Cuba

Rep Diaz-Balart: My family fled Cuba, and I’m setting the record straight for Sanders and Castro apologists

Following praise of Castro’s Cuba by Democratic presidential candidate for president Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., I must take the opportunity to correct the misinformation and false claims so frequently touted by Castro’s apologists. First of all, it is appalling to those personally affected by the Castro regime legacy of firing squads, torture, imprisonment, brutal oppression and terrorism to witness a U.S. presidential candidate seek to decipher some nominal good from the abject and all-pervasive evil of totalitarianism. Many of those who support Sanders today may not have been around to witness the evils of communism over the past few decades. Sanders has no such excuse. At the height of the Cold War, he hobnobbed with the Soviets and established a partnership with the Sandinistas in a Nicaraguan region at war with the indigenous Miskito people. He should remember that when nuclear missiles in Cuba were pointed at the United States, Fidel Castro pleaded that Khrushchev launch a first strike. He should remember that the Castro dictatorship ordered the shootdown of two unarmed civilian aircraft in international waters, resulting in the murder of three innocent Americans and a permanent resident for which the general and two pilots were indicted in U.S. federal court. He should demand the return of fugitives from U.S. justice such as Joanne Chesimard, an FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist, and terrorist bomb maker William Morales. He should remember the “13 de Marzo” Tugboat Massacre of 1994 when the Castro regime rammed, sprayed and ultimately sunk a tugboat of 72 men, women and children who were attempting to escape Cuba in search of freedom. 41 perished, including 10 children. They were among the over a million Cubans who, like my family, fled totalitarianism. He should also remember the lives of those who died at the hands of the Castro regime in the past ten years, such as Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Juan Wilfredo Soto, Laura Pollan, Oswaldo Paya, Harold Cepero and Armando Sosa Fortuny. He should call for the immediate release of political prisoners Jose Daniel Ferrer, Mitzael Diaz Paseiro, Yanet Perez Quevedo and Miguel Diaz Bouza so that they do not suffer the same fate. Collectivist systems of socialism and communism have brought devastation and tyranny wherever they have been tried. The regimes of communist China, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela have used socialist/communist policies to justify the most egregious human rights abuses and their iron grip on power. In less than two decades, socialism has managed to plunge Venezuela, a country with the world’s largest known oil reserves, into blackouts, starvation, medical shortages and utter destitution. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation reveals that more than 100 million people have perished as a result of communism, from the purge policies of Mao and Stalin, including forced starvation, through the dictatorships in North Korea, Eastern Europe and Cuba. Sanders should be asked about Communist China’s forced reeducation and labor camps, including the current oppression of Uyghurs who have been forced to abandon their language and culture and improve their “literacy” of the state-mandated Mandarin language. With collectivist systems where individual rights are subsumed by the so-called “greater good” of the many, once unthinkable horrors become reality. Sanders’ comments in regard to Cuba are particularly shocking given the Castro regime’s long and sordid history of threatening U.S. interests. The regime in Cuba partners with rogue regimes, terrorists and Anti-American interests such as the terrorist state of Iran, Russia, communist China, the Maduro regime in Venezuela, the FARC and Hezbollah. In 2013, the Cuban regime was caught smuggling weapons to North Korea in the largest violation of international sanctions against that country to date. It has welcomed Russian espionage ships to Cuban waters to spy on the United States. Sonic health attacks against U.S. personnel in Havana caused traumatic brain injury to Americans and their families. For years, Cuba has maintained thousands of Cuban intelligence operatives in Venezuela in what the Organization of American States’ Secretary General called an “occupation army” to oppress the Venezuelan people and sustain the illegitimate Maduro regime. The Obama Administration chartered a course to legitimize the Castro tyranny. Thankfully, President Trump understands the danger of the Cuban dictatorship and has corrected this course. I was disappointed that the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives chose not to consider such an important resolution condemning Sanders’ admiration of a murderous dictator, a resolution that should have enjoyed bipartisan support. It’s very alarming that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is willing to turn a blind eye to this evil. “The truth is the truth.”

