to Cuba and announce their trips as challenges over the U.S. regulations.

What kind of people are they?

What kind of people are those like recently indicted on charges of espionage Carlos Alvarez and Elsa Prieto-Alvarez?

What kind of people join a community, not just any community, but a community like the Cuban exile community in South Florida, with the pretext of spying on them?

What kind of people live in a neighborhood of what are essentially their own people, knowing full well their stories and their plight, and then systematically stab them in the back?

What kind of people can live among persons like the old man that was a parking attendant in my office building, who spent 14 years and one day in castro's gulags, suffering untold brutality, humiliation and pain, and on one face act like the old man's friend, while on the other doing everything in their power to strip that old man of his dignity? Belittling every moment of pain, every second of angst, every tear shed for 14 years and one day?

What kind of people use that same community, those same people, their people, whom have all had to flee for their lives, for their freedom, to undermine them?

What kind of people use the kindness and support of their peers, working alongside them, being afforded every opportunity by them, to mock and help destroy everything they have built?

What kind of people use their positions of authority, in a community already beset by decades of pain, a community that fights with every fiber of its being the tyranny that stripped them of thier lives, their culture, their country, to recruit that community's youth to work against it?

What kind of people can live years in a community, going to birthday parties, Thanksgivings, Noches Buena, quinces, weddings and funerals for the same people they are working against?

What kind of people do that?

What kind of human beings do that?

How can people like that live with themselves?

How do they sleep at night?

My hope is that these spies, Carlos and Elsa Alvarez, when and if found guilty, suffer the shame, the pain, and are beset by neverending and constant pangs of conscience as they rot away in the prison cells they built for themselves.

Wanna see what idiots defend?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Rafael (aka: Myself), the photographer for many of the images displayed at The Real Cuba, during our radio interview on Radio Mambi. He's been in the US for a little over a year and he brought with him thousands of photographs showing the reality of today's Cuba.

He has set-up a website, Nuestra Cuba Libre, where many of his photos are showcased along with a must see PowerPoint presentation aimed specifically at all the castro cultists who expound on how fidel castro and the revolution are the best thing since sliced bread.

Please drop by and lend him your support.

Eeeeeww!

Look what Miguel found!

Un gran honor.

Bienvenidos a todos lo que llegen a este humilde portal en la red desde Radio Mambi. Mil gracias a Enrique y todos los de La Grande! Para mi fue un orgullo personal, como Cubano exiliado, como cubano-americano de la segunda generacion ser entrevistado por Enrique, y con tan buena compania como Jorge, Rafael y el Conductor.

Espero que les agrade los articulos y escritos aqui en Babalu y quiero que sepan que aqui siempre estan en su casa. Estamos para servirles.

Ya esta la cafetera en la hornilla, asi que no se pierdan, que el cafe viene con espumita y to'.

Y recuerden, siempre hay....

It's Only Business

That's what I'm trying to convince myself after reading this article regarding the recent Maine delegation trip to Cuba. I won't provide comment on the text, I just want everyone to soak in the incredible stupidity and lack of regard for the average Cuban displayed by the Maine delegation.

I know it's hard to read all the way through this type of drivel, but some of the quotes near the bottom are just incredible.

Also, the picture is priceless, especially the look on fidel's face. You know what he's thinking - "These comemierda Americans actually think they making a good deal, HEH!"

Hat tip: Mike Pancier

Robbins, Hoenig talk with Castro

By Christine Parrish
Staff Reporter

WALDO COUNTY (Jan 10): “Fidel Castro was very interested in Maine and very cordial,” said Jim Robbins, owner of Robbins Lumber in Searsmont.

Robbins was among the 20-member delegation that visited Cuba for five days in December. “Politics were not mentioned,” he said. “We talked business.”

Castro met for two hours with Robbins, state veterinarian Don Hoenig of Belfast, and other members of the Maine delegation, including Gov. John E. Baldacci. The discussion centered on trade.

“We discussed the environment, energy, forest products,” Robbins said. “He was very interested in cattle and had a passion for cattle breeding.”

After word came to the delegation that Castro wanted to meet the governor before he returned to Maine, Cuban officials selected nine members of the Maine delegation to attend the meeting.

According to Hoenig, the small group packed into black cars and raced through the streets of Havana to the convention center near the port, where they were ushered to a second-floor conference room after being relieved of their cameras, pens and notebooks.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro, center, is flanked by Don Hoenig, left, and Gov. John Baldacci, right, during a trade mission to Cuba in December. (Photo by Don Hoenig)

Hoenig knew Castro was interested in dairy cattle. Cuba is rebuilding its dairy herd with American purebred cattle. Last summer, Maine dairy farms, including Gold Top Farms in Knox, sold Holstein heifers to Cuba. Another trade deal for 100 more Maine cows is in the works.

“I steered the conversation to cows,” said Hoenig, who spent 30 minutes in a three-way discussion with Castro and former Maine Agriculture Commissioner Bob Spear about cattle genetics, breeding and selection while the rest of the delegation listened. Hoenig said Castro used an interpreter, but clearly understood English.

“We were like three dairy farmers,” Hoenig said. “He spoke with some authority on these topics and, of course, I was interested. I think other people’s eyes were glazing over.”

It was the second visit for both Robbins and Hoenig.

Robbins, who went as a lumber industry representative, is negotiating an agreement with Alimport, the Cuban importing agency, to sell lumber to Cuba for furniture construction. While the agreement has not been finalized, Robbins expects it will be later this year.

Robbins' agreement will be part of a larger agreement between Maine and Cuba that was signed by Baldacci. Cuba agreed to buy $20 million worth of agricultural goods from the state in the next year and a half.

The politically charged US trade embargo against Cuba has been in place 44 years, but a window opened in 2002 that allowed for some legal trade. In the wake of a hurricane that struck Cuba, the United States relaxed the trade embargo to allow export of food and agricultural products. Cubans and Americans seized on the opportunity to do business together, but some politicians recently criticized Baldacci for trading with the communist nation.

“I find it frustrating that Republicans rake [the governor] over the coals,” said Robbins. “I very much appreciate the governor going down there and getting jobs for Maine people.”

“The embargo is hurting us more than it is them,” Robbins added. “Everyone is down there doing business but the United States. It’s time to move on. We do business with all kinds of communist countries. Just look at China.”

Hoenig, who was in Cuba in an advisory capacity to answer questions about cattle, not to make deals, reflected on his two visits to a nation that is only 90 miles from the United States, but remains an enigma for many Americans.

He has worked with several people from the Alimport importing agency and with Cuban veterinarians checking over Maine cows. He is acquainted with them well enough to ask them about living conditions.

Compared to Americans, Hoenig said, wages are unimaginably low. But every Cuban, he was told, has basic housing, health care, food and schooling. Cuba, he learned, has a low infant mortality rate, a low obesity rate, and a low level of malnutrition.

Hoenig said the infrastructure of Havana is crumbling, however, and the pollution is severe.

“The location of Havana is stunning,” he said. “It is one of the most beautiful spots for a city in the world. A seawall runs along the front of the city for three of four miles, with the Atlantic right there.”

“Parts of the city were beautiful, these buildings from the 1930s,” said Hoenig. “But I saw people outside washing their clothes in puddles, so I guessed there was no water in the building.”

Both times he visited Cuba as a delegate, Hoenig said he felt he was under surveillance and could not avoid a feeling of paranoia — part of which he attributed to childhood memories of hiding under his desk at school during air-raid drills, after the U.S. standoff with the Soviet Union over the presence of Russian nuclear missiles in Cuba.

“You go in there with the knowledge that you are being watched and recorded,” he said. “That’s all.”

That thud you heard?

Oh, just some reporter for the AP falling out of the tree.

Cuban-Americans May Hold GOP Accountable

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, Associated Press Writer
18 minutes ago

MIAMI - When 15 Cubans fleeing their homeland landed on an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys, they inadvertently found themselves in an uncomfortable legal spotlight — one the Republican Party is sharing.

The plight of the immigrants — deported Monday back to Cuba — has reopened the bitter debate over the government's immigration policy and angered South Florida's heavily Republican Cuban exile community.

"This will have an effect of reducing the numbers of Cuban-American voters that would blindly follow a Republican candidate," Cuban American National Foundation President Pepe Hernandez said. "Cubans are going to realize that both parties come when they need us but tend to forget our pledges when they don't."

The migrants were returned after the government concluded that the partially collapsed bridge they landed on — which no longer connects to any of the Keys — did not count as dry land.

Under the current "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are allowed to remain in the United States. Those stopped at sea are sent home.

Coming on the heels of more stringent deportation policies for Cuban migrants, and amid a wave of GOP calls for tighter immigration enforcement, some community leaders wondered whether the deportation will cost the party support among one of its staunchest bases.

"It was a total abuse, how all these Cubans were treated. They landed on our territory only so that we can send them back to hell," said Armando de Cristo, a city employee, 66, who fled Cuba 30 years ago.

Lawyers for relatives of the repatriated Cubans filed suit in U.S. District Court Tuesday, requesting a federal judge allow them to return to the United States and issue a legal definition of "U.S. territory" in connection with the wet-foot, dry-foot policy.

Florida Congressional representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart, all Cuban-American Republicans, urged the White House to support a review of the policy.

Republican Sen. Mel Martinez went a step further, calling for an overhaul of U.S.-Cuba immigration policy. "The policy is wrong and it ought to be changed," he said.

The issue has become more thorny for Republicans as the party grows increasingly split over immigration, said Damian Fernandez, head of Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute in Miami.

"I think that at some point, the dissonance between rhetoric and practice will have some sort of result, whether it's a reformulation of the policy or a political fallout — with people's allegiance to the Republican party eroded," Fernandez said.

