5 points for freedom

One of the best outcomes of our latest BUCL campaign was the relationship we as an organization established with Unidad Cubana. Unidad Cubana is an umbrella group of exile organizations that are working toward Cuban freedom.

One of the big and unfounded criticisms of the exile community is that they don't work with Cubans on the island to try to bring about change. Obviously there are barriers but it's happening. Unfortunately instead of covering things like that our local newspaper would rather sell scandal and controversy.

One of the best kept secrets (thanks to this news blackout experienced by the exile community) is that a common ground has been agreed to by the leading exile groups and the Assembly to Promote a Civil Society in Cuba. That common ground was established around these 5 basic points on August 10th of last year:

1. Freedom of political prisoners, without conditions and the cessation of harassment to the internal opposition.

2. The formation of a transitional government that will allow democracy in Cuba,
implying respect for human rights and individual freedoms such as freedom of expression, religion, organization, and the right to peaceful demonstrations, among others.

3. The formation of an Assembly or constituent Congress that will allow the introduction of a new Constitution by general vote and the adoption of the Constitution of 1940 during the transition.

4. Recognition of political parties and organizations of the Civil Society. To make a transitory law for elections, that will allow free elections in a short period of time, and at the same time will guarantee the participation of the entire Cuban nation.

5. To re-establish the law and restore order against arbitrary decisions. To take into account the aspiration of a new government in a republic that promotes unity and the well being of all its citizens.

Honestly I don't see how anyone can consider themselves a democrat if they disagree with any of these points. All of you who read this blog and care about Cuban liberty should become familiar with these points and post them on your blogs, web site, myspace pages and/or distribute them via email. These 5 points are not extraordinary. They are the building blocks for a free and democratic Cuba.

Ernesto in the sky with diamonds...

Mike Adams , Criminology Professor at UNC - Wilmington is calling for a monument to be erected on campus of one Ernesto "Che" Guevara:

Dear UNC-Wilmington Board of Trustees:

I am writing to ask a favor of the Board – one I hope it will take seriously in light of our institution's desire to fight hatred and intolerance on all levels. My request is based on my concern that the rising number of Che Guevara t-shirts among UNCW students reflects a profound ignorance of his life and his true legacy. I think that building a Guevara Memorial in the center of campus would go a long way towards remedying this kind of ignorance.

Looks like Humberto Fontova's latest on che is finally reaching some in academia.

Hat tip: Ernie B. (No relation to the Ernesto mentioned in the title of this post.)

Flying the Coop - Part I of IV

Photo: Hubert Matos (upper right) shortly after his arrest and in more recent years at his Miami residence.

Of course, most individuals with a cursory knowledge of Cuban history are well acquainted with the tale of Huber Matos - his days as a comandante, his eventual disillusionment with the revolution and his subsequent arrest and imprisonment. The details of the escape of Matos' adjutants some 47 years ago however, are much more murky and less known. Thus, I offer Bablusians a bit of insight into a jailbreak that "played out more like a cloak and dagger paperback thriller than true-life intrigue," according to journalist, Gabriel Diaz-Torres. Upon chatting with him this past weekend, I though it might be interesting to dust off one of his older pieces. That said, I'll be offering it in four parts, every morning for the next three days. With that, I offer you: "Flying the Coop" (Part I of IV). Note that same names and/or locations have been changed in a bid to safeguard the anonymity of certain individuals.

Flying the Coop - Part I of IV

Forty-six years ago, Juan Eugenio Villalobos was struggling amid the opening salvos of Fidel Castro’s revolutionary government when a chance encounter with a friend hoping to oust the strong-arm dictator changed the course of his life. An heir to one of Cuba’s largest industrial operations, Villalobos, then a man of 35, was about to be drawn directly into a drama that played out more like a cloak and dagger paperback thriller than true-life intrigue.

Photo: Juan Villalobos.

“I was a man who had never before involved himself in politics” says Juan, now an 81-year-old resident of Miami as he dusts off aging black and white photographs of the shipyards his father, Ramon Villalobos built over the course of 50 years. Until recently, the Cuban government ran the shipyards in a joint operation with the Dutch-owned Curacao Drydock Company, and in 2003, members of the Villalobos family registered the confiscated shipyards with the U.S. State Department’s Helms-Burton unit, intent on rebuilding the family business once the Castro regime falls. Although Villalobos was a self-described “apolitical,” his father’s companies had enjoyed numerous lucrative government contracts over the years. During the final years of the Cuban revolution, the shipyards, located in Havana's Casablanca district, had received a contract to apply armor plating to military trucks. The deal would come back to haunt Astilleros Villalobos and, indeed, the entire Villalobos clan. In April of 1960, the revolutionary government seized onto the possibility that vehicles outfitted at the shipyards might have been used by government forces to “hunt down and kill” rebel soldiers. The fledgling government would use the contracts as a pretext for confiscating the shipyards. Subsequently, a May 1960 issue of Cuba’s Official Gazette listed the “seizure of all equipment, utilities, tools, materials, etc” of Astilleros Villalobos, “known for its docks and factories. . .” Villalobos and his entire family were publicly slandered, put out of work and systematically harassed. One relative had already been sentenced to death over an unrelated issue and thus, Juan had more than enough reason to assist in a plan that would contribute to Fidel’s downfall. Leaning back in his chair, recalling the events of the autumn of 1960, Villalobos remarks that although he never agreed with Matos’ ideology and methods, he appreciated the way in which he would eventually confront Castro with allegations of communist infiltration in the new government. “It wasn’t vengeance that motivated me. It was a desire to do what was right for Cuba.”

On January 8, 1959, Huber Matos, formerly a teacher in Cuba’s Oriente Province, rode into Havana atop a U.S.-built Sherman tank alongside a bearded revolutionary named Fidel Castro. Matos, one of the top commanders in Castro’s rebel army, would later be installed as the military commander of Camaguey Province, but fate would deal him a different card. “I had become wary of where the revolution was headed after the tone of certain articles in the military gazette, Verde Olivo, took a decidedly Marxist turn.” On numerous occasions throughout 1959, Matos warned Castro that the revolution was in danger of being hijacked by communists. “He would blow me off, telling me there was nothing to worry about.” Finally, after repeated dismissals by Castro, Huber Matos announced his resignation in a heartfelt letter to Fidel, in which he explained his desire to avoid becoming an obstacle to the revolution. With words that sounded like those coming from a trusted friend, Matos wrote “I also want you to understand that this decision is irreversible, which is why I’m asking you not as Commander Huber Matos, but rather, like any of your friends from the Sierra – Do you remember? . . . . letting me return to my home as a civilian without my children having to hear in the street that their father was a deserter or traitor.” At that point, Matos had no desire to mount an insurrection against his former boss, although nearly 50 years later, Matos has made clear the fact that he would have eventually led his rabidly loyal troops against Castro. Resigning as Camaguey’s military commander, Matos had decided to take up teaching in his childhood home of Manzanillo.

