Pulling of Guevara Film Sparks Protest (Also a Poll to DU)

Another example of S. Florida gusanos trying to take away freedom. They claim they came to the US to be free, but all they've done is bring their repressive ways with them.

snippets:
About 20 protesters picketed the Southwest Regional Library in Pembroke Pines on Monday, upset that it postponed showing a film about revolutionary Che Guevara during Hispanic Heritage Month.

The library planned to show The Motorcycle Diaries, a biographical film about a young Che Guevara, who traveled throughout South America with a friend and witnessed poverty and injustice.

Guevara, an Argentine who was slain in 1967, was a Cuban guerrilla leader and an icon of left-wing political ideals. During the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, Guevara advocated a nuclear showdown with the United States.

Library officials pulled the film after patrons complained about showing the film as part of a ''celebration'' for Hispanic Heritage Month.
more:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12810607.htm

What freedom? This country is so censored, I am speechless. What ever happened to "If you don't want to watch/read/listen to something....don't".

BTW...The Motorcycle Diaries, great movie.

don't want us to see ...

and the bomb threats to auditoriums with scheduled famous Cuban acts, and the crowds which have shown up for Cuban bands like Los Van Van, from which Miami gusanos have launched eggs, rocks, bottles, D-cell batteries, and bags of urine at people trying to get into the concert.

You're right, their obsessive me-first, dictatorial ways came with them from the time they were very big fish in Batista's little pond Cuba right to the city they claim they have transformed from a "little sleepy fishing village to a world-class city." It's so "world-class" it has been named, by the U.S. Census Bureau, on multiple occassions, POOREST LARGE CITY IN THE UNITED STATES with population over 500,000.

What a buncha creeps. They DARE to claim, again, and again, "This is not a First Amendment matter."

from their film festival in Vancouver because of possiblity that their people in Venezuela would be hurt by anti-Chavezistas.

on his way through Miami International after performing in the US or in 1998 when a bomb threat empties the concert hall at MIDEM music conference during performance by 91-year-old Cuban musician Compay Segundo.

(old article from 2000 concerning exile violence)

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2000-04-20/mullin.html

<snip>


"Lawless violence and intimidation have been hallmarks of el exilio for more than 30 years. Given that fact, it's not only understandable many people would be deeply worried, it's prudent to be worried. Of course it goes without saying that the majority of Cuban Americans in Miami do not sanction violence, but its long tradition within the exile community cannot be ignored and cannot simply be wished away.

The following list of violent incidents I compiled from a variety of databases and news sources (a few come from personal experience). It is incomplete, especially in Miami's trademark category of bomb threats. Nor does it include dozens of acts of violence and murder committed by Cuban exiles in other U.S. cities and at least sixteen foreign countries. But completeness isn't the point. The point is to face the truth, no matter how difficult that may be. If Miami's Cuban exiles confront this shameful past -- and resolutely disavow it -- they will go a long way toward easing their neighbors' anxiety about a peaceful future."


1968 From MacArthur Causeway, pediatrician Orlando Bosch fires bazooka at a Polish freighter. (City of Miami later declares "Orlando Bosch Day." Federal agents will jail him in 1988.)

1972 Julio Iglesias, performing at a local nightclub, says he wouldn't mind "singing in front of Cubans." Audience erupts in anger. Singer requires police escort. Most radio stations drop Iglesias from playlists. One that doesn't, Radio Alegre, receives bomb threats.

1974 Exile leader José Elias de la Torriente murdered in his Coral Gables home after failing to carry out a planned invasion of Cuba.

1974 Bomb blast guts the office of Spanish-language magazine Replica.

1974 Several small Cuban businesses, citing threats, stop selling Replica.

1974 Three bombs explode near a Spanish-language radio station.

1974 Hector Diaz Limonta and Arturo Rodriguez Vives murdered in internecine exile power struggles.

1975 Luciano Nieves murdered after advocating peaceful coexistence with Cuba.

1975 Another bomb damages Replica's office.

1976 Rolando Masferrer and Ramon Donestevez murdered in internecine exile power struggles.

1976 Car bomb blows off legs of WQBA-AM news director Emilio Milian after he publicly condemns exile violence.

1977 Juan José Peruyero murdered in internecine exile power struggles.

1979 Cuban film Memories of Underdevelopment interrupted by gunfire and physical violence instigated by two exile groups.

