And now what?

The ball is in Cuba’s court after Obama threw it yesterday, as he announced new flexibility in his policies toward Cuba.  The players on this side seem a bit confused, hesitating between grabbing the ball, criticizing it, or simply ignoring it.  The context couldn’t be better: loyalty to the government has never seemed more perverse and ideological fervor has never been as feeble as it is now.  On top of that, few still believe the story that the powerful neighbor will attack us and the majority feel that this confrontation has gone on too long.

The next move is up to Raúl Castro’s government but we sense we will be left waiting.  He should “decriminalize political dissent” which would immediately annul the long prison sentences of those who have been punished for differences of opinion.  The ball we would like him to throw is the one that would open up spaces for citizens’ initiatives, permit free association and, in a gesture of the utmost political honesty, put himself to the test of truly free elections.  In a bold leap on the field “the permanent second” would have to dare to offer something more than an olive branch.  We are hoping they eliminate the travel restrictions, which would put an end to that extortionary business of permission to come and go from the Island.

The game would become more dynamic if they let the Cuban people take hold of the erratic ball of change. Many would kick it to end censorship, State control over information, ideological selection in certain professions, indoctrination in education and the punishment of those who think differently.  We would kick it to be able to surf the Internet without blocked web sites, to be able to say the word “freedom” into an open microphone wihout being accused of “a counter-revolutionary provocation.”

Many of us have climbed down from the bleachers from where we were watching the game.  If the Cuban government doesn’t grab the ball, there are thousands of hands ready to take our turn to launch it.

30 thoughts on “And now what?”

  1. Yoani let’s given a few minutes to readjust to the idea that is a brave new world out there not the same old same old the Cuban leadership is used to.

    The world is changing with new ideas and better ideas!
    Is time for change.
    Is time to live.

  2. Marco sonny, I have a link for your education, it is the HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE


    It is the truth about the cuban “revolution” that shows it were no a revolution but a dictators SUBSTITUTION planed and performed by US Department of State.
    After that and as a payment for US help Castro developed a series of “economical”, “political” and “diplomatic” strategies that favored US’s hegemonic position in America as well as US economically and military position. Take a look:

    – Castro started to develop a series of disastrous economical policies that made disappear some of the most important industries in Cuba and made appear those industries in……….USA!!!!!!!
    This is the case of Cuba’s Sugar industry. Once the first producer of sugar in the word and owner of the biggest industry of this type in the world Cuba lost this industry because the well planed destruction project Castro put in practice since the very beginning of his tyranny. To day Cuba is no more a sugar exporter, Cuba’s former huge sugar industry exist no more. Where is this industry today???…… yes you guessed right ….. in Florida, USA. Some of Cuba’s former sugar magnates had only to move to USA and start over there conquering the market Castro left free. Today Cuba is a sugar importer, where imports Cuba sugar from???………… yes, you guess right again……… from USA!!!
    – The same happened with Cuba’s tourism industry. Castro implemented political strategies that led to the destruction of Cuba’s big tourism industry, the poorer and isolated the cuban people grew the smaller and obsolete the tourism industry became. One more time Florida state grew richer and bigger thanks Cuba’s disgrace. Cities like Miami, Tampa and Key West left behind the old quiet and sleepy style and transformed in huge tourism emporiums thanks the conversion of cities like Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Varadero in small and poor places full of ruins.
    – Other cubans industries like Citric, Coffee, Fishing, Light industry, Media, Shipping, etc, suffered the same destiny and today thrives in US territory.
    To be continued………………………

  3. As we all know Cuba has given the world some of the best baseball players! They play with heart, talent and lets hope they dont have to leave the Island to make their dreams come true. If the Cuban goverment plays by the rules (wishful thinking) this Obama/Raul could be a very interesting game. But are only of the first inning! PLAY BALL!

  4. …………….Continuation………………….