Within 24 hours, a response came from Havana. “Fidel wrote back to me that he accepted my resignation and was sending Camilo [Cienfuegos] to relieve me.” Matos became alarmed by the somewhat insulting tone of the letter, however, and word quickly spread through the Camaguey military barracks that Cienfuegos’ true mission was the arrest of Huber Matos on charges of counter-revolutionary activities. The commander who had won the unflinching loyalty of his troops knew a bloodbath could ensue if he allowed the rumors to spread unchecked and without a personal response. With this in mind, he ordered his troops to stand-down upon the arrival of Cienfuegos, no matter what.

Part II of IV will appear tomorrow, August 1st.

Thanks for not sharing

In the "I can't make this crap up" Department: Vegans swear off sex with meat-eaters. There's a lot of comedy potential here, but I won't go there...

Cuba que lindo son tus paisajes...

Cuba que lindo son...

Cayo Saetía, Mayarí, north of Holguín:

Hat tip: Aymee

Wet foot/dry foot?

You should be reading this thread.

Some Spaniards are OK

Our friend Fantomas brings us this great 90 minute program in 2 parts from the Spanish News agency Libertad Digital.

Enjoy.

Part 1

Part 2

Hentoff shames the ALA

As a child, Nat Hentoff was encouraged by his local librarians to explore the world of ideas and imagination. He believes the citizens of Cuba also have the right to freedom of expression, and has challenged the ALA‘s governing council to take a stand.

A key policy of the American Library Association is its adoption of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers."

"It is my hope - and indeed, my expectation, knowing many librarians - that ALA members may begin to organize locally and regionally to bring to the governing council of American Library Association and the Fidelistas among the council's members this proposed resolution: "Resolved, That the American Library Association joins with Amnesty International, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, International PEN, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Organization of American States, the European Union Council and Presidency, the German Bundestag Commission of Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, the French Communist Party, and the national library associations of Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic and Slovakia and Poland" (the latter four know communist dictatorships firsthand) "in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of those persons involved in the operation of independent libraries and the release of all Cubans arrested in March 2003 and imprisoned following one-day summary trials in April 2003 for the nonviolent exercise of their freedoms of expression, association and the freedom to read."

This proposed resolution, which should be so natural and fundamental for the currently clueless governing council of the American Library Association, ends with: "Resolved, That the American Library Association call on the Cuban government authorities to return any materials confiscated from independent library collections which have not been burned or destroyed."

When I told Ray Bradbury about the persecution of these independent librarians, he authorized me to quote him as also demanding their immediate release. Any of our libraries that have "Fahrenheit 451" on their shelves should surely demand no less."

Read the Moment of Truth for U.S. Librarians here.

Pretend you're me...

...and tell us what I think about the "wet foot/dry foot" policy.

Ingratitude

I’ve been fortunate to work at the same technology company for about six years, located in one of the better office/industrial parks in Miami-Dade County. Every so often, while downstairs not wanting to violate the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act, a visitor will arrive -- and I know they are visitors and not workers in the building because of the deer-in-headlight look they have as they walk up to the building entrance -- that asks for directions. “Can you tell me where A is?” or “Is this the building where B is located?” Questions like that. Completely innocuous. My answer is "no" nine times out of ten. You'd be surprised how many do not have an address to find, just a general location.

This morning, a gentleman walks up to the north entrance where I smoke and asks if the office of a well-known Federal agency is located in my building, the second building, heading west, of the main drag. They had told him that the offices were in the second building. All of the compliant smokers tell him, “No, the offices are further down the road.” We explain that the building must be the second building as you’re heading east down the main drag. The gentleman then proceeds to walk away pissed off, talking very loudly, slamming the agency, slamming the fact that they had merged several locations into one, that they had probably fired staff, and finally – and this is the part that really, really pissed me off – that this government was no better than what he'd experienced in Cuba.

Being the shy fellow that I am I shouted back as he was walking away that he maybe he should return to Cuba, inasmuch as (1) being on the government dole was not enough, (2) being able to loudly complain was not enough, (3) he wasn't in a fucking prison for speaking out (like Oscar Elias Biscet is), and (4) that having the freedom to get in a fucking car and go down three blocks to the right fucking building with big numbers that any dolt could read in daylight was not enough. As I was finishing my highly-taxed, but enjoyable, cigarette, I muttered loudly under my breath and called him “and ungrateful blankety-blank” -- in English. You can fill in the blank.

I cannot tell you how pissed off I was, and how pissed off I still am. I am always stunned at the ingratitude of a certain type of immigrant or exile. They get more freedom than they could have ever hoped to have in Cuba (or any other hell-hole) and yet they complain and bitch and moan. Folks, I know that this country is far from perfect. We have problems galore. I can rattle off about thirty pretty quickly. However, even with its problems, it's still the best the world has to offer. Read what the always superb Bill Whittle wrote four years ago on the Fourth of July:

Today, on her 227th birthday, the United States stands astride the world as the most economically, militarily and culturally powerful force history has yet revealed.

Why?

Well, one reason is because here in America, a practically broke 19 year old kid can be the President of a Corporation, that’s why. Of course some of these fail. Most of them fail, spectacularly fail, flaming wreckage, oh-the-humanity failures. I’ve had many of these, personally. More will no doubt come. It’s easy to succeed in a country that lets you fail this often and this easily.

The ingredients for greatness, goodness, success, happiness and prosperity are not hard to find, and yet so much of the world is a political and economic disaster.

Again: why?

Because folks, it ain’t the ingredients. It’s the recipe.

So we’re off on a little all-American road trip, this time to figure out why our economy, when sick, is stronger than anyone else’s, when healthy. To see if we can figure out how 300 million strangers, all the troublemakers and upstarts from every nation in the world, can come to one vast continent, be given more freedom than any people before or since, and manage to become the most prosperous, powerful, tightly-knit nation in history. And how come we invent everything, too? Must be something in the water out there.

We’re gonna go find out. Let’s just hop in the car and see if we can’t chase down that American Dream. You know the one: Think of a better way. Take a chance. Start a business. Put in the extra time. Work hard. Buy a house. Live a better life than your parents and a poorer one than your kids. And do it all in a place where you can be free and happy and safe.

America is a success machine. Yes, it’s easy to fail in America. It is also the easiest place in the world to succeed, to do the big things -- become wealthy or famous -- or just carve out a comfortable little patch of ground to spend an afternoon barbequing or watch your teenage kid drive off in their brand new used car.

It’s a siren song for many people, this idea of freedom, this dream of making your own life according to a script you wrote in your head. But it’s not for everybody. It requires some courage, at times. It demands hard work. It can challenge your bland security. It’s not cheap, this American Dream – nor should it be. And it lives and breathes optimism. Without that you’re sunk.

"America is a success machine."

If you cannot leave a literal island prison, and kiss the ground you walk on for the liberty you have to do whatever you want to do, then I politely ask you to leave. As you leave, open the door for someone who wants to be here, who truly appreciates the miracle that is the United States of America.