In recent years, the wet-dry policy has become more stringent, and the number of Cubans attempting to immigrate has continued to rise, Fernandez said. More than 2,700 Cubans were stopped by the Coast Guard in 2005, more than twice the number stopped in 2004.

Republicans have enjoyed solid Cuban-American support as far back as the Kennedy administration, which many exiles blamed for the failure of the Bay of Pigs.

The forced removal of Elian Gonzalez brought Cuban voters to the polls in record numbers to vote for President Bush because they were unhappy with the Clinton-Gore administration's handling of the case.

Elian, now 11, set off a seven-month custody battle after he was rescued off the Florida coast in 1999. His mother died at sea, and his Miami relatives and Cuban exile groups fought to prevent his return to Cuba. He was reunited with his father in Cuba after an armed federal raid April 22, 2000, on his relatives' home.

Cuban-American activists said they hoped the latest incident will spark a review of the wet-foot, dry-foot rule, which was established in 1995 as a way to stem a massive wave of Haitians and Cuban immigrants, while still offering a safe harbor for Cubans who reached U.S. shores.

Hernandez said local Cuban-American leaders are trying to work with Washington to revise the policy rather than revert to the protests that became a staple of the Elian crisis.

"Instead of simply screaming about how unjust this is, we should try to impose a solution," Hernandez said.

As he watched friends play dominos in Little Havana on Tuesday, Alberto Cuervo, 57, said he was angered at the government but admitted the latest incident was unlikely to affect the community's vote.

"We tend to forget very quickly," he said.

Dont you just love the ridiculousness of the title of this article? Sure, we may hold the GOP accountable, only because that's the party in power at the moment. We all know it was old Billy Clinton himself, poster boy for the Democratic party, who instituted this insane policy. You think any Democrat will get my vote?

Not likely.

Radio reloj da la hora...

Good friends George of The Real Cuba, the Conductor of Cuban American Pundits and I will be on the radio this afternoon. We've been invited by Enrique Encinosa, whose book Unvanquished: Cuba's resistance to fidel castro is a must read, to come on his show today on Radio Mambi.

We'll probably be discussing our internet battles with fidel, and it should be great entertainment. At the least, you get to hear me butcher the Spanish language.

You can tune in by clicking the "Escuchanos" link on the sidebar here.

Oops. I forgot to tell you it's at 2:00 pm. Be there or be square.

Oh, and dont forget to wish the youngest of our Cuban bloggers a happy birthday today. Brandon turns three.

Fontova on Wet Foot/Dry Foot

From Human Events Online:

Statistically speaking, escaping Cuba is deadlier than escaping East Germany used to be. More Cubans die in the attempt. Well, thanks to a policy put into place by president Clinton, (and shamefully left in place) some of the lucky few who make it are now sent back.

I know, I know, we've got to control our borders, etc., illegal immigration is out of hand, etc. But just keep this in mind: none of this happened before Castro's glorious takeover. Indeed in the 50's more Americans lived in Cuba than Cubans in the U.S. As a percentage of population, Cuba took in more immigrants in the 20th century than any country in the Western hemisphere--and most of these were from Europe. People used to jump on rafts (primarily from Jamaica, Dominican Republic) trying to get INTO Cuba. People used to be as desperate to enter Cuba as they are now to escape. Escapees from Cuba to the U.S. traditionally qualified for treatment under the Refugee Relief Act passed by the Eisenhower Administration to accept refugees from the totalitarian regimes of East Germany, Czecholslovakia and Hungary. Well, Cuba still suffers from such a regime.

Wet Eyes, Dry Eyes

Or vice versa.

Chantel, as always, gets to the Cuban heart of the matter:

If the U.S. is going to play this twisted mind game with people who are already so messed up by geographical fate that they will brave the open sea WITH A BABY to get to freedom, then the policy has to be either merciful or absolute. Either everyone stays, or no one does. I know the latter is harsh, and isn't my preference in the least, but the majority of refugees do not reach land, do not win the big game show prize, and are sent back to retribution for the attempt. Our current policy encourages these attempts, because, hey, sometimes, some folks DO make it. Yet, I can't blame them for trying to make a life for themselves, for reaching for a place so close by, where free thought is prized and supermarkets never run out of food and the beaches are open to everyone, not just tourists.

Do read the whole thing.

Send them e-mail

The Department of Homeland Security invites your comments, any of which can be on the Wetfoot-Dryfoot issue. I sent mine.

You can send them yours here

Playing Devil's Advocate

Robert has an excellent post up on some of the reasons why there are less Cuban-Americans protesting recently, especially against the absurd wet-foot/dry-foot policy:

A reader at Babalu made an interesting comment about the reasons why there wasn't a massive Cuban-American protest in Miami regarding this incident. The reader suggested that Cuban-Americans don't protest in mass numbers because the Republicans are in charge. Interesting and worthy of consideration, but I don't think it's a primary reason.

Here's are my reasons:

- Lack of media coverage. There are many reasons for this, the war in Iraq, Farris Hassan, you name it.

- The leftover aftertaste of the Elian fiasco. Many people were burned and scarred by the events of early 2000. Many of those who protested in front of Elian's house back then, and were there when the boy was seized, had their fighting spirit sapped from them. Those people were once a big part of the core "protest" community. These days, you only have a couple of small groups who protest regularly.

- The Aging of the Cuban Exile Community. This one is closely related to the previous reason. The first-generation exiles are getting long in the tooth, and of course, many have passed away. It's not that the second-generation doesn't care (although some probably don't give a hoot), but it's a different type of activism and protest - one that is more traditionally American (meaning subdued and calculated). This is not a criticism of the old visible and vocal first-generation Cuban method of protest nor of the "American" style. Both methods can be effective. After Elian, however, most people seem hesitant to hit the streets yelling and screaming because of the backlash from the rest of the community.

Also, you have this phenomenom known as "blogging", where average, ordinary people can express their anger, outrage and disgust with a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and broadband connection. What a concept! ;)

- 9/11. The passion that was directed solely toward Cuban issues pre-9/11 has been at least partially diverted to the war on terror. 9/11 shook up many people and made us reflect on our priorities in life.

- Many still associate Wet Foot/Dry Foot with Bill Clinton. Maybe the reader has a point, but this one is down on the list. Clinton signed the initial policy, so he should get a lot of the blame. However, G.W. Bush has had an opportunity to end this ridiculous policy with a stroke of his pen, and hasn't. This fact isn't lost on most Cuban-Americans.

Playing the role of devil's advocate - and I'm sure I'm gonna get chewed out for this - I think there's one more reason to consider.

Perhaps there is a visible lack of support from the Cuban-American community because many dont think it appropriate for Cubans to come to the US, be granted political asylum and then return to Cuba - the very place they were pleading asylum from - the very first chance they get. I know it seems a bit heartless of me to mention this, after all families are separated and all that. But look at this from a non-Cuban perspective. Analyze this from a strictly American perspective.

Here is the US giving a certain immigrants special treatment - and it is special treatment, especially in the post 9/11 world - and allowing them carte blanche vis-a-vis immigration status and asylum, and then a major percentage of that same group turns around and returns - again, for whatever reason - to the very same country where they were supposedly personae non-grata.

Americans are very concerned with the immigration issue. It is now and will be a major point of political debate in the 2008 Presidential elections. And while the Cuban-American community does have a certain amount of political clout, there will be a point where the cons outweigh pros. That is, where the Cuban-American vote will fall well short of the immigration reform vote.

I agree that the wet-foot/dry-foot policy is patently absurd and inhumane and I think the Bush administration should put an end to it. However, given the immigration issue I mention above, compounded by this administration's concerns for Homeland Security, I cant help but get that "be careful what you wish for" feeling.

Would that be the same 'Elsa' ....

...who's been accused of being a castro agent? I found this item from Agencia EFE that described Carlos M. Alvarez and Elsa Prieto Alvarez in more detail. After that, I googled Elsa and got this 1982 congressional testimony about someone from Florida International University of the same name in the psychology department, who also was identified as a stone-cold communist member of the castroite Antonio Maceo Brigade. If that's her, she's been one heck of a sleeper agent for castro and has for decades performed valuable coercion services for the communist dictatorship on members of the Miami exile community. Look at the scary implications - in fact, that whole testimony is worth reading, it tells all about how castro operates against Miami Cuban exiles on a continuous basis.

The testimony:

***

Lourdes DoPico, also known as Lourdes Rey DoPico, had an active participation in the running, ownership and management of the firms Cuba Travel and Canaveral Travel. Both of these travel, agencies were providing tours to Cuba from the mainland of the United States of America. Both of these corporations were under investigation until late February 1982, when Canaveral Travel was indicted for Trading With the Enemy Act violations.

According to newspaper articles published as a result of those indictments, Lourdes DoPico was indicted on the same charges, and also charged with illegally transferring funds to Cuba.

Lourdes Dopico and her husband, Vicente Dopico, were also members of the Areito magazine, a socialist-communist publication, printed in New York City, and allegedly funded by Cuba. This publication is distributed in the United States.

According to Espinosa, while working at Jackson Memorial Hospital, a county-owned hospital in Dade County, Lourdes DoPico was getting information of patients in their mental ward. The person who provided information for transmission to Cuba is alleged to be Elsa Prieto. Due to the nature of mental illness these records are protected by State laws and Government guidelines, and usually only upon court order or personal waiver and release, can the information be obtained by a third party. The access of this type of information to suspected or actual Castro agents is of a great concern to all. Imagine if you will, what a fantastic tool for extortion or manipulation a foreign government would have by having this information. Let us ask you, how would you feel if you, your relatives, or assistants had a history of mental illness, and if this information was leaked to Cuba or any other country? Can you imagine the pressure that they could exercise over you?

