Looming US Foreign Relations Disaster over Cuba
Alberto N Jones
HAVANA TIMES, Nov. 28 — An apparently benign, innocuous article reproduced in the Daytona Beach News-Journal 11/27/10 “ILY to lead Foreign Affairs”, which refers to Cuban-American Ileana Ros-Lethinen to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee, will have a catastrophic, long-term, confrontational effect on US relations with the most important nations in Latin America and many more around the world.
US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lethinen has demonstrated during her 25 years in the Florida Legislature and the US Congress, to be a vicious, rabid political extremist, who in order to address her visceral hate against Cuba, her vindictive feelings against the Cuban government for having “hurt my Dad”, is willing to allow her deranged inner bitterness, to pull this country to the edge of the precipice.
Just in Latin America, Mrs. Ros-Lethinen will put the US on a collision course with oil rich Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador, in addition Argentina, Paraguay, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Mexico and the Caribbean islands.
Completely oblivious of the fact, that half a century of confrontation with Cuba, has only served to inflict indescribable pain, hunger, destruction and death on the Cuban people who she claims to love, the goals of the US embargo to decapitate the Cuban government have failed and will continue to fail, as long as we continue on this belligerent path that may re-enact the horrific days of the missile crisis of 1962.
Working against the best interest of her adopted country, Mrs. Ros-Lethinen has devoted her life, to incite and fan the flames of hatred between the US and Cuba. While more than 20 US States are continuously leading business delegations to Cuba, opening agricultural, medicine and other markets, that have earned US business people billions in sales, she has done everything she possibly can, to shut off every avenue of dialogue, friendship and understanding .
With the arrival of George W. Bush to the White House, Mrs. Ros-Lethinen, Diaz-Balart brothers, Bob Menendez, Senator Mel Martinez and other extremists, rammed through the US Congress the most inhumane, anti-family bill against Cuban-Americans in history. This Bill restructured the Cuban family, by excluding aunts and uncle, allowing only closest family members a one-week visit every three years and forbade each visitor from spending more than $50.00 a day.
Mean-spirited actions
A graphic example of the wicked entrails of those supporting this bill, was a response to a question posed to a high ranking State Department official during a press conference as to, what would happen if a Cuban-American should need to visit an ailing family member in Cuba who would die at a later date? His response said it all: “It is for them to decide if they choose to visit a dying family member or to be at the funeral,” end of quote.
Tragically, the damage and hardship created by these mean spirited actions, has been felt in Miami as well. The huge Flee Market on 36th street with hundreds of small enterprises went out of business, Calle 8 suffered irreparable hardship, the charter airlines Concourse at the Miami International Airport suffered severe financial distress and hundreds of Cuban-Americans became beggars on 103rd street in Hialeah.
A mere five months since President Barack Obama lifted these cruel measures, flights/passenger to Cuba have experienced a 6 fold increase, 20th street SW has gone from an eyesore to a booming small business area in Miami, that was deserving to be featured in Time Magazine. Much, much more mutually beneficial development could be achieved, if reason and logic would prevail over hate and destruction.
US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lethinen’s pervasive obsession with Fidel Castro and Cuba, lead her to utter the obnoxious remarks of “I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro“, or for throwing her full political weight behind the failed kidnapping attempt of six year old, shipwrecked Elian Gonzalez. The boy had experienced the drowning death of his mother, nine friends and may have suffered greater trauma than most of us in our lifetime. He certainly did not receive simple motherly love and comfort from that gang of hate mongers.
Thousands of citizens of Florida have demanded that US Congresswoman Ros-Lethinen and the rest of the Cuban-American delegation to Congress, focus on the massive housing crisis in their state, job creation, the health and education crisis, violent crime, drug abuse and tens of other maladies that have a direct impact on people’s lives, rather than spewing her bilious hatred and frustration everywhere.
The state of Florida with its similar climate, geographical proximity, common cultural and historical links with Cuba, should begin to develop the closest socio-economical-complementary, mutually beneficial relation with its closest neighbor. Failing to do so will expose numerous weakness and vulnerabilities we have as compared with Cuba, that may wreak havoc in the near future to our economy and livelihood, now that Cuba has begun to open and expand its development.
It’s interesting to look at this op-ed from Alberto Jones from the perspective of two years later.
Ileana Ros-Lethinen has been chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for the past two years now and while she has issued numerous statements critical of the Cuban & Venezuelan governments, the US government has hardly experienced anything that could be called a “foreign relations disaster” with Latin America. Relations continue pretty much as they had been in the past, lousy but no better and no worse.
But the last paragraph, where Jones suggests the US had better fix things up with Cuba fast, lest Florida miss out on the coming boom in the Cuban economy, is hilarious!
Comedy gold!
The upside down world of–some, not all–Miami Cubans is mind boggling! First off, Hugo, Rafael, Lula, etc. etc. were all DEMOCRATICALLY elected, no matter how much the followers of faux Fox say otherwise. Fifty years ago the Cuban Revolution was “elected” by acclamation–and by force of arms! No doubt it would have won any election, had one been held, during its first 33 years. Who knows what the current outcome would be if an electin were now held? If much of the rest of Latin America is any indication, it would still have won an election despite the hard times of the Special Period, and the continuing hard times thereafter. In any event, it will be the Cuban people living on the island itself who will decide Cuba’s future–not the ossifying dinosaurs of Miami! As for those who seek to regain their lost property, I suggest you read Charles Dickens’s “Great Expectations,” (or is it “Bleak House”?) re: the case of Jarndyce vs Jarndyce. There are certain dangers in predicating your whole life on the expectations that you are going to get some sort of will-of-the-wisp inheritance. Too bad we have to wait so long for the Miami dinosaurs to die off!
The US policy to Cuba is mindboggling stupid. The rest of the international investor community is stealing a march on the US. Cuba will change (a la Vietnam or some quasi variation on) with greater alliances and finacial dependence on China/Russia etc. Do they really wnat Cubs to become controlled/influenced by the competition over 50 yera old gripes. I suggest they take take their collective heads out of their pendejos and dont let policy be dictated by these moronic of politicians…
Hold fair and open multi-party elections, allow labor unions not controlled by the regime, allow freedom to travel for all citizens, allow political parties to organize, free all political prisoners, pay reparations for expropriated properties to Cuban citizens and others whose properties were nationalized without compensation then you can start to discuss future mutually beneficial relations and in the meantime have fun dealing with ILY!
Any dislike o=and collision course with Hugo Chavez,, Rafael Correa, the Castro brothers,etc. has more to do with the totalitarian policies of those governments than with the personal motivations of any American politician.
Any support of these repressive governments from inside or outside those countries has much to do with malevolent personal profit than any professed benevolent ideology.. Let Congess woman, Mrs. Ros-Lethinen do her the democratically elected job!
The U.S. isn’t on a collision course with Venezuela. Chavez is on a collision course with democracy.