By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor /
Right Side Patriots / Right Side Patriots Radio
"Are you going to report on
this so the world can hear their voices?”
- Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R)
Cuba...a mere 90 miles from the U.S.
yet for all practical purposes it's a world away...a world where
freedom is non-existent and where communism reigns supreme. Cuba...a
nation where “unauthorized public gatherings” are illegal
and where actual physical protests are rare and far between. And yet
the Cuban people could only be pushed so far as witnessed by the
massive protests that recently did and still are taking place not
just in Havana but in small towns throughout the island
nation....protests to demand an end to the country's communist
dictatorship, its socialist based failed economy, and its sixty plus
years of repressive “iron fist” rule.
And within the protesters calls for “Libertad,
Basta y Unir”...as in “Freedom,Enough, and Unite”...one
can hear voices demanding that Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel
step down.
And as Cuban-Americans here in South
Florida*...Cuban-Americans whom Díaz-Canel claims are “egging”
the protesters on...having
not only blanketed the streets of Miami's “Little Havana”
in a show of support and solidarity for their “brothers and
sisters” protesting in Cuba, their sheer numbers alone actually
shut down a stretch of South Florida's Palmetto Expressway last
Tuesday. And with said solidarity and support for the Cuban people
now spreading throughout Florida and across the U.S., it should not
come as any surprise that the Cuban regime shut down internet, media,
and phone access both into and out of Cuba...with limited access
restored three days after the protests began. And really, why
wouldn't they shut it all down especially with images on social media
sites showing what appears to be Cuban police and special security
forces detaining, beating, and pepper-spraying some of the peaceful
protesters. In fact, a number of those detained...a number as high as
one hundred...have now been reported “missing.” Not good folks...not good at all.
And while President Miguel
Diaz-Canal...actually a Fidel Castro-like dictator...refers to those
who are protesting as
“mercenaries" in hopes of turning public opinion
against them, word is still getting out that the Cuban people are
tired, hungry, and outright disgusted at being forced to live without
the basic necessities that we in this country and elsewhere take for
granted. And with said people already wallowing in the midst of their
county's worst economic crisis in decades, food prices continue to
soar while food shortages and power outages are becoming more and
more commonplace across the whole of Cuba.
So now as new voices continue to be added to the cry for freedom
and the return of civil liberties...what should be “truth in
reporting” is proving to be anything but. How so... because one
of the many narratives being pushed by the Cuban regime as well as by the
mainstream media as the reason for the anti-government protests is
simply that said protests are being driven by the Cuban people's now growing
“awareness” of Covid-19.
And as to be expected, it was just a matter of time before Covid would be
blamed somehow...Covid coupled with a medicine and vaccine shortage
plus a surge in new cases...never mind the government's dismal
mishandling of the Covid crisis itself. And another narrative of
course places blame on the still in effect U.S. sanctions on
Cuba... sanctions which according to Diaz-Canal have directly lead to
what he calls a "policy of economic suffocation."
But
reality dictates that the Cuban people's struggle for freedom along
with the still ongoing humanitarian crisis that has been Cuba's
hallmark for generations, is now reaching a boiling point as
witnessed by the countering show of force the Cuban police have
initiated upon Diaz-Canal's orders. And this includes the police not
only being out in visible force on the country's streets, but seeing
said police being equipped with Special Forces jeeps that have
machine guns mounted on back...seeing the police using pepper spray
and arresting dozens of protesters as more and more folks took to the
streets...and seeing the police, whose orders were to use “extreme
force” if need be against
their fellow countryman, actually doing so against those who, for the
most part, were peacefully and rightfully demonstrating in the
streets.
So
here it must be understood that while it's unfortunate, the using of “extreme force” is
indeed standard operating procedure in communist and socialist ruled
countries like Cuba, countries where the masses are brainwashed into
believing that an insulated and well protected leader...a leader
actually forced upon the people...is the best judge of what the
masses want, need, and require, with party loyal bureaucrats somewhat
but not totally exempt from what is now hard-line totalitarian rule.
And with said government making all the decisions as to what will or
will not constitute the economic make up of its citizens lives,
individual choice and the right to “free will”
becomes nonexistent as equality for the so-called “greater
good” becomes the rule of law
and anything but order. Personal ambition is not allowed nor is
motivation to better oneself given, which in time naturally tends to
lead to a country's “economic suffocation.”
And so
the economic crisis now engulfing Cuba is indeed a form of “economic
suffocation.”