Thanks to Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) who represents the 21st congressional district in South Florida for that compelling, powerful op/ed.  Please forward that on to anyone you know who liked Bernie’s recent comments about Cuba.

Caravans of Cuban-Americans Protest Bernie Sanders and Rally for Donald Trump

Caravans of Cuban-Americans rallied in support of President Donald Trump on Saturday after Sen. Bernie Sanders defended Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s policies. Photos and videos emerged on social media in Miami featuring long lines of cars and trucks flying Cuban and American flags and honking their horns. Others wore MAGA hats and waved Trump 2020 flags to show their support of the president. In an interview with CBS last week, Sanders defended Fidel Castro’s “literacy programs” in Cuba despite his brutal socialist regime. The vehicles featured signs and painted slogans such as “Viva Trump,” “Free Cuba, “Cambio es ya” (Change is Now), and “Abajo La Dictadura” (Down with Dictatorships). “Wondering what that excessive honking was in Coral Gables, Miami and Brickell?” asked the Miami Herald. “It’s about Trump.” A group of over 150 Cuban Americans in Kentucky also held a similar protest, giving speeches before driving through the Cuban community blasting car horns and music, while some waved Trump flags and signs. The Courier-Journal reported that the caravan featured over 150 people protesting Cuba’s socialist government after Sanders defended Castro’s literacy programs. Signs on the cars read “No Socialism in America,” “Cuba Libra,“ and “Make Cuba Great Again.” Click here to watch videos.

Bernie Sanders defends Fidel Castro’s socialist Cuba: ‘Unfair to simply say everything is bad’

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the frontrunner for the Democrats’ presidential nomination, doubled down on his support for some of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s policies, saying in an interview that aired Sunday, “it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad.” Speaking to CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, pointed to social welfare programs introduced under Castro’s regime that he described as redeeming, despite the communist dictator’s often repressive human-rights violations against Cubans. “We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know? When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?” Sanders told Anderson Cooper. Fidel Castro relinquished power to his brother, Raúl, in 2011 after nearly half a century in charge of the island nation; Fidel died in 2016. Some Republicans jumped on Sanders’ comments. “It really makes a difference when those you murder at the firing squad can read & write,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted. In a resurfaced speech given at the University of Vermont in 1986, Sanders praised the socialist policies implemented in Cuba by the Castro regime and criticized bipartisan efforts in the U.S. to tamp down on Castro’s spread of communism. While Sanders said in the new interview he “condemns” any human rights violations Castro committed, he also took aim at President Trump for his unlikely friendships with some dictators or strongman leaders, including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. “I do not think that Kim Jong Un is a good friend,” Sanders said. “I don’t trade love letters with a murdering dictator. Vladimir Putin, not a great friend of mine.” Despite victories in all three of the earliest state contests, the Vermont senator has faced criticism from other party contenders, including billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who lambasted his socialist policies declaring they would never fare in a November matchup with Trump. Sanders went on to define his brand of democratic socialism, which has tapped into a more progressive ideology that has been gaining traction with young voters across the country. “When Donald Trump was a private businessman in New York, he got $800 million in tax breaks and subsidies to build luxury housing. That’s called corporate socialism. What democratic socialism is about is saying, ‘Let’s use the federal government to protect the interests of working families,'” he explained. Trump has used Sanders’ policy initiatives, including “Medicare-for-all” and free college tuition and elimination of student loan debt, to take aim at the senator, even going so far as to label him a communist. “You know what? We will fight back,” Sanders said of these attacks. “This is what we will bring up… that the president of the United States is a pathological liar, and it is increasingly clear that many people just don’t believe anything that he says. He is a fraud. I look forward to taking him on.”