    – Not only economical favors made Castro to USA. His gratitude went far beyond the unthinkable; Cuba became a vacuum cleaner that sucked huge amount of financial and natural resources of the country that believed Castro was it allay, this country was the USSR. In a master move Castro/USA convinced the USSR that the tyrant was the soviets best friend. The naive and truthful Russians bit the hook and emptied almost theirs whole national treasure in “sustaining” Castro. The Soviets sent to Cuba during 2 decades more than 5000 billions dollars yearly plus millions of oil tons, millions of wood tons, cement, iron, paper, glass, chemicals, weapons, machinery, steel, etc. The big amount of resources Cuba disappeared made the dictator Leonid Brezhnev say that “the Cubans are capable of vanishing in just a week a whole wood that took millions of years to grow up”. In this way the USSR got exhausted and disappeared as nation and world power.
    – Where ended all resources the USSR sent to Cuba? A lot of money went to engross the dictator’s accounts and containers full of money spread over the world the dictator hide to use it “just in case of need”. The most of these resources went to be used to “spread the revolution over the world”. “To spread the revolution” is the pompous name the tyrant gave to other master move he made for his truly allay and sustainer, USA. What Castro spread was poverty over the already poor countries of Latin-America and Africa, poverty spread in form of guerrilla war and political instability that hinder the fight of these countries for get out poverty. In this way the countries of Latin-America and Africa were pushed deeper theirs already deep dependence of the world richest countries. With a poor Latin-America in poverty and maintained by Castro entertained in fights and revolts USA had free hands for taking care of the Soviets and China, in addition the latin-american countries would finish this period so exhausted that the only worries USA will have of them is to avoid the mass emigration. The last example of this well planed strategy was the raise of Chavez in Venezuela and the conversion of this rich country in another “friendly enemy”.

  5. Lift the Cuba Embargo?

    The following excellent article makes solid points against lifting the embargo without meaningful changes in Cuba. The author lays out good reasons why lifting the embargo will benefit the Cuban dictatorship, no the Cuban people.


  6. I am struck by the irony of this statement: “The ball we would like him to throw is the one that would open up spaces for citizens’ initiatives, permit free association and, in a gesture of the utmost political honesty, put himself to the test of truly free elections.”

    This is precisely the goal of the embargo, an embargo that most people, on both sides of the Straits, want to see ended. Obama continues to stress that these very changes must occur, among others, before the embargo is lifted. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.

    I don’t like Obama and his policies. That said, I am willing to give him a shot with this. The one good thing I am sensing is that this situation is not nearly as intractable as what we are seeing with the North Koreans. There is a momentum building on both sides of the Gulf of Mexico towards reconciliation, at least among peoples. If somehow a miracle can be pulled off and the confrontation can end and reconciliation rise, I will give credit where credit is due, starting with Obama.

    Do not mistake my positive outlook as blind support for Obama. I have serious concerns with how we may proceed with this. I have concerns with how los hermanos Castro will ultimately react. I am concerned for the people of Cuba who deserve better. All I ask is that we try to keep an open mind. It’s nice to see Yoani with some cautious enthusiasm.

  7. “If the Cuban government doesn’t grab the ball, there are thousands of hands ready to take our turn to launch it.”

    Wonderful to read that, Yoani, as you have helped us understand. The Castro Brothers know that too, sort of, I imagine. The problem they might have is that they really don’t know the game anymore, the rules; they probably seriously don’t know what to do other than what they have always done (no longer working).

    Thousands (of millions) of hands have their eye on the ball, the new game, lined up for the future that has just begun, with or without Fidel and Raul.

    Highly intelligent people like you, slender fingers on the keyboard, love in your heart, for Cuba; the place and the people; you are the new game, it is your collective turn.

    Be nice to the oldies, like they never were to you, is my suggestion, too.



  8. Amigos, esta es la primera vez que posteo aqui, y lo hago para ofrecerles este texto que traduje al ingles acerca de nosotros los cubanos; lamentablemente no encuentro el nombre del autor original. La intencion es que los anglo-hablantes puedan disfrutar de este hermoso texto, que me hace llorar cada vez que leo. Advierto que he cambiado algunas palabras y sobre todo los numeros, para hacer el texto mas acualizado. Espero me sepan perdonar. Si alguien tiene una traduccion mejor, lo cual es muy probable, por favor, se la agradeceria, ya que el texto me encanta. Un abrazo.

    Cubans are like this:

    Cubans have left from a small island and have spread throughout the world. One is professor at a university in Australia, another opened a restaurant in Alaska. Nothing stops them, neither cold nor heat. They are seduced by the tropic heat of Florida, but also bear firm-footed the ice in Boston and New York. They don’t beg, but work. Those who were poor in Cuba, here are rich. No obstacle stops their belligerent laboriousness if the offer is decent. One is rector at a University, another puts makeup to dead people. They change, but only on the surface. In Miami they still play the “bolita” (forbidden lottery), fighting roosters in secret and sending their children to private schools. In Madrid, they are against Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and in Caracas against Hugo Chávez, always in opposition. They are criticized and envied but deep inside they are admired. Like Galicians at working and Jews for the will to survive, they are a legion, stubborn not to be left ignored.