1979 Bomb discovered at Padron Cigars, whose owner helped negotiate release of 3600 Cuban political prisoners.

1979 Bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.

1980 Another bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.

1980 Powerful anti-personnel bomb discovered at American Airways Charter, which arranges flights to Cuba.

1981 Bomb explodes at Mexican Consulate on Brickell Avenue in protest of relations with Cuba.

1981 Replica's office again damaged by a bomb.

1982 Two outlets of Hispania Interamericana, which ships medicine to Cuba, attacked by gunfire.

1982 Bomb explodes at Venezuelan Consulate in downtown Miami in protest of relations with Cuba.

1982 Bomb discovered at Nicaraguan Consulate.

1982 Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre defends $10,000 grant to exile commando group Alpha 66 by noting that the organization "has never been accused of terrorist activities inside the United States."

1983 Another bomb discovered at Replica.

1983 Another bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.

1983 Bomb explodes at Paradise International, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1983 Bomb explodes at Little Havana office of Continental National Bank, one of whose executives, Bernardo Benes, helped negotiate release of 3600 Cuban political prisoners.

1983 Miami City Commissioner Demetrio Perez seeks to honor exile terrorist Juan Felipe de la Cruz, accidentally killed while assembling a bomb. (Perez is now a member of the Miami-Dade County Public School Board and owner of the Lincoln-Martí private school where Elian Gonzalez is enrolled.)

1983 Gunfire shatters windows of three Little Havana businesses linked to Cuba.

1986 South Florida Peace Coalition members physically attacked in downtown Miami while demonstrating against Nicaraguan contra war.

1987 Bomb explodes at Cuba Envios, which ships packages to Cuba.

1987 Bomb explodes at Almacen El Español, which ships packages to Cuba.

1987 Bomb explodes at Cubanacan, which ships packages to Cuba.

1987 Car belonging to Bay of Pigs veteran is firebombed.

1987 Bomb explodes at Machi Viajes a Cuba, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1987 Bomb explodes outside Va Cuba, which ships packages to Cuba.

1988 Bomb explodes at Miami Cuba, which ships medical supplies to Cuba.

1988 Bomb threat against Iberia Airlines in protest of Spain's relations with Cuba.

1988 Bomb explodes outside Cuban Museum of Art and Culture after auction of paintings by Cuban artists.

1988 Bomb explodes outside home of Maria Cristina Herrera, organizer of a conference on U.S.-Cuba relations.

1988 Bomb threat against WQBA-AM after commentator denounces Herrera bombing.

1988 Bomb threat at local office of Immigration and Naturalization Service in protest of terrorist Orlando Bosch being jailed.

1988 Bomb explodes near home of Griselda Hidalgo, advocate of unrestricted travel to Cuba.

1988 Bomb damages Bele Cuba Express, which ships packages to Cuba.

1989 Another bomb discovered at Almacen El Español, which ships packages to Cuba.

1989 Two bombs explode at Marazul Charters, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1990 Another, more powerful, bomb explodes outside the Cuban Museum of Art and Culture.

1991 Using crowbars and hammers, exile crowd rips out and urinates on Calle Ocho "Walk of Fame" star of Mexican actress Veronica Castro, who had visited Cuba.

1992 Union Radio employee beaten and station vandalized by exiles looking for Francisco Aruca, who advocates an end to U.S. embargo.

1992 Cuban American National Foundation mounts campaign against the Miami Herald, whose executives then receive death threats and whose newsracks are defaced and smeared with feces.

1992 Americas Watch releases report stating that hard-line Miami exiles have created an environment in which "moderation can be a dangerous position."

1993 Inflamed by Radio Mambí commentator Armando Perez-Roura, Cuban exiles physically assault demonstrators lawfully protesting against U.S. embargo. Two police officers injured, sixteen arrests made. Miami City Commissioner Miriam Alonso then seeks to silence anti-embargo demonstrators: "We have to look at the legalities of whether the City of Miami can prevent them from expressing themselves."

1994 Human Rights Watch/Americas Group issues report stating that Miami exiles do not tolerate dissident opinions, that Spanish-language radio promotes aggression, and that local government leaders refuse to denounce acts of intimidation.