Of COURSE Bernie is a communist!  The man and his wife spent their honeymoon in Moscow back when it was the SOVIET UNION, for crying out loud!  But, admitting to that would probably be a bridge too far for his base.  Soo..  he settles for “democratic socialist.”  Heck, he’s not even a registered Democrat.  At any rate, the fact that he’s currently defending a brutal communist dictator like Fidel should surprise nobody.  He recently defended China in a similar way.  Bernie is a nauseating, self-righteous, and brazenly hypocritical communist.  “Mini” Mike Bloomberg even recently call him out for his millions and his three mansions.  For Bernie it’s “do as I say; not as I do.”  He’s such a hypocrite.  Anyway, for more on this story, click on the text above.

Cuba deal rollback: Trump says he’s nixing Obama’s ‘one-sided’ pact

President Trump, speaking at a Miami theater associated with Cuban exiles, announced Friday he is nixing his predecessor’s “one-sided deal” with the Communist nation – moving to restrict individual travel to the island, crack down on the flow of U.S. cash to the Cuban military and demand key reforms in Havana. While stopping short of a full reversal, Trump said he would challenge Cuba to come back to the table with a new agreement. “Effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba,” Trump told a cheering crowd. Trump cast his announcement Friday as the fulfillment of a campaign pledge to turn back former President Barack Obama’s diplomatic outreach to the country. “I keep my promises,” Trump said. “And now that I am your president, America will expose the crimes of the Castro regime.” A cornerstone of the new policy is to ensure Americans traveling to Cuba only support private businesses and services, banning financial transactions with the dozens of enterprises run by the military-linked corporation GAESA. The Trump administration also says it will strictly enforce the 12 authorized categories allowing American citizens to travel to Cuba – banning one particular type of travel, known as individual “people-to-people” trips, seen as ripe for abuse by would-be tourists. Most U.S. travelers to Cuba will again be required to visit the island as part of organized tour groups run by American companies. Obama eliminated the tour requirement, allowing tens of thousands of Americans to book solo trips and spend their money with individual bed-and-breakfast owners, restaurants and taxi drivers. The rules also require a daylong schedule of activities designed to expose the travelers to ordinary Cubans. Trump focused his speech Friday on the crimes and misdeeds of the Castro government, saying his administration would not “hide from it.” He accused the regime of harboring “cop killers, hijackers and terrorists” while casting the policy changes as meant to encourage a free Cuba. “With God’s help, a free Cuba is what we will soon achieve,” Trump said. Critics of the United States’ decades-long freeze – and embargo – with Cuba say it failed to spur such changes, and had welcomed Obama’s outreach as a fresh approach. But many Cuban-American lawmakers recoiled. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a Cuban-American lawmaker who helped craft the new policy, spoke before the president in Miami on Friday and took a shot at Trump’s predecessor for his visit to Cuba last March. “A year and a half ago … an American president landed in Havana to outstretch his hand to a regime. Today, a new president lands in Miami to reach out his hand to the people of Cuba,” Rubio said.

Exactly!!  This is great news for the good people of Cuba who have been brutalized by the communist dictator Castro brothers for over half a century.  Outstanding!!   🙂

Opinion: Thousands of Cubans, my father included, paid heavy price during Castro’s rule