But
like with all economic crisis, Cuba's leaders do not blame themselves or their
repressive and mismanaged government policies for their economic
woes, but instead place blame directly on the aforementioned U.S.
sanctions and on a pandemic that has caused Cuba's tourism industry
to basically shut down. And for a country dependent on tourist
revenues as the means by which to purchase the majority of its
foodstuffs, its fuel, as well other key imports critical to meet both
agricultural and manufacturing needs, this is especially hard. And while Prime Minister
Manuel Marrero-Cruz recently announced that “travelers”
coming into Cuba will be able to bring in food, medicine, and other
essentials without having to pay import duties, know this is a joke
at best for not only is travel into Cuba almost non-existent right
now, but his much heralded announcement is only a temporary measure...a
temporary measure deemed “too
little, too late” by
the protesters and government critics alike.
So
when “economic suffocation”
does take hold of a country, as it has in Cuba, it not only affects
the populace but how that country's government actually runs.
Remember, without much needed ambition and motivation by which to
sustain what is a socialist economy, reality again steps in to
dictate that what was once hoped for economic equality for all
becomes but economic equality at the bottom rung of the
socio-economic ladder. And it's this continued dwelling at the bottom
rung which has now led the Cuban people to say “enough is
enough” after six long decades
of seeing their once great nation...a nation formally known as the
“Jewel of the Caribbean” and "The Land of Romance"...being
run not only with an “iron fist”
but with it deliberately being run into the ground by a corrupt group
of government bandits who, while the people suffer, continue to live
high off the proverbial hog.
“Cuba will see 'horrific
bloodbath' if Biden does not take action.”
- Senator Marco Rubio's truthful
and foreboding words to Joe Biden regarding pressuring the Cuban
regime to stop retaliating against the protesters.
And so now here in the U.S. the game of
politics begins, the very same game of politics that saw Obama
turning his back on the protesters who tried to break free from the
mullahs rule in Iran. And like with Obama, Biden and his
administration love to tout the use of diplomacy as the be all, end
all to any international problem that might arise. And with the U.N.
obviously being no friend of the U.S., and with the current Cuban
situation falling under the auspices of said U.N., know that Biden's
form of complacent diplomacy at best will in no way be strong enough
to address the Cuban people's woes let alone be strong enough to
pressure or at least shame the international community into
condemning and isolating a communist regime that resides a mere 90
miles from our Florida shores.
But then again what do you expect from
a president who would be contradicting his own party's agenda if he
were to take real action in support of the Cuban protesters...a
president whose very own State Department continues to claim that the
“right to peaceful assembly” is being observed in Cuba no
matter that even they know that the people in Cuba actually have no
rights, and that both eye witness accounts and media footage clearly
show police, many dressed in plain clothes, beating some of the
protesters. And know that they dare not even mention...it's bad PR
after all...the now ever growing list of “missing persons”...as
in those who were arrested for peacefully assembling suddenly
disappearing.
And to
make matters even worse, fearful of a mass exodus from Cuba, Biden's
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned Cubans that the
U.S. Coast Guard has deployed officials to monitor the Florida
Straits and that they would “interdict migrants”
attempting to flee the island
and reach the U.S. “irregularly.” Nice
words they are not but words not unexpected for they come from a man
whose president and party allows “illegals”
to freely enter our country via our southern border. But the truth is
that Cubans, for the most part, vote for Republicans and not for
Democrats, and that even in a crisis, for Democrats, it's all about
how many votes they can garner...said crisis be damned.
So while most
Republicans are standing strong with the Cuban people...people daring
to protest against both socialism and a communism regime...Democrats,
the very folks who watched our cities burn for more than a year
without saying a word, give but cursory lip service to the Cuban's
quest for freedom. And really, why would Democrats praise the very
people who want to rid themselves of exactly what they want to
implement here.
And while I write
this, we don't know what the final outcome for Cuba or it's people
will be...we still don't now if the protests will continue on...we
don't know if the regime will forcibly put an end to the dissent and
how many will be killed in the process of their doing so...we don't
know what the regime will do to the people for some form of
punishment will surely follow...and we most certainly don't know how
or even if Cuban-Americans will be able to aid those trying to break
free of a regime that views freedom as the antithesis of its, and the
Democrats, Marxist agenda.
A lot of questions
that need to be answered with time alone providing those answers.
And so with that
said I wish the Cuban people much success in their endeavour for
their fight for freedom is truly just. And to Biden and crew who
relish in spewing pretty words without substance, I hope what is now
happening in Cuba takes root here in our country as well, for while
our fight might be different in origin the fight for freedom from
tyranny and unjust rule always remains the same.
************************************************************************************* For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article,90 Miles From Freedom.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 20th, from 7 to 8:30pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS
Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss their Special Report: Cuba On the Brink including 'Cuba's Fight For Freedom' and '90 Miles From Freedom'...plus important news of the day.
Hope you can tune in to RIGHT
SIDE PATRIOTSon
https://rspradio1.com. Click 'LISTEN
LIVE' starting
at 6:50 pm EST with the show beginning at 7pm EST.