1994 Two firebombs explode at Replica magazine's office.

1994 Bomb threat to law office of Magda Montiel Davis following her videotaped exchange with Fidel Castro.

1996 Music promoter receives threatening calls, cancels local appearance of Cuba's La Orquesta Aragon.

1996 Patrons attending concert by Cuban jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba physically assaulted by 200 exile protesters. Transportation for exiles arranged by Dade County Commissioner Javier Souto.

1996 Firebomb explodes at Little Havana's Centro Vasco restaurant preceding concert by Cuban singer Rosita Fornes.

1996 Firebomb explodes at Marazul Charters, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1996 Arson committed at Tu Familia Shipping, which ships packages to Cuba.

1997 Bomb threats, death threats received by radio station WRTO-FM following its short-lived decision to include in its playlist songs by Cuban musicians.

1998 Bomb threat empties concert hall at MIDEM music conference during performance by 91-year-old Cuban musician Compay Segundo.

1998 Bomb threat received by Amnesia nightclub in Miami Beach preceding performance by Cuban musician Orlando "Maraca" Valle.

1998 Firebomb explodes at Amnesia nightclub preceding performance by Cuban singer Manolín.

1999 Violent protest at Miami Arena performance of Cuban band Los Van Van leaves one person injured, eleven arrested.

1999 Bomb threat received by Seville Hotel in Miami Beach preceding performance by Cuban singer Rosita Fornes. Hotel cancels concert.

January 26, 2000 Outside Miami Beach home of Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, protester displays sign reading, "Stop the deaths at sea. Repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act," then is physically assaulted by nearby exile crowd before police come to rescue.

April 11, 2000 Outside home of Elian Gonzalez's Miami relatives, radio talk show host Scot Piasant of Portland, Oregon, displays T-shirt reading, "Send the boy home" and "A father's rights," then is physically assaulted by nearby exile crowd before police come to rescue.

here.

What a bunch of crap. I guess it is only terrorism if "Arabs" or "Muslims" do it.

He looks like he's expecting someone to pay him back for the 73 people he and Luis Posada Carriles killed on that airliner.

By this two faced government that travels on a one way street.

as he was: compassionate, caring, and commited to caring for the sick. This is the complete opposite of what the Gusanos would have anyone believe. After seeing the movie I read the book--it too was excellent. Movie is now available on DVD.

http://www.motorcyclediariesmovie.com/

contrasted with the image right-wingers have attempted to create for him here.

Funny, as in odd.

what he actually was...


A very young Che and Fidel (sans beard) in Mexico City


Last photo of Che and his family


Carlos Santana at the 2005 Oscars

I thought it was excellent. It spurred me into reading more about Che. I guess that's what they're afraid of. People might begin to think for themselves.

Great for family viewing too!

I have an ample library of books on Che and have been a student of his life for over thirty years. I lived in his hometown of Rosario when I was a young teenager.

This innocent and non-threatening film is, in fact, one of the least revolutionary works ever generated about Che's life and, of course, springs directly from his milestone diaries from his first (not second) trip through Latin America when he was a medical student.

The lock-step and reactionary mindset of these individuals who are now protesting this film truly expose us all to great insight into the severe level of paranoiac neurosis that pervades the right-wing subculture in America these days. It's simply idiotic.

Further, the protest reveal the great ease at which a pitiful handful of millionaire right-wing Cubans in Miami can manipulate a greater audience of Cubans there without exposing their true intentions which is to personally benefit should Castro's socialist government ever collapse allowing them to "regain" their families' enormous land holdings there on the island.

:shrug: Are they simply grossed out at the thought of true compassion for the oppressed and a genuine movement to empower common people because they're afraid they'll have to give up some portion of their excessive wealth?

and they are also afraid that if more people see a powerful, charismatic role model of empowerment of the poor and oppressed, they might choose to live their lives more compassionately. That, of course would mean less tolerance for the authoritarian, corporate, and military mindsets and a greater impetus towards equal distribution of resources. So yes, the patrones fear they would lose some of what they have amassed at the expense of the "wrteched of the earth."

Get your facts straight. See my post below.

Irrespective of how you feel about Che's politics, this film is as close to non-political as a film about Che Guevara could be. It is a story of a couple of young, idealistic men who set out on an epic journey, and the impact this journey had on them. Che gives one toast to a united Latin America, and shows an obvious compassion for the poor, the dispossessed, the indigenous, but only a right wing idiot would have a problem with this. And only an authoritarian mind could want to keep others from seeing it, out of a paranoid fear of nuance and complexity, and out of a fear that, heaven forbid, people might want to think for themselves.