Elsa Prieto was identified by Manuel Espinosa during his first conference on January 31, 1980 as a member of the Antonio Maeco Brigade. The brigade openly admits to its communist ideals. The Antonio Maceo Brigade has had several of their members allegedly involved and linked with convicted black activist, Al Featherston, convicted during the early 1970's for teaching young blacks to firebomb schools in the black community. He recently was indicted by a grand jury on aggravated assault charges stemming from the shooting of some Mariel refugees at his home.

The Antonio Maceo Brigade has been active at Florida International University in Dade County in attempts to recruit and sign up persons to avoid the new draft laws issued by President Reagan.

Featherston is a self-proclaimed Marxist. While we are talking about infiltration into professional fields, several other examples come to mind....

***

Incredible!

UPDATE: The Real Cuba has more information about the couple's use of shortwave radio and other spy gadgetry to communicate with castroites here.

UPDATE: Cuban American Pundits have additional commentary about the need for vigilance here.

UPDATE: Here's a troll who came round Babalu a couple years back using the name Maceo. Probably one of them or their friends.

UPDATE: More activities of the Antonio Maceo Brigade - they are, naturally, involved in the Free The Five Seven 'struggle.' Same here.

Note: The name Antonio Maceo, however, is that of an authentic Cuban hero, who, like Simon Bolivar, had his name expropriated by castroites for communist propaganda purposes.

"The revolutionary process has been a failure"

Via Cubanet:

Havana, Cuba. January - "The situation must change," said a former military officer referring to the country's political and economic situations. "Otherwise, we must prepare for a violent end."

The former officer, who didn't want his name used, is now 70 and drives a taxi to make ends meet. Although he doesn't have the required licenses, he said his credentials as a retired member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces still have some clout and allow him to evade the occasional fine and possible confiscation of his automobile for using it in an illegal enterprise.

The former military, who said he had participated with Cuban forces in conflicts abroad, expressed disappointment. "I thought my old age would be different, but I was wrong. The dreams have become nightmares," he said.

"The revolutionary process has been a failure," he said. "Almost half a century thrown overboard. I think I realized it too late."

Bridge rafters returned to Cuba

Via Michael Pancier, the 15 rafters that made it to the bridge have been repatriated:

15 Cubans who reached Old Seven Mile Bridge bridge sent home

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
Associated Press
Posted January 9 2006, 2:19 PM EST

MIAMI -- Fifteen Cuban migrants who fled their homeland and landed on an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys were returned to their homeland Monday after U.S. officials concluded that the piling did not constitute dry land, authorities said.

Under the U.S. government's ``wet-foot, dry-foot'' policy, Cubans who reach dry land in the United States are usually allowed to remain in the country, while those caught at sea are sent back.

Earlier Monday, officials said the Cubans were aboard a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, as they awaited a final decision as to their status.

The historic Old Seven Mile Bridge, which runs side by side with a newer bridge, is missing several chunks, and the Cubans had the misfortune of reaching pilings from a section that no longer touches land.

The federal government said that means the group never actually reached U.S. territory, and could be sent home.

An attorney representing relatives of the Cubans had filed an emergency request Monday to prevent them from being sent back. The attorney asked the government to review the question of whether the bridge constitutes dry land.

The Cubans, including a 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy, left Matanzas Province in Cuba late on the night of Jan. 2 aboard a small, homemade boat. They were rescued by the Coast Guard from the base of the bridge just south of Marathon Key.

``The particular structure that they were found upon is not connected to land. The `bridge' is kind of a misnomer,'' said Coast Guard Lt. Commander Chris O'Neil, spokesman for the department's Southeast region.

O'Neil said officials in Washington determined the Cubans should be considered ``feet wet,'' because they were not able to walk to land from where they landed.

At least a dozen Cuban-Americans protested the Cubans' situation Monday outside the Coast Guard headquarters in Miami Beach.

``They are trying to go as far as they can ... to take away the immigrants' rights,'' said Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the Democracy Movement, a Cuban-American advocacy group.

Veteran immigration attorney Ira Kurzban, who is not involved in the case, called the Coast Guard decision ridiculous.

``The wet-foot, dry-foot policy has no foundation in law,'' he said. Kurzban said the policy is inconsistent with U.S. and international law, noting that the federal government's jurisdiction extends beyond dry land to waters as far out as 100 miles.

``International law says that refugees should be granted a hearing before they are forcibly returned,'' he said.

The Coast Guard announced that the 15 bridge Cubans were among 67 returned to their homeland later Monday. The group included 14 migrants intercepted four miles south of Boot Key on Jan. 1; 10 migrants were interdicted 30 miles south of Marquesas on Jan. 2; 12 migrants who were interdicted 25 miles south of Dry Tortugas on Jan. 4; and 12 migrants located 30 miles southwest of Cabo San Antonio, Cuba, by the research vessel Joides Resolution.

The wet-foot/dry-foot, an affront to the very ideals that make this country what it is.

Free the Five! Seven!!!

Looks like fidel is going to have to start changing all those web pages for those five "heroes" of the revolution caught spying in the US. Two more have just been busted:

FIU Professor, Wife Accused Of Being Cuban Spies

POSTED: 11:38 am EST January 9, 2006

MIAMI -- A college professor and his wife are charged with being long-time illegal agents of Cuban President Fidel Castro.

The Associated Press has learned that Carlos Alvarez, a psychology professor at Florida International University, and his wife, Elsa Alvarez, are charged with acting as an agent of Cuba without registering with the U.S. government as required.

Court documents say the two are scheduled to make an initial court appearance today. An indictment further describing the charges will be unsealed after that court appearance.

Alvarez is identified on the Florida International web site as an associate professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department. Elsa Alvarez is described as a coordinator in the social work training program, specializing in psychological treatment, crisis intervention and group psychotherapy.

Alvarez didn't return two phone messages left at his office. A university spokesman didn't return several calls.

Hat tip: Yamy

Googling the "traitors"

If the charges are verified against Carlos M Alvarez and his wife Elsita, the pair that's been busted for being castro agents, it's pretty fun to Google them. Spies try to present a fake and usually positive and respectable public picture of themselves ... all the while hating Miami Cubans and worshipping castro. We can see all sorts of stuff left around about them, stuff they never thought we would scrutinize because they never thought they would be caught. We can learn a lot about the picture they wanted to present even as they pretended to be noncastro normal people. One Google entry is here:

Carlos M. Álvarez is associate professor in the department of educational leadership and policy studies and a member of the faculty coordinating committee of thegraduate certificate program in conflict resolution. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Florida. Dr. Álvarez teaches graduate level coursesand conducts research on topics related to conflict resolution and the construction of ethnonational identities. He recently published a book entitled Ethnic Identity: Understanding Contemporary Perspectives. He has also published essays on the issue of Cuban American identity from a social psychological perspective. Dr. Álvarez has worked for more than 25 years as a consultant, visiting professor, lecturer, and trainer at different educational institutions in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain.

More here. And boy look at the Havana "academic" pals he's got here. 'Nother Havana sidekick here. Some of this guy's old academic papers listed at the bottom here. His Harvard ties here. Another paper he wrote, this one downloadable.

Sticks and stones...

...may break some bones, but words are much more powerful.

Most of you all know that the contributors to Babalú pretty much have free reign to post whatever they wish. I dont always agree 100% with everything written, but as long as the main point is in keeping with the message of this blog - and the work for a free Cuba - I usually let the entries stand. There have been a few posts that I've killed, some that Ive edited and some that I've let stand just to garner some reactions. Trust me when I say this, I think long and hard before editing or changing or unpublishing someone else's blog entry.

Yesterday, George posted an image that I had some issues with. So I called him up, explained my position and told him that I would add something to the post to clarify how I felt about that particular image. George, however, graciously and voluntarily unpublished the entry, even if he did not particularly agree 100% with me.

This is the image in question.

The graphic is innocuous enough, I guess. Un gusano, a worm, carrying the Cuban flag chasing after a scurrying communist cockroach, stating "Volveremos!" We shall return.

Now, I am a proud Gusano. If leaving Cuba because of our convictions and want for freedom makes us worms, then proud worms are we. And I do hope to one day return to Cuba, perhaps not to live there, but to see where I was born. Where my parents and family lived. To visit my Grandfather Valentin's grave and my Tia Amanda's - whose eyes grace the header of this blog - grave. And everyone that has read anything here on Babalú knows, absolutely, that I hate fidel castro his communists aparatchnicks and everything they stand for.

But the image of the roach, to me, doesnt convey an exact meaning. It's a little vague and the person viewing the image has to assume that the roach is a metaphor for fidel castro. If that assumption isnt made, it appears that we gusanos are waiting to return to Cuba to take over. And that, that is the exact same message fidel castro uses to keep the Cuban people on the island afraid of their brothers and sisters in exile. Had it been a bearded roach, dressed in fatigues, donning a big cigar, then its metaphor would have been clear.

I also have an issue with the rifle in the graphic. I am a gusano. I work to one day return to a free Cuba, if only as a visitor. Yet I do not carry a rifle. None of us do. Our weapons, the ones we need to win the battle, are a pen and paper, a keyboard and a mouse. And their ammunition is truth and reason. There may yet regretfully come a time for rifles and bullets, but not on our internet battlefield.

I know I may have some readers who wont agree with me, and hey, I certainly dont have all the answers. But the truth is on our side. And as much as I love to call fidel castro "el sumo hijo de puta" or "cagastro" or any other apppropriate negative connotation, we dont need all the hyperbole. We dont need to scream and holler all the time, we've been doing that for decades. Let's just show the obvious without exaggeration.

