Pro-Castro Cuban: U.S. Policies Are Anti-Family

Andres Gomez, who writes from Miami for Cuba's communist government publications, writes that the “extreme right” in the Cuban exile community promotes measures to tighten the embargo that are anti-family. Gomez, who was bestowed with official accolades by the Cuban government in Havana this year, writes freely in favor of the Cuban government from his home in Miami and has been doing so for decades. Yet the Cuban exile community in Miami is often criticized for intolerance. What do you think?

From Gomez:

"The extreme right of the Cuban exile community has convinced the Bush administration to persist in imposing grave restrictions on travel to Cuba, violating rights that are considered constitutional. The cruelest of the these affect Cuban migrants living in the United States, who, since 2004, have only been allowed to visit their family on the island once every three years. Also, against natural rights, the government has arbitrarily decided who is considered family and who isn’t, and who can be visited. According to the restrictions, only immediate family can be visited. For the extreme right in the Cuban American community and the Bush administration the rest of our loved ones in Cuba, the people who raised us or we were raised with, are not considered family, and as such, we have no right to visit them…"

"…In reality, it’s irrationality and sadism from the extreme right in the Cuban American community and their allies in the federal government focusing on regulations to prohibit Cuba travel - a result of the impossibility of destroying the liberties and the independence of the Cuban people - that make these measures exist."

http://www.cubadebate.cu/index.php?tpl=opinion-show¬iciaid=6875¬iciafecha=2006-05-31&t=Portada

Comments

[The Immortal Che]

Way to go Gomez. Finally a Cuban immigrant who isn't totally insane! It's good to see that Oscar is honest enough to keep his blog fair and balanced.

[anti-ignorance]

Oscar, where did you study journalism? The Jorge Mas Canosa Correspondence School? Rule number one: if there is no story to report, don't try to create one from nothing.

Is anyone who opposes the U.S.government imposed limitations to our civil rights, regarding Cuba or otherwise, anti-Bush? An anarchist? If I enjoy Chinese take-out, am I pro-China?

Why would you repeatedly refer to Andres Gomez as anti-Castro? The excerpts you take from his writings indicate nothing pro-Castro. Pro-family, pro-liberty, pro-American civil rights yes.

Is it that he submits works to Cuban publications that qualify him as pro-Castro in your eyes? By this criteria could we safely assume that in your opinion a Gore Vidal story appearing in Playboy Magazine indicates that he is fully in support of large, misshapen, store-bought breasts? Should we assume that the quirky woman who writes droll commmentary for the Herald about life in Key West to be an avid supporter of local terrorists like Bosch, Peréz-Roura or Santiago Alvarez soley because her employers are?

Maybe it's time you expanded your horizons a bit beyond the estado of Miami-Dade. Pack up your things and get a job somewhere writing for the rest of America. A job where one writes with passion, integrity and intellect. With purpose other than to pander to your superiors who themselves feel, perhaps for their own personal safety, that they must pander to the ever dwindling extreme right Cuban community.

Please, the next time you are polishing up that cherished Hearst award, take a moment to reflect on the person that you once were and the aspirations that you once had. What ever happened to that guy?

[usambcuba]

It matters not who Mr. Gomez is, what matters if what he is saying is truthful, logical, rational, and makes a salient point. And the answer is yes his points are correct and well taken.

Do the Cuban Americans who promote these hardline policies actually believe logically and rationally that their countrymen on the island appreciate what the embargo and anti family policies do to them, in spite of whatever Mr. Castro has done?

We need to realize that our hypocrisy defeats the very power of the ideals we are trying to espouse.

Respectfully, The American Ambassador

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

I really dont understand what you are saying anti-ignorance about Oscar. And I dont know this Andy Gomez Cuban. However, it seems that when Oscar post something about this man it tends to get Cubans all riled up. But anti-ignorance, I do agree with your statement about the ever dwindling extreme right Cuban community. Believe it or not, I have engaged several Cubans on the beach about their admiration for Bush, and his polices. And it has been hard to find that foaming mouth right wing Cuban that is despised worldwide. Even Luis who is the most rabid Cuban in this blog, is anti-Bush, but yet he still is a proud Cuban. I dont know if it is the harsh boycott. The neglect Bush has shown the Miami Cuban community. Maybe it is the changing face of Miami. Or maybe the Miami Cubans are just as fed up with the state affairs like the rest of America. I dont know the answer, but anti-ignorance you may be correct, in that being known as a right wing Cuban may be a thing of the past.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

i pee in my bed at night

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Looks like Conductor is back!! Good to see you again. I actually missed you and Val. Next time you see Val, why dont ask him how his brand new anus feels.

[f--k andres gomez]

i think you all are missing the point here which is that this guy is writing for cuba's communist publications BUT HE LIVES IN MIAMI. you dont hvae to be a genius to see how f-cked up that is.

also about this supposed militant right wing exile i believe it is a testament to our tolerance that no one has shown up at this jackass' house and shown him what we think about a guy who praises a reppressive communist regime while living a cozy,comfortable little life in miami.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

First, this is a new day in Miami. Im sure measures are in place against any type of organized right wing poltical actions against Gomez. Poltical actions that could quite frankly be considered terrorist actions under the broad Homeland security defintion. Those day of the rabid organized extremist groups are at the very least risky to participate in. I think now Miami Cubans are more interested in living the American dream.
And so what if this guy lives in Miami writing about communism. Breaking news: a lot of communist live and study in America. That is not against the law. This is a free country if you havent noticed lately.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Ah, Luis, i didnt use your screen name last night. If you would carefully noticed, that i have been gone most nights. You should reread last night posts, and you will find that Pancho snagged your name. I never ghost posts. NEVER.

[nonee moose]

This guy writes for the Cuban governmant publications. No matter what anyone here thinks about US foreign policy towards Cuba, is there any debate as to whether there is a free and independent press in Cuba? If the consensus answer is no, then whatever Mr. Rivero says in Cuban government-sanctioned ink is suspect on its face.

If anyone else who doesn't work on the castrist dole happens to agree with the views espoused by Mr. Rivero, well, that's just First Amendment poop. I wish you all well with it.

I am what you would call a waning embargo supporter. Waning because i disagree that any measurement/critique of the embargo should be based on the "47-year" theory. In my mind we're roughly 10+ years and counting... that is, as of the end of the multi-billion dollar yearly Soviet care package. We could get into where all that money went, but what's the point.

What is interesting to me is the incongruity of arguments against the embargo. The policy is attacked on a number of fronts, and that fact alone should tell you something. There is no killer argument

From a practical perspective, critics point to the silliness of an embargo "of one." I see this point, I do. But if the implication is that such an embargo is meaningless because everyone else in the world (I know, I exaggerate for effect) can and will, and has, invested in Cuba, then the question becomes, "Where are the tangible benefits of all that economic activity inuring to the Cuban people?" From a moral standpoint, the embargo is attacked, portrayed as the "starvation" or otherwise forced suffering of the Cuban people, most presumably by their countrymen in exile. Again, with the rest of the world taking advantage of an open field for investment, free of American competition, where are the benefits to the Cuban people?

If the embargo has done anything at all, it has forced the question upon the castro regime to answer for its failures. If the Cuban people suffer, it is the Cuban government that has to answer for it. How can anyone countenance holding the US government responsible for the conditions in Cuba, with its much vaunted biotech industry, its agricultural capabilities and the concomitant opportunities for export abroad? And now with the new Venezuelan petro-daddy, what on earth does the Cuban government need us for? Is castro’s proxy war against the embargo some cloaked admission that he is in fact lost without the US dollar? How much more does he need? He already siphons off $500M in remittances from exiles, by controlling the black market in Cuba. Does anyone believe that if those monies were formalized, the results in terms of benefits to the Cuban people would be more and better?