I fear you've hit the nail on the head here: meanwhile, it's NEVER mentioned that Poppy Bush is friends with Felix Rodriguez, who still shows off Che's watch he took after he had him executed.

Coinkydinky? Hardly.

----------------------------------

Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday named a grandson of former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista as the first Hispanic on the Florida Supreme Court.

Raoul Cantero III, a Miami attorney and Harvard Law School graduate, replaces Justice Major Harding, who is retiring after 11 years.

Full story here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/07/10/florida-court.htm

But I'm not a fan of the Miami exile community who intimidate the rest of the Miami Cuban population with their threatening, sometimes violent antics.

There's a smaller exile community in northern New Jersey that gets treated with kid gloves, too, whenever they violently protest against other Cuban-Americans here who suggest reestablishing economic ties with Cuba.

http://forums.miami.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=kr-miamiwebvote&msg=736.1

61% -- "Yes, Guevara was an important figure whether or not you agree with his politics"

33% -- "No, showing this film during Hispanic Heritage Month is inappropriate."

6% -- "Show it or don't. It's just a movie. I don't see what the big deal is."

=================
:sarcasm: Films rated PCR (Political Content Restricted) must not be shown in Miami. :sarcasm:

And hundreds of other Cubans sent "to the wall."

It sickens me that so many DUers revere this person and use his image as their icon.

Like my Grandfather, they all believed that Cuba should have its own destiny - not one controlled by the U.S., not controlled by the USSR. His legacy is not as an individual, but as a martyr to liberty.

You know, like his name, what did he do, where did he live.
People have stories. Sometimes they are interesting.

... there are sometimes people with hidden political agendas who like to phish around on public boards for information about private individuals so as to carry out political vendettas, even those that are 50 years old.

Not that you are one of these, of course. But the Che apologists out there know who I am talking about.

revolution hanging out on left-wing message boards like this
one, just in case. Everybody knows lots of right-wing Cuban-
Americans hang out on these sorts of boards, so it's a good
place to hunt them, eh?

Sorry I asked, let's forget it.

Yeah, shit happens. This is essentially the Rummsfeld line on Iraq.

then he wanted Batista back in power. If he was with the Bay of Pigs people, then he betrayed his country for the CIA; if he was a member of Alpha 66, then he was a terrorist no different from Al-Qaeda.

On the other hand, he could have been like Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo or Hubert Matos. We need more info about your grandfather to properly assess your statement.

BTW, Che never executed anyone other than a latifundista at Sierra Maestra during the revolution.

deal with it.

As for my grandfather, he discovered - like a lot of other Cubans - that Castro was not interested in helping the Cuban people.

No matter how you feel about your grandfather, do you want Bush to do to Cuba what he did to Iraq? Do you want the 12 million Cubans in Cuba to continue to suffer under the American embargo? Or does your personal and family experiences shape your political views about Cuba.

Here is a trivia question... Who is Miguel Aguirre? (You can Google it if you wish).

He foolishly thought Castro was going to bring democracy to Cuba, then discovered that Castro was only interested in being another Batista, but in fatigues. For his mistake in judgment - and for his even worse mistake in publically stating his judgment was mistaken - he was taken "to the wall" and shot.

I believe in Democracy as my grandfather did. Let's build a political coalition and force the gangsters from our government and reclaim our republic in the name of democracy. Let's practice democracy in our own nation for awhile, instead of what we have been doing, and then export the concept of populist liberation through peaceful democratic means to Latin America and the rest of the world.

I also oppose the Miami gusanos and the way they keep Cuban artists from coming to this country, and support keeping Americans from traveling to Cuba to make their own minds.

THE PEOPLE? All in how you look at it.

If he was a Batista crony, he RICHLY deserved it.

That is what the revolution was for? To do the same things that Batista did? To degenerate into a government of gangsters - is that what you are defending?

Then why not do it here?

Not only should you be reported to the moderators, but also to the United States Secret Service.

This is a Republic. A Democracy. Ruled by law. This isn't Cuba - and apparently not the government that you want.

have been killed all over the world for mostly stupid reasons, forever. It's what we're good at. :shrug:

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

That person's post was over the line, not yours. My sincere apologies.