I woke up my 81-year old dad with the news of Fidel Castro’s death. His eyes swelled with tears, and he smiled with a sense of relief that a dictator who destroyed his homeland, stole his homes and businesses, killed his friends, and divided our family was finally gone. When Mr. Castro overthrew the Cuban government in 1959, some believed in his vision of a revolution, yet it quickly turned into a nightmare when he and his thugs transformed this peaceful and thriving island into a totalitarian communist regime where the Cuban people were denied their basic rights and freedoms. Mr. Castro changed the course of history and sadly, thousands of Cubans paid a heavy price for his actions. Many who disagreed with the Castro regime including my father were imprisoned, tortured, or assassinated. My father knew the destructive path of Mr. Castro, and he became a freedom fighter – outspoken and critical of Mr. Castro. He was thrown into jail. On the first day of his imprisonment, he spoke to one his friends and had to tell him that he would be executed the next day by a firing squad. It is just one of many stories of the horrors of the Castro brothers who are both guilty of the countless executions of innocent men and women. Despite Mr. Castro’s atrocities, leaders from across the globe will remember him in a positive light. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement calling Castro “larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century . . . a legendary revolutionary and orator.” It was President-elect Donald Trump who said the right words. Mr. Trump stated: “Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.” The only ones who have benefited from the dysfunctional and absolute powerful regime have been Mr. Castro’s loyal colleagues, authoritarian military and intelligence agents, while the Cuban people have spent their time figuring out how to feed their families with very limited resources and living in poverty. Mr. Castro’s motto was “patria o muerte, venceremos” (Homeland or death, we will win). For close to six decades, the Cuban people have lost. They have lost their homeland, many loved ones, and their freedoms. In Cuba, there is no freedom of speech or the press, ownership of private property or free elections. It is ultimate power and control by the Castro brothers and his military. While one brother is gone, the other more destructive brother Raul Castro will continue the same fear tactics on the Cuban people. While the Cuban people long for freedom, there will be one day that both Castro brothers will be gone, but it does not guarantee that communism will cease to exist on the island. Political persecutions will continue and freedoms denied. But for one day, an old man can smile and an exile community can celebrate to know there is one less dictator in our world, and we can only hope and pray for a free Cuba soon.

Agreed!  Thanks to political commentator, Mercedes Schlapp for sharing that powerful personal story with us.  Fidel Castro was an evil monster.  And anyone who thinks otherwise, clearly didn’t know him, or understand what communism truly is.  Look to see how many socialist world leaders and liberal Hollywood elitists praise him now that he’s gone..  and then keep this story in mind.

Nine Liberal Hollywood Elites Who Normalized Communist Dictator Fidel Castro

Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has died at the age of 90. Through the years, a long list of Hollywood elites have been bewitched by Castro, despite his Communist regime’s imprisonment of political opponents, homosexuals, and journalists. Actors like Jack Nicholson and Danny Glover, and Hollywood directors from Steven Spielberg to Oliver Stone, have accepted invitations to the tiny Caribbean island and have showered Castro with praise.

To see a list of some of these Hollywood liberal elite morons who have shown this murderous, communist, dictator praise over the years, click on the text above.  Unreal..

Castro demands U.S. give back Guantanamo, lift embargo

Cuban President Raul Castro told President Obama Monday that the U.S. must return the Guantanamo Bay naval base and lift the embargo against Havana for the countries to fully normalize relations. “The blockade stands as the most important obstacle to our economic development,” Mr. Castro said as the two leaders emerged from a meeting on Mr. Obama’s historic trip to the island. He also said in order for the countries to move forward, “it will also be necessary” for the U.S. to return Guantanamo, which is based on the eastern end of Cuba. Gitmo is where the U.S. is operating a detention center for terrorism suspects, as well as the navy base. Mr. Castro referred to Gitmo as “illegally occupied” territory. Mr. Castro said in defiance of U.S. criticism that Cuba “defends” human rights for all. Mr. Obama, who didn’t mention Gitmo in his opening statement, agreed with Mr. Castro that “the road ahead will not be easy.” Mr. Obama, who opposes the embargo, said he will continue to call on Congress to lift the restrictions. He told Mr. Castro that the U.S. will keep speaking up about the need for democratic reforms and improvement of human rights in Cuba. “The relationship between our governments will not be transformed overnight,” Mr. Obama said. During a short news conference, Mr. Obama appeared irritated when Mr. Castro interrupted Mr. Obama’s answer to a reporter’s question to confer with an aide nearby. “Excuse me?” Mr. Obama said to Mr. Castro as they stood side by side at podiums. The Cuban leader explained to Mr. Obama that he was trying to discern whether the American reporter’s question about Cuba holding political prisoners was intended for him. Then Mr. Castro addressed the reporter for CNN. “Give me a list of these political prisoners,” he demanded. “Give me a name or names. What political prisoners?” He said if he received a list of names, those people would be released by the end of the day.