    They bring their warm music, the noise of their drums, black beans, steak with “Moros y Cristianos” and banana. But also bring the sympathy, warmth and dedication. Who are they? Cubans, children of the exile, the only transplanted population (except for Jews), which has not lost its identity in almost half a century. Those who admired Cuba from afar as an example of supreme strength in Latin America, which saw Cuba as an ethnic and cultural miracle, where everything seemed a mess but all worked well, no longer have to go to Cuba to meet it! Here it is in the inside of the United States. This is Cuba. These are the Cubans. Exaggerated, bragging, loud, yes, but also intense, deeply creative and good friends.

    And what have Cubans not done in these 50 years of exile to survive with dignity? Which manual activity have they not tested in this or that country? What would seem complicated, they have it done to not stay behind, to avoid being discriminated. In any of those activities they have gone so far, beyond migrations which preceded them by nearly half a century. There’s no hospital in United States where there is no Cuban doctor. No newspaper where there is no Cuban journalist, or a bank where there is no Cuban banker, or advertisement company without a Cuban, or a school without a Cuban teacher, or a university without a Cuban professor. In the Major League Baseball their names also shine. In Madrid, the first Latin American poet is a black Cuban. At Coca Cola, Kellogg s, McCormick, Pepsi Cola and many others their leader is or was a Cuban. In the Congress in Washington there are four Cubans, in the U.S. Senate there are two, the Minister of Commerce is a Cuban, the Deputy Minister of Health is a Cuban doctor. Wow, they are few in this country and arrived very recently.

    In the borrowed land from abroad they seem to always carry on the forehead the mark of the place they came from. Cubans take Cuba with them. They praise and worship it, because, as well as in the forehead they wear it in they heart. But there is something in the Cuban exile superior to that triumphant career, and that is their hatred to the despotism from which they fled and their love for the land they left. That is what separates and defines them. That gives to their triumphs in the midst of rootlessness, a greatness that otherwise they would not have.

    They have finally settled on this land that had received them and where they live on the material things many times better than how they lived in Cuba. But even having everything, if they lack Cuba, they have nothing. Perhaps for this reason they have made their Cuba here. So if you take a good look, you will see that sometimes it seems that the Cuban laughs, but is really crying inside. His son is born, grows, graduates from the University, but the Cuban sighs. “Oh, if he were in my Cuba!”. He buys a house, a car or a boat and still sighing. “Ah! If I had everything of this in Cuba!” In a mysterious way, which they can not define, there is a link that drags them over there.

    Now that he lost his country, he gets to know that he can not live without Cuba, and he dreams of it at night, and enhances its values and beauty, and idealizes it, and blames himself for not having understood it better, and recreates it in his songs and dances and relive their stories in their customs and their food. Why do Cubans buy today more Cubans books than ever?. Why are their houses, their businesses and their offices filled with palms, flags, coats of arms and portraits of José Martí? Why are they U.S. citizens but STILL CUBANS? Why do they meet in their municipalities formed in exile, erasing old antagonisms of party or class?

    Because the Cuban knows that the only thing that genuinely belonged to him was HIS CUBA and to it they want to return. They do not care about being returned their residence or business, if they had. All they want is to return home. The house where he was born was destroyed, the village he knew has become unrecognizable, his mother has died. It doesn’t matter. The exiled Cuban wants anyway go to that house in that village and to that tomb. The homeland starts there.

  9. There is many different baseball games that American could have play with Cuba with regards to relations and they have decided to play a very nice game for all Cubans here in the US and there in Cuba. Is time for old bygones be bygones and be friends again.

    I think Cuba should have a nice response. Please pick any or all of the things Yoani mention above and you will make all the Cubans happy.

    In one word Let freedom return to Cuba.

    Do it not because of the Americans
    Do it because of the Cubans.

  10. Wake up people!
    Nothing would change in Cuba. The repression will continue, the siren song that the powerful neighbor will attack Cuba will continue to be played in all fronts.
    Behind the scene they will continue to negotiate with some of our suckers to see if we take the bait and allow them Financial Credit, if we do, they will never publish it in the toilet paper called “Granma”.
    They will never de-control the Internet; they will never allow the regular Joe to have a cell phone enabling them to communicate with the free world.
    After 50 long years I have never seeing any human gestures coming out of these Monsters in Cuba.
    Wake up people!
    The way I see is that the change has to come from within. Keep the faith Yoani and the rest.

  11. Statue

    You should give a chance to people. They may surprise you.

    I believe people are intrinsically good and not evil and I am also optimistic therefore we will see changes in Cuba.

  12. ahahahahah Carbo those that you copied are only shit troubles like you!