With all due respect, there are many in Cuba who lost parents/grandparents/loved ones at the hands of the Batista regime and the mayhem continues in Miami with bombings, shootings, intimidation, and threats. See post 11 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1826568&mesg_id=1826719


<clips>

January 11. Throughout the island, Batista's henchmen and former police are executed in firing squads after being prosecuted in military tribunals.

January 12. In Santiago de Cuba, 75 men are executed. The group allegedly represents former police guards known for cruelty and violence and members of former Senator Rolando Masferrer's private army.

January 13. Castro declares that the trials will go on "until all criminals of the Batista regime are tried."

January 23. At a public military tribunal held at the sports stadium in Havana, Major Jesus Sosa Blanco (of Batista's Army) is sentenced to death before an exited crowd of 18,000 spectators and 300 reporters. Serving as judges for the military tribunal are Dr. Humberto Sori Marin, Major Raul Chibas, and Major Universo Sanchez.
At night, a group of about 100 women dressed in black protest the executions of "counter-revolutionists."

January 31. Former Batista Army Captain Pedro Morejon is sentenced to death in Havana for "assassination, homicide, robbery, incendiarism and damage."

http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/time/timetbl4.htm

Miami AFTER the first wave exiles moved there: a regular shooting gallery. It was named the "Terror Capitol of the U.S." by the F.B.I., at one time.

It's not hard to see why so very, very many Miami residents moved out of Miami as if it were on fire, trying to get as far away as possible. Who could blame them?

However, the result was, creeps like this assumed control of the town:

I had but one extended conversation with Jorge Mas Canosa, in the summer of 1994, shortly after the Cuban exile leader seemed to reveal a shocking contempt for native-born Americans in an article in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
The reporter had asked if the Americans would ''take over'' Cuba after Fidel Castro's fall. Mas Canosa reportedly replied, ''That's bull----. They haven't even been able to take over Miami. If we kicked them out of here, how could they possibly take over our own country?''
(snip/...)

http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/caricature112497.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was close to Reagan, and _Bush, told Bill Clinton where to head in, unfortunately. They've been desperate for that Miami-Dade vote in order to control Florida's electoral votes. He made them pay the price.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much for that great timeline. I have read some of it already, look forward to reading the rest.

And a lot of people joined Castro because they believed he would put an end to it; would institute a civil government of laws and rights.

Some of those people got put up against a wall and shot. What had changed? What has changed?

from watching the film? Are you not no different from those you despise when you engage in censorship?

But study history.

I would have been turned the same way as Che when he saw the ALCOA mines, and met with the Peruvian couple that had to flee for their lives because as Communists, they were concerned about the working conditions that the miners had to endure. Che gave them all he had, a US 20-dollar bill.

Miguel Aguirre and Ricardo Alarcon grew up not far from one another. They are about the same age. Aguirre was one of the Pedro Pan survivors. Pedro Pan was a CIA plan to frighten middle class Cuban families by making them believe that Fidel was going to take their children away and send them to the Soviet Union. The goal of this evil CIA plan was to scare Cubans into sending their children to America. By separating the families the CIA felt they could incite a revolt against Fidel by the middle class.

To make a long story short, Miguel Aguirre is now Bush's Ambassador to Spain, while Ricardo Alarcon is the President of the Cuba National Assembly.

... will not change the world or prevent atrocities such as perpetrated by the CIA and the American government in Cuba or throughout Latin America. People on this board seem to think Che was a hero. He was a thug and an assassin and his "cure" for imperalism was, ultimately, indistinguishable from it.

:)

Steven Soderbergh Uses CIA Files For Che Guevara Biopic

The Oscar-winning actor will use recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) files for his forthcoming movie.
By: Entertainment News Staff

The 42-year-old American director will use recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) files to help make his forthcoming Ernesto 'CHE' Guevara biopic.

The movie starring Benicio Del Toro, Javier Bardem, Benjamin Bratt, Ryan Gosling, Rob Macie, Franka Potente and Paul Vasquez is due to begin shooting next year.

CHE will relay on the CIA transcripts, Soderbergh announced in a press meeting at the Venice Film Festival.