The truth need not be loud, it can be a whisper but it will still be the truth.

Something suspicious

The Jamaica Observer cites an AP report saying that Venezuela's oil sales to Cuba will remain 'flat' at 90,000 barrels a day for the foreseeable future. The reason cited is that Cuba has discovered oil deposits offshore and doesn't need any more.

Basura.

But what an interesting lie.

Wonder why Uncle Hugo is suddenly doesn't want to ship any extra oil to the bearded deadbeat of the Caribbean? Could it be that there's no extra refining capacity in Cienfuegos since the hurricanes? The article says that Hugo refines his oil, totally illogically, in Cuba, and Daniel has reported that that refinery is in Cienfuegos, hard hit by Hurricane Dennis this year.

The U.S.'s refining capacity is still down since its two big hurricanes last year, I'd be darn surprised if castro is somehow online and up and running after Dennis, given how hard it is for the U.S.

Or could it be that Hugo suddenly has less oil to give? He's certainly trashed his oil industry in Venezuela, and in many cases, turned it over to the castroites, who fly their Cubazuela flag proudly over there. castro doesn't pay for the $1 billion in oil he gets from Chavez every year, but the US does pay. And Venezuela this past quarter slipped from the number 4 exporter of crude to the US to the number 5, according to the Energy Department. They aren't selling us as much as they used to because they can't pump it out like they used to. They chased out all foreign investment in the country, calling them 'robbers.' Nobody's making new investments now.

But still there is no doubt they'd like to sell us more - we always pay on time. If the Venezuelans can't get as much oil to us for cash as they used to, one wonders how much oil they have left for the mendicant dictator who never pays?

Or could it be some sort of falling out from the two big-headed, long-winded tyrants? castro can't be happy about getting his oil ceilinged, he's always sold the excess to the Caribbean states for cold hard cash and lined his own pockets with the proceeds instead of give it to the Cuban people. Nominally, the deal is about getting services in return as well as long-term credit. Those services are Cuban doctors. Who just happen to be defecting in droves from Venezuela, leaving the octagonal doctor shacks in the slums of Caracas totally boarded up.

I wonder if Chavez is mad at castro about the absent Cuban doctors? There's an election year coming up and Chavez depends on those doctors to get votes. If there are no doctors because they've all fled, I bet Chavez is mad because he can't show potential voters how he's improved their lives. What's more, he knows that Venezuelans don't like it when he forks THEIR oil over to the detested communist dictator they can't stand anyway - while their own infrastructure crumbles. Chavez is real worried about this coming election (even though he cheats). After all, it's all about him, it's always all about him.

One thing is certain: the flat oil shipments are not about Cuba discovering oil. There is a long road between discovering oil, extracting oil, transporting oil, refining oil, and marketing oil. Huge contracts and service arrangements and foreign capital go into it all. Not one bit of that has happened in Cuba. Spain is playing around in that region but it's only that. C

uba has no oil from these discoveries and won't have any for a long time, so long as castro is around. It's not about the discovered oil, that's for sure. But castro isn't getting the easy oil he thought he would.

Hope it kills him.

Life After castro

As everyone finishes off the last of Val's pastelitos and croquetas, here's something else to chew on.

Apparently, the regime in Cuba is preparing against a possible upheaval after fidel's death, not only of the government itself but also of the Cuban people. This from a story in today's Miami Herald. Reporter Frances Robles discloses the regime's pathetic attempts to eliminate corruption and fraud. However, from reading the quotes from regime officials, it's not hard to imagine their underlying concern regarding their future.

Rare unease in Cuba on survival of revolution

Cuban government officials appear suddenly aware of their own -- and the socialist revolution's -- mortality, and they are talking about it openly.

BY FRANCES ROBLESfrobles@MiamiHerald.com

First, Fidel Castro used a loaded word seldom heard in Cuban government speeches: ''self-destruct.'' Then Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque made a rare reference to a future without Castro: a "void nobody can fill.''

And now experts are asking: Is the Cuban government for the first time undergoing an unprecedented introspection -- one that perhaps acknowledges a fragile socialist grip on the island?

In recent weeks, the Cuban government has made a series of rare public comments urging Cubans to embrace the revolution -- or risk its future. Having just celebrated the revolution's 47th anniversary, Cuban government officials are openly worrying that the generation of disaffected youth that grew up with scarcity and hard times since the early 1990s will be the very catalyst that destroys Castro's legacy.

And they're scrambling to stop it.

''This country can self-destruct,'' Castro warned during a five-hour speech Nov. 17. ``This revolution can destroy itself, but they can never destroy us; we can destroy ourselves, and it would be our fault.''

Castro's comments came as he announced a new push against corruption. He blasted thieves who live off stolen government goods, like gasoline, and said that since the crackdown, gas stations have begun to collect twice the normal revenue. His tirade against fraud came with the message that the looting of state coffers deepens class distinctions and jeopardizes the revolution.

In the following weeks, he announced economic changes, including salary hikes and electricity rate increases aimed at the ''new rich'' who damage socialism's credibility.

Castro, experts say, seems to be acknowledging his own system's failures.

Castro's comments were followed by a Dec. 23 speech at a National Assembly session by Pérez Roque, a former Castro aide who represents the younger generation of Cuban officials. Referring several times to Castro's Nov. 17 speech, he said that 1.5 million Cuban adults were about 10 years old in 1990, when Cuba began to feel in earnest the impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its massive subsidies.

Those children are now grown-ups who take cheap housing and free medical care and education for granted, Pérez Roque said, and never witnessed Cuba's prerevolution poverty.

''The fact that we have resisted all these years as we have resisted and battled, doesn't in itself guarantee we will be victorious in the future,'' Pérez Roque said, according to a transcript on the Foreign Ministry website. ``I think we should pay all our attention to the call made by Fidel, that phrase never said publicly in the history of the revolution: This revolution can be reversible, and not by our enemies who have tried everything possible, but by our own mistakes.''

Experts agree that Pérez Roque's comments are important.

''I am surprised this kind of stuff is spoken of this openly,'' said Mark Falcoff, author of Cuba, The Day After. ``It suggests two things: Castro's health may be as bad as the CIA says it is, and the [communist] party leadership recognizes they are going to have a rough time when he's not there.''

Two days before Castro's November speech, The Miami Herald reported that the CIA was convinced that the Cuban leader has Parkinson's disease and that the agency had briefed lawmakers on its findings.

Falcoff said the recent comments are particularly important because they contradict the standard rhetoric in Cuban government circles that the revolution has been ''institutionalized.'' The government, he said, is admitting it failed to capture its young.

''Nothing that happens in Cuba is an accident, above all anything these people say and say publicly,'' said María Dolores Espino, an expert on Cuba at St. Thomas University. ``They are positioning themselves for the aftermath. Castro wants the survival of the revolution to be his legacy, and they are preparing for that.''

Sunday Morning Ritual

Pastelitos y croquetas from Tommy's Bakery on Miller Drive:

Ham croquettes and pastelitos de guayaba, guayaba y queso, queso, jamon, carne and coco.

Oh, yeah baby. Seriously, dont you wish you were me right about now?

Urgent: Vote for Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chavez is running for Little Green Footballs' 2005 Idiotarian Of The Year. He's pulled into second place.

The Thug of Caracas and Master Perfect Latin American Idiot is closing in on the recognition he deserves. Vote for Hugo.

Do it for Venezuelans who have been denied the right to vote, vote this one little thing for them. After all, it was a Grand Idiotarian Emeritus, Jimmy Carter who sanctioned the electoral fraud that brought him to our attention in the first place.

In just one busy year, The Thug's showed his skill by talking barroom sex-fantasy filth to The Hon. Condoleezza Rice, managed to make Vicente Fox look good by yelling foul names after him over a trade issue, got into a shoving match with the Hon. President of Peru, broke into every television station in Venezuela to read off the names of dissidents and reporters he didn't like, broke into every television station just to sing strange songs, got drunk in the palace broke the furniture, faked his own death just so that he could watch the descamisados gather at his balcony and say how much they loved him, beat up his wife and wrecked her face, got a burping general elected governor of a Venezuelan state, put on a surgeon costume to play doctor on TV, promised a Brazilian samba school some money and never gave it, wasted billions on purchasing Argentine debt, gave away Venezuela's oil, bought a bankrupt Uruguayan airline, told the poor that to be rich was evil while wearing a $2000 suit and a Rolex watch, defunded his country's hospitals just to pay castro's doctors - many of whom defected, leaving empty Kuban Koban buildings where the doctors were supposed to be stationed 24/7. He just confiscated the nation's coffee, first with price controls that created shortages and just a few hours ago, with straight castroite confiscation, all the while he's known to drink 20 cups of it a day. He rammed his oil company in the ground, he did nothing about the one and only road and bridge to the airport that is just about to collapse, cutting Caracas, a city of 6 million people, off from civilization. Not that he hadn't been warned - and warned - and warned. He hugged and kissed Mugabe, hugged and kissed Zapatero, hugged and kissed the nuclear ayatollahs, hugged and kissed castro - many times. He called President Bush a 'pendejo' and (how's this for intelligence?) also called President Bush Mister Danger, declared that the CIA is plotting to kill him, told Ted Koppel that Operation Balboa (a military exercise 20 years ago) was the U.S.'s plot to invade Venezuela, played the bongos in the Bronx, launched a Barbie doll of himself, gave 'free' oil to castro and the corrupt congressmen of the Bronx and Boston while his own countrymen starved. He let investment bankers make a killing in his country but killed all job creation and left most poor people welfare recipients. He yelled that Jews -- er, the descendents of those who killed Christ the socialist revolutionary - rule the world. He gave passports to Colombian Marxist narcoterrorists and let them set up training camps in his country - one on the land of a rancher. He ordered swampland used by rare parrots and flamingos to be turned into a slash-and-burn collective farm growing 'yuca' the same crop Jim Jones' cult grew. He did everything he could to destroy his country, kicking his friends and kissing his enemies.