We all know castro will not attack the embargo head on. I agree with the point of view the he needs the embargo more than anyone. It gives cover to his repression. Question: How much do you think it costs to allow public dissention? To allow free travel? To allow access by Cuban citizens to the hotels, the resataurants? Does the embargo have anything to do with this? This is akin to beating your children if your neighbor doesn’t let you use his pool. And if you do, out of concern for the children, he’ll leave a big turd in it when he’s through. No thanks.

[usambcuba]

Nonee - The embargo is a FAILURE. Acceptance is essential in order to move forward. The only way to challenge and influence things in Cuba while not interfering in Cuba is to OPEN things up.
Economic sanctions are not very effective in today's global environment. Do you think for example that Iran really cares that we are going to use economic sanctions to block them from developing nuclear technology?

The embargo has everything to do with helping to feed the repression in Cuba. Because it lends legitimacy to the position Castro takes that Cuba is under siege by the United States and meddling in its internal affairs and so to protect itself, the government must impose greater restrictions on civil liberties on its own citizens. This is why they went after the dissidents with a vengeance in 2003 who the Cuban government refers to as mercenaries, because these dissidents receive financial support from foreign sources in particular our country. In addition, many of the hardline exiles have connections to the prior regime of Batista before Castro, so that does not help either. The embargo lends itself to a perspective that we are in fact in a socioeconomic war with Cuba, even though we are not in a military conflict with Cuba, thank God. [ These differences must not be resolved with violence.] Only Nonee, Castro does not suffer. The people we say love and care about on the island do. We have made matters worse on the island not better.

I submit to you regular and normal travel and trade relations will have a far greater and quicker impact to influence things for the better in Cuba than any embargo could.

Do you also realize the resentment that is being created with your countrymen on the island with the embargo and anti family policies of present?

I never forget what one Cuban taxi driver with tears in his eyes told me on the subject of the "bloqueo" and how it affected him and his family while I was on a legal visit to the island - "Yo quisiera saber porque mi propio gente quien estan en Miami nos tienen tanto odio".

And if I may ask with all respect, when was the last time you were on the island? I think the only way to truly appreciate the cruelty and exacerbation of the problems on the island caused by the embargo can only be best understood by seeing it firsthand and speaking with the average Cuban.

We have missed out on so many opportunities for real change because of our own arrogance of this misguided policy.

[f--k andres gomez]

john longfellow:

this is a free country but you have to admit that its suspect and hypocritical for a man who enjoys freedom and comfort in miami to write about the supposed virtues of castro's tyranny in cuba

[andres gomez move to cuba]

ok usambcuba i understand what you saying but noonee moose's point is valid why havent we seen any changes for the better in cuba seeing as how it does business with so many other countries and citizens of so many countries travel to cuba every year?

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

I honesty cant pass judgments about Gomez's writing as have not read one thing from him. My point is that communist can live freely in America and write pro-Castro publications. Free market forces should dictate rather his writings will be well-read, and not some angry Miami Cuban mob.

[andres gomez move to cuba]

john longfellow:

ok i am not saying that anyone should attack him, im glad that no one has because that would reflect badly on all cuban americans. nor am i saying that he shouldnt be allowed to write what he writes, this is a free country and we have freedom of speech. i just think hes a hypocrite is all

[usambcuba]

Things are not better in Cuba in part because the embargo is in place. It is not logical to compare other countries experience with ours while the embargo is in place and make the comparison while the embargo is in effect and the impact Helms Burton has on third countries and foreign businesses. All of this interferes, it does not influence. All of it is a failure and actually harmful to our interests. Cuba is still fighting against the socioeconomic war the embargo represents. The true comparison to make will be when the embargo ends.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

andres gomez move to cuba,

Well, im glad to hear that you are aware of potential negative ramifications which may result from future Miami Cuban mob actions. I find it interesting how Miami Cubans have done so much to guard their "supposed" sterling perception in the eyes of the American public. But yet Miami Cuban acts of intimidation, are legendary. For example, I have in my possession an article in which Al Pachino talked about death threats against him from Miami Cubans during the filming of Scarface. The article also stated that Brian Depalma (the director) had to move some filming to Los Angeles out of fear from these threats, some of which were also directed against Michelle Phieffer the co-star. So needless to say it was shocking to see Cubans behave like primal savages in the streets of Miami during the Elian Gonzales drama. I also think it is interesting how many Miamians cited the Miami Cuban behavior as a reason to flee Miami for Broward. I also find it interesting how when in private moments Broward residents always roll their eyes at the mere mention of the Miami Cuban. But yet Miami Cubans remain willfully unaware of their behavior, and how it creates a negative perception about them. I assume that most Miami Cubans didn't really care because they never desired to leave Miami. However, now many of their children are now venturing out beyond the confines of Miami, due to possible career opportunities. And it is then, that the Miami Cuban, their children or loved ones has to suffer for their past/current behavior. Particularly if the right wing Miami Cuban is dealing with a Democrat, which their already huge numbers appear to be quickly growing in America. As a side note, I always enjoy when Miami Cubans make the news due to some political mob action, or weapons arrest, etc., etc., as I know this only further stigmatizes them as a group. I have gathered over 130 negative articles about Cuban-Americans, and that number is only from casual browsing. But nevertheless, it is good to hear at least one Cuban who understands the implications of future right wing Cuban mob action, and what that means for treatment of Cuban-Americans who want to venture beyond the city limits of Miami.

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

Finally, an important story out of Latin American for us to ponder and discuss:

'Juan Valdez' Is Hanging Up His Poncho
By TOBY MUSE, AP

BOGOTA, Colombia (May 31) - Juan Valdez is retiring. Long live Juan Valdez! The ambassador to the world for Colombian coffee, Carlos Sanchez, is hanging up his trademark poncho after four decades of playing the role of "Juan Valdez."
Carlos Sanchez, 71, has portrayed the fictional Colombian coffee grower Juan Valdez since 1969. "I feel like a flag, I feel like I've represented the country," he said.

Now the national federation of Colombian coffee producers, owners of the Juan Valdez trademark, is searching for a man to inherit that poncho.

Sanchez and his trusty mule Conchita have promoted Colombian coffee since 1969 with a leather bag, bushy mustache and straw hat typical of rural Colombia. That Juan Valdez trademark has become one of the world's most recognizable, and the fictional figure has become one of the most famous Colombians of all time.

For a country so closely allied in the global mind with drug traffickers and terrorists, Colombians have been grateful to Valdez for presenting another side to their country.

"I feel like a flag, I feel like I've represented the country," said Sanchez in a press conference, at times struggling to hold back tears as he talked of his joy at playing the role of a generation. "There is a big sense of gratitude from Colombians abroad for this."

Sanchez, 71, said his advancing years made it hard to keep up a strenuous schedule traveling all over Colombia and the world promoting coffee.

Coffee is the national product of this South American nation and it was crucial in the country's early economic development.

The bean is used to make alcoholic drinks, candy and soft drinks. It's rare the Colombian who doesn't start his day with a shot of "tinto," heavily sweetened black coffee.

In searching for a replacement, the federation sent teams across the streets, farms and - of course - cafes in the coffee region in the west of the country. With the help of U.S. consultants, they narrowed down 400 contenders to 10. It will announce the new Juan Valdez, the third incarnation, by the end of June.

"Of course he must have a mustache," joked Gabriel Silva, the general manager of the federation. Sanchez nodded in approval and stroked his own impressive mustache.

"This is not a beauty contest," said Silva.

This was quickly confirmed when images of the casting call showed dozens of mustached men, some with notable paunches, doing their impressions of Juan Valdez.

Asked what he wants to do now he's retired, Sanchez said "paint like a madman."

