C U B A N O L O G Y - B I W E E K L Y

The Raul Special is HERE

                                        A Paranoid Fantasy?

By Elena Maza

Hearing the latest news coming out of Cuba, and how Cubans are now going to be able to buy computers, microwaves and cells phones brought back memories of what it was like to call our relatives in Cuba during my early years in exile. My parents would place the call to Havana early in the morning, usually on Sundays. The operator would say there was a wait of six, eight or perhaps ten hours to put the call through. We’d go to church, maybe stop by the store on the way home, have lunch. By afternoon, as the sixth hour approached, we were stuck, waiting near the phone so we wouldn’t miss the ring. Sometimes (rarely) the call came earlier than expected; most of the time the tedium became unbearable as the wait extended well past our bedtime.

Once the call came and you started talking, you had to be careful about what you said on the phone, my parents coached me. Never say anything political. You never knew, but government agents could be listening… The dreaded G2, as the political police were known then, regularly monitored the phone lines. Was that why it took so long to get a call through?

So many years later, it was at first thrilling to think that now Cubans could have their own contracts for cell phones and talk to their relatives immediately, directly, with no operator—only to realize a few minutes later that, of course, these would be far too expensive for them to ever be able to afford them, unless their relatives abroad sent them the money.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts… Those new computers and cell phones Cubans can now buy thanks to the kindness of Raul the Pragmatic might end up being used against you and your relatives. As a professional Cuban paranoid, I have to think that there are a number of ulterior motives behind the much touted “lifting of prohibitions” beyond the obvious propaganda value and engorging the coffers of Cuba’s ruling elite, to perpetuate the Castro regime’s stranglehold on power.

Most of us know the Cuban government, as the sole owner and retailer of goods to a captive island, has a complete monopoly on everything sold in Cuba—and the standard mark-up on goods bought abroad is at 300%, a much higher mark-up than any other merchant who competes in a free marketplace would dare apply (with the exception of perhaps the illicit drug trade). This situation is very profitable for the Cuban government and is the main reason for the incredibly steep prices of all goods in Cuba. In addition, there’s the double-whammy of having a dual currency where consumer goods are sold in CUC (Convertible Cuban peso) while the populace is paid in pesos that are worth 1/24 the value of one CUC.

The world sees images of a crumbling Havana and thinks of Cuba as a backward, impoverished third-world country, which it is, for the average Cuban peon. We forget that with the advent of the computer age, the Cuban government has expended a great

deal of money and purpose to develop a state-of the art Cybernetic University where the latest in technology is available to the select students the government finds “confiable.” Remember Eliecer Avila, the student who became famous on U-Tube because he dared question Ricardo Alarcon, President of the National Assembly? He was enrolled at this university.

We haven’t heard much from Eliecer since State Security escorted him back to Havana, and he was forced to recant on Cuban TV after a weekend at Villa Marista, have we?

Knowing well the proclivities of the regime for total control, it’s a safe bet much of this technology is employed in the service of spying for State Security (the political police), hacking, virus creation/dissemination and other activities useful to the Castrocracy. There’s also the former Soviet-era installation at Lourdes, leased by the Chinese since the collapse of the USSR and reputed to have the latest in electronic snooping, powerful enough to penetrate into Florida and other parts of the US. You have to wonder if some of the hacker attacks our military has sustained over the years that have been traced back to the Chinese may have originated from Lourdes…

At the moment, in anticipation of the demand for cell phones, Raul is rushing to find investors to develop wireless coverage all over the island. We all know cell phones can give away the location of their owners to sophisticated listeners and yield all sorts of useful information besides conversations. Computers are even better for mining. So, as Cubans on the island rush out to buy the long-desired cell phones and computers with their relatives’ dough, it will make the government’s task of spying upon them that much easier. Brilliant, isn’t it?

Elena Maza’s Website: Elena Maza.com

Her Studio Blog:  Maza Studio Blog

                                                “RAUL EL SOLITARIO”

Adrian Benitez

Los que toda una vida nos acostumbramos a ver la figura de Raúl Castro como el segundo y ahora estamos fuera de la isla, nos es difícil verlo por primera vez apartado de la sombra de su hermano Fidel aunque sea en apariencias, a pesar de todas las opiniones y teorías sobre lo que pasará, hay algunos puntos importantes que deseo destacar.

Raúl Castro está ante una oportunidad única que no debe y no puede fallar para su propia supervivencia.