A Congressman that gets it

I received the following from Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) regarding last week's Congressional vote on easing the embargo:

The Blessed Ranks of Free Peoples

The United States Congress perversely held a vote to expand trade with a state sponsor of terror: communist Cuba.

Fortunately, due to the leadership of Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart, this insane attempt to appease and enrich the totalitarian Castro regime died a deserved death by a vote of 182-245.

This was but another skirmish in the long running battle to ensure the dysfunctional Congressional thinking prevalent in some quarters never becomes a majority. It is ironic and disturbing some United States Representatives - who were freely elected by a free and sovereign American citizenry - could so cavalierly ignore or dismiss the true and cruel nature of Castro's communist and terrorist sponsoring regime and prize mere money more than human freedom.

Yet try these Representatives did in a time of war where Castro stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the enemies of America, pledges his allegiance and vows to conspire with them to bring our nation to its knees. Such an absence of moral clarity and adherence to one's sworn duty to defend America against all enemies in times of peace and - as we are now - in a time of war is inexcusable and unconscionable. Communist Cuba is a state sponsor of terror. Thus, for the sake of American and all human freedom, this state sponsor of terror must never be sponsored by the target of terror - our United States of America.

No. Castro's communist regime must be erased from face of the earth.

Through God's tender mercy and all lovers of liberty's faithful acts, the day will come when the sweep of human freedom cleanses Castro's taint from this "imprisoned island," and Cubans once more walk amongst the blessed ranks of free peoples.

- Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) is Chairman of the Republican House Policy Committee. You can reach him at http://policy.house.gov

Here's the House record for H8755.

Today's Must Read

At the American Thinker:

Regrettably, we will not hear a single American "activist" call for the release of Gorki Aguila or any other Cuban political prisoner for that matter. Regrettable because Gorki Aguila is just like them; an activist artist. Yet, unlike our Hollywood elite, Gorki faces real consequences. There is no courage without consequences and Gorki Aguila has shown more courage in a single interview than Michael Moore, George Clooney, Natalie Maines and Cindy Sheehan have shown in a lifetime.

Ouch.

Read the whole thing.

H/T Joe L.

A Glimpse of Cuba

From the Cementario Colon in La Habana:

The photo is from A Glimpse of Cuba where you will find many more images of the island paradise.

Come Cacas

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Now, if I may, let me ruin it for you.

There's a new trendy hot spot inthe West Village in NYC. A nice little rustic place where you can spend $16 on their signature drink - vodka, fresh citrus and spiced syrup - named the same as the establishment: "Socialista"

HANGING on a wall of Socialista, a new West Village lounge fashioned after a rustic Cuban bar, is a striking black-and-white snapshot. Taken in Cuba in 1959, it shows a relaxed Fidel Castro sitting next to a fresh-faced Lauren Bacall.

Guess who's one of the investors?

Why, none other than Mr. Human Rights himself, Sting.

Hat tip: a bunch of people.

A master of the cinema has passed

Ingmar Bergman, the great Swedish film director. has passed away. I have always found his films to be difficult to watch, always knowing, though, that I was watching a master at work. My two favorite Bergman films are Wild Strawberries, an elegiac examination of the tender nostalgia of an old man, and The Seventh Seal, a knight's encounter with death (played by the great Max von Sydow). The FoxNews obituary can be read here.

Florida Cattlemen Have Beef Over Cuba Policy

This story in the Palm Beach Post about a group of Florida ranchers who have done business with Cuba, and desire for the days when all economic restrictions against the castro boys are lifted. At the surface, this story is very similar to countless other stories across the U.S. of A. of politicians and farmers who are advocating a lifting of the trade restrictions which were upheld a few days ago in Congress. For the most part, this is the same old, same old from people who fail to understand the scope and magnitude of the Cuban "revolution".

The entire article will be posted under the fold, but here's a couple of sections from the article that pretty much say everything you need to know about where these folks' intentions really lie.

(Jim) Strickland is a fourth-generation Florida cattle rancher, grandson of Andrew Jackson Strickland. One of his traveling partners to Cuba has been Alto "Bud" Adams, 81, patriarch of the 16,000-acre Adams Ranch near Fort Pierce and 40,000 more acres in the state. Adams is the son of the late Alto Adams, a former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.

Both were encouraged to visit Cuba by John Parke Wright IV, a descendant of the Lykes family of Tampa, famed for its cattle, citrus and shipping interests, starting in the 19th century.

All of the men come from old, conservative political traditions. They are hardly the type who might be easily branded as commie sympathizers.

So what are they doing riding with cowhands from Cuban cattle-raising regions Pinar del Rio and Camaguey? Why are they risking the wrath of conservative Cuban exiles who believe the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba should be gospel?

The Florida ranchers say they sympathize with anyone anywhere who has lost family land. But that doesn't mean they are going to allow someone from South Florida to tell them where they can and cannot ride horses.

"How is it that Cubans in Miami can tell us what to do if we're Floridians, too?" Adams asks. "If it isn't illegal or immoral, I see no reason I shouldn't go to Cuba. I can't please everyone."

Mr. Adams would have been much more sincere if he would have said something to the effect of, "The loss of family land back in 1959 is a thing of the past. We're looking towards the future". Instead, he comes across as exactly what I believe he is, an opportunist who doesn't give a crap about countless Cuban cattlemen who lost their lands to castro.

Yes, Mr. Adams, there IS something immoral about what you're doing. The crazy Cubans in Miami have your number.

Still not convinced? Here's more:

(John Parke) Wright, 57, of Naples has been to Cuba dozens of times since and has visited dozens of cattle ranches, he says.

He proudly displays photographs taken with cattleman Ramon "Mongo" Castro, 82, the older brother of Fidel Castro, 80, and Raul Castro, 76.

On Tuesday, it will be one year since Raul Castro became acting president of Cuba, while longtime leader Fidel Castro convalesces from abdominal surgeries. Not much has changed in Cuba in that year, and the forays by the Florida cattlemen have continued.

"Ramon and I have become good friends over time," Wright says, a statement that would make blood boil over whole blocks in Miami.

There you have it. Wright and his compadres may call it camaraderie with fellow cattlemen.

I call it dealing with the devil.

Cattlemen strive to untie business knots with Cuba

By JOHN LANTIGUA
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, July 29, 2007

ADAMS RANCH, Fort Pierce — "Home, home on the range."

These days, a Florida cattleman singing those words might be reminiscing about his own ranch in the Sunshine State.

He also may be recalling his recent horseback ramblings through the plush pasturelands of Cuba.

Over the past several years, Florida ranchers - some from famous old families - have toured ranches on the communist island and saddled up with their cowboy-hatted counterparts. They marvel at the beauty of the Cuban countryside.

They also have shipped heifers and breeding bulls to those Cuban "friends" to help replenish the island's depleted cattle supply. They have even hosted Cuban officials on their Florida ranches to select the animals.