The SOLARIS director will use the official documents for a better description of the moment when Guevara (Played by Benicio Del Toror) was executed in 1967 by Bolivian troops.

Previous films about Guevara inlude CHE! (1969), OLIVER STONE's COMMANDANTE documentary and the 2004 Walter Salles movie DIARIOS DE MOTOCICLETA (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES), starring Gael Garcia Bernal.
(snip/...)

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Steven-Soderbergh-Uses-CIA-Files-For-Che-Guevara-Biopic-8048.shtml

After the success of the revolution, as you know, many Cubans left Cuba and settled in southern Florida, near and in the city of Miami. Today, there are 650 000 persons who were either born in Cuba or are the children of people who were born in Cuba. They are a very powerful political force. The mayor of the city of Miami is a Cuban American. The head of the Police is a Cuban American. The head of the FBI, a Cuban American. The publisher of the largest newspaper, a Cuban American. And so on, throughout most of the professions and the business community. There is nothing wrong with Cuban Americans achieving high political positions in the US, except that these people would have succeeded to their position if they hadn't taken a very strong and hostile position against the Cuban government. So they have developed and they reflect the political culture of Miami, Florida. It is the only city in America that has been the subject of a study by a Human Rights organization known as 'America's Watch' and that organization filed a written report which we presented to court and that report stated that in the city of Miami, it is even dangerous to take a neutral position towards Cuba. Either in the Cuban American Community or in the larger community, they point to the example of one newspaper editor, who wrote an editorial calling for an attempt to normalize the relationship between the two countries. And on the following day, when he got into his car, a bomb exploded and he lost both his legs. So that is the political climate, the nature of the community in Miami. But there is even something more sinister, more dangerous about this. And that is: there a elements within this community that have formed mercenary groups, even military training camps who over the period of 40 years have launched military attacks on Cuba. With the hope of these stabilizing that government their attacks have not been directed at the military in Cuba, but rather at civilian targets. They satisfied the classic definition of terrorism because they seeked to intimidate a civilian population in order to turn it against its own government. And there are times where the attacks have been more severe and than less.

But in 1990, as you know, when the Soviet System collapsed, Cuba was thrown into an economic crisis because it lost it's major trading partner. In order to survive economically and to rebuild the economy of the country, Cuba developed, amongst other efforts, a tourism industry. Hotels were built in the 90's, a new airline terminal was built, tourist busses were imported and people began to come to Cuba as Cuba advertised itself as a tourist destination. The people in Miami, who had opposed Cuba all these years, saw an opportunity to cause the economic collapse of Cuba by posing threats to the tourists who came to Cuba. The airline terminal was bombed, buses, tourist buses had bombs placed in them. Hotels had bombs placed in them. An Italian tourist was killed sitting in the lobby of a hotel. On several occasions, the mercenaries from Miami brought boats off shore and fired canons into the beach side hotels. All of this in an effort to dissuade tourists from coming there. As you know, tourists will not come to a place that is dangerous. Cuba protested these activities to the US government and the US government did nothing to stop it. Cuba even brought an action before the Security Council of the United Nations, complaining on these attacks from southern Florida. And the UN did nothing.
(snip/...)

http://www.cubanismo.net/c0002/FreetheFive/weinglass230404.htm

Their demand to control thought in Florida is not content to even stay within Miami. In the case of St. Petersburg's decision to become a sister city to Baracaoa, Cuba, there was a surgeon living in the town who is Cuban-American, and he started a fight over it, and they chartered BUSES from Miami to bring over busloads of @$$####s to attack the city council meetings.

Who won? St. Petersburg. They had not acheived critical mass in that town.

As for Miami, who can forget the thuggish remarks of the late little Cuban godfather who said the following to a reporter from the Spanish newspaper, "El País:"