Even as coffee remains tightly bound up with Colombia's identity, the industry has taken a beating over the past decade as a global glut, partly due to the rise of new producers such as Vietnam, has pushed prices down.

With lower sales, the industry's prominence in the country has started to wane.

In 2005, exports of coffee were down $100 million on a decade earlier, at around $1.4 billion. But while coffee exports accounted for 15 percent of legal sales abroad in 1996, this had fallen to 7 percent last year.

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

"[N]eedless to say it was shocking to see Cubans behave like primal savages in the streets of Miami during the Elian Gonzales drama." —Jon Juan

During the protests over Elian Gonzalez's forced repatriation to Cuba, there were no casualties or injuries, except those inflicted by the the storm troopers that invaded the Gonzalez home to kidnap Elian and deliver him to Castro. Nor was one cent of public or private property destroyed, except, again, the damage caused to the Gonzalez home by federal authorities.

At the same time, African-Americans were rioting in Los Angeles over the outcome of a sports event, killing or injuring thousands and causing billions in damages.

The media ignored the Los Angeles riots to focus, instead, on one burning garbage can in Hialeah, on which CNN kept their cameras fixed for at least 12 hours. Though CNN was literally "feeding the fires" of anarchy in Miami, Cuban-Americans did not take the bait, but mourned peacefully at home yet another American betrayal.

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

"I have in my possession an article in which Al Pachino talked about death threats against him from Miami Cubans during the filming of Scarface. The article also stated that Brian Depalma (the director) had to move some filming to Los Angeles out of fear from these threats, some of which were also directed against Michelle Phieffer the co-star." -- Jon Juan

Of course, all these were fictional threats concocted for publicity's sake. Again, no one was injured before, during or after the filming of "Scarface." Again, Cuban-Americans didn't take the bait. Though grossly insulted and caricatured in the film, they didn't even bother to protest this cartoonish portrayal. In fact, they embraced the film as the joke it is, and in the intervening years have even raised it to iconic status. The celebration for the 20th anniversary of the release of "Scarface" was recently held in Miami. All the old waxworks were very much alive and kicking.

[Cuban Patriot]

Here's a headline:

Pro-Stalin Russian: Murder is fun!

Or how about this:

Pro-Nazi German: Turn up the gas!

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Manuel wrote: At the same time, African-Americans were rioting in Los Angeles over the outcome of a sports event, killing or injuring thousands and causing billions in damages. The media ignored the Los Angeles riots to focus, instead, on one burning garbage can in Hialeah, on which CNN kept their cameras fixed for at least 12 hours.

L.A. drama happened in 1991. The Elian drama happened in 2000. You are arguing that the two happened in the exact same time frame. Also, the black gang members fought the city in the streets of L.A. Miami Cubans "non-gang members" fought against the federal government aka President Clinton in the streets of Miami. Fighting violently the u.s. federal government in the streets is something that no group of Americans has ever done in the history of this nation. Also, I got "all" of my Elian news from BBC, while i was stationed overseas. Finally, the Elian vote which gave Bush the 531 Florida vote margin in the 2000 election has had devastating and horrific consequences for this hemisphere and the ultimately the world. The tragic impact which will be felt for many generations. Fortunately the Miami Cubans actions during that time period cant and will never be forgotten by the Democrats and their supporters who have had to suffer due to the right wing militant Cuban-American vote. Finally, Since you "continue" to misstate and lie about the obvious, in relation to the time line of the two events. I will have to disengage from further debate with you as i no longer have the luxury of time as i once used to. Thank you, and have a good day sir.

Cite: Google La. riots: The 1992 Los Angeles riots, also known as the Rodney King uprising or the Rodney King riots, was sparked on April 29, 1992 when a mostly white jury acquitted four police officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King

Cite: Google Elian Miami: April 22, 2000 In a pre-dawn raid, armed U.S. federal agents seize Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives. Hundreds of Cuban-American protesters poured into the streets of Miami's Little Havana neighborhood Saturday, venting their rage at the U.S. government's forcible removal of Elian Gonzalez from his great-uncle's home to reunite the boy with his father. Some threw rocks and shouted in anger. Others waved signs and flags -- Cuban and upside-down American ones, many of those flags were burned in anger. Some protesters marched onto Route 836, a main highway, slowing traffic. Others threw rocks, one smashing the rear window of a police car. Within hours of the predawn raid police in riot gear faced off with the crowd. They blocked off 35 square blocks of the neighborhood around the house, even barring residents from their homes. Protesters set street fires

[a thought....]

I agree with all who state that Gomez needs to live in the country about which he writes. Bye-bye, Andres.
As far as the embargo, other countries trade with Cuba, as other posters here have noted. And those countries have been systematically stiffed by Castro, who has no intention of paying any debts his country owes. WHERE IS THAT MONEY? Does "el pueblo" have it? No, Castro has it. Why doesn't he help his own "pueblo" which he professes to love sooo much? Why should the U.S. join the long list of creditors for this man? He already stole for U.S. citizens who had properties on the island when he came to power (Yes, John, U.S. citizens had property on the island). The U.S. is not always to blame for all the world's ills; in fact, how many times do you see us helping countries that burn our flag? Everytime there's an earthquake, a flood, a tsunami, who gets called on? And who responds? I know we aren't perfect; I'm not saying we are. But if you believe ALL of Cuba's problems are because of the U.S. embargo, then you have fallen prey to Castro's relentless hours-long speeches that do nothing but distract the Cuban population on the island, and some here in Miami, from their immediate problems. It's like that Metro PCS commerical: "But your sign says um-limited minutes"...."Look, a puppy!"

[JH]

@ Manuel:

As an African American, I do not appreciate your comparision between the news coverage of Elian Drama and African Americans rioting in LA.

If anyting, the media coverage of the Elian Drama helped debunked the myth that the Cubans are "model minority citizens" and it exposed the racist double standards of the immigration laws that give preferntial treatment to Cubans while Haitians and others are treated like dirt.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

A.T. wrote: Yes, John, U.S. citizens had property on the island).

You mean the U.S. citizens who were actually American "gangsters" had property on the island? Please use precision with your wording. Thank you for your cooperation!!

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

JH,

I have never said one bad thing about blacks if you have noticed. So i dont want you to think that im a bigot against you people. In the army my xo was a black man from Oregon, he was the best xo i ever had. It is ashamed how the Cubans treated the blacks on the island of Cuba. This was the main reason for the uprising against the Bastista government. I have several articles about the horrible racist treatment that you people suffered under the Cubans. Did you know that the Cubans are considered the most racist Latinos in all of Latin America? Yes, it is true JH. Lately i have begun to research more about this topic, after i have unfairly been msyelf called racial against Cubans. So i support you JH, and your comments about that prejudice Cuban named Manuel.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

JH,

Did you know that the NBA star Magic Johnson and Michale Jordan, are investing heavily in Little Havana and Hialeah to improve the lives of the Cuban? And guess what JH? All the Cubans hate you people, including those NBA superstars. Did you read that the leading Cuban right wing politican in Florida called a black teacher (the N word)? Yup! If i were you, i probably would not be to fond of the Miami Cuban, as they hate you.

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

Jon Juan:

I was not referring to the 1991 Los Angeles riots (although you can use those riots also as a point of reference, if you wish). The 1991 riots at least were partially provoked by an act of perceived racial intolerance. The other Los Angeles riots which were concurrent with the seizure of Elian erupted because of the outcome of a sports event.

So, Jon Juan, "hundreds" of the 1.5 million Cuban-Americans in Miami protested against Elian's abduction and "some threw rocks and shouted in anger." How many stores were looted and burned, Jon? None. How may cars were torched, Jon? None. How many police officers were injured, Jon? None. How many civilians were hurt by other civilians, Jon? None. It seems a very sorry "riot" to me. Maybe you are confusing it with a prayer vigil?