Or…maybe executed..

Cubans Flood Texas Ports After Thaw in Relations

Call it another immigration surge of the United States’ own making. But unlike last summer’s crisis of children and families arriving from Central America, lawmakers aren’t quick to call on this current group of refugees to go home. From October 2014 to June 2015, about 18,520 Cubans have sought entry to the United States through Texas’ Laredo field office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes ports from Del Rio to Brownsville. That’s compared to the 18,240 unaccompanied minors that were caught or surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley from October 2014 through July of this year, according to CBP statistics. If current trend holds, the number of Cubans seeking entry through Laredo will be about 24,700 this fiscal year. That’s about 60 percent more than 2014’s 15,600 and nearly twice as many as 2013’s 12,445. The influx of Cubans to Texas is a result of the Obama administration’s efforts to normalize relations with the communist Castro regime, said Marc Rosenblum, deputy director of the U.S. Immigration Policy program at the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. “That is a jaw dropping statistic that I haven’t seen before,” Rosenblum said of the spike. “In general there is a suspicion among many Cubans that the special status that Cubans receive is in jeopardy.” The special status is a policy allowing Cubans who make it to a U. S. port of entry to enter and seek legal permanent residency status, known as a green card, after one year. Unlike the Central Americans smuggled illegally through Mexico, the Cubans can travel freely through the country as they migrate northward. “We’re seeing a surge that started with the announcement of normalized relations last year and there is a longer-term trend of people coming to Mexico rather than risking the sea voyage because [Mexico] is a more reliable way to go,” Rosenblum added. Though the number of Central American minors is down from last summer’s massive wave when more than 46,000 came to Texas through the Rio Grande Valley, the political firestorm that surge created still rages. Before taking office as Texas governor, Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit while attorney general to halt President Obama’s immigration policy that would have shielded millions of undocumented Texans from deportation. That policy is still on hold and Abbott cited last summer’s crisis as one reason he filed the lawsuit, claiming Texas witnessed firsthand the ill effects of Obama’s policies that included 2012’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Texas Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz have also cited Obama’s immigration policies as a magnet that lures more undocumented immigrants toward Texas and blasted the president during last summer’s surge. Cornyn filed legislation last summer that, if passed, would have allowed for the immediate deportations of Central Americans and Cruz has promised to scale back Obama’s immigration policies if elected president. Neither Abbott nor Cornyn responded to a request for comment. Cruz, whose own father fled Cuba and settled in Texas, also declined to comment. The current policy toward Cubans is an amended version of the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which applied to most immigrants from the island nation who sought entry to the United States. Under a revision agreed upon during the Clinton Administration, called the Wet Foot/Dry Foot policy, Cubans who reach the United States can apply for entry while Cubans found at sea are sent back home or to a third country. Rick Pauza, a spokesman for CBP in Laredo, said the current negotiations between the United States and Cuba have not affected long-standing policy regarding Cubans seeking entry to the country. “Normally, if a Cuban national arriving at a Customs & Border Protection (CBP) port of entry or between ports expresses fear of return to Cuba or their country of last residence, he or she is inspected and may qualify for parole into the U.S.,” he said in an email. “CBP Officers and Agents will first verify the individuals’ citizenship, identity, and whether they have prior criminal or U.S. immigration history. After one year in the U.S., the Cuban national may be eligible under the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of 1966 to apply for lawful permanent residence.”