El conducir las riendas del poder por primera vez lo puede colocar en la historia de Cuba incluso mejor visto que el hermano, claro esto está si es capaz de llevar a Cuba a una democracia, creando un bienestar real para el pueblo de Cuba.

Se ha contado siempre de las humillaciones del hermano mayor a su hermano menor y segundo en el gobierno, incluso enfrente de otras personas, esto dicen ha afectado su estabilidad emocional y psicológica, esto chismes o no puede influir en sus decisiones.

El incremento de algunos cambios recientes en el panorama económico cubano, aunque taimado y sagaz, aunque se hayan quitado algunas prohibiciones,( pero la mayoría de los cubanos aun no pueden ni podrán en mucho tiempo acceder a estos bienestares), es un signo de que Fidel Castro cada día esta mas débil sino moribundo, las noticias llegan y muchos miran asombrados como prohibiciones que Fidel Castro jamás hubiera permitido se quitaran, hoy en día ya no existen, mientras algunos nos preguntamos que estará pensando Fidel, sus reflexiones no le interesan a nadie, solo ese periódico del cual el es dueño repite incansable sus locuras y desvaríos y los cubanos condenados a leerse tantos charcos de tinta, mentiras que solo manchan el papel.

Algo interesante y realmente importante es el hecho de cómo el impacto de la muerte de Fidel Castro repercutirá en el pueblo y en la nomenclatura, los que piensan que no pasará nada pueden estar en lo cierto pero también cabe la posibilidad de que cuando la figura principal deje de existir físicamente no he de extrañarse que ese grupo donde puede agruparse a los reformistas salgan del  escondite donde han estado agazapados por mas de una década, entonces creo que los cambios serán mas profundos, Raúl tendrá que escucharlos o cortarles la cabeza, esto ultimo lo veo menos probable, esa técnica funcionó durante mucho tiempo, pero la moral de la mal llamada revolución ha decaído bastante incluso dentro de las filas de sus mas fanáticos seguidores a raíz de la crisis económica que no cede como un nudo que el gobierno se ve incapaz de desenredar con un sistema cada minuto mas obsoleto y sin sentido.

No cabe ninguna duda que el experimento de Fidel Castro hace mucho es un fracaso, los que se empeñan en mantener esa ilusión perdida no solo están condenados a la derrota moral sino al arrollamiento de esa rueda que viene girando cada vez mas grande que es el porvenir, el futuro claro y la luz que los cubanos cada día ven mas cerca, soy de la creencia que después de los cambios económicos por ende vendrán los políticos, aunque esto dependerá de muchas cosas, la pujante disidencia interna jugara un papel importante y nosotros los del exilio deberemos saber apoyarlos.

Aunque Raúl también tiene fama de sanguinario y según los numerosos testigos es bien merecida, no creo que la represión masiva sea lo que el quisiera en estos momentos, aunque bajo su gobierno no ha habido muchos signos de justicia con los presos políticos, digo justicia y no benevolencia porque esos cubanos valerosos penan condenas injustas, y liberarlos no solo será un acto de dignidad sino de justicia.

El nuevo dictador de Cuba, lobo conocido por todos los que fuimos sus victimas, sabemos que el no quiere una explosión social y que el pueblo se le rebele, y termine sus días colgado en una guasima, el tratara por todos los medios de mantenerse en el poder, para proteger sus riquezas y su familia, aunque tenga que hacer los mas difíciles cambios, aunque tenga que cambiar como un camaleón según las circunstancias y ya lo verán actuando, aunque es un pésimo actor, su fin esta cerca no me cabe dudas, pero como será su final aun me es difícil de imaginarlo.

Adrian Benitez’ Blog: Ideas Ocultas

                                         Raul Castro: Assassin in charge

By Ziva Sahl
Raul Castro, officially in charge of Cuba’s future does not possess the seductive charisma that characterized Fidel’s style during his forty-seven year dictatorship. Raul’s style is more like the Che Guevara revolutionary model, i.e., as “a cold-blooded killing machine.”

When pondering what changes Raul has planned for Cuba, one should not forget that it was Raul, not Fidel who first embraced the cold impersonal tenets of Stalinist Communism; it was Raul, not Fidel, who saw to the execution of the enemies of the revolution.

His career as Fidel’s executioner began early; in 1956 while exiled in Mexico Raul murdered a former comrade, and during the rebel’s sojourn in the Sierra Maestra, Raul coldly executed deserters and informants.

According to the Cuba Archive, Raul Castro is responsible for 550 executions in 1959, the first year of the Castro dictatorship. Over the decades, Raul Castro has been a merciless executioner, carrying out intermittent purges and crackdowns supposedly in defense of the “Revolution.”