Before and after Elian's seizure, CNN had primed the country to believe that Miami would burn if those "intolerant" and "intransigent" Cuban-Americans didn't get their way. But Miami didn't burn while Los Angeles did. Why? Blacks had no stake in the economy of Los Angeles, whereas Cuban-Americans controled the economy of Miami. Why burn down what you have yourself built?

Of Cuban-Americans, in that dark hour, it can be said that never has any community reacted to such blatant provocation with greater decorum and self-control.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Article above: Cuban and upside-down American ones, many of those flags were burned in anger.

Cubans burned the American flag in protest.

Nuff said,

[usambcuba]

To "a thought"

Cuba's difficulties have been brought on because of the embargo and the failure to implement a market economy.

When we lift the embargo, Cuba will be able to reposition itself economically, whether Castro is there or not. Again your focus is on Castro and not the people who live there on the island. How can Cuba or any country pay its debts when it cannot compete fairly in the international market?
And yes over 5 billion of U.S. assets were nationalized and we have a Cuban claims commission to seek compensation. When we have normal relations we can actually create the conditions to create the capital that can repay the individuals and companies who lost their property. But because we do not have normal relations, we have never been able to sit down and negotiate this point with the Cubans. The cost of the embargo is devastating on both sides. Do you realize the embargo denies us and the entire caribbean basin a natural 10-15 billion dollar annual economy and trade that would make all better off?

I do not believe that all of Cuba's problems are caused by the embargo. All of Cuba's problems have been made WORSE by the embargo. It has not achieved anything other than resentment, bitterness, hatred, sadness, separation of families, and the loss of billions of dollars of lost economic opportunity. And the embargo fuels Castro's authoritarian government because the embargo is a form of a weapon being used actively against it. And when a nation is under war, government can justify the means to restricts everything including y our personal rights. Look at the justifications going here at home for loss of civil liberties, the Patriot Act, "President Bush's War on Terror", spying on our citizens, and so forth.

The embargo is an insulting and punitive form of interference with another sovereign nation.

You do not achieve the objectives we say we want, by interfering with another country, ie. Democracy

We achieve that being an example of it and using our "influence". The greatest unused asset to influence things in Cuba, are the American people. But the hardline exile wing in Florida uses their money and influence poorly - so much has been wasted maintaining this foolish policy. And Castro is still in power.

One definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior over and over and expecting a different outcome.

Respectfully, The American Ambassador

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

So, Jon Juan, you've invented a new identity for yourself, "JH." Shameless doesn't quite begin to describe you, Jon. Now you are trying to incite African-Americans against Cuban-Americans while you watch smiling from your mythical Mayflower.

For your information, Batista was a man of color. Cuba has no history of segregation of the races before Castro. The American occupiers of the island once tried to enforce "Jim Crow" but were rebuffed by white Cubans, who were never ashamed or afraid to mix with blacks.

Many prominent American blacks have attested to the fact that Cubans were completely free of the taint of prejudice. Booker T. Washington opposed the annexation of Cuba because he did not want one of the few places on earth where whites and blacks lived in social harmony to be corrupted by racist American mores and customs. James Weldon Johnson, who in youth lived and worked besides Cuban tobacco makers in Tampa, declared them to be the only people that he had ever met in his life who didn't remind him that he was black within 5 minutes of meeting him.

Cubans have always accepted and celebrated diversity.

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

Jon Juan:

No Cuban-American has ever burned an American flag.

I challenge you to produce a photograph.

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

American Ambassador:

I have already addressed your concerns about the embargo and will not repeat myself. It seems to me that you want to treat the cancer rather than extirpate it. But that particular cancer has been gnawing at the vitals of the Cuban people for 47 years. How many more years do you wish to extend our country's misery?

Your real agenda is not the survival of the Cuban people, but the survival of one Cuban in particular and his cadre of thugs and murderers. I do not think that many living Cubans have any connection to Batista, as you allege. Are 90+ year-old men your only bogeymen, now? And since you asked about Batista, let me ask you what are your connections to Castro and his regime? You both want the same thing, don't you?

[JH]

To Manuel:

I hate to break the news to you , but I am in no way associated with Jon/Juan.

I am an actual African American living in New York City, who has family in Miami and Broward County.

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

JH:

Jon Juan has a habit of inventing different monikers to bolster his arguments. It is the only way that he can actually get someone to support his positions. His catalog of different identities must now run into the hundreds. What is most reprehensible about him, though, is that he is a boricua who denies his own people and claims descent from the Mayflower. Beware of him.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Ex-Hialeah Mayor Gilda something or another

7/25/02 Miami New Times:

"Jurors also heard a mayoral aide recount how the city's former mayor routinely called her "darkie" and "lesbian," while slinging epithets like "nigger" and the derogatory Spanish slang molleto at others. That former mayor was not present at the trial. She's been convicted of vote fraud, insurance fraud, and solicitation to commit murder in a plot to kill her ex-husband. While her convictions are being appealed, she's lying low… "The mayor complained to the chief that there were too many blacks at that business," testified Rosa Levy, who was an assistant to Oliveros in the mid-Nineties. "She said she didn't want that because it would darken her city." Levy, whose mother is Afro-Cuban, recounted how Oliveros treated her and the one other black city employee: "She said we were her darkies." To hear Levy tell it, that was the affectionate side of Oliveros. For others with dark skin the mayor would spit out a string of racial slurs ranging from the Spanish slang "chardo" and "molleto" to the more prosaic "nigger." "For her it was funny," Levy shrugged." "

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Current rep uses racial slurs

N-word apology fails to end political feud
By MARC CAPUTO, JENNIFER MOONEY PIEDRA and MATTHEW I. PINZUR
Miami Herald

PHIL COALE/AP
RESPONSE: Rep. Ralph Arza, R-Hialeah, right, hugs Rep. Frank Peterman, D-St. Petersburg during a House session, Thursday, in Tallahassee, Fla.
Read Rep. Arza's remarks (.PDF)
Listen to Arza's apology
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In a seldom-seen public act of contrition, state Rep. Ralph Arza stopped proceedings Thursday on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives to say he never meant to say anything ''racially insensitive'' about Miami-Dade's black schools chief.

The public mea culpa stopped short of expressly addressing whether he repeatedly used the ''N'' word and a Spanish epithet comparing schools chief Rudy Crew to excrement, which four sources reported to Crew and, later, to The Miami Herald. Arza previously denied using racial epithets, but acknowledged he has a foul mouth on occasion.

''I ask your forgiveness and understanding if I have ever offended anyone by anything I have said,'' Arza said on the House floor during what's known as a point of personal privilege.

But Crew questioned Arza's sincerity and took issue with the lawmaker's references in the speech to two black friends.

'He's got to admit it, own it and apologize instead of having the `I-have-many-friends-of-color' conversation,'' Crew said. Crew also said that Arza had left a message about him on a person's phone that explicitly used the ''N'' word, despite Arza's public statements that were couched in conditionals.

'All of those are a round-about way of saying, `I did something here, but it's subject to interpretation.' A message left on a phone machine that uses that word in English is not subject to interpretation,'' Crew said.

After the House finished its business Thursday, Arza couldn't be found or reached for comment regarding Crew's reaction. Arza won a standing ovation for his speech, which he concluded with a simple statement in response to what he called ``dreadful accusations.''

The Hialeah Republican and top education advisor to incoming House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami gave the public address at the suggestion of the black legislative caucus. It was delivered just hours before he passionately debated the merits of Gov. Jeb Bush's education plan.