    You are only imperialism’s servants!

    You like the embargo USA for use economic difficulties against Cuban’s resitence!

    Yankys fascists no pasaran!

    W Cuba!

    W Che!

    W FIdel!


    Kick in the ass to miami’s cuban!

  13. E’ impensabile che nel mondo si continui trattare questi temi come attuali, non come storia infelice dell’umanità.
    La volontà popolare è come una palla su un piano inclinato, anche lentamente prende sempre più velocità.
    Nel momento in cui la popolazione di cuba avrà la meritata libertà, perche di sicuro l’avrà, dovrà dimostrare la maturità necessaria per gestire il cambiamento di cui ha estremo bisogno.
    Dico questo perchè la storia recente ha fatto vedere popoli che si sono quasi annientati da feroci lotte fraticide nel momento in cui hanno raggiunto qualcosa che sembrava solamente una speranza e nulla più.
    L’equilibrio sarà il fattore determinante nella strada dell’autodeterminazione di un popolo che dopo anni di dittatura comunista potrebbe essere travolto da una cultura liberista all’eccesso, dove le opportunita di realizzarsi viaggiano pari passo con l’esclusione di chi, per diversi motivi, è più sfortunato nella ricerca del raggiungimento dei propri obiettivi, pure se onesti.
    Ha fallito il comunismo, ma la società capitalista che ha fondato le proprie regole basate solamente sulla volontà di 350/400 famiglie più potenti al mondo, non ha portato quel progresso che deve servire per eliminare, per quanto possibile, le differenze sociali, anzi, sono aumentate.
    Io sono diffidente da anni a riguardo della politica socio-economica USA perchè è mia impressione che il loro modello di società si basi molto sulla difficoltà degli altri popoli proprio sulla autodeterminazione socio-culturale-economica, popoli di cui ha necessità di tenerne il controllo per quanto possibile sia farlo.
    Che ci siano repubblicani o democratici al governo per loro importante è mantenere equilibrato il mondo da par suo, in modo che il loro tenore di vita sia comunque di un certo livello per la fetta di società di cui loro sono i garanti.
    Bisogna lottare per le cose in cui più si crede mantenendo sempre la serenità necessaria a determinare il giusto equilibrio tra le varie scelte che solo in democrazia si possono e si devono fare.
    Nessuno la mondo è solo se tiene aperto anche un solo spiraglio di luce.
    La libertà necessita di sforzo di volontà e sacrificio, la vera libertà è essere se stessi, non di possedere di più o di meno.
    1, 10, 100, 1000 yoani

  14. Marco:

    If you are the same person that uses the Italy language page, I would say that I feel sorry about you, because, without any doubts you are ” a robot, manipulated directly from Castro’s hands”.

    I just want to wait the day when Castro, already tired of your slave services, will kick your ugly and stinky ass, and don’t forget that Castro is a genuine “Mafioso”, with only one difference: “He doesn’t care even about his own family or friends, then whenever he needs to kill one of them, he will do it without any hesitation”.

    I wish you the same look that Cuba has it during the last 50 years (but only for you, no for your Country)

    Candido Fernandez

  15. Silent Voice.
    You are right to give a chance to people, I agree with you if you are dealing with reasonable people but they aren’t. I like to believe that I am an individual with a lot of patient and the truth is that I have waited for 50 long years for those Monsters to show any sign of benevolence from their side. I have experience how each US President has handle Castro since the beginning of his Robolution and I can tell you that some of our Presidents had gone out of their way to please the bearded one to no avail. On this side of the fence we think that if we allow enough concessions, they in turn will do the same, that is not been the case, I still awaiting and judging by their actions on the other side, I don’t think it will happen.
    At this moment their diabolic minds are working to come up with some kind of response, which will prove one more time their dissatisfaction with whatever we do. Just wait and see. I would like to have your response once Cuba decides to vent their venom on us one more time.

  16. Responses to comments from the Coma-andante…..

    Coma-andante: FORTY-EIGHT years ago, mercenary forces in the service of a foreign power invaded their own homeland, escorted by a U.S. squadron, including an aircraft carrier and dozens of fighter planes.

    Answer: Last time I checked the definition of mercenary, it meant a paid professional soldier from third countries, willing to fight any war he is sent to, at any time. No U.S. aircraft carrier, or aircraft took part in the battle. All the brigade participants were Cubans. Only one American who volunteered for a bomber mission participated out of about fifteen hundred participants. You are playing with words and lying. You just can’t shake old habits.