A sampling of Raul Castro’s crimes against humanity:

January 12, 1959, began a 24-hour blood bath in Santiago de Cuba with Raul personally supervising the execution of 278 former Batista military and police, whose bodies he then unceremoniously had bulldozed into an open pit.

During the peasant uprisings during the 1960’s, his armed forces executed hundreds of prisoners.

July 6, 1980, the Canimar River Massacre, where least 56 people were assassinated while attempting to flee Cuba, including children.

The shocking July 1989 show trial and execution of former friend and colleague Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez.

July 13, 1994, the horrific drowning of at least 35 men, women and children, who were attempting to flee Cuba on the tugboat, “13 de Marzo.”

February 24, 1996 Cuban MIGs shot down two American unarmed civilian search and rescue airplanes in international airspace.

Add to the death toll those who perished as a result of Cuba’s overseas military incursions, and those attempting to flee Castro’s island gulag, the list of victims grows to the tens of thousands.

This psychopathic monster now being promoted by the elite in the media and elsewhere as a “reformer” because he is “allowing” Cuban citizens certain privileges, has in fact been running Cuba’s business for years, and is largely responsible for Cuba’s current totalitarian misery. These so-called reforms; the right to stay in hotels, own cell phones, buy farm equipment, and now a possible easing of travel restrictions, are nothing more than cosmetic window-dressing. An omnipotent presence, he parcels out these propagandistic treats just as easily taken away, to placate public opinion. You have to ask, has there been a change in Cuba really worth noting? Are Cubans now enjoying those rights accepted as universal in a free society? Do they now have the freedom of assembly; are they allowed free speech, the right to choose their government, the right to trial by an independent judiciary? Are Cuba’s political prisoners any closer to release? Can Cuban parents educate their children as they see fit?

No one should believe for a moment that this assassin intends to acknowledge his crimes and step down, thereby freeing the Cuban people to enact real reform and self determine their nation’s future. That is the real change needed in Cuba.

Ziva’s Blog: Blog for Cuba

THE TIMING AND CONDITIONS SEEM RIPE

By Howard E. Morseburg

With Raul Castro’s announcement that the government will lift some of the restrictions that have held Cubans and the Cuban economy in limbo for five decades, there can be only one outcome, the soon-to-come fall of the current government in Havana. It is obvious that Raul is allowing some steam to escape from the boilers, that his advisors see signs that there is national unrest, so his hope is to give in just enough to keep the lid on and hold onto power.

Those Cubans who have fled abroad, mainly here to the U.S., have shown the vitality of the Cuban spirit, and their ability to be successful no matter where they go. Each time the government relaxes another restriction, the demand for more and more freedom will put additional pressures upon Havana. The one thing about freedom is that once you lift the lid on the box, you cannot allow only a little bit to escape, as more and more pressure will build up for all of it to be let free.

The more contact there is with the outside world, the more influence the outside world will have on Cuba, especially those Cubans who live in the U.S. and who will undoubtedly work increasingly hard to encourage an uprising. The power of communication, especially the cell phone, will be as useful to those who would incite revolution, as it is to the government.

No matter how many communists they have educated and trained in Havana, Cubans know that where-ever their compatriots have gone must be better than Cuba, because the money flows back to them from abroad and so conditions in Democracies must therefore be better.

The key is the military, who there is strong enough to challenge Raul for leadership, or who will follow in Fidel’s footsteps and become an assassin in order to free Cuba from fifty years of tyranny. This is the opportune time, before a replacement steps up into Fidel’s shoes and imposes even a harsher regime upon the Cuban people than they had under Fidel. It takes but one good courageous military leader and a unit loyal to him, that moves fast, and takes control quickly. If it fails, it will take years before there is another opportunity as good as there is now.

Neither Fidel nor Raul believed in a peaceful transition of power, nor did they believe in a bloodless revolution, because the killing never stopped, even long after the take-over. There will be no peaceful change in government now, not as long as either one of them is alive. Also, they cannot be allowed to escape with the hundreds of millions that they have plundered from both the expatriates and the Cuban citizens, so once the hunt begins, it will be fast, furious and relentless.

Perhaps the brothers will find themselves hanging upside down as was Benito Mussolini and his mistress, during WWII. It’s doubtful that those who lost family members to firing squads will wait to set up new justice courts first.