These ranchers are among a growing number of U.S. business owners who want to trade with Cuba. Some of them favor an out-and-out end to the 45-year economic embargo and travel restrictions against the island so they can form closer business ties with Cuban cowpokes. And they don't see the Cuban government as a barrier.

"When we go to Cuba, we don't talk politics," says Jim Strickland, 52, owner of the 6,000-acre Strickland Ranch in Manatee County, who has been to the island at least eight times.

"We're just vaqueros and ganaderos - cowboys and cattle ranchers - talking about our animals and our ranches with cattle people down there," he says. "We speak the same language. Cattlemen historically have always looked for new markets, and that's what we're doing."

Castro's brother a friend

Strickland is a fourth-generation Florida cattle rancher, grandson of Andrew Jackson Strickland. One of his traveling partners to Cuba has been Alto "Bud" Adams, 81, patriarch of the 16,000-acre Adams Ranch near Fort Pierce and 40,000 more acres in the state. Adams is the son of the late Alto Adams, a former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.

Both were encouraged to visit Cuba by John Parke Wright IV, a descendant of the Lykes family of Tampa, famed for its cattle, citrus and shipping interests, starting in the 19th century.

All of the men come from old, conservative political traditions. They are hardly the type who might be easily branded as commie sympathizers.

So what are they doing riding with cowhands from Cuban cattle-raising regions Pinar del Rio and Camaguey? Why are they risking the wrath of conservative Cuban exiles who believe the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba should be gospel?

The Florida ranchers say they sympathize with anyone anywhere who has lost family land. But that doesn't mean they are going to allow someone from South Florida to tell them where they can and cannot ride horses.

"How is it that Cubans in Miami can tell us what to do if we're Floridians, too?" Adams asks. "If it isn't illegal or immoral, I see no reason I shouldn't go to Cuba. I can't please everyone."

For Adams, trips to Cuba have been legal since 2000. That was when Congress passed an exception to the embargo against Cuba, the Trade Sanctions Reform Act. It allows direct sale of food commodities to the island and permits individuals in related businesses to travel there.

That change came in response to political pressure exerted by U.S. farmers, many of them conservatives. It was also partly a result of a Clinton administration agenda for more "people-to-people" and humanitarian contacts with Cubans.

Wright, 57, of Naples has been to Cuba dozens of times since and has visited dozens of cattle ranches, he says.

He proudly displays photographs taken with cattleman Ramon "Mongo" Castro, 82, the older brother of Fidel Castro, 80, and Raul Castro, 76.

On Tuesday, it will be one year since Raul Castro became acting president of Cuba, while longtime leader Fidel Castro convalesces from abdominal surgeries. Not much has changed in Cuba in that year, and the forays by the Florida cattlemen have continued.

"Ramon and I have become good friends over time," Wright says, a statement that would make blood boil over whole blocks in Miami.

Despite opposition in the exile community, Wright has a history of breaking down trade barriers with communist nations and hopes to do so in Cuba.

In 1972, just as partial diplomatic relations were being resumed with the People's Republic of China, Wright, then 22 years old, was dispatched to Asia by his family firm, Lykes Bros., to try to reopen shipping routes to China. The company, like other U.S. firms, had been out of China since the 1948 communist takeover.

Wright, who had studied Mandarin Chinese at the University of Florida, was ready. He went to work in the Hong Kong office of a British firm that represented Lykes and by 1974 had been transferred to Beijing. He began to forge relationships with Chinese officials, and by 1979 Lykes ships were allowed in Chinese ports, the first U.S.-flagged vessels to enter there in 30 years.

"The idea today in Cuba is the same as it was back then in China," he says, "a resumption of trade facilitated by friendship and understanding."

Loophole allows visits

The Lykes family had amassed considerable holdings in Cuba before Fidel Castro took power in 1959. They had shipped cattle to Cuba since the 19th century and eventually owned ranches and the largest meat-processing plant on the island.

The revolutionary government confiscated the family holdings, several million dollars' worth, as it did with other foreign firms.

Despite that, Wright says he feels no rancor toward the regime. In fact, given his experience in China, he says he has long opposed the embargo and other punitive measures against Cuba.

When the embargo exceptions became law in 2000, he started immediately to resuscitate the old relationship, with hopes of shipping cattle to the island out of Tampa.

He found other Florida cattlemen who were interested in the Cuban market, like Adams and Strickland, whose families also raised cattle that had been shipped to Cuba before the revolution.

"We were invited to go to Cuba, saddle up and make friends," Wright says. "We are following the economic footsteps of our ancestors and renewing the friendships between here and Cuba."

Along the way, they also have delivered some of the benefits of modern cattle breeding that Cuban ranchers, largely cut off from technological advances since 1960, had heard about but had not been able to access.

Breeding animals sent to Cuba have been developed with the help of DNA engineering. They are made to be raised in the tropics: breeds with short hair that don't lose great amounts of weight in the heat. Better animal feeds and veterinary practices are also part of the new know-how.

Professors from the University of Florida Department of Animal Sciences have traveled to Cuba to share what they know.

The Florida cattlemen want to sell more cattle to Cuba, and some would even consider partnerships with Cuban cattlemen once the embargo is lifted.

Their visions go beyond Cuba. Adams says that outside the tropics, most cattle breeders have "maxed out" on how many cattle they can graze in their location. The tropics are the next big source of meat for the world, and the breeds that he and other Florida ranchers have developed are the vehicles, he says.

"The new breeds we are working will do well in places like Africa, warmer parts of Latin America, etc.," Adams says.

Cuba, only 90 miles away, is a convenient place for Florida cattlemen to start making that work. In 1960, the island had 6 million head of cattle for 6 million people. Today it has 2 million head for about 12 million people, Wright says.

"When Castro came in, he said, 'Before only the rich people ate beef. Now everybody eats beef,' " Adams says. "They ate up all their cattle. Everybody ate beef for a year, and nobody has eaten beef since."

Critics of the communist government say Cuban agricultural officials compounded the problem by importing cattle that were wrong for the climate and by mismanaging ranches.

"Cuba has food, but it's all low-protein," Adams says. "Cuba has excellent pastureland and could be a big producer of high-protein beef for its people. Apart from doing business, this is an opportunity to do some good."

So far, Adams, Wright and others have provided about two dozen breeding animals. Another 275 are in the pipeline, and hundreds more have been shipped from other U.S. states. Wright also has helped the Cubans purchase more than 400 American dairy cows to increase the island's milk supply.

They are small steps toward renewing a business relationship with Cuba.

Adams recognizes that economic models would have to change in the Cuban cattle industry for any American rancher to do serious business there.

"Government people don't know how to run a farm," he says. "One thing is employment. We run this ranch with 10 people, and they would use 1,000."

None of the ranchers is trying to change the world overnight.

Adams says that for the moment they are satisfied to renew an old relationship with Cuba and start to bridge the bitter political divide.

"It's like moving a herd of cattle from one place to another. You move a herd real easy. You don't wanna spook 'em.