Congress needs to revisit the current policy towards Cuba as it relates to immigration. IF we are to “normalize” relations with Cuba, then we need to think through all of the consequences of that, including immigration. As we’ve been saying from day one here at The Daily Buzz… We need to put a screeching halt to ALL immigration, both legal AND illegal, until we get our borders secured, and our immigration laws are revised in such a way as to support the national security, and economic interest of the United States. We can no longer afford to be the world’s refugee center. We’re already over $18.5 TRILLION in debt, and our economy is stagnant thanks to our agenda-driven, idiot-in-chief in the White House who is doing everything he can to violate his oath of office, and destroy our country and it’s infrastructure by actively encouraging illegal immigration and taking in more refugees from wherever than we can possibly handle. Tool…

Official: Review of Cuba as terror sponsor in ‘final stages’

White House officials left open the possibility Tuesday that President Obama could recommend Cuba’s removal from a list of state sponsors of terror around the time of the Summit of the Americas later this week in Panama. The officials also sought to soften tensions with Venezuela that threatened to overshadow the summit. Deputy National Security adviser Benjamin Rhodes said the State Department’s review of Cuba’s place on that terror list is in “its final stages.” While he said the timing is in the hands of Secretary of State John Kerry, he would not rule out an Obama announcement before or during the two-day summit in Panama City. Removing Cuba from the terror list would be one of the biggest developments since Dec. 17, when Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced they would seek to re-establish diplomatic relations after half a century of antagonism. But Rhodes cautioned that the actual opening of embassies in Havana and in Washington by both countries was still some time off. “When you have two countries that haven’t spoken to each other like this over 50 years, you have lot off issues to work through,” Rhodes said in a call previewing Obama’s trip to Jamaica and then to the summit in Panama. Obama leaves for the Caribbean on Wednesday. Among the issues that have slowed the diplomatic efforts have been Cuba’s presence on the terror list and U.S. demands that U.S. diplomats be able to interact with the Cuban people without limitations. Rhodes also downplayed U.S. sanctions against certain Venezuelans in protest of President Nicolas Maduro’s crackdown on dissent. Maduro has characterized the sanctions against seven individuals as an act of aggression, citing language in an Obama executive order that describes Venezuela as a threat to U.S. security. Rhodes sought to tamp down the furor, noting that the language is boilerplate used in executive orders that impose sanctions around the world. “The U.S. doesn’t believe that Venezuela poses some threat to national security,” Rhodes said. The action, Rhodes said, “was not of a scale that in any way was aimed at targeting the Venezuelan government broadly.”

Sooo… In other words.. You just use foreign policy “templates;” one size fits all? Talk about tap dancing! And, this whole thing with Cuba stinks to high heaven. They have ALWAYS been, and continue to be, a state sponsor of terrorism around the world. That’s not even moot. But, Obama, who has a fetish for wanting to appease our enemies, is doing what he can to remove communist Cuba from that list…and begin normalizing relations with that evil, and oppressive, regime. Typical..

Gitmo detainees ‘splash’ guards daily with human waste, Marine general tells lawmakers

Hard-core detainees at Guantanamo Bay routinely hurl their waste and vomit at their guards in daily, stomach-turning acts of defiance, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers. “Splashing,” as Marine Gen. John Kelly, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, called the practice in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, is just one of the occupational hazards faced by the men and women guarding some 122 prisoners who remain at the compound. Kelly later elaborated that the term referred to throwing “a little cocktail” of “feces, urine, sperm, vomit” at the guards. Guards have also been assaulted by prisoners and kneed in the groin, according to Kelly. “If they can assault the guards physically, they’ll do it,” he said, vowing “I will not back off” from protecting the guards. Abusive prisoners are restrained and sometimes moved to single cells, he said.

Nasty!  Sounds like they’re being FAR too nice to these vermin.  Maybe they should remove their prayer rugs and Korans..and feed them pork.  Respect is a two-way street; NOT one-way.  And, if these animals are acting this way, while demanding (through their ACLU-provided attorneys) their special diets, prayer rugs, Korans and so on… Then, they oughtta have all of that taken away…and given MREs with pork in em.  That’s what I’d do if I was the camp commander..