Howard’s Website Fidel La Cucaracha

                                        Raul Castro’s Gambit

By Frank from Queens

Raul Castro, of the Castro Brothers Crime Family,has dreamed up a gambit to help his shaky country and prop up their crime family’s hold on the nation. What is the gambit? To make the naive and just plain stupid believe that he’s “changing the system”. How so? By

loosening the apartheid system that the crime family has instituted. Cubans can now buy cel phones, sleep in tourist hotels, and some other things that we take for granted. The enslaved people of Cuba call it aparthied because they aren’t allowed the same privleges as tourists, or for that matter the Castro Crime Family (CCF). It is similar to China in the 1930’s when Chinese in Shanghai couldn’t go into public parks. There were signs that said: No Dogs or Chinese Allowed. Well then, apparently the Cuban people are being occupied by their own government. At least the Chinese could blame the Japanese Militarists! Funny, we haven’t heard any outcry from the usual suspects, you know the sensetive souls who screamed about “racism” in Suid Afrika. You see the gambit is this: the CCF is banking on the stupidity of the Amerikan people to put Barak Hussien Obamba in the White House. With him in, or even Hitlery, a Democract Congress, they’ll push then to break the embargo citing the “liberalizations” going on Cuba under the CCF. Obamba said that he’d talk to the CCF with no conditions. This was like music to their ears. They
know that they’ve got a friend in D.C.! Of course in such a poor nation, how can they afford the phones and hotel suites? They can’t, but when dealing with idiots, or as Lenin called them, “useful idiots of the West”, the CCF feels that their gambit, like in chess will win. I hope they’re not right, but no one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the Amerikan people!

Frank’s Blog: The Right Perspective

                                    “Saving The Cash Flow”

By Reinier Potts

Ever since Raúl Castro took over running Cuba from his elder half brother, all we hear is how Raúl the pragmatic is going to change this and that and the other thing. We hear he’s a practical, low key, behind the scenes manager and that he has been quietly running Cuba’s economy especially the tourist sector, through his military, behind the scenes, for nearly twenty years.

These last 20 years since the USSR imploded, Cuba’s economy has been a basket case surviving by the charity of the likes of Hugo Chavez and by not paying its debts.

But the same genius that has been running Cuba’s economy - into the ground - is now going to turn it around and bring it back from the 19^th century where he has put it.

It seems Raúl himself has started to believe his own press and last year in a July 26^th speech – often used as an example that he’s a change agent- he promised “structural changes.”

Those proclaiming the gospel of change on the captive island have a lot at stake in helping Cuba continue to fail since Cuba is the last bastion of Socialism-their religion. (there’s also North Korea, but they’re fanatics, not insane).

Fidel has always been the favorite Saint of the left. Saint Fidelis, the Anti-Yankee, achieved Sainthood by being the proverbial thorn on the side of the United States, for his stubbornness, and for the unwavering commitment to his totalitarian principles that allowed him to survive 10 American presidents. He is also credited with the miracles of free education and healthcare and for driving the snakes from Cuba to little Havana where they still hiss, loudly, between domino games and fixing elections, at the very mention of his name. He’s the patron saint of executioners, terrorists, drug traffickers, gangsters, the excommunicated, bastards, liars and self loathing Americans.

Now they need to beatify Raúl. Although Raúl shares some of Fidel’s qualities, his path to sainthood is a divergent one. One that will take him in the exact opposite direction, but still move left. (You won’t get it unless you’re a communist.)

Saint Raúl the Pragmatic’s saintly qualities lie in his ability listen to criticism, to be practical, flexible and drink anybody under the table. His mission is to save a tropical socialist paradise, to fix what’s not broken because to hear the regime and their friends in the MSM tell it, only Disney World rivals Cuba as the happiest place on Earth.

So when we see the great hoopla about Raúl the Pragmatic’s miracles –like the microwaves falling from the skies or the parting of the cell phone seas, we need to keep in mind that Raúl is not interested in the welfare of the Cuban people or saving Cuba.

Raúl is only interested in saving his power and in saving his cash flow, which are the only two things he cares about.

And the faithful in the media are only interested in spreading the message of Socialism and gain more converts.

Reinier “El Gusano”Potts’ Blog: La Contra Revolucion

                                        “I Want to Believe’

By Claudia Fanelli
I don’t pretend to know everything, or even a lot, about the castro regime. I always feel like an outsider looking in- I’m not what you would a “political animal” and I’m not an historian. But what I do know after researching the castro regime for the past four years in books and documentaries and online, is that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

It’s not that I don’t WANT to think that this old dog is incapable of learning new tricks. I want to believe that he can make a change, a REAL change, but so far, I don’t see anything to get excited about. Remember that I am not Cuban; I don’t have the insights that Cuban-Americans have or the scars from years of emotional turmoil to put things in perspective for me. All I have is what I hear and read. Surface changes meant to entice, not the Cuban people, but the rest of the world, into believing that Raul is making great strides in reforming Cuba. I don’t buy it. But I’d like to.