Bush said he met with Arza and advised him to handle the matter publicly ``if he felt obliged to apologize for something he said.''

Some black legislators say they appreciated Arza's statements and thought they were sincere. Others weren't completely sold. As a result, the black caucus is still considering whether to file a complaint with the House Rules Committee. House rules call on lawmakers to admonish any ``colleagues whose behavior may threaten the honor of the lawmaking body.''

Crew said he'll probably file a complaint and won't meet privately with Arza.

ABRASIVE AT TIMES

In speaking to the quiet chamber, Arza said, ``I can at times be intense, passionate, competitive and sometimes even a little abrasive. But I have never been, nor could I ever be, a racist. I categorically reject any accusation against me of that nature.''

No one has leveled that accusation, though. The four sources, all elected and appointed officials from Miami-Dade who requested anonymity, said simply that Arza used the racially loaded language. They spoke to the newspaper independently. Some of them told Crew of the comments, made in Miami and Tallahassee over the past year.

Earlier this week, three people told the black caucus that they had heard Arza make the racial slurs. The caucus did not identity the three. In refusing to speak for the record with The Miami Herald, the four sources said they didn't want to tangle with Arza.

Arza, a proponent of conservative education initiatives, began clashing with Crew as soon as the Democratic superintendent was appointed to his post in 2004.

PROUD

Arza said he stood by Crew, and that he was proud Crew was appointed by the majority-Hispanic Miami-Dade School Board over a Cuban-American candidate.

''I was proud of our school board for rising above matters of race and ethnicity in reaching that decision. That was a great day for our community,'' Arza said.

``Since that day, I have never made a single negative or disparaging comment -- public comment -- about Dr. Rudy Crew. And if I have ever made a statement to anyone of you that you believe would be offensive to Dr. Crew or even racially insensitive, then I apologize. For that was not my intent to hurt anyone or to be insensitive, prejudicial or disrespectful.''

Arza, a former football coach and a Miami-Dade teacher for two decades, said he drew strength from the friendship he has had with two black educators, Akil Biko Mustafa and Charles G. Bethel.

''I cannot describe the pain that these accusations have caused Charles Bethel, and seeing him hurt is what has hurt me the most,'' Arza said.

Miami Democratic Rep. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, the black caucus' education point person, said she wasn't sure how to react to Arza's speech.

''I'm always looking for the truth and if that's the truth, then that's the truth. I'm not too sure about it. It's an apology for what? I don't think this issue has gone to bed,'' she said after the speech. ``I still feel . . . I don't know, I need a one-on-one with him to get my feelings and my thoughts out.''

But caucus chairman Bruce Antone, an Orlando Democrat, was more receptive: 'I thought it was sincere. I think the good thing is he addressed the issue before all of his colleagues. He confronted the issue head on. He made a statement. He said `If I offend anyone I'm sorry, I apologize.' I can live with that.''

Arza, in appealing to his colleagues, also pointed out that he is Hispanic and would never treat people badly based on their skin color or ethnicity.

''I am a member of a minority group,'' Arza said.

``I too have felt the sting of racial discrimination and suffered the pain it inflicts. I detest any form of discrimination. and I hope that it becomes evident to you here today that in my life and in my deeds I have been true to that conviction.''

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

And yet still more bigotry from Cubans JH. I would continue but i have to go to school. Read up on these right wing Miami Cubans as their horrible bigotry is second to none.

Hialeah Gardens Police officer claims she was harassed and tormented

By Francisco Alvarado

Article Published Jan 12, 2006

Who / What:Ofcr. Alexandria Clayton
Hialeah Gardens Police Department
News Category:Law Enforcement

For the past six years, Alexandria Clayton has patrolled the streets of Hialeah Gardens, a town of about 20,000 wedged between Hialeah on the east and Okeechobee Road on the west. Clayton is in the unique position of being not only black but also the only woman to serve as an officer for the Hialeah Gardens Police Department. Clayton alleges fellow police officers, including acting Chief Van Toth, harassed her because of her race and gender. Clayton, age 41, is suing the PD in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, claiming her state civil rights were violated.

Bizarrely, Clayton accuses her colleagues of putting six frogs inside her patrol car without her knowledge in late 2004. She didn't notice the amphibians until they were hopping all over her feet as she was driving on the highway headed home. She returned to the police station, where she and another Hialeah Gardens cop, Ofcr. Angel Gonzalez, removed the frogs. Clayton says the frog incident was done with a "complete disregard for my safety and the safety of other citizens by almost causing me to have a motor vehicle accident."

According to statements released by her attorney, David Comras, Clayton was forced to perform humiliating tasks none of the other officers on the Hialeah Gardens Police force was required to do. And she was often hazed and physically threatened by her white and Latin male colleagues, Comras said.

Toth, age 46, who assumed the top post when long-time chief Keith Joy resigned this past October, says Clayton's accusations are untrue. "Clayton has been treated more fairly than anyone else in this department," Toth comments.

Clayton is currently on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation that she disobeyed a direct order and insulted a local resident. Prior to her employment with Hialeah Gardens, she worked six years as a corrections officer at the Broward Correctional Institution in Fort Lauderdale and as a bus driver for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Clayton declined to be interviewed for this story out of concern she could face retaliation. However, Comras provided New Times with an affidavit Clayton wrote detailing the harassment she endured at the hands of her police department peers and superiors.

This past June 21, Clayton had complained to then-Chief Joy about "insulting, outrageous, disrespectful, and racist comments" made by Sgt. Carlos Fojo regarding her appearance and stature. Clayton claims in the affidavit that at roll call the same day, Fojo ridiculed her about her hair and that he said she should be working at McDonald's. Clayton says Fojo also told her she resembled a K-9. Clayton alleges Fojo said, "That is how a K-9 looks at his master. That's right — I'm your master."

Fojo says Clayton is taking his comments out of context to fit her version of events. However, Fojo declined to explain the context of the verbal exchange. "But the way she describes what happened is not true," Fojo insists.

Two months later, on August 12, 2005, Toth (then a lieutenant) was conducting a routine inspection of Clayton's patrol car. Toth became angry because apparently the interior was unkempt, Clayton wrote. She claims Toth removed several documents from the car and tossed them to the ground, scattering them across the police station's parking lot. He then ordered her to pick them up. "Toth began to laugh at me in the presence of Chief Joy and other officers," Clayton says in her affidavit.

Clayton says Toth arbitrarily denied her request for a patrol car with a heater and forced her to attend driving school after she was involved in a car accident that was not her fault. Clayton claims Toth said he was not required to provide her with a car with a working heater and told her: "You should have worn long johns under your uniform!"

Toth, who has been on the force for nineteen years, denies Clayton's charges. "Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I am nothing like that," he states.

Her complaint also accuses other officers of acting aggressively and violently toward her on several occasions, including one encounter in which Sgt. Vito Santangelo had to be restrained by a fellow sergeant from physically attacking Clayton. The incident was documented in a department memo, but Santangelo was not disciplined.

Toth says Clayton's affidavit is the work of a disgruntled employee trying to play the race card. "Whatever allegations she is making will be resolved in a court of law," he says. He adds that Clayton has had work performance problems since she started on the force. "She has been suspended on at least two occasions because of poor attendance and conduct," Toth remarks.

However, a former Hialeah Gardens Police officer who asked to remain anonymous says Toth and other police officers made Clayton's life impossible. "They gave her the worst jobs and the worst details," he says. "They never wanted her there, but they hired her so they could cover up the stink created by the roller-rink fiasco."