Professor de la Cova in Miami

The esteemed Professor Antonio de la Cova gave his presentation last night at at one of my favorite booksellers, Books and Books in Coral Gables, in support of his new book, The Moncada Attack, Birth of the Cuban Revolution. It was a fascination exposition, with Dr. de la Cova, encyclopedic as usual, defining, for probably the first time, the real story behind fidel's attack on the Moncada Barracks.

Until I read the book I'll have to say that the most tantalizing little tidbit I heard was about the planning of the attack. Or should I say, "lack" of planning. It seems that fidel, loaded as always with a full supply of BS, convinced many of the rebels to attack, yet in reality had no plan, had not properly studied the layout of the barracks, had not created an actual plan that would lead him to his goal. Very "seat of the pants" in its execution, with almost illiterate peasants doing the dirty work, and failing miserably. At one point I thought to myself that the rebels were more Keystone Cops than revolutionaries.

The summary execution of about 50 rebels, and the lack of prosecution on the part of Batista's government of that crime, according to de la Cova, lead inexorably to fidel's political victory, by giving a lousy military strategist, tactician and planner, an open door where a brilliant manipulator of public relations could take over. El Comandante -- what a laughable appellation -- turned a stunningly humiliating military disaster into a political bonanza that lead to January 1, 1959.

The conspirators served 22 months in prison for the murder of 19 soldiers and policemen until they were released in an amnesty signed by Fulgencio Batista. Quite a contrast with the way fidel has treated political prisoners.

One other tidbit: the professor has confirmed that fidel never uttered the phrase, "history will absolve me," at his trial. That phrase was added to the "transcripts" of what took place at the trial by fidel's lackeys, including Miguel Angel Quevedo of Bohemia Magazine, until it became part of the absurd legend of the heroic fidel and his brave revolutionaries. He ran that operation as well as he's run the country.

The event was taped for later broadcast on C-SPAN2's Book TV. We'll let you know when it's on so you can see and hear the presentation.

Books and Books, Tonight

Good friend Dr. Antonio de la Cova will be presenting his book The Moncada Attack at Books & Books in Coral Gables at 7:00 PM tonight. C-Span 2 will have a camera there to tape the reading for their Book TV feature. I urge all Babalu readers in the Miami area to see Professor de la Cova's presentation. You won't regret it. Among other things de la Cova busts several myths about the Moncada attack that come from both the pro and anti-castro sides.

The address is:

Books & Books
265 Aragon Avenue
Coral Gables
305.442.4408

Chuck Rangel: Useful Idiot Extraordinaire (Updated)

Looks like the Democrat Congressman from New York Charles "fidel's ass tastes like chicken" Rangel is up to his old lift the embargo tricks again:

Democrats Use Farm Bill to Reward Castro’s Terror Regime

The Democrats will reward Castro and his government by easing trade and travel restrictions for Cuban officials. A long-time supporter of ending the embargo against Castro’s terror regime, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) will offer an amendment to significantly alter our diplomatic relationship with Cuba in, of all things, farm legislation.

You can contact your congressman right here.

Update:

Amendment to Weaken Cuban Sanctions in Farm Bill Defeated

Ros-Lehtinen leads effort to stop attempt to ease banking, visa restrictions

(WASHINGTON) - Led by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), a bipartisan Congressional coalition today successfully stopped efforts to weaken economic sanctions against the Cuban dictatorship, one of only five regimes in the world on a U.S. watch-list of state-sponsors of terrorism.

An amendment to the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act drafted by U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, would have given the Cuban regime access to U.S. financial institutions through direct bank transfers.

The amendment also would have created special visas for Cuban regime officials to travel throughout the United States with access to the U.S. food supply through "inspections" of agricultural products for potential sales to Cuba. The amendment was defeated on a vote of 245 to 182.

"The amendment would financially reward an avowed enemy of the United States - the Cuban regime - and throw open our doors to its intelligence agents and others dedicated to undermining our security. Responsible Members of Congress could not, in good conscience, vote for an amendment that would threaten U.S. homeland security by opening the door to terrorist travel and terrorist financing," said Ros-Lehtinen.

"Given Cuba's record of seizing assets and its failure to repay debt, which every credit agency in this country would rate as junk-level, why would we actively expand its access to U.S. financial institutions," she asked.

"This amendment would offer no real benefits to American farmers and would offer absolutely no assistance to individual Cubans or entrepreneurs because there are no Cuban entrepreneurs, only paid agents of the regime," Ros-Lehtinen said, adding, "We do not allow other state sponsors of terror, such as Iran, Syria, Sudan, and North Korea to establish direct accounts in U.S. financial institutions, and we should not change the rules for Cuba's thuggish dictators."

She also explained that of the five nations on the terror watch-list, Cuba has had the highest number of its nationals convicted for espionage in the U.S., and its "diplomats" are routinely expelled from the U.S. for spying.

Se la comieron!

The petulant pedantic parasitic pest gets a comeupance.

"Manuel LaChachaBoy"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

To whoever's brain child that blog is: you ate it.

Couldnt have happened to a nicer guy...

Michael Moore supoenaed for Cuba trip.

In memoriam

Thirty years ago today, I met death for the first time in my life.

I had been fortunate that at the age of twenty I had not had a close family member pass away, but that day, July 27, 1977, changed my life. My grandfather died at about 2 in the afternoon on that long and sad day thirty years ago. The day is as vivid in my memory as yesterday is. I was called at work and told that my grandfather, who had been suffering his second (and final) bout with cancer would not survive the afternoon. He had been in the hospital for almost a month. When I received the call I rushed to get to his side, but he had already passed away when I arrived. He and I had had talks before he died, about family mainly, and he knew he didn't have much longer to live. He faced his illness with courage and he never, ever, showed us any weakness in his last hours. He was regretful that he would never see Cuba again. As the man of the house, it was my responsibility to finish all of his arrangements, which I did. He is buried right here in Miami, next to my grandmother, although they will be reburied in Cuba when the beast has left.

Rogelio Modesto Garcia Perez was born in Havana, Cuba on March 25, 1890. He was from a poor family, as so many were in those difficult days pre-Republic. At the age of 13 his father died, and from that day he worked and supported his mother and two sisters by doing whatever job he could find. He was not schooled, in the traditional sense, he could hardly write, but he was a smart man, a man with the common sense that the street and a hard life gives. He read whatever he could about the world and was better informed than many with more extensive formal educations. He worked his way up in Cuba to work in casinos in the 20s and 30s. He became a croupier, and made a good living to support his wife and daughter, mother and sisters. When he retired, he opened a little furniture store with the modest winnings from a lottery ticket. That windfall allowed him to run a business and be close to home. The arrival of fidel changed all that. In 1960, at the age of seventy, he left everything behind, his house, his business, his pátria, to come here to the United States to begin a new life. He was penniless again.