Cell phones made available? Unaffordable by the average Cuban who doesn’t have foreign family to pay for it, Cubans could never pay for the phone itself or the minutes with the $16 to $20 they make a month. So this change doesn’t really count.

Cubans can buy airplanes? That’s nice. With what? Frijoles? Will there be many Cubans in line to buy a plane? Are they permitted to fly out of Cuba? Now they can buy their home instead of renting. More frijoles? And do they get their choice of dilapidated abode in major need of repair or will they be able to buy a home that has been all fixed up? Cubans can buy DVD players? Again, a luxury for most and a necessity for none.

None of these recently made-available items are essential for a Cuban. They’ve made do without it for this long. Why not make some other items available? Freedom of speech? Cuban Convertible Pesos? A standard of living increase that would bring the Cuban people into, at least, 1960, to start? Aspirin and basic medicines they need but can’t find? Milk and meat?

Why not make some REAL changes: eradication of the CDRs, freedom of the political prisoners? How about allowing the Red Cross in to see the prisoners? Currently they may not visit jails in Cuba. Let’s start with some of these things before we label Raul the reformer. I know that all that he has loosened up is more than ever before, and to the outside it looks like he is taking great strides. And if these are strides that make inroads to bigger and more important and meaningful inroads to freedom, than I will be happy to eat my words. You see, I WANT Raul to be a reformer. I want him to have decided that 50 years in enough and that he realizes he must give the Cuban people what they want and need. But with what he has brought to the reform table, I don’t see it happening at this time.

Claudia’s Website: Claudia4Libertad

                                                     “St. Raulita”

By Alfredo

The Holy Father has blessed the United States by his presence this week and hopefully good works and many fruits will arise from his visit. Now my FREEDOM-loving brethren don’t expect the Pope and those surrounding the Pope do anything about Cuba. Why? The late Pope John Paul, a great man, helped liberate his native Poland because he was Polish. The current Pope is German and in no way or fashion (red shoes!) will he do anything to foster FREEDOM in Cuba. It’s not going to happen, let’s wake up and smell the Cuban coffee.

Since we are on a religious nature, raulita has graced Cubans with the permission to buy toasters, cell phones, and to stay in hotels (Why no outrage of the apartheid system that has existed for years?). Of course this is all window dressing or cross-dressing if you will, because the average Cuban earns on average $20 a month! The toaster revolution at its best! Since the advent of these supposed changes, the media and the average Joe (See Alfredo they can buy cell phones now!) are fawning all over raulita and how will be the next Gorbachev.

Before we canonize raulita for sainthood let’s review:

Jesus Christ: Castro Mafia Family:

Worked as a carpenter Never held REAL Jobs

Washed his Apostles feet Executed friends and disciples

Sacrificed his life for us Made the Cuban people sacrifice for THEM!

Lived a simple life, poor Wealthy by stealing everything in Cuba

Fed the masses with fish Cuban people on ration books for 49 years!

Joseph fled to Egypt with family Cubans flee the island due to the castro mafia

Love your enemies Executed or kills enemies

Trust God Socialism or death

FREE Will State controls EVERYTHING

Alfredo’s Blog: El Cafe Cubano

                              CUBANS ARE LOWER THAN AMEBAS

By Agustín Blázquez with the collaboration of Jaums Sutton © ABIP 2008

As Cubans left their island looking for freedom in the U.S., they found it. This generous country received them with open arms and here they were given a second chance to rebuild their lives starting from zero.

The majority of Cubans leaving their land were allowed to carry with them only the clothes they had on, a few meager belongings but no money.

Soon after Castro took control, he began expropriating all religious and private schools, converting them to “revolutionary” schools in his effort to take control of the lives of children. Many parents, in a desperate effort to avoid losing their right to educate their children outside of communist indoctrination, chose the traumatic experience of sending their children to the U.S. This secret operation that ran from December 26, 1960 through October 22, 1962, brought 14,048 unaccompanied children between the ages of 6 and 18 to the U.S. It was the largest exodus of children ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere and was known as Operation Peter Pan.