    Coma-andante: That date cannot be forgotten. The superpower to the North could apply the same prescription to any Latin American country. It has already occurred on many occasions throughout history in our hemisphere. Is there any declaration where it has been promised that such an action is never to be repeated in a direct form or via their own armies, as was the case in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and other countries?

    Answer: This is mostly gobbly-gook, (that’s the sound turkeys make when confused), but I’ll answer with the following: At that time, the U.S. was dealing with an extremely aggressive foreign power that made no bones about its intention. As premier Khrushchev said at the time while gesturing, “We will build missiles like sausages…. then we will bury you” and he had parades in red square to show he wasn’t kidding. Since you allowed the Russians in Cuba, who quickly followed by planting their “sausages” there, the U.S. was not going to allow the same in all those other countries. In addition, you aided this mortal enemy of the U.S. by spreading Communism all around the world, in places like Ethiopia, Angola, Viet man, etc. All of which have now turned around and introduced various degrees of free enterprise into their economies.
    But listen if you still can, in addition to your weak state of mind, you are also becoming hard of hearing. Obama has already indicated that he’s following a more benign foreign policy. One which will show respect to all cultures and nations worldwide.

    Coma-andante: The cunning and surprise Groin attack [Bay of Pigs] cost us more than 150 lives and hundreds of severely wounded. We should like to hear some self-criticism from the powerful country and the guarantee that it will never happen again in our hemisphere.

    Yes it cost lives on both sides. But this number of lives pales in comparison with the number of opponents you have had shot, or the number of people who have drowned crossing the Florida Straits, running away from you and your regime. Since you deny them the chance to vote, and choose an opponent, they vote with their feet, by leaving the misery you’ve created.

    Coma-andante: Yesterday was the seventh anniversary of the failed coup d’état against the Revolution in Venezuela.

    You know what’s good for you ah. If you are so concerned about the coup d’etat in Venezuela, why don’t you implement a system of free elections in Cuba so that coups, and other acts of desperation by the people, become unnecessary. There you go again being a hypocrite.

    Coma-andante: For the good of democracy and human rights, a voice is needed to tell us from Washington that the School of the Americas, which specializes in coup d’états and torture, is to be closed down for ever.

    It sounds like you skipped the class at the University that deals with the meaning of the word democracy. But then again, in following the steps of Hitler and Mussolini, in order to stay in power, boost your ego and/or just be a bully, you’ll lie through your teeth.

    The rest is really none of your business. You and your brothers are dictators of a small country with limited resources. As long as you insist on being in power without the people’s consent, your primary responsibility should be to attend to the well being of your people above and beyond all else. You should have modesty and realize that you yourself are of no importance when compared to the well being of the country and its patrimony.

    But since you bring it up the matter of terrorism, it goes something like this. On September 11, almost three thousand innocent people were killed without warning by a band of savage religious fanatics. To date, the U.S. has not found the leader who did all this. The U.S. has a right to defend itself against these savages. The U.S. has no intention of harming Cuba or its citizens as part of its war against the terrorists, therefore, you should mind you own affairs, since by your own admission you have plenty to worry about. Stop trying to impress your comrades in the third and other worlds. You are too old now; you don’t have to impress the ladies either, your promiscuous, and less than exemplary life for the young people of Cuba is almost over.

    Coma-andante: The measure to ease restrictions on travel is positive in itself, although minimal. Many others are needed, including the elimination of the murderous Cuban Adjustment Act, which is applied exclusively to just our country. We would like a response to the question as to whether the immigration privileges utilized to combat the Cuban Revolution and divest it of human resources might be also conceded to all Latin American and Caribbean peoples.

    Answer: Glad you agree that travel is positive, let’s see if you and your brother keep to your word on this, I’m not making any bets.
    The Cuban Adjustment Act was enacted to assist Cubans whom you dispossessed by taking over their livelihood, including their businesses, homes and any small change they had left in their pockets before boarding the plane upon their departure. It is laughable to hear you talk about murder. It’s like Jack the Ripper, or Osama Bin Laden criticizing Mother Theresa for assisting the dispossessed. Why don’t you for once come out and admit how many people you yourself have shot, or have ordered shot. There are witnesses who have seen you personally shoot defenseless people in cold blood. Come on admit it. Don’t be a hypocrite, if you believe in what you do, come out and say it “I’ve personally shot X number of defenseless Cubans”. Just like Osama and Charles Manson admit what they did.

    But everything in Port of Spain will be secret. Prohibited to listen to the debate and the pronouncements of heads of state and government. In any event, what each one of them states will become known.

    Are you trying to dictate how