My grandfather was not a religious man, but he was a man of faith. He always went to church but never went to mass. He was a loyal friend, always writing, or having me write for him, letters he would send to his other friends in exile that lived in New York City. He had sworn off his beloved cigars after suffering a bout with cancer, but always carried some in his pocket to give away. To this day, the smell of a good cigar brings back the memory of abuelo. He taught me how to play poker and blackjack. He would always remind me that de enero a enero el dinero es del banquero, a subtle reminder not to fall in love with gambling too much. He helped me buy my first car with a $200 loan. He taught me about women. He was a simple man who wanted the best for his family, not materially, necessarily, but something deeper. Thanks to his sacrifice, and the sacrifice of my grandmother, mother and father, I was given the most amazing gift anyone could receive. I was given the gift of freedom. The gift of being able to think and read and believe without fear of repression or imprisonment or the paredón. I have been able to give my son the same gift thanks to his sacrifice.

He was more of a father to me than he knew and I loved him dearly.

Gracias, abuelo. Nunca me olvidaré de tí.

Rogelio Garcia Perez
March 25, 1890 – July 27, 1977

Babalu Podcast

As you probably know, we have an internet radio show that we do live each week on Wednesday's from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Unfortunately we do a terrible job promoting it. One way to listen to the show (if you miss it live) is to listen the archived show. Click the image below to listen to the last show. You can also subscribe to the podcast and receive it automatically each week. Click here if you have iTunes and wish to subscribe.

Found, Herald Reporter - UPDATED

The SunPost's Rebecca Wakefield has written a piece about embattled Miami Herald reporter, Oscar Corral. The piece includes an interview with Corral. I have some thoughts the matter, from both the journalistic and Cuban-American angles. I'll limit my comments here to the Cuban elements of the story. For the journalistic angle please read Herald Watch.

Overall the article paints a picture of Corral as an idealistic young reporter who has been shunned by his own community through no fault of his own. I don't know Corral so I can't tell you whether he is idealistic but I can tell you that there are some legitimate reasons for the exile community to be angry and/or suspicious of the guy.

As I mention at Herald Watch, Corral's masterpiece was a hatchet job against his fellow journalists and fellow Miami Herald Media Company staffers. The story ended up being incomplete and wrong in so many ways that I can't catalog them here. You can read the archives of Herald Watch for that.

What is interesting is how Corral is playing the victim. Apparently he's taking a page out of the Mr. Ed Ana Menendez play book. It's the same old story about being harassed and threatened. He doesn't mention the fact that he gave the people that threatened him the forum to do so by completely ignoring what was supposed to be his own blog. Did he just realize that anonymous people tend to say outlandish and sometimes scary things on the internet?

What really makes me laugh is his characterization of the Herald as a fortress of truth. The Herald's anti-Cuban slant has been well documented and only now is the management at 1 Herald Plaza even trying to remedy to the problem which has accelerated the declines in circulation.

Something that is surprising about this "expert" on the exile community is how perceives his parents generation in comparison to other generations of Cuban immigrants. Corral says that:

One of the things that bothers some of the older hard-line Cuban exiles in Miami is that there is in fact a rich diversity of opinion among Cuban exiles and Cuban-Americans, as to how they feel about policy toward Cuba, and how they feel toward politicians their parents or grandparents endorsed.

What Corral says is partly true of course. Not everyone thinks the same way, that's absurd. But what upsets hard-liners, regardless of their age, is this constant focus by the Herald, and the Democratic party apparatchiks on the idea that the traditional exile political position is crumbling. But you need look no further than the election results every two years to see that the rumor of the demise of the intransigents has been greatly exaggerated. More than reality, the groundswell for a change of policies regarding Cuba is a case of wishful thinking. But as we have seen with other political issues, tell a lie enough times and it will become true.

Something else he says also makes me doubt his understanding of his own people:

There’s a totally different world view of Cubans who got here recently versus those who got here in the ’60s. There’s people who love to talk about how the Cubans who come here now are not trustworthy, or lazy, or money-hungry. In the end, they are just immigrants who are going through the immigrant experience and they are a lot like [the critics] were back in the ’60s. It’s just 45 years of exile, and working in this country clouds your perception of how you were, or how your parents were when they first got here. As a reporter you have to let the community know that that applies to the new Cubans as well.

First of all, this is again a huge generalization that he's making. He paints the previous waves of Cubans as not understanding and ascribes terrible accusations to them. But it doesn't take a sociologist to understand that the most recent arrivals from Cuba have never lived under a system other than the totalitarian one in Cuba. Of course Cubans who come now are different and in many ways I think their upbringing is a handicap that older Cubans didn't face because pre-castro Cuba was, from a cultural standpoint, much closer to the US than today's Cuba. I don't think this is a case of collective amnesia about what they (older Cubans) went through. On the contrary, they bore a different type of cross coming to a city that was not particularly friendly to Cubans at the time, and the city's newspaper wasn't exactly a beacon of friendship either with hateful columnists like Jack Kofoed (yes Ana Menendez is no trailblazer when it comes to attacking Cubans on the pages of the Herald).

Perhaps it's just as well that Corral has been yanked off the Cuban exile beat. Nobody missed him much when his mug could only be found on a milk carton.

UPDATE: Robert shares his thoughts at 26th Parallel.

Another dissection of Sicko

Superb piece in FrontPage Magazine today. Here's an excerpt:

Revealingly, the most damning indictment of the program comes from the participating doctors. While the Cuban government’s fellow travelers like to see these doctors as humanitarians going forth to spread the blessings of universal healthcare, many take part for a very different reason: they seek any available way out of Cuba. This April, for instance, the prominent UK medical journal, The Lancet, published an instructive article on the 14,000 Cuban doctors stationed in Venezuela. Hundreds of these doctors have used the opportunity of arriving in a new country to flee to neighboring Colombia, where they seek temporary asylum while waiting on a slim chance to immigrate to the United States. “I didn’t arrive in Venezuela to work; I arrived and deserted right away,” one typical Cuban doctor told the journal.

There's more. Read on!

Release the Rooster

The younger of those two beautful little girls is my niece Maura. I've written about her before, but let me tell you a little bit about her.

First, she's probably one of the most selfless persons I know. She graduated college, majoring in education. She taught elementary school for a few years until she was offered a job as a director at the Boys and Girls of America in Virginia. After a couple of years there, she missed home and returned and now she's at the University of Miami working with disabled children. Every single person that meets her, instantly loves her. That's just the way she is.

She gave us a pretty big scare some years back, which she describes here, from her Nike Woman's Marathon Training page:

I am also training for this event to prove to myself that I am truly in remission from my Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was diagnosed when I was 19 and spent 4 days in a hospital bed and a month and half in bedrest home. Once I was home, my grandparents had to help me out of bed and force me to walk around the house for exercise. A task that was full of pain due to the liquid and swelling in my legs. I took about 10 pills a day, would walk a few steps and get dizzy and spent most of my waking hours just lying in bed because the pain was so bad. Going from losing my breath trying to get up from my bed to currently training to run 26.2 miles is something I am very proud of and thankful for. I have been in remission for about 3 years now and I have made it a priority to help others get to their remission status.