The deep scars left by departing against their will, being uprooted from family and friends, arriving to a foreign land deprived of their possessions, made the struggle very difficult for the children as well as their parents. But against all odds, the Cuban’s spirit and entrepreneurial skills, acquired by working in the free enterprise system that existed before Castro, put them back on their feet again.

They began to re-group in Miami but later began to move all over the U.S. In Miami, they moved into the slum areas. This self-sufficient group with their hard work and talent revitalized those areas and prospered beyond expectation in a relatively short time. They helped convert Miami into the vibrant center that it is today.

In 2007 there were 1,241,685 Cubans living in the 50 states, from Alabama to Wyoming.

Although the Cubans regained in the U.S the freedom they always wanted, they did not forget their roots, culture and country. Since day one, they have been loyal to their ideal of obtaining for their compatriots the same freedoms they enjoy in the U.S.

For keeping the connection to their countrymen, for being knowledgeable about the nature of a regime they know so well by their first hand experience and for being focused on the pursuit of their ideal, they have been misunderstood, maligned and attacked by a hostile liberal press sympathetic to Castro and to economic interests.

The hatred toward Cuban exiles, especially the ones in Miami, for what they have to say and represent against Castro, transpires in uncountable articles and television reports in the land that supposedly values freedom and democracy. There are many virulent anti-Cuban exile editorials published in the U.S., for example, the St. Petersburg Times on September 17, 1999. They would not dare to publish a similar hate-piece trashing Jews, blacks or other minorities in the US.

Yes, Cubans have gained freedom of speech in the US, but they pay dearly for exercising that freedom.

They can say whatever they want, but they do not make it to the national news. Cubans are not covered, while a moribund and decrepit Castro, his criminal brother Raul and his corrupted officials and agents in the U.S. are provided with an ample platform to disseminate their propaganda to confuse public opinion.

Cubans can write what they want, but they are not published. For the bastions of the liberal establishment, The New York Times or The Washington Post, Cubans are a pest.

Thus in the land of freedom, Cubans customarily find an insurmountable wall of rejection. On the narrow road of “political correctness” imposed by the intellectual left in charge of shaping American thought, Cubans, who want to end tyranny in their homeland, are “politically incorrect.”

Deprived of their right to convey their views in the mainstream media, the Internet has given an opportunity to Cubans to discuss the reality of what is going on with their families and friends inside island. But that outlet is being curtailed, too.

First, Castro’s regime, his agents and his support groups have successfully invaded the net. Well financed and supported, they have created a powerful front to distribute propaganda designed to discredit Cuban exiles and to lure uninformed tourists and investors to Cuba. Even Cuban natives are being offered as “call girls” as part of their sexual tourism scheme.

Many Cuban exiles in the U.S. are finding that their comments and articles expressing the reality of life inside Cuba are mysteriously disappearing from the net. Their individual accounts are being arbitrarily cancelled and their WebPages blocked. They receive threats – many times with obscene language - and warnings from pro-Castro agents throughout the net.

According to various sources, AOL is one of the most infiltrated by Castro’s agents. But in spite of protests by the victims and letters written by politicians in the past on behalf of the affected individuals and WebPages, censorship against Cuban exiles on AOL continues, users report. Many Cuban Americans have cancelled their AOL accounts.

Seemingly, what many U.S. citizens in power hold dear to their hearts and think of as their inalienable right to live in freedom and democracy, it is only their own right and not necessarily applicable to other lower forms of life.

It appears that after the cowardly betrayal and abandonment of the pro-democracy Cuban Brigade 2506 by the late President Kennedy on the beaches of the Bay of Pigs in April 17, 1961, Cuban exiles in the U.S. are steadily descending from the human scale to something lower than the amebas.

© ABIP 2008

Agustin Blazquez, founder and president

UNCOVERING CUBA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION (UCEF) A non-profit organization [501 (c) (3)]

AB INDEPENDENT PRODUCTIONS (ABIP)

Producer and director of the documentaries:

COVERING CUBA, premiered at the American Film Institute in 1995, CUBA: The Pearl of the Antilles, COVERING CUBA 2: The Next Generation, premiered in 2001 at the U.S. Capitol in and at the 2001 Miami International Book Fair COVERING CUBA 3: Elian presented at the 2003 Miami Latin Film Festival, the 2004 American Film Renaissance Film Festival in Dallas, Texas and the 2006 Palm Beach International Film Festival, COVERING CUBA 4: The Rats Below, premiered at the two Tower Theaters in Miami on January 2006 and the 2006 Palm Beach International Film Festival and the 2006 Barcelona International Film Festival for Human Rights and Peace, Dan Rather “60 Minutes,” an inside view , RUMBERAS CUBANAS, Vol. 1 MARIA ANTONIETA PONS, COVERING CUBA 5: Act Of Repudiation premiered at the two Tower Theaters in Miami, January 2007, at the Hispanic Cuban Club in Madrid, Spain and the 2007 Palm Beach International Film Festival, COVERING CUBA 6: CURACAO premiered at the Tower Theater in Miami on March 29 2008, the University of Miami’s Casa Bacardi on April 3, 2008 and featured in Miami’s famous television shows A MANO LIMPIA and Maria Elvira Live.

                                                  Raul Gorbachev?

By George L. Moneo

On February 25 of this year Raul Castro was unanimously selected by Cuba’s National Assembly as the new leader of Cuba. He succeeds his brother Fidel as leader of a country that has remained firmly in the camp of post-Stalinist Soviet Communism for almost fifty years. After the July 2006 announcement of Fidel’s surgery, Raul Castro has been defacto leader.

Much has been made in the press of the tantalizing possibility that Raul would be a Reformer, a Cuban Gorbachev, someone who wanted a new direction for Cuban Communism. I’m afraid that those hopes were never to be fulfilled. It is a queer tendency of the American Press and certain element of the State Dept to project their own desires on certain leaders of the world. For years you would hear these voices make Yasser Arafat, one of the vilest men of twentieth century, sound like a cross between George Washington and Joan of Arc. Alas, Raul is just another one of these illusions created by the media.

Raul is no reformer, and he will never give up any power willingly. A man who happily blindfolded rebel compatriots in the Sierra who had strayed from the line and sentenced them to death, applying the coup de grace, and then becoming the ruthless head of Armed Forces involved in some the last century’s biggest proxy battles between the free world and communism, is not going to change. His appointment of one of the regime’s hardliners, a brutal enforcer, 78-year-old Ramon Machado Ventura as first vice-president is a clear sign from Raul that reforms will not be forthcoming. His speeches have not betrayed his more than 55 year enthusiasm with the philosophical heir of Robespierre and Danton. Nor have the “symbolic” steps announced with much fanfare in the American press: Cubans can now buy cell phones! Cubans can now stay in the same hotels as tourists! Cubans can own their homes! Really? And how will they pay for it with salaries commensurate with the lowest per capita earning third-word countries. Empty promises intended to do nothing but stoke the hope of fools who are looking for any little sign that their heroes will be great again.

Alvaro Vargas Llosa, no slouch when it comes to analyzing Latin American politics, recently asked in The New Republic whether Raul had “…no choice but to move very slowly while his brother is alive. It’s possible, but where is the evidence that 76-year old Raul Castro, who has been a member of the Communist Party since 1953 and continues to live under the shadow of his brother, is the Cuban Gorbachev? So far, such talk can only be attributed to wishful thinking.”

George’s Blog: The Universal Spectator

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Permitir el cambio de sexo.

Objetivos : Limpiar la imagen represiva contra esa parte de la sociedad obedeciendo sus ordenes iniciales en los 60tas,darle protagonismo a la niña y una cara de cambios generacionales a su mandato,practicar a su doctores en esas artes con pacientes de indias para crear una industria rentable en ese campo.

Permitir a los nacionales entrar a los hoteles.

Objetivos : Incrementar el turismo sexual,excluir al portero del hotel de las ganancias ocultas y sin pagos de impuestos que obtenía por dejar entrar a la jinetera,limpiar la imagen de apartheid que mantuvo durante años y que resultaba chocante e inocultable a la opinión publica,le roba parte del negocio a los propietarios de viviendas que rentaban un cuarto o apto al turista permitiendole entrar acompañado de su chica cubana.

Permitir la venta de electrodomésticos.

Objetivos : Impulsar el envío de remesas de los cubanos en el exterior para hacerle mas llevadera la vida en la isla a sus familias,hacer un fantástico negocio comprando mercancía en China a precios irrisorios y vendiéndolos con un 400% por encima de su valor en el mercado,con una moneda que es superior al peso cubano en 24 veces y cambiable con dolares con un descuento del 8% de entrada,obligar a la bolsa negra a bajar sus precios,osea capitalismo salvaje y sin contemplaciones contra el cliente final.

Permitir la venta de computadores.