In 2001, Medardo Martin filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Hialeah Gardens, claiming city officials, including ex-Mayor Gilda Oliveros and ex-police Chief Joy, conspired to shut down his now-defunct Thunder Wheels roller-skating rink because he had the audacity to sponsor a weekly event called Soul Night. The event, which had existed since the late Nineties, attracted a young black crowd that was apparently unwelcome in Hialeah Gardens. According to the complaint, the police department would regularly station patrols in the roller rink's parking lot to stop and detain patrons.

Martin's attorneys called city employees, who testified to Oliveros's campaign against Soul Night and her prolific use of derogatory terms such as molleto and chardo to describe Soul Night regulars. Under oath, Joy admitted he once played his "Johnny Rebel" tape recordings, old Southern music known to employ such racial epithets as "My wife ran off with a nigger," inside the city's taxpayer-funded police station.

Not surprisingly the jury found that Hialeah Gardens violated Martin's constitutional right to "enter into contracts with nonwhites." Martin was awarded $633,000 in damages.

The anonymous former cop, who is Latino, says since the day Clayton began her job, he had overheard other officers call her la negra, a Spanish derogatory word for blacks, and say that "she needed to go back to Liberty City.

"They ragged on her all the time," he says. "That department took a turn for the worse."

Glass Shield

Hialeah Gardens Police officer claims she was harassed and tormented

By Francisco Alvarado

Article Published Jan 12, 2006

var cityID = "mia"; var sectionBase = "news"; var issueDate = "2006-01-12"; var cid = "22035"; photoRotator();
Details

Who / What:Ofcr. Alexandria Clayton
Hialeah Gardens Police Department
News Category:Law Enforcement

For the past six years, Alexandria Clayton has patrolled the streets of Hialeah Gardens, a town of about 20,000 wedged between Hialeah on the east and Okeechobee Road on the west. Clayton is in the unique position of being not only black but also the only woman to serve as an officer for the Hialeah Gardens Police Department. Clayton alleges fellow police officers, including acting Chief Van Toth, harassed her because of her race and gender. Clayton, age 41, is suing the PD in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, claiming her state civil rights were violated.

Bizarrely, Clayton accuses her colleagues of putting six frogs inside her patrol car without her knowledge in late 2004. She didn't notice the amphibians until they were hopping all over her feet as she was driving on the highway headed home. She returned to the police station, where she and another Hialeah Gardens cop, Ofcr. Angel Gonzalez, removed the frogs. Clayton says the frog incident was done with a "complete disregard for my safety and the safety of other citizens by almost causing me to have a motor vehicle accident."

According to statements released by her attorney, David Comras, Clayton was forced to perform humiliating tasks none of the other officers on the Hialeah Gardens Police force was required to do. And she was often hazed and physically threatened by her white and Latin male colleagues, Comras said.

Toth, age 46, who assumed the top post when long-time chief Keith Joy resigned this past October, says Clayton's accusations are untrue. "Clayton has been treated more fairly than anyone else in this department," Toth comments.

Clayton is currently on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation that she disobeyed a direct order and insulted a local resident. Prior to her employment with Hialeah Gardens, she worked six years as a corrections officer at the Broward Correctional Institution in Fort Lauderdale and as a bus driver for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Clayton declined to be interviewed for this story out of concern she could face retaliation. However, Comras provided New Times with an affidavit Clayton wrote detailing the harassment she endured at the hands of her police department peers and superiors.

This past June 21, Clayton had complained to then-Chief Joy about "insulting, outrageous, disrespectful, and racist comments" made by Sgt. Carlos Fojo regarding her appearance and stature. Clayton claims in the affidavit that at roll call the same day, Fojo ridiculed her about her hair and that he said she should be working at McDonald's. Clayton says Fojo also told her she resembled a K-9. Clayton alleges Fojo said, "That is how a K-9 looks at his master. That's right — I'm your master."

Fojo says Clayton is taking his comments out of context to fit her version of events. However, Fojo declined to explain the context of the verbal exchange. "But the way she describes what happened is not true," Fojo insists.

Two months later, on August 12, 2005, Toth (then a lieutenant) was conducting a routine inspection of Clayton's patrol car. Toth became angry because apparently the interior was unkempt, Clayton wrote. She claims Toth removed several documents from the car and tossed them to the ground, scattering them across the police station's parking lot. He then ordered her to pick them up. "Toth began to laugh at me in the presence of Chief Joy and other officers," Clayton says in her affidavit.

Clayton says Toth arbitrarily denied her request for a patrol car with a heater and forced her to attend driving school after she was involved in a car accident that was not her fault. Clayton claims Toth said he was not required to provide her with a car with a working heater and told her: "You should have worn long johns under your uniform!"

Toth, who has been on the force for nineteen years, denies Clayton's charges. "Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I am nothing like that," he states.

Her complaint also accuses other officers of acting aggressively and violently toward her on several occasions, including one encounter in which Sgt. Vito Santangelo had to be restrained by a fellow sergeant from physically attacking Clayton. The incident was documented in a department memo, but Santangelo was not disciplined.

Toth says Clayton's affidavit is the work of a disgruntled employee trying to play the race card. "Whatever allegations she is making will be resolved in a court of law," he says. He adds that Clayton has had work performance problems since she started on the force. "She has been suspended on at least two occasions because of poor attendance and conduct," Toth remarks.

However, a former Hialeah Gardens Police officer who asked to remain anonymous says Toth and other police officers made Clayton's life impossible. "They gave her the worst jobs and the worst details," he says. "They never wanted her there, but they hired her so they could cover up the stink created by the roller-rink fiasco."

In 2001, Medardo Martin filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Hialeah Gardens, claiming city officials, including ex-Mayor Gilda Oliveros and ex-police Chief Joy, conspired to shut down his now-defunct Thunder Wheels roller-skating rink because he had the audacity to sponsor a weekly event called Soul Night. The event, which had existed since the late Nineties, attracted a young black crowd that was apparently unwelcome in Hialeah Gardens. According to the complaint, the police department would regularly station patrols in the roller rink's parking lot to stop and detain patrons.

Martin's attorneys called city employees, who testified to Oliveros's campaign against Soul Night and her prolific use of derogatory terms such as molleto and chardo to describe Soul Night regulars. Under oath, Joy admitted he once played his "Johnny Rebel" tape recordings, old Southern music known to employ such racial epithets as "My wife ran off with a nigger," inside the city's taxpayer-funded police station.

Not surprisingly the jury found that Hialeah Gardens violated Martin's constitutional right to "enter into contracts with nonwhites." Martin was awarded $633,000 in damages.

The anonymous former cop, who is Latino, says since the day Clayton began her job, he had overheard other officers call her la negra, a Spanish derogatory word for blacks, and say that "she needed to go back to Liberty City.

"They ragged on her all the time," he says. "That department took a turn for the worse."

Glass Shield

Hialeah Gardens Police officer claims she was harassed and tormented

By Francisco Alvarado

Article Published Jan 12, 2006

var cityID = "mia"; var sectionBase = "news"; var issueDate = "2006-01-12"; var cid = "22035"; photoRotator();
Details

Who / What:Ofcr. Alexandria Clayton
Hialeah Gardens Police Department
News Category:Law Enforcement

For the past six years, Alexandria Clayton has patrolled the streets of Hialeah Gardens, a town of about 20,000 wedged between Hialeah on the east and Okeechobee Road on the west. Clayton is in the unique position of being not only black but also the only woman to serve as an officer for the Hialeah Gardens Police Department. Clayton alleges fellow police officers, including acting Chief Van Toth, harassed her because of her race and gender. Clayton, age 41, is suing the PD in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, claiming her state civil rights were violated.

Bizarrely, Clayton accuses her colleagues of putting six frogs inside her patrol car without her knowledge in late 2004. She didn't notice the amphibians until they were hopping all over her feet as she was driving on the highway headed home. She returned to the police station, where she and another Hialeah Gardens cop, Ofcr. Angel Gonzalez, removed the frogs. Clayton says the frog incident was done with a "complete disregard for my safety and the safety of other citizens by almost causing me to have a motor vehicle accident."