By completing this event, I am running for those who can't, in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers and other diseases that limit their lives. These people are the real heroes on our team, and I need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Folks, you all know how much I dislike asking for anything, especially your hard earned cash, but please, help Maura help others. Please donate a few dollars so that she can reach her goal. It's a great cause, it's tax deductable and it will lift your spirits.

When youre training for something of this nature, it takes a lot of love, much detrmination and will power, but knowing there are folks out there supporting you makes you even stronger and more resolute.

Every little bit helps and as an incentive, every donation of $10 or more will get a Babalu Eyes tshirt, while supplies last.

What about Cuba, Steve?

Spielberg Mulls Quitting Olympics to Pressure Chinese on Darfur.

A Woman the Estefans Might Want to Speak With

After all the talk on yesterday's Babalu Radio Hour concerning the Gloria Estefan/Carlos Santana/Che debacle, I got to thinking. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could flood Estefan and Santana with a deluge of firsthand accounts of El Carnicero de La Cabaña? For my part, I'm re-hashing a recorded interview I had posted on Babalu way back in May. Titled "One Story Among Millions" It is one Cuban woman's tale of the murder of a loved one at the hands of Che and his cronies during the butcher's tenure at Havana's now-infamous La Cabana fortress. Do with this post what you will.

"How's my breath?" from Marta's Cuban American Kitchen

My dad used to swear by the medicinal properties of garlic.
“Garlic,” he would always say, "is a natural antibiotic.” He usually made this pronouncement as he was pouring olive oil over toasted Cuban bread and spreading garlic over it to make himself a sandwich. Yes, a sandwich. (This is way before it was hip to go to trendy places and dip your focaccia bread in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, but that's not important right now.)
Just like the Greek father’s obsession with Windex in the film, from which I handily stole the name for my own blog =D, my dad was all about garlic.

Toothache?
High Blood Pressure?
Acne?
Cholesterol problems?
Need to repel some mosquitos?
Trouble with vampires?
Nothing good on TV?

Garlic is the answer to all that ails you …especially if you’re Cuban. ;-)

Marta’s Garlicky Chicken

Marinade:
1 large white onion (cut in quarters)
10 (fat!) cloves garlic, mashed with 1 tsp. Salt
½ cup white wine
¼ cup olive oil
2 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
2 ½ lbs. Chicken pieces

Juice of one lime
Black pepper
Ground cumin
Flour (for dusting)
Olive oil

1) In a food processor (or blender) place the onion pieces, about half of the garlicky paste, wine, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar in a blender and grind it up to a coarse mixture.
2) Place chicken pieces in a large freezer ziplock bag and pour in the marinade. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
3) Preheat your oven to 375° F.
4) Drain the marinade from the chicken and pat dry.
5) Rub the chicken on all sides with the rest of the mashed garlic/salt mixture.
6) Sprinkle the chicken with lime juice, black pepper, and cumin on both sides.
7) Dust the chicken lightly with flour.

8) In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil (twice around the pan) and brown the chicken pieces quickly on both sides.
9) Place chicken pieces in a roasting pan, skin side up.
10) Cook about 45 minutes, or until juices run clear.

BREAKING NEWS!

This just in:

fidel castro reportedly seen at the 26th of July celebrations in Cuba:

Seriously though, I have a photograph that describes Le Revolucion quite perfectly. Here it is.

Miss John Edwards speaks

Not as much as ours if you get elected, you dolt:

Dumont, Ia. — Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards squeezed into a pair of Spandex bike shorts today and pedaled on the RAGBRAI route with champion cyclist Lance Armstrong.

After riding from just north of Dumont to Kesley, Edwards wrapped his arms around a several riders from Team Killer Bees for a photo, but declined be held aloft in their traditional sideways pose. "You'd drop me, then I couldn't be president," he joked.

[...]

"This is actually not hard, this is fun," Edwards said as he climbed a hill on County Road T16 on a black Trek road bike he borrowed for the day. "The biggest problem is my butt hurts. Is that normal?"

In a field of vacuous Democrat candidates, he's waaaaayyyyyyy out in front...

What's next? Bacon cheeseburgers?

Disney bans smoking in all of its films. In a related story, a German airline will cater to smokers. Political correctness vs. free enterprise?

The Moncada Attack

Our very own Professor Antonio de la Cova will be on with WFOR's Ileana Varela tonight at 6 pm and then on A Mano Limpia with Oscar Haza at 8, discussing the ever so excellent The Moncada Attack.

Dont miss either interview.

It's that time of year again....

It happens to me every year around this time. I get the summer fever. I'll be sitting down at the office working on this or that and BAM, all of a sudden I'll remember some little detail from my childhood summer vacations at the Hilyard.

The shower next to the stairs that led to the beach with the jug of tar remover hanging off the side. The way the second floor deck at the front of the hotel would get so hot you couldnt walk on it barefoot and how we kids would make bets to see who could walk out on it the furthest. Sneaking into and pool hopping at the Americana and then later when it became the Sheraton. Making up stupid scientific names for shells we'd picked up on the beach: "This is a Sapuncoccular terranofica shellecus." Me and the other boys my age vying and trying to woo the cutest girls each year.

I swear, I can draw a floor plan of the entire hotel with all the rooms from memory and I still remember every single square inch of that pool.

As I type this, I swear I can almost smell the ocean. It mixes in with suntan oil and the scent of sun dried beach towels. Flex shampoo and chlorine. Oceanside barbecues and my aunt Lulu's frituritas de bacalao.

I can picture the Atlantic and big foamy waves. Little kids on boogie boards trying to catch the big one. It kinda frustrates me right now, what if when I get there, there's no waves? I swear, I must be the only 42 year old man out there with teenagers riding waves.

It's summer and Im working and my family's at the beach and I want beach towels and Hawaiian tropic. I want beach hair. Dried sea salt on my skin. The sound of the sea breeze pounding my ears. I wanna ride waves. I wanna make believe Im not watching the girl in the string bikini out of the corner of my eye.

I wanna teach Amanda's kids how to build sand castles just like I taught her and her sister and their cousins and her brother. I wanna scare the crap out of my sister when she's in the ocean. Mr. Shark.

I wanna help my mom into the water. I want to convince my Tias the water's fine. Come on in! No tengan miedo. Im right here!

I want sand in my shorts and cheapy rubber chancletas.

I want to be at my beach with the family. The beach with my family. My beach with my family.

What about you?

El colmo

H/T: Dino P. Crocetti

Fontova is on a roll...

Humberto takes another round bitch slapping Miguelito Moore:

That Michael Moore got some of his most heated rebuttals on Sicko from CNN bemused many Cuba watchers. CNN, after all, was the first network to receive benediction from the Maximum Leader to open a Havana bureau. For years their Cuba correspondent, Lucia Newman, performed magnificently, amply keeping up CNN's side of the bargain.