It's so gross. But he's worked hard and he's really earned the distinction of Idiotarian of the Year and deserves your vote.

Venezuelans are voting in this because it will be the only legitimate vote they will ever get. Some Lizards at Footballs site, here, don't seem to understand why they should vote for this thug and want other candidates. But we do understand. Let's help 'em out!

Vote for Hugo Chavez! The voting place, (and you don't have to register), is here.

It's critical that Hugo wins.

¡No Mas! -Vigil For Rafters

MOVIMIENTO DEMOCRACIA

4545 NW 7th Street Suite 14 Miami, Florida 33126

Tel. 305-264-7200 E-mail: movidemo@aol.com

EN PELIGRO DE REPATRIACION, EN VIOLACION DE LA PROPIA POLITICA PIES SECOS PIES MOJADOS, GRUPO DE 15 BALSEROS ENCONTRADOS EN PUENTE DE LAS 7 MILLAS

ESTE SABADO A LAS 11:00 AM, EL MOVIMIENTO DEMOCRACIA ORGANIZA VIGILIA CON FAMILIARES FRENTE AL GUARDA COSTAS

Miami, January 6, 2006 - En lo que pudiera ser un segundo caso de violacion por parte del propio gobierno de Estados Unidos de la politica de pies secos, pies mojados, el gobierno esta a punto de repatriar a 15 balseros cubanos, entre los que se encuentran varios niños y mujeres, luego de haber sido recogidos de encima de la estructura del Puente de la Siete Millas que conduce a Cayo Hueso. Hace solo unos dias, el Guarda Costas repatrio a Cuba a un grupo de balseros que encontro sobre el islote de arrecifes en que se encuentra enclavado el faro que orienta la navegacion en Cayo Hueso, el cual esta anclado desde 1873 sobre la plataforma continental de Estados Unidos.

El Movimiento Democracia esta organizando una vigilia de los familaires de los balseros a bordo del escampavias para este sabado a las 11:00 de la mañana.

Aparentemente, el gobierno norteamericano esta procediendo contra su propia politica de pies secos pies mojados al no reconocer como parte del territorio norteamericano a sus propios faros de navegacion anclados en la plataforma continental de este pais, o a sus puentes que conectan sus cayos con tierra firme.

Esto es a todas luces una intentona condenable de violar aun la de por si ya cuestionable politica de pies secos pies mojados en detrimento de los que llegan buscando libertad, luego de jugarse la vida. Si este paso se tolera en silencio, lo proximo que sucedera es que recogeran a quienes ya estan en tierra firme y los repatriaran, sin el menor derecho. Y asi continuaran quitando derechos y cerrando puertas, y condenando al cubano a mas desesperanza y sufrimientos al entregarlos, sin ningun sonrojo, a la tirania de la cual escapan.

ABOUT TO BE REPATRIATED GROUP OF 15 CUBAN RAFTERS FOUND CLINGING FROM THE SEVEN MILES BRIDGE LEADING TO KEY WEST

THE DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT IS ORGANIZING A VIGIL WITH THE REALTIVES OF THE RAFTERS IN THE MCARTHUR CAUSEWAY FOR 11:00 AM THIS SATURDAY TO PROTEST THE NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE WET FOOT DRY FOOT POLICY

Miami, January 6, 2006 - In what appears to be a second instance of violation of the wet foot dry foot policy by US authorities themselves in the cases of Cuban rafters, the government is about to repatriate 15 rafters that the Coast Guard found on a pillar of the Seven Miles Bridge leading to Key West, according to the relatives’ versions. The rafters are currently being held on a US Coast Guard cutter.

Only a few days ago, another group of rafters was repatriated after they were picked up by the US authorities on the structure of the lighthouse that serves the navigation heading to Key West, Florida, even though the lighthouse has been anchored on the continental platform of the Untied States since 1873.

The Democracy Movement is organizing a Vigil by the relatives that will take place this Saturday at 11:00 AM on the bridge next to the US Coast Guard Station in the Macarthur Causeway at the entrance to Miami Beach. The vigil is to request from the authorities that they revise the far-stretched new interpretation of the wet foot, and grant freedom to the rafters.

For additional information, please call Ramon Saul Sanchez or Norman del Valle at 305-264-7200.

REITERAMOS NUESTRAS PROPUESTAS PARA MEJORAR LA POLITICA MIGRATORIA HACIA CUBA

El Movimiento Democracia ha soliciatado reiteradamente que se consideren algunos cambios fundamentales a la politia migratoria de Estados Unidos de manera que esta:

¨ Sea mas respetuosa de las convenciones internacionales sobre refugiados,

¨ Sea mas en concordancia con las mejores tradiciones de esta nacion en terminos de respeto a los derechos civiles,

¨ Sea menos estimulante a la desobediencia de la autoridad en alta mar

¨ Ponga menos presion sobre los guardacostas que los llevan a actuar con exceso en ocaciones para acatar el mandato que les llega de Washington.

¨ Desestimule el trafico humano y prevenga a tiempo que se forme una mafia poderosa que no solo lucre con el dolor de los cubanos y haitianos, y ponga en peligro sus vidas, sino que dentro de poco comenzaran a matar personas que no tienen el dinero para pagar sus usureras cuotas por viajero.

¨ Sea mas humana

Entre las sugerencia que ha hecho el Movimiento Democracia se encuentran:

Proveer informacion a los familiares en Estados Unidos y Cuba cuando el Guarda Costas ha interceptado a las personas y los mantenie por dias y semanas a bordo del escampavias.
Que se de igual oportunidad a los que son entrevistados en alta mar que los que son entrevistados en tierra de manera que no se estimule la desobediencia a la autoridad, premiando con la libertad al que toca tierra (pies secos), y condenando a la reaptriacion (pies mojados) al que es interceptado en alta mar.
Grabar, sin editar, las intercepciones de los cubanos que escapan de la Isla para que no quede dudas acerca de que los procedimientos que se usan sean apropiados.
Que se graven en video cintas las entrevistas que ocurren a bordo de los escampavias a los detenidos para determinar su eligibilidad como refugiados o repatriados
Que se les permita a los interceptados asesoramiento legal aunque sea por medios electronicos (camaras y telefonos de satelite o internet).
Que se equipen los escampavias con el minimo de preparacion necesaria para albergar a los detenidos cuando estos van a permancer varios dias a bordo del escampavias.
Que cuando hay incidentes donde hay muertes, no se repatrien a los detenidos por lo menos hasta tanto se pueda adquirir de los detenidos la version de lo sucedido.
Que en los casos en que las embarcaciones vengan sobrecargadas de personas o traigan a bordo niños o mujeres (o ambos) que no se utilicen cañones de agua, cables o mayas que puedan hacer volcar las lanchas, o tacticas de decender con los elicopteros sobre las lanchas para crear turbulencia lo cual puede causar que se vire la lancha.
Leyes mas severas para los traficantes de personas por dinero, incluyendo condenas de maximo rigor para los traficantes que causen la muerte a cualquier pasajero.
Que se investigue a fondo la participacion de funcionarios del regimen de Cuba en la logistica y ganancias del trafico humano desde la Isla.
Un esfuerzo conciente, dentro de las limitaciones que todos conocemos, para informar a los cubanos en la Isla del peligro real que existe al tratar de salir de Cuba por mar.

Obviamente, mantener una politica migratoria con un regimen dictatorial es condenable siempre. Solo cuando desaparezca el principal causante de la tragedia cubana, cesara el exodo desde Cuba. Brindamos sugerencias porque no seria justo quejarnos sin proveer soluciones, que aunque imperfectas, son en nuestra opinion, posibles de poner en vigor. Al menos servirian para abrir el dialogo en busca de mejores politicas. Ojala que se nos escuche antes que una tragedia de aun mayores proporciones suceda. Lo hemos advertido bastante. Despues que no se nos llame irracionales.

Para mas informacion por favor llamar a Ramon Saul Sanchez o Norman del Valle al 305-264-7200.

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NetforCuba.org autoriza la reproduccion y redistribucion de este correo, mientras nuestra fuente (www.netforcuba.org) sea citada.

Evo Morales post, Miami Vice Edition

Ah, yes. The Miami Vice days. The eighties. The days of the marimberos - drug dealers - and their big brick Motorola cellphones. Drug cartels and cocaine on every table at every club on any given night of the week.

If you lived in Miami back then, you were all too familiar with the daily busts of drug dealers on the news. Car chases, shootouts, standoffs, the whole nine yards.

You also heard the drug dealer lingo everywhere. Marimbero. Tamalero. El Yeyo. Perico. Periquero.

So, being that Bolivian president elect Evo Morales is a coca farmer, I propose that he be referred to here on Babalu in '80's, Miami Vice, drug cartel marimbero lingo.

From now on, Evo Morales will be known as El Periquero. The purveyor of fine Bolivian perico, cocaine.

Now excuse me while I go put on some white baggy pants and a nice pastel sport coat. Ive already taken off my socks. The Ferrari's waiting with the top down.

Weekend homework.

Your assignment, boys and girls, is to enjoy every delicious document found here.

There may be a quiz on Monday.

Los Reyes Magos

Happy The Three Kings Day to all.

Via Ziva, this remembrance of Los Reyes Magos by Eloy Gonzalez (in Spanish) is a must read.

Capitalism 1, la revolucion 0

One of fidel castro's special projects - and one that set out with much fanfare - was the mini-vaca. A mini cow. castro himself, with Cuba facing severe food shortages, boasted that every Cuban would have a mini-vaca in their home in order to provide milk for each household.