According to statements released by her attorney, David Comras, Clayton was forced to perform humiliating tasks none of the other officers on the Hialeah Gardens Police force was required to do. And she was often hazed and physically threatened by her white and Latin male colleagues, Comras said.

Toth, age 46, who assumed the top post when long-time chief Keith Joy resigned this past October, says Clayton's accusations are untrue. "Clayton has been treated more fairly than anyone else in this department," Toth comments.

Clayton is currently on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation that she disobeyed a direct order and insulted a local resident. Prior to her employment with Hialeah Gardens, she worked six years as a corrections officer at the Broward Correctional Institution in Fort Lauderdale and as a bus driver for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Clayton declined to be interviewed for this story out of concern she could face retaliation. However, Comras provided New Times with an affidavit Clayton wrote detailing the harassment she endured at the hands of her police department peers and superiors.

This past June 21, Clayton had complained to then-Chief Joy about "insulting, outrageous, disrespectful, and racist comments" made by Sgt. Carlos Fojo regarding her appearance and stature. Clayton claims in the affidavit that at roll call the same day, Fojo ridiculed her about her hair and that he said she should be working at McDonald's. Clayton says Fojo also told her she resembled a K-9. Clayton alleges Fojo said, "That is how a K-9 looks at his master. That's right — I'm your master."

Fojo says Clayton is taking his comments out of context to fit her version of events. However, Fojo declined to explain the context of the verbal exchange. "But the way she describes what happened is not true," Fojo insists.

Two months later, on August 12, 2005, Toth (then a lieutenant) was conducting a routine inspection of Clayton's patrol car. Toth became angry because apparently the interior was unkempt, Clayton wrote. She claims Toth removed several documents from the car and tossed them to the ground, scattering them across the police station's parking lot. He then ordered her to pick them up. "Toth began to laugh at me in the presence of Chief Joy and other officers," Clayton says in her affidavit.

Clayton says Toth arbitrarily denied her request for a patrol car with a heater and forced her to attend driving school after she was involved in a car accident that was not her fault. Clayton claims Toth said he was not required to provide her with a car with a working heater and told her: "You should have worn long johns under your uniform!"

Toth, who has been on the force for nineteen years, denies Clayton's charges. "Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I am nothing like that," he states.

Her complaint also accuses other officers of acting aggressively and violently toward her on several occasions, including one encounter in which Sgt. Vito Santangelo had to be restrained by a fellow sergeant from physically attacking Clayton. The incident was documented in a department memo, but Santangelo was not disciplined.

Toth says Clayton's affidavit is the work of a disgruntled employee trying to play the race card. "Whatever allegations she is making will be resolved in a court of law," he says. He adds that Clayton has had work performance problems since she started on the force. "She has been suspended on at least two occasions because of poor attendance and conduct," Toth remarks.

However, a former Hialeah Gardens Police officer who asked to remain anonymous says Toth and other police officers made Clayton's life impossible. "They gave her the worst jobs and the worst details," he says. "They never wanted her there, but they hired her so they could cover up the stink created by the roller-rink fiasco."

In 2001, Medardo Martin filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Hialeah Gardens, claiming city officials, including ex-Mayor Gilda Oliveros and ex-police Chief Joy, conspired to shut down his now-defunct Thunder Wheels roller-skating rink because he had the audacity to sponsor a weekly event called Soul Night. The event, which had existed since the late Nineties, attracted a young black crowd that was apparently unwelcome in Hialeah Gardens. According to the complaint, the police department would regularly station patrols in the roller rink's parking lot to stop and detain patrons.

Martin's attorneys called city employees, who testified to Oliveros's campaign against Soul Night and her prolific use of derogatory terms such as molleto and chardo to describe Soul Night regulars. Under oath, Joy admitted he once played his "Johnny Rebel" tape recordings, old Southern music known to employ such racial epithets as "My wife ran off with a nigger," inside the city's taxpayer-funded police station.

Not surprisingly the jury found that Hialeah Gardens violated Martin's constitutional right to "enter into contracts with nonwhites." Martin was awarded $633,000 in damages.

The anonymous former cop, who is Latino, says since the day Clayton began her job, he had overheard other officers call her la negra, a Spanish derogatory word for blacks, and say that "she needed to go back to Liberty City.

"They ragged on her all the time," he says. "That department took a turn for the worse."

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

Jon Juan:

Both Cuban whites and Cuban blacks use "negro" and "negra" as terms of endearment. A Cuban white is as likely to address another Cuban white as "negro" as a Cuban black is to call a Cuban white "negro." This shows how really integrated Cuban whites and Cuban blacks are.

It is interesting to note that the latest phenomenon in race relations in this country--black and white youth indiscriminately addressing each other as "nigga" --mimics this old Cuban custom. It is my belief and hope that in another 20 years racism, when today's young people are in power, racism and its concomitant ills will disappear from the landscape of this country, and that the U.S. will be the racially just society that Cuba was prior to 1959.

[amp]

The situation in Cuba and the poverty of the Cuban people has nothing to do with the American embargo on Cuba, and everything to do with fidel castro and his psychotic regime. Whether or not the embargo is actually working, lifting it will not improve things for the Cuban people. It will only improve things for fidel and his thugs. The lack of freedom in Cuba is 100% because of the Cuban government itself. USAmb, the taxi driver that you met in Cuba believes that it is his "gente" in the United States that are to blame for his struggles, because that is what fidel has told the people of cuba. Fidel es el que le tiene odio a su gente.
That being said, I tend to agree with the philosophy that American travel to Cuba and increasing relations between the Amercian people and the Cuban people is an effective way to promote change. The more the Cuban people can exchange with Americans, the more they can be exposed to ideas other than fidel's.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

JH,

And remember these are professional black Americans that are just trying to live the American dream and feed their babies. The horrible racism that Miami Cubans inflicted on theses black victims were not the gangster type or criminal element black. You sound very professional JH. Spread the word around about how these horrible bigoted Cubans who "enjoy" inflicting racism upon you people. Even while well-respected black Americans like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson attempt to improve the lives of the poorest Miami Cubans. Spread the word, spread the word JH!!!

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

Don't you realize, Jon Juan, that nobody reads your long "paste and cut" articles? All you succeed in doing is clogging the blog. But I suppose that is your intention.

[usambcuba]

American Ambassador:

I have already addressed your concerns about the embargo and will not repeat myself. It seems to me that you want to treat the cancer rather than extirpate it.

Manuel - with all respect - we have not extirpated the cancer. You are solely focused on Castro oblivious to the results of our behavior of the policy.

But that particular cancer has been gnawing at the vitals of the Cuban people for 47 years. How many more years do you wish to extend our country's misery?

I urgently want things to change in Cuba. But how we have gone about it is a terrible failure. That is embodied in the embargo and Helms Burton. How many more years do you want to exacerbate the suffering of your countrymen on the island? How many more years do you want to empower Castro?
Open your eyes compadre, and see what is happening.
How many more years must our fellow citizens and Cuban American families endure violations of our Constitution in the name of and pursuit of democracy and change in Cuba?

Your real agenda is not the survival of the Cuban people, but the survival of one Cuban in particular and his cadre of thugs and murderers.

I do not appreciate the insult Manuel. and you know nothing of me as a man and professional to make such an aspersion. I understand your anger but attacking me does not change anything.

Castro only survives because we create the conditions for his survival. There will be no more powerful tonic than to have millions of Americans regularly traveling to Cuba and engaging in normal trade relations. I assure you this will force things to change on the island.