Objetivos : Ya nadie podrá decir que no se venden,obligan al mercado negro a bajar los precios,mercancía rechazada en el mundo sera vendida al cubano sin suministro de piezas de repuesto,le calmaran los ánimos a los interesados en esas herramientas con la esperanza de que pronto tendrá Internet para usarla,pagando por supuesto a precio de oro y con todos los filtros habidos y por haber o obligandolos a una intranet.

Permitir la contratación de telefonía celular.

Objetivos : Le permite disfrazar a sus informantes al ser cualquiera ahora quien tenga celular,ya que estaban al descubierto porque solo esos personajes los usaban,es un super negocio cobrar esos precios ya que un minuto de llamada local cuesta 50 centavos de dollar,la llamada al exterior entre 2.70 a 6 dollares el minuto,super ganancias con la venta de equipo obsoleto comprado en China a 100 por 10 dollares.

Permitir la compra de moto ciclos eléctricos.

Objetivos : Aliviarse con las presiones por el trasporte urbano,super negocio al precio que lo compra en China y luego revende,quien puede pagarla o recibió el dinero de un familiar en el exterior o lo jineteo con su concebido descuento,puede crear una flotilla de agentes encubiertos montados en ciclos igual al de cualquiera y mantenerlo vigilantes en varios puntos y prestos a llegar a donde se le ordene,es muy posible se le entreguen a la policía y se les cambie por sus pesadas bicicletas chinas.

Creación de programación de entretenimiento en la televisión.

Objetivos : Frena las ganancias de los bancos de películas que tanto les teme,frena el consumo de programación pagada por cable desde propietarios de antenas parabólicas a la vez que les trasmite parte de esa programación sobre los temas que les conviene y sin pagar un centavo porque sera robada del Direct tv como siempre,mantiene a la gente entretenida en los horarios que mas les conviene y alimentandole la ganas de emigrar a los paisajes de las novelas,mientras ellos disfrutan de los lindos paisajes cubanos en exclusiva y de paso desvían la atención de la falta de discurso del líder en la mesa redonda.

La entrega de tierras a los campesinos.

Objetivos : Esta entrega en usufructo de una pequeña parcela a los campesinos es exclusivamente para la producción de Café y Tabaco,renglones exportables que solo el régimen obtiene ganancias,esta publicado en la prensa oficial esa normativa,dejando claro que no es para satisfacer la demanda de alimentos de la población,para esto han optado por hacer producir a aquellos campesinos que entregaron sus parcelas a una cooperativa en la que no se le permite ni fijar precios según la demanda del mercado ni crear establecimientos independientes para su almacenaje y venta,quedando todo como mismo estaba,las cosechas se pudren en los campos por falta de acopio y transporte,se le autoriza la venta de herramientas en CUC,moneda en la que NO se les paga y con valor 24 veces superior al peso cubano que devenga,se pretende pagar al productor de pecuario 2 pesos por litro de leche,cuando este en el mercado tiene un precio 10 veces mayor y que el sistema gubernamental solo pretende acopiar la materia prima para producir quesos para la exportación,ya que la de consumo interno para menores de 7 años y ancianos enfermos es importada en polvo y procesada para su venta por la libreta de racionamiento,solo se apuesta como en casos anteriores a que el cubano con su espíritu emprendedor limpie los campos del marabú que se ha devorado las tierras fértiles para luego con cualquier cambio en la regulación desalojarlo y confiscarle los vienes acusándolo de enriquecimiento ilícito y dejándolo sin respaldo jurídico alguno,ya que no cuenta con un sindicato independiente ni institución que sea capaz de vetar las decisiones del régimen.

La cancelación de los permisos de entrada y salida del país : Aunque se promete,aun no se cumple y esperamos que les traiga tantos dividendos como prometen estos antes expuestos,entre ellos el alimentar la esperanza del cubano a que puede salir del país antes de buscarse un problema al pedir cambios reales en el suyo propio.

Para el pueblo,no veo ninguna ganancia por el momento…..continuara……

Frank A. Caner

Pinceladas de Cuba
http://pinceladasdecuba.blogspot.com

Sociedad Civil Venezuela
http://sociedadcivilvenezuela.blogspot.com

Birmania Free
http://birmaniafree.blogspot.com

                        Caricature by Alfredo Pong

On April 21 I will be releasing my second “Special Edition”. This one will be named “Raul the Saviour” and will focus on Raul Castro, the Castro regime and the recent so-called “Reforms” that have been implemented in the last few weeks. I think it is only fitting to publish an issue solely on this very important topic.

Note: The Articles will be in English, Spanish, Portuguese, any language!!