Of course, like all of the regime's agrarian and agricultural reforms, it was a complete failure.

But, like my grandfather used to say whenever he'd see some new American invention Estos americanos son unos barbaros!

To wit: Cuba's capitalist imperialist neighbor to the North beat fidel to the punch.

Behold the American minicow.

Bust out the mini-burger buns, boys and girls.

Hat tip aelfeld.

Honors for Bolivians who fought che

...evidentally, the Bolivians are battening down the hatches, passing decrees protecting their heroes, because traitorous che-worshipper, Evo Morales, is blowing into town as Bolivia's next president.

The parliament has just given job security and well-deserved hero status to the Bolivian soldiers who took care of business when the invading Argentine brigand, che guevara, came calling. It's the right thing to do for these heroes who saved the world from so much bloodshed and communism.

The EFE story is here:

Bolivians who defeated che given job security

La Paz, Jan 5 (EFE).- The Bolivian former soldiers who defeated the guerrilla movement led by Argentine-born revolutionary ernesto "che" guevara in 1967 have been recognized as heroes of the state and cannot be removed from the public posts they currently hold, authorities said Thursday.

The measure was announced just weeks before the scheduled inauguration of socialist President-elect Evo Morales, an admirer of guevara and to whose party - Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) - belong close relatives of guerrillas who fought alongside the rebel leader in Bolivia.

Lawmaker Carlos Nacif, former chairman of the lower house's defense committee and one of the sponsors of the legislation, told EFE that the rights granted to these former soldiers were contained in a law that received final approval by the Senate on Wednesday.

guevara led an uprising of a small band of guerrillas in southeastern Bolivia, but was captured on Oct. 8, 1967, in an ambush by the Bolivian army - which received U.S. help - and executed the next day.

According to Nacif, the former army soldiers also requested a lifetime pension, which for the moment was denied because the Finance Ministry lacks the necessary funds.

Instead, the lawmakers guaranteed the ex-soldiers' permanence in the public posts where they are currently employed.

Nacif added that he did not believe President-elect Morales' future administration would fail to respect the rights of those who battled the guerrillas.

Two leading MAS members, Senator-elect for La Paz Antonio Peredo and Santa Cruz city counselor Osvaldo Peredo, are brothers of Guido "Inti" and Roberto "Coco" Peredo, who fought alongside guevara.

The members of the new administration "are guevaristas, but they have to recognize the importance of the Bolivians who defended their country in 1967, people who offered up their lives to save us from communism," Nacif said. EFE ja/mc

Peace, Love and Happiness.

I think those may have been the first three words I ever learned and spoke in English. Peace, Love and Happiness. I learned them on tv, sitting down in front of the tube with my grandparents and watching the Skipper Chuck Show.

Chuck Zink, the Skipper, died yesterday of a massive stroke. I cannot even begin to tell you how saddened I am. Skipper Chuck gave this boy fresh off the boat a true first glimpse of what America was. His demeanor and expressions and actions made me feel welcome in this new foreign world.

It was in the role of "Skipper Chuck" that Mr. Zink made his longest-lasting impression. He debuted as the skipper on Popeye's Playhouse in January 1957 on WTVJ, which at the time was the CBS affiliate station on Channel 4 out of Miami. He played the part until 1979, when Skipper Chuck went off the air.

His job, strictly speaking, was to introduce cartoons starring Popeye, the muscle-bound, spinach-chugging sailor man created by illustrator Max Fleishman. But Mr. Zink made more of the assignment than just segues between cartoons. He and his on-air nautical sidekicks regaled their television audience with friendly chatter, games and giveaways. Local children formed his live, in-studio audience.

Soon after the program premiered it was renamed The Skipper Chuck Show, an acknowledgement that the host was at least as popular as the cartoons he introduced. Entertainers such as Jackie Gleason and Danny Thomas, and sports stars including then-Miami Dolphins' coach Don Shula, would drop in to chat with the skipper and some of the estimated 14,000 children who sat in the studio bleachers during the show's run.

The Skipper Chuck Show also broke ground by putting children of different races together on the air at a time when integration was a bitterly contested idea in parts of the country.

"Colored and white children are now going to school together. They should be able to sit on my show together," Mr. Zink recalled in a 1999 interview.

After a while he began to end each broadcast by wishing his young audience "peace, love and happiness" and holding up three fingers. This variation on the two-fingered peace symbol became one of Skipper Chuck's signatures, and a gesture he often saw flashed back at him by fans who spotted him in public.

Rest in Peace, Love and Happiness, Skipper.

Let the rationing begin!

Mora has an excellent post up at Publius regarding the recent shortages the Venezuelan people are now facing. I've said all along that Venezuela is going to end up exactly like Cuba: poor, oppressed and rationed. What surprises me is how quickly these shortages have begun.

She also links to an AP wire story on coffee shortages and I just cant help but imagine the Venzuelans making their cafe the way the Cubans do: Used grinds and soy, packed tight for that delicious mejunje agua'o.

castro's news blockade to be smashed

The Miami Herald reports today that the U.S. has undertaken an aggressive new plan to smash through the real blockade choking Cuba - castro's blockade on the news. New airplanes with new technology will be launched to broadcast the truth about castro denied them in castro's puppet media. It's an edifying new development. The story is here.

The morning blood boiler

Bolivia's Morales To Be `Radical' With Oil Companies (Update 1)

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Bolivia's President-elect Evo Morales said he aims to be a democratic version of the Argentinian revolutionary (c)he (g)uevara and stop companies ``illegal'' operations as he embarks on a program to lift Bolivians out of poverty.

``The only difference with (c)he (g)uevara is that he used arms,'' Morales said at a press conference in Madrid late last night. [Historic note: che guevara publicly identified himself as a killing machine.]``We don't want to change things with bullets, but with votes.''

Morales, a Bolivian coca-farmers' leader, was elected president in a Dec. 18 poll pledging to challenge U.S. influence in Latin America and take more control of the country's oil and gas resources [Hilarious note: It's only Spanish and Brazilian companies left investing in his country, the North Americans yanked their money out long ago on word he was coming]. He has forged alliances with Cuba's Communist leader (f)idel (c)astro, who fought alongside (g)uevara in the Cuban revolution [and shipped the incompetent off to Bolivia soon as he could], and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

Read the rest here.

Last comment: che guevara is responsible for running Cuba's once-vibrant economy straight into the ground. Following che will take Bolivia down with it.

Russia cozies up to castro

You know that fast one Russia pulled against Ukraine this week over natural gas supplies? The Europeans, long ago, thought Russia could be trusted to not politicize the supply of oil. They were wrong, of course, and the hated cowboy of the Europeans, Ronald Reagan, was perfectly right about them and their bad intentions.

They've got much worse plans than that though. This past month, they delivered advanced military helicopters to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, something that could threaten not only Colombia next door but Miami itself, given the range of these machines (and the lunatic intentions of the dictator who now owns them.)

And Jeff over at Kinshasa on the Potomac points out that the castroite press is now touting fancy new visits from Russki generals, back to their old stomping ground, fidel castro's island carcel. They join the Chinese and the Iranians, all of whom are finding castro's no-invasion clause with the U.S. their license to be as much of a threat as they like. castro is providing them all a safe haven, confident that no matter what he does, he'll never be invaded. It's a scary, and perfectly logical connection to make, particularly when you read his analysis.

Read the whole thing here.

Ziva on the job....

She's going after Global Exchange this time, the Mother Of All Sandalistas, and its phoney baloney efforts to launch 'educational and cultural' tours of castro's island carcel.

She's got the handy dandy phone contacts at the ready and you all know what happened last time she went after some slimebuckets - Code Pink decided to go to chavista paradise Venezuela instead of Cuba this time, tail between their communist legs.

Check it out here.

Music, Maestro!

And a one, and a two, and a one two three four...

Go Seminoles!!!!

In response to yesterday's Tallahassee Democrat article on Amandla Mitchell, American medical school student in Cuba, we have the following from Francis C. Skilling JR., M.D., Selection committee member, FSU College of Medicine:

Cuba's medical programs don't equal America's

Re: “Student turns to Cuba for degree” (news article, Jan. 6).

Rocky Scott's article about Amandla Mitchell attending medical school in Cuba only hints at some of the problems encountered while attending a graduate program in a totalitarian communist state.

Students there are required to take courses in dialectical materialism, which supports a Marxist view of society. There are no equivalent courses in free market economics required of American medical students.

Cuban medical schools could never meet the minimal standards set for U.S. programs. Good education is expensive, but no qualified U.S. applicants are turned away because of need. Numerous grants and loans are available.

One of FSU College of Medicine's outstanding students is a woman who was born and raised in Cuba and was in her fourth year of medical school when her parents received a visa to the United States. Faced with starting completely from scratch in our educational system, she chose to leave Cuba and enroll in college in Florida. After finishing her undergraduate degree she was accepted in medical school in Tallahassee.

She will probably work as a physician with underserved populations in our state. She will enjoy the freedoms guaranteed to all citizens by our constitution. I don't think that Mitchell will be guaranteed similar rights if she desires to stay in Cuba.

FRANCIS C. SKILLING JR., M.D.
Selection committee member
FSU College of Medicine
skillingfam@hotmail.com

Day-O!!! No Day-O!!!

Chavez come and he wanna swallow.

Gracias Boston Globe

Finally some of the members of the fidel castro adulating MSM are starting to tell the truth about the tyrant and his despotic rule over Cuba for the past 47 years.

