Sunday, April 16, 2017

Sunday Globe Special: The Last Castro

In the twilight of the Castros

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New England students to begin semester at sea with trip to Cuba

Maybe this will be the first thing they learn:

"Obama’s latest use of executive power to press forward in the face of opposition in Congress to repealing the embargo, this time through a 12-page document that essentially transforms what has been a presidential priority into a set of official mandates. The action formalizes the shift toward normalization and [an] end [to] a half-century of clandestine plotting against Cuba’s government...."

Including assassination attempts and acts of sabotage that amounted to war.

As for the next guy....

JetBlue pushes (again) to create a daily flight from Boston to Cuba
Still no Cuba flight from Boston
Historic commercial flight from US lands in Cuba

Then they cut service because all flights were booked:

"The Cuban exodus began in 1980, when Castro opened the port at Mariel for people who wanted to leave, and over a period of months 125,000 Cubans did. Most were law-abiding, but the Cuban leader had opened prison and mental institution doors, too, and within a few years, almost 3,000 of the refugees were in US jails after committing new crimes.

Well, there are good immigrants and there are bad immigrants. All depends U.S. government policy at that exact moment.

Frantic city officials around the nation set up task forces and committees to study the “marielitos.” The term became associated with criminals for a time, which stigmatized others who came on the boatlift, a situation not helped by the movie “Scarface,” in which Al Pacino plays a Mariel refugee who becomes a coldblooded Miami drug lord......"

Say hello to my little friend:

Joy, relief, and worry in Boston with Castro gone
Cubans carry on quietly, as worries grow for what comes next
In Havana, remembering ‘the only leader I ever knew’
Future of US-Cuba thaw less certain under Trump
With one Castro gone, questions about what the other one will do
Miami’s Cuban exiles celebrate Fidel Castro’s death
Fidel Castro, 90, nemesis to US and a leading figure in world politics

I guess it's a Glass half empty, glass half full situation.

Subdued Cuba prepares memorial for Castro
Miami celebration turns to reflection on Castro death
1959 photo of Fidel Castro in Westwood recalls dawn of an era
‘I don’t think Fidel Castro could ever get over that John Kennedy beat him with a speech.’

What are they trying to say, a Castro conspiracy killed him? 

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

Cubans bid Fidel Castro farewell, and pledge loyalty to system
First commercial US-Havana flight lands as country mourns
Cuban family illustrates complex reactions to Castro’s death
Semper (and suffer) Fidel: Artists conflicted about Castro
Castro put to rest in city where revolution began

When does the movie come out?

Cuba’s surge in tourism keeps food off residents’ plates

Somehow that happens when the U.S. government gets involved

Maybe they should just abstain:

"US abstains in UN vote denouncing America’s Cuba embargo" by Somini Sengupta and Rick Gladstone New York Times   October 26, 2016

UNITED NATIONS — The abstention was another important signal sent by the Obama administration of its intention to fully repair relations with Cuba.

Until this year, the General Assembly resolution condemning the embargo has always been opposed by the United States and its lone ally on that issue, Israel. The Israelis also changed their vote to an abstention.

When the U.S. did that regarding settlements Israel blew a gasket.

The resolution, proposed every year since 1991, passes overwhelmingly, with supporters denouncing the embargo as an illegal and punitive vestige of the Cold War. The vote for the resolution Wednesday afternoon was 191 in favor, none opposed, and two abstaining.

Ambassador Samantha Power announced the new US position in a speech to the General Assembly shortly before the voting. She was widely applauded, including by the Cuban delegation.

Israel’s ambassador, Danny Danon, said in a statement that “Israel welcomes the progress achieved in the relations between the US and Cuba and hopes it will lead to a new era in the region.”

What business is it of theirs? They even control our relations with Cuba?

--more--"

Congre$$ must be next.

UPDATE: 

JetBlue really, really wants to fly between Boston and Cuba

And Obama didn't help.