I do not think that many living Cubans have any connection to Batista, as you allege-

The Diaz-Balarts are the sons of Rafael Diaz Balart, who was a member of the Batista regime. These are the same men who stand on the floor of the House of Representatives calling for freedom of Cuban political prisoners ( and I look forward to the day all political prisoners on both sides are freed and U.S. fugitives living in Cuba are returned to face justice ), yet these men support the very policies that separate and hurt Cuban American family members, and deny their fellow Americans their right to freely travel, and this crazy embargo.

You cannot grow flowers standing in a desert.

A Justice of the Florida Supreme Court is the grandson of Batista.

A prominent Cuban American woman who is in the media is the daughter of a notorious Batista police officer who tortured many Cubans.

There are other prominent Cuban American leaders who have family connections to the Batista regime. Do you doubt they do not have a personal score to settle in this matter? With their money and the political need for money, our policies and principles have been perverted, so we really do not help change one thing, and stand impotent.

The Batista regime was responsible for atrocities, corruption, and a whole host of other crimes. It was the Batista regime that actually created the conditions on the island that led to Castro.

If we are going to approach this matter with integrity and I submit to you that is a critical ingredient to support change and development, then we must acknowledge who is who and what is what and acknowledge the past and history accurately and in its perspective.

I do not believe for a second that Cubans living on the island want to return to the days of Batista anymore than they want Castro now. They want something else. We can influence that to the benefit of all.
Instead of influencing, we interfere. And our interference actually has empowered Castro. What a paradox.

I have no connections. I do have a connection with you as a fellow American. I am deeply troubled by our country's behavior and poor use of our foreign policy resources which have been manipulated by this community in Florida to selfish political ends by all concerned, notwithstanding the reality that the policies are a failure and the misery and loss caused to so many. It exacerbates the misery that the authoritarian regime creates on the island.

Yet in spite of facing this reality, there are individuals and "leaders" who want to perpetuate this situation.

Its time for individuals like yourself to see things as they really are, not what you like them to be. Only then can we change things for the better.

Con todo respeto -

The American Ambassador

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

American Ambassador:

Forty-seven years after he fled Cuba and thirty years after his death, you are still fighting Batista and his descendents unto the 100th generation. So now the "taint sinister" of being a batistiano extends onto their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren? But I am sure that you wouldn't want us to blame Castro's children for the predations of their father. Indeed, you hardly blame Castro himself for anything: it's the United States or Cuban exiles who are to blame for the situation in Cuba; Castro merely reacted to their aggressions and provocations. So, in effect, Castro is blameless for the destruction of the Cuban nation and the Cuban family.

You contend that lifting the embargo would benefit the Cuban people. In fact, it would only benefit Castro. That's why Castro wants the embargo lifted. If he wanted to help the Cuban people, he would remove himself from their lives forever. But you and other Castro apologists, veiled or not, have a vested interest in keeping Castro in power. What that interest is, in your particular case, I do not know. But I am convinced by your rhetoric (exactly like Castro's but couched in academic formalities) that such an interest exists on your part.

[a thought....]

John, yes, there were gangsters in Cuba (Meyer Lansky and Santos Trafficante spring to mind) as they owned and operated the casinos, like the ones they own and operate in Vegas. And if you tell me there are no gangsters left in Vegas, I say you're delusional. But there were also "regular" business people in Cuba, such as the DuPont family, who lost their property when Castro came to power. Amp, I'm glad to see you're back and I agree with you. John, for every Cuban I've heard rag on this country, I've heard two tell them to go back to Cuba. Yes, their own countrymen have done this. I feel that way personally about anyone who comes here from anywhere and all of a sudden decides the U.S. is horrible and their country was better. To all of them, regardless of origin, I say GO BACK. There are people, good, honest people, dying to come to this country to better their lives and their families' lives. Meanwhile, I have to hear on the streets of this town how it's better "elsewhere". People become very brave suddenly when they are given the freedom of speech that they are usually denied in their country of origin.

Usaambcuba wrote: The embargo is an insulting and punitive form of interference with another sovereign nation.

The U.S. does not HAVE to trade with Cuba (or with any other nation) if it does not wish to do so. Yes, we trade with China and I understand that China is communist. Nixon opened China, not Bush. If there were an embargo today against China, would people support it? Or would they get upset that they would have to pay more for their goods and services? Would it strengthen our economy or would it hurt it? I don't have these answers; someone please tell me.

I would love to see Cuba free. I would love to see the stolen lands and properties returned to their rightful owners who lost them when Castro's people just walked in and took them. That's not a popular view point, but I'm tired of the political correctness that has taken over. If it was yours and it was taken from you one day to the next, you have every legal right to fight to get back what's yours. If there are people living in what used to be your house, maybe an understanding can be reached. But the fact of the matter is, the house is not theirs. They did not purchase it from you. Your house (and business and properties and land, etc.) were STOLEN and given to someone else. This is not communism; this is thievery hidden in Robin Hood's costume.

I know I'm going to get nailed for this, so let's go. Tell me how wrong I am, tell me how those people should have stayed and fought for what was theirs. And I will tell you how they tried and were ratted out by their own because it was a time in Cuba's history when everyone, it seemed, was turning everyone in for something they said or did. Yes, the wealthy lost everything and I know that there are some people living here in Miami today that still crow about it because in Cuba they had nothing. I also know people in Miami that came from Cuba and reinvented their past here.

Sorry about the ranting; I'm just upset.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Come on you guys,
don't you all know I'm just a shit talker? I just make up stuff to make you all laugh. I'm actually a freakin Cuban lover. GOD BLESS CUBA! GOD BLESS CUBANS.

besos y mucho amor 2 u all

[a thought....]

John, te queremos mucho!!! John, we love you!

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

Jon John:

I will need some time to adjust to the new John, though I certainly applaud this sudden metamorphosis and hope that this is not a case of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hide.

In any case, Jon, I have concluded that usambcuba is the real enemy of a free Cuba on this blog, and I will be parsing his speech from now on.

[a thought....]

By the way, a question so that some of you can enlighten me: What happens when Castro is finally gone (dead, killed, eaten by an alligator, whatever)? Who takes over? What happens? What do you envision happening? I just think this is an interesting topic.

[Luis Smith]

"You contend that lifting the embargo would benefit the Cuban people. In fact, it would only benefit Castro. That's why Castro wants the embargo lifted."

No Castro wants to keep the embargo. That's why when Clinton was about to normalize relations he shot down brothers to the rescue.

He only claims to want it lifted so he can blame the United States for Cuba's economic shortcomings. If the embargo was lifted tomarrow he wouldn't have the scapegoat anymore and he would have no choice but to take responsibility for the failures of Cuba's command economy.

In addition his stranglehold on the country would also be weakened by an exchange of ideas and information. The cold war was own though an exchange of ideas, culture, and information. Not though the exchange of bombs and bullets.

You can already see the benefits of capitalism slowly changing Cuba due to tourism with the rest of the world. Cubans can now own cell phones, they can shop at 'tourst shops' and buy goods produced in foreign companies. For the first time Cubans can run small businesses to make a profit from foreign tourism. Family businesses such as casa particulares, paladares, privately run markets, and private entertainers are popping up left and right and raising the average Cubans standard of living in the process.

If increased economic activity from the United States were to be added to the picture this change would be sped up immensely. Castro has been in power for almost 50 years and it's clear that the embargo won't change that. Because of the increased profits the Communist state is making from tourism and now oil that is reaching record prices Castro's government will have a steady income stream for years to come. We might as well try to bring a Democratic Republic to Cuba the best way we can. Though an open exchange of ideas and culture.

It worked with the USSR which was the big communist threat. There's no reason to think that it won't work with Cuba which is a much smaller country and is much closer to the United States.