From the Boston Globe by Jeff Jacoby:

9,240 victims, and counting

THE LONGEST-RULING despot in the world is Fidel Castro, who seized power in Cuba 47 years ago this week. Like most dictators, Castro is a brazen liar, especially about his own regime. This, for example, is what he told an international conference in Havana in April 2001:

''There have never been death squads in our country, nor a single missing person, nor a single political assassination, nor a single victim of torture. . . . You may travel around the country, ask the people, look for a single piece of evidence, try to find a single case where the Revolutionary government has ordered or tolerated such an action. And if you find them, then I will never speak in public again."

One would have to be willfully blind -- a useful idiot, in Lenin's phrase -- to believe such a reeking falsehood. But when it comes to Castro, useful idiots have never been in short supply. From Norman Mailer to Jean-Paul Sartre, from Jesse Jackson to Ted Turner, a long line of admirers has swooned over the bearded tyrant, lavishly praising his wisdom and charm -- and never showing the slightest interest in his real record: cruelty, repression, and a death toll in the tens of thousands.

But Castro's mocking challenge -- ''try to find a single case" -- is not going unanswered. The Cuba Archive project (www.CubaArchive.org) is working to document the cost, in human life, of more than five decades of Cuban dictatorship. The New Jersey-based archive's tiny staff has set itself the monumental task of identifying every man, woman, and child killed by Cuba's rulers since March 10, 1952, the day Batista ousted the island's last democratically elected president. Meticulously, impartially, the archive's researchers are assembling the evidence that Castro claims doesn't exist -- victim by victim, one death at a time.

It is heartbreaking work. The revolution's victims have died in front of firing squads and been beaten to death by government goons; they have been sunk while at sea and shot down while flying; they have been killed for resisting communism at home and killed when sent to fight for communism abroad. In the hands of Castro's jailers, some have been driven to suicide; many more have disappeared.

The 9,240 count is just the beginning. We all know this number will reach the tens of thousands if not break into six figures. It's been 47 years of brutality after all.

If you havent visited the Cuba Archives, I suggest you do so and lend them your support. They are taking on a very painful and monumental task, digging through the lies of the castro regime in search of the truth. From their About Us page:

A profound lack of understanding of the huge cost in lives of the Cuban Revolution has contributed to pervasive ignorance of the brutal nature of the Castro regime. The names and faces of many victims remain unknown, their stories untold. Telling their stories may move people and nations to demand the end of oppression. More enduringly, learning of the human cost of these tragic events can move people to forsake violence as a means to forge their history.

Uncovering and telling the truth will honor the memory of those who've paid with their lives, helping find meaning to their sacrifice. It is a precious gift to present and future generations that deserve to live in peace.

Hat tip: Dick T.

Where is Oliver Stone when you need him? (UPDATED)

Good friend George of The Real Cuba - who incidentally has an excellent interview on clandestine radio here (fast forward about 2/3) - has posted the latest in the who killed JFK conspiracy.

If you dont know the beast of the island it may seem a little far fetched, but if you understand who fidel castro truly is, it might just make complete sense.

I wouldnt and doesnt surprise me at all.

UPDATE: Paxety has some excellent excellent stuff on this here.

La Ventanita

I still walk up to them with a certain reverence. La Ventanita. The name alone alone conjers up something almost ethereal for me. La Ventanita. That little place, el timbiriche, with that distinct aroma of cafe cubano brewing. With that unique sound of frothing for un cortadito. That place you used to go to with your dad or your abuelo. And you'd walk up to the window and they'd order their cafecitos and you'd just stand there staring at the contents of La Ventanita.

Chiclets. Violet Candy. Doublemints. Los caramelitos de miel. The honey candies with the bees on the wrapper. Las postalitas. Baseball cards and those other ones you'd buy and have to fill the album. Where you would always need that one postalita for that one page and you'd have to get packs and packs and packs to complete the album.

All of those little kid treasures, of course, right next to los tabacos. Cuban cigars of every make and model. Boxes and bundles. Lanceros. Robustos. Gordos. Flakos. The ones that even as a kid you knew were crappy cigars. Flor de la Montaña. La Esperanza del Rio. Reina de la Hoja.

Candy and cigars. Right there in front of you at little kid eye level. Of course, candies and cigars side by side inside a glass case was something completely normal for you. It's only later on that you realized just what an inherently Cuban thing that is.

En La Ventanita.

And, if you were a smart kid, a precocious one, you'd always try to listen in on the conversations from los viejos. Chistes, baseball and politics. Siempre y sin falta. At La Ventanita you'd always hear the latest news from Cuba and in our standard animated fashion.

All of the worlds problems were always discussed at that little place, that little window in that restaurant or cafeteria or timbiriche with the Formica counter and the candies and cigars encased in glass below.

Well, we now have our very own Ventanita here in the blogosphere. There may not be Chiclets or Padrons for sale, and the aroma of cafe cubano will be difficult to come by, but the debate and the commentary will always be there.

At La Ventanita del Wall Street Cafe transplanted from La Habana to cyberlandia via New England, USA.

HELP WANTED

So you may already know that Ive been contacted by the organizers of the Cuba Nostalgia Convention and offered an exhibit space for the 2006 event in May. Considering all the work that went into last year's convention - the planning, the procurement of internet, audio/visual and other equipment, the networking, booth design, tshirts, the rumbera models, the whole nine yards - I thought it best to get an early start this year.

Now, we've got a few interesting ideas we'll be looking into - podcasting, live video streaming, some more hitech stuff, instant messaging, a Cuba Nostalgia chatroom, among other things - but would really love to hear some suggestions. Those of you that were with us last year via the blog will probably be able to give me some excellent feedback as to how to improve this years event - for those on the net and those in on the floor as well. I want to make this years convention as interactive as possible.

One of the more difficult issues last year was the procurement of money and donations. Anyone that knows me knows that I rather do without than ask for money, and I certainly dont want to do a begathon here on the blog. Julio Zangroniz, Babalu Ace reporter at last year's convention, is working on some stuff to get some sponsorships but I would also like suggestions from all of you. Who do I need to pester for cash? What can I sell? You know the drill.

I gotta say, if Im able to get enough in sponsorship cash and do everything I want to do, this Cuba Nostalgia convention will be of unprecedented proportions.

And yes, we will still have a couple Email fidel stations. And rumberas. Lots and lots of rumberas.

El mulo and the Mullahs

More on Iran/Cuba relations:

Cuba is not alone in the Americas: Rafsanjani

TEHRAN, Jan. 2 (MNA) -- In a meeting with the Cuban Ambassador to Tehran Fernando N. Garcia here on Monday, Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said that people in Latin America are regaining their previous anti-imperialistic spirit, so Cuba is not alone any longer in the American continent.

He described the recent wave of anti-U.S. developments in Latin America as a sign of the revolutionary spirit of the region’s people challenging the global arrogance.

Rafsanjani stated that Iran and Cuba pursue independent foreign policies, which has led to an expansion of ties, adding that cooperation between the two countries in international fora and organizations can act as a determining instrument in countering the unilateral stances adopted by major powers.

Referring to Iran’s technical and industrial capabilities, the EC chairman said that the Islamic Republic can play a significant role in meeting the demands of Cuba and other Latin American countries, especially in the industrial, technical and engineering spheres.

For his part, Garcia said that Cuba would support Iran’s right to develop a peaceful nuclear program.

The ambassador said the two countries enjoy ample potential for expanding ties, noting that pressure on Tehran and Havana by major powers, especially by the United States, would positively affect Iran-Cuba ties.

The world just gets scarier and scarier.

And the dumbass award goes to...

Whoever goes to Cuba from the US to study medicine and makes a statement like "I can see American movies for like 5 cents."

Courtesy of one magnanimous fidel castro, the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization and Pastors for Peace, Amandla Mitchell, avid American movie watcher, is in Cuba working on a medical degree.

Because medical school is so expensive here in the States and there are no special quotas in Universities for black...oops...I mean African American students and other minorities. Because our universities arent "culturally diverse" enough and there are absolutley no grants or student loans that cater strictly to minorities here in the evil racist US of A.

Of course, Ms. Mitchell understands full well that fidel castro allowing one from the enemy state to study in Cuba isnt about politics.

It's all about a free lunch. And you know what they say about free lunches.

Paxety has more.

Cuba's Sad Anniversary -- 47 Years and Counting

This piece by the great Cuban writer is definitive ... and truly awesome. It will be a classic of the historic record of Cuba's long terrible nightmare.

It can be read here, here or here.

Cuba's Sad Anniversary -- 47 Years and Counting
January 3, 2006
By Carlos Alberto Montaner

Around this time we mark another anniversary of Fidel Castro's triumphant drive into Havana at the head of his little army of bearded men, an event that happened no less than 47 years ago. At the time, the comandante was an impetuous and bold young man, convinced that he knew how to restructure humanity so everyone might become wealthy and happy, even if the way to achieve such a benevolent objective were to beat everyone into submission.

At this point in history, only two interesting questions remain about the failed experiment staged by Castro on that poor island:

• First, why has a man as eccentric and absurd as he -- capable of carrying out feats as improbable as the destruction of the centenary sugar industry, multiplying by 10 the number of prostitutes, executing or eliminating 16,000 people, and pushing into exile 15 percent of the Cuban population -- lasted so long in power?

Nobody doubts that his administration is the worst the country has ever endured, incapable for the past half century of allowing Cubans to have drinking water, electricity, food and shelter in minimally reasonable amounts.

• The second question also is obvious: What will happen when he disappears? After all, we're talking about an ailing 79-year-old man with Parkinson's disease who exhibits very clear symptoms of senile dementia and has been struck by several cerebral ischemias that have affected his ability to communicate. He mumbles, repeats himself, becomes incoherent and confused, and displays aggressively bad temper at the slightest contrariety.