7/1/94 7/31/94 The Miami Herald reprints an interview with Jorge Mas Canosa from the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Mas Canosa was asked by El Pais whether he believed Americans would take over Cuba if Fidel Castro fell. The Herald quoted Mas Canosa as saying, in part, "They haven't even been able to take over Miami! If we have kicked them out of here, how could they possibly take over our own country?" (MH, 7/28/94; WP, 7/28/94)
(snip/...)

~~~~ link~~~~

SUMMER 2000 ISSUE Miami's Music War
Cuban Americans Terrorize Cubans to Keep Their Music Out of Miami

by Julia Reynolds

On a hotter-than-usual day in Bill Martínez’s San Francisco office, the Cuban band Bamboleo is blaring and phones are ringing. “You better make sure the group understands the visa problem,” Bill tells the caller. “They must know they’re not supposed to be in Miami.”

It’s the post-Elián era, and in Miami, emotions are still boiling. Local law says Cuban musicians can’t play there and now the Cuban government is telling artists their flights can’t even stop there. It’s an all-out culture war.
(snip)

Last October, Miami’s exile community did their best to stop a concert by the Cuban group Los Van Van that Bill helped organize.

It was like a scene from an abortion clinic. The militants showed up half a day early and waited for the glorious moment when they could throw bottles, cans, rocks and baggies full of excrement at the crowd attending the concert.
(snip)

Before the concert, Miami Mayor Joe Carollo helped feed the frenzy on radio talk shows, lashing out at concert promoter Debbie Ohanian.

“Havana Debbie knows this isn’t about bringing Los Van Van to Miami,” he said. “This is about trying to cause problems in Miami and making Uncle Fidel happy.”
(snip/...)

http://www.elandar.com/back/summer00/stories/story_miamimusic.html

Since March of 1952, the Carribean island of Cuba had been under the control of Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar. Batista's influence over Cuba dated back to 1933. In an uprising known as the "Revolt of the Sergeants," on September 4, 1933 Batista and a group of followers took over the Cuban government. The coup overthrew the liberal government of Gerardo Machado, and marked the beginning of the army's influence as an organized force in the running of the government. On January 14, 1934, Batista forced provisional president Ramón Grau San Martín to resign, and he appointed Carlos Mendieta to the presidency. Within five days, the U.S. recognized Cuba's new government.

For the next decade Batista ran the country from the background, pulling the strings of a succession of puppet presidents. On March 10, 1952, almost twenty years after the Revolt of the Sergeants, Batista took over the government once more, this time against elected Cuban president Carlos Prío Socorras. The coup took place three months before the upcoming elections that he was sure to lose. Batista suspended the constitution and dissolved the congress. He held a sham election in 1954, with him as the only candidate, and was elected president of Cuba.

Once president, Batista entered into relationships with mobsters such as Meyer Lansky, which opened the way for large-scale gambling in Havana, and he reorganized the Cuban state so that he and his political appointees could harvest the nation's riches. Under Batista, Cuba became extremely profitable for American business and organized crime. Havana became the "Latin Las Vegas," a playground of choice for wealthy gamblers, and Batista's family and cronies regularly skimmed profits from the casinos. In exchange for bribes, Batista granted lucrative contracts to dozens of US corporations for massive construction projects. Opposition was swiftly and violently crushed.

In 1952, Cuba signed a military pact with the USA, which involved an extensive program of American assistance to the Cuban military. Under US Mutual Defense Assistance Program Grant Aid deliveries, the Fuerza Aerea del Ejercito de Cuba (FAEC) received 16 transparent-nosed B-26Cs in 1956, followed by two replacement aircraft in 1957. Two pilots came to the USA in 1956 to received B-26 advanced training so that they could act as instructors. The B-26s were stationed at Campo Columbia, located near Havana. They were serialed in the range between 901 to 935, with even numbers being skipped, perhaps to give people the impression that the FAEC had more Invaders than it really did.

The first B-26 accident took place on March 19, 1957, when Lt. Sardiñas lost an engine on takeoff and crashed. US-sponsored Mobile Training Teams were scheduled to come to Cuba and assist in training. However, revolts and insurrections inside the Cuban military repeatedly interrupted these plans. Nevertheless, the Mission did manage to complete a training program in August of 1957 for 23 pilots. On September 5, 1957, the FAEC took part in the suppression of a Cuban Navy revolt at Cayo Loco Naval Station in Cienfuegos, located on the southern coast of the island. Only two of the B-26s actually took part in the action, one flown by Capt Zuniga, the other by Capt Pinera. Capt Zuniga had one of his engines put out of action by ground fire. One of the B-26 pilots and some of the fighter pilots refused to take part in the attacks and were subsequently imprisoned.
(snip/...)

http://home.att.net/~jbaugher4/a26_26.html

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It doesn't look like Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, et al were the only ones who couldn't stand Batista's filthy government.