So Havana could not have been pleased with CNN's recent insolence towards Michael Moore. Any discord between two of Castro's most dutiful mouthpieces was clearly unhealthy for the regime. But no problemo. As we soon saw on Larry King Live, the spat was a fluke, a regrettable blip in an otherwise even record. Happily for Moore's Cuban case officers, within days, the matter was quickly patched up. Moore's threat to become "CNN's worst nightmare!" proved bombastic and hollow, identical to his films.

Do I need to tell you to read the whole thing?

In the mail...

I just received the 2006-2007 edition of Conservative Comeback to Liberal Lies by Gregg Jackson of Pundit Review. This means, of course, that I will have to forgo the usual fiction at the beach reading this weekend.

A Unique Situation

Via Alberto de la Cruz, here's a pretty good read on Cuba from the John Birch Society.

Clarity from down under

One of my favorite blogs is Child of the Revolution, written by Cuban-Australian author Luis M. Garcia. He's so "on point" that it makes one envious. Anyway here's the latest thoughts from down under:

Twelve months later
As you would expect, we are about to be inundated with all sorts of articles and commentaries to mark a year without Fidel Castro at the helm.

The general tone of the stories that have been published or broadcast so far can be summarised as follows:

1. The soon-to-be 81 year old dictator is alive but still not well enough to make a public appearance. My take: Assuming Castro is indeed recovering, it’s the longest recovery one could possibly imagine, even for an elderly, semi-senile old codger.

2. No one knows whether the anointed successor, Raul Castro, is merely keeping the throne warm for his older brother – or gradually taking over control. The only plus: no more three and four hour long speeches about those evil Americans, the Empire, blah, blah, blah...

Continue reading Twelve months later

Hola Airlines, Cuba hardly knew ya

I've been wanting to post this since I heard about it on the radio.

Hola Airlines forced to suspend flights to Cuba by US government

(Expansion Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Spanish carrier Hola Airlines has been forced to cancel its flights to Cuba after the US government applied the 1996 Helms-Burton law that restricts commercial operations on the island. The airline, which is owned by Mario Hidalgo, was forced to suspend flights and leave the island after it contacted Boeing to request that the US company repair a plane belonging to its fleet: Boeing said that it was forbidden by the US government to provide technical support or supply components in Cuba, and could only do so once Hola Airlines had left the island. The Spanish airline's entire fleet is entirely composed of Boeing planes.

Over the past year, Spanish companies acquired by US groups have been forced to suspend activities on Cuba. Following its acquisition by Royal Caribbean, Spanish cruise and tour operator Pullmantur was obliged to move the Holiday Dream cruise ship to the Dominican Rebublic and cancel flights operated by Pullmantur Air between Spain and Havana. Meanwhile, Spanish flagship carrier Iberia could find itself in the same situation should Texas Pacific Group succeed in its takeover bid for the airline.

Original article by J.Sanchez Arce

Besides putting a smile on my face this explains why the Cuban government was trying to cover up the Hola logo on the plane that some army deserters tried to hijack to escape the worker's paradise back in May.

Betrayal

Cubans are accustomed to betrayal. Batista betrayed his country when his 1952 coup ended any possibility of the rule of law as enacted by the Cuban Constitution of 1940. The United States in turn betrayed Batista by supporting a convicted murderer and seditionist, fidel castro, who they had bets would become the new leader of Cuba. The Maximum Leader betrayed his country in ignoring all of his promises of reform. The United States, again, betrayed Cuban freedom fighters on Playa Girón abandoning men whom were willing to fight for the liberty of their country.

One of the worst betrayals to Cubans (and those of us Americans who were born on the island) has been the forty year love affair with a man so despicable, so evil, so wretched and twisted, that he was proud of the fact that he could deliver the coup de graçe to executed prisoners in the Cabaña with his small pistol. This beast, this monster, has been the darling of many, gracing shirts, caps, advertisements, marketing campaigns, even cell-phone wallpaper. It is this beast that holds a fascination with so many of the ignorant jet-set, the so-called beautiful people, whose ignorance is only matched by their arrogance. This poor excuse for a human being, ernesto "che" guevara, was displayed prominently on a shirt worn by guitarist Carlos Santana. "He's the man!" Santana exclaimed. Which is why the new Gloria Estefan album, and the video featuring Santana, a man that idolizes che, who murdered and ordered the murders of so many, is another example of betrayal. And che wasn't even Cuban.

We may get accustomed to the betrayals and take them in stride now fifty years on, we may not expect the world to understand our cause, we may not even dare to hope that the world acknowledge the evil that has been wrought by fidel and che. But to have one of our own support a man who tacitly endorses one of Cuba's executioners hurts beyond words. Gloria Estefan has allowed this che guevara sycophant to be featured in the video from an album that is ostensibly a paean to Cuba, the island of Gloria's birth and mine.

I was willing to be fair and give her the benefit of the doubt when this kerfuffle started months back. After all, she had never really disappointed us. But now, all she has accomplished is to vindicate Santana and his pals in their ignorant idolatry of a murderer. It's one thing to have him be on the album as a guitarist, as a side man; it's quite another for him to be on a video of the first single of the CD! This is a slap in the face to the Cuban-American community and an insult to the family members of every victim che killed or had killed. I won't spend a dollar on their album and I will certainly urge everybody I know not to buy it. If she and her minders care more about money than doing what is right, then let them reap the whirlwind.

No Llores

Si vas a entregar el alma
Hazlo libre de temores
Si del amor mucho se aprende
Se aprende mas de los errores
Ay! "No Llores, No Llores, No Llores, No Llores"
Deja de llorar, Deja de llorar, Deja de llorar
Ay! no llores, no no no que va
Deja de sufrir y suelta los temores
Ay, no llores

Back in March we became aware of a new Gloria Estefan album in the making called 90 Millas that is intended as a tribute to her homeland of Cuba. Both news items that came out at that time made mention of Estefan's anti-castro position:

A longtime opponent of Fidel Castro's government, Estefan left the island nation for Miami as a toddler after the Cuban revolution in 1959.

Both news items also made mention that several musicians had been asked to collaborate on the album including the unapologetic Che Guevara worshipper, Carlos Santana.

Now, for those who may not be familiar, Che Guevara is also known as "The Butcher of La Cabaña" for his reign of terror as commander of the historic Cuban military fortress in the immediate aftermath of the castro takeover in Cuba. Che, an Argentine adventurer whose image is very fashionable, was a cold blooded murderer. The castro regime holds Guevara up a revolutionary hero and children are taught to recite, at an early age, the phrase "seremos como el Che" (we shall be like Che). For those of us who find everything about the Cuban revolution detestable el Che is a symbol of hatred and death. If castro is Adolph Hitler then Guevara is Hermann Goring. Which brings us to Carlos Santana. Here he is at the 2005 Oscars wearing a Che Guevara shirt.

Si un dia no me quisieras
Dilo de frente y sin traiciones
Toda la dicha que vivimos
Se queda en nuestros corazones
"No Llores, No Llores, No Llores, No Llores"
Ay! no llores por mi, mi amor
No llores por mi, no llores p