He can still talk for eight consecutive hours without the slightest concern for his listeners' bladders. What's important is not his staying power but the content of his speeches. He is a pitiful man who never stops uttering nonsense, to the embarrassment of a ruling class that has been trained to obey a charismatic and presumably infallible leader and now doesn't know what to do with this addlebrained and neurotic old geezer who just as blithely designs pygmy cows as he expounds on the unfathomable scientific secret of pressure cookers.

The first question has a very simple answer: Castro has lasted almost five decades in power, despite being a disastrous head of government, because he has created a hermetic institutional cage from which no escape is possible. His permanence has nothing to do with his talent as a leader, the era in which we live or his ability as a strategist. He is sustained not by his virtues but by his defects: his lack of scruples and his unlimited capacity for inflicting harm even on those who surround him, as shown by the execution by firing squad of Arnaldo Ochoa, his best general.

Castro holds utter control over the parliament, the judicial system, the armed forces and the communications media. Meanwhile, the political police watch, intimidate and punish any member of the power structure who deviates even one millimeter from the official line.

The democrats in the opposition -- a handful of extraordinarily brave women and men who are constantly spied upon and infiltrated by the security corps -- cannot move beyond the strict limits imposed by the apparatus, either. When they do, they are incarcerated, mistreated or killed without the slightest compassion.

Why don't the Cubans get rid of Castro? For exactly the same reason the North Koreans don't get rid of Kim Jong Il: because they can't.

However, after his death everything will begin to change, probably at a very rapid pace. Why? Because the ruling class is beset by a profound demoralization. They obey not because of conviction but because of fear and because they know that the dictatorship doesn't even allow for voluntary marginalization. Either they bow their heads and applaud, or they're wiped out.

That humiliating situation will begin to change during the comandante's wake, when everyone -- Tyrians and Trojans -- will feel a huge relief as the coffin is lowered into the pit and the grip of the dictator's hand around their necks vanishes forever.

That will be the moment when the regime's reformists -- a huge majority -- and the democrats in the opposition will begin, peacefully and systematically, to tear down that anachronistic madhouse.

©2005 Firmas Press

The General Consensus

On fidel castro from his Imperial Emperor Misha:

Of course, he has been on his shaky last legs for quite a little while but, in the interest of New Year’s Optimism, here’s to hoping that they soon shiver their last and drop out from under him, leaving him as an empty husk of vileness on the ground.

Couldnt have said it better myself.

The Lady on the Sidebar

We Cubans, for the most part, like our women shapely. Como una guitarra, with the silhouette of a guitar. And just now, as I scrolled down the blog perusing the content for the past week or so, I noticed there's a guitarra on my sidebar. The silhouette of una Cubanita.

Her name is "Archives".

(I know, I know. It's a bit of a stretch, but please, allow my imagination to do its thing for a bit.)

And this Cubanita on the sidebar, while very young still, has grown. Turned herself not only into a fine woman, but the very proud mother of the shapely silhouette directly below her.

That one is called "Cubiches."

Back in June of 2003, when I first started Babalú, my aim was to write about Cuba and life as a Cuban-American with the hopes of opening some eyes and showing those interested what we exiliados are all about and why we fight tooth and nail for the freedom of Cuba. I never had any visions of grandeur. My goal was not to be a top dog in the blog world. Still isnt. I simply wanted to have a place where people could read about the reality of Cuba, the truth without the media slant.

I certainly never thought Babalú would help topple the dictator, but at least it would serve two purposes. First, being a small prickly thorn on the side of that regime that castigates the people of the island. And the second, for when the day finally comes, to serve as a place where the truth could be read by those who had been hoodwinked and lied to for over 40 years.

I certainly, back in June 2003, never thought I'd come out in the front page of the Miami Herald, or be featured in other outlets of the MSM. I also never even dreamt of having a couple hundred readers a day, much less over a thousand unique visitors daily and from all around the world. And nowhere in my wildest dreams could I have come up with being asked to be an exhibitor at a convention like the Cuba Nostalgia convention.

I simply wanted to tell our story. Maybe change a perception or three. Touch some hearts.

Yet something that still surprises me daily, and what I am most proud, are those people who have taken the initiative and harnessed that love for Cuba and her people and channeled it into their own blogs about Cuba.

This morning, as I sat scouring the net and news about Cuba, each time I began to write on one news item or another, I checked these blogkids - please allow me the audacity of calling them my blogkids - of mine and found that they already written and posted about almost everything Cuba related in the news. Even though I had been busy with other pursuits and not blogging, the truth was still getting out there. Whether from Miami or Atlanta or California or New York. The stuff that needed to be written was getting written.

Im no longer alone on the blogosphere soapbox commenting about Cuba. There's a bunch of great people here alongside me now hammering away at the lies, chiselling away at the misconceptions until the truth at the core appears. Those on the Cubiches blogroll - and there are others Ive yet to add to that elite list - are this blog's greatest accomplishment.

Today I am, truly, humbled.

The mailbag aint all bad

Since I shared a rather disturbing email with you all last week, I thought Id post one from the opposite end of the spectrum:

First of all before anything I want to thank you. Thank you for speaking the truth and not letting any ignorant stop you from exposing the real Cuba.

I'm Cuban and I was born there. In a nutshell this is my story. I only lived in Cuba for six years, but I remember so much. I was separated from my dad for years, I had to live and work in Venezuela like a slave with my mom. I know there're Cubans out there with worst stories than mine, but the effect that it had on me was tremendous. When small I didn't notice how sad my life was because that misery was all I knew. Now that I live here and I can see the difference it amazes me. I have heard the stories from my mom and dad, and I understand their hatred. I understand your hatred towards him, my hatred is so strong that I can't control it.

I'm young and I still have a lot to learn. I'm only 17 years old, but I know what I lived and the sadness of the separation. I was reading your story about "Los Gusanos" and it made me cry, cause it reminded me so much of when I left from Cuba. Well before I keep writing without stop let me get to my point. I haven't been able to find a good book about the History of Cuba, mostly about the Revolution and the atrocites, the lies, etc. If you could recommend me any good books I would highly appreciate it.

Thank you,
(name withheld)


P.S. I would like to admire you for your courage to be able to read the ignorant comments some people make in your blog, and be able to answer them and not block them. I was reading them and there was so much anger in me. It is sad when you know the truth, but you have to seat there here someone believe lies. It was an insult to me, but at the same time I thank God, because that is the reason I love this country. Freedom of Expression.

La lucha continua

Not theirs. Ours. Just take a look at the kind of fidel-friendly news out there:

Mexico's jungle-revolutionary clown, Subcommandante Marcos, flush with cash from castro-minime Hugo Chavez, is now doing a 'motorcycle tour' of Mexico, in a bid to 'unite' the left wing in Mexico which is trying to win a presidential election in July 2006. They might even succeed. More to the point, Marcos, the blond, blue-eyed 'defender of the indigenas,' a wannabe-intellectual, cashiered professor, classic Latin American Idiot, is trying echo the odious che guevara, who was another European brigand who made a sandalista run into a country in the name of Marxism, and on behalf of a people who were never his own. Many think the era of the great pith-helmet colonials from Europe seeking to 'better' the brown-skinned natives is long gone. But blue-eyed, wannabe-warrior-poet Marcos, trying to be che, shows it is not. We too live in an age of great colonial European adventurers playing at Rousseauvian romanticism about 'noble savages.' This garbage needs to stop.

The disgusting story of this rise in radical chic-dom and its insane glorification of a killer is here:

Zapatistas' "Marcos" begins motorbike tour through Mexico

La Garrucha, Mexico, Jan 1 (EFE).- Subcomandante Marcos, the leader of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, or EZLN, on Sunday began a motorcycle tour of Mexico with the aim of uniting leftist civil organizations before this year's national elections.

At about 11:25 a.m. (1725 GMT), the EZLN chief passed through the town of La Garrucha without making any public remarks or stopping to meet with the hundreds of indigenous Zapatista sympathizers, journalists and domestic and foreign activists who had gathered here expecting to hear him deliver a solemn speech.

Marcos is traveling together with other EZLN members, who are riding in a gray sport utility vehicle bearing the slogan "Security, the other campaign: EZLN" on its side. They are being followed by a caravan of dozens of other vehicles.

In brief remarks made in the town of Ocosingo, where he stopped to await the arrival of the larger caravan, Marcos said that he was happy to be making his tour through Mexico, which he added would last for six months.

The Zapatista leader, who is keeping in contact with his support unit by radio, has christened his black motorcycle with the EZLN initials on it "Sombraluz," which means "Shadow light" in Spanish.

On this tour, which he began on the 12th anniversary of the rise of the EZLN in the southern state of Chiapas, he has adopted the nickname "Delegado Zero," or "Delegate Zero." At present, it is not known if the guerrilla leader is carrying a weapon on his trip or if, as he had promised, he has left behind the weapons he has carried since Jan. 1, 1994, when the EZLN staged its armed uprising in San Cristobal de las Casas, a city Marcos will arrive at in the coming hours.

During his south-to-north tour, the rebel leader plans to meet with representatives of civil society in a process paralleling the formal presidential campaign leading up to the July 2 election to replace conservative President Vicente Fox.

Some Zapatista supporters on Sunday remarked upon the similarity of Marcos' journey to that made in 1952 by Argentine-Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara through Latin America with his friend Alberto Granado.

That trip was popularized in 2004 in "The Motorcycle Diaries," starring Gael Garcia Bernal, a movie based on the book of the same name by Guevara. The film, directed by Brazilian Walter Salles, won an Oscar for best original song in 2005. EFE aa/bp

2006, day one.

Me cago en tu madre, me cago en la revolucion y me cago en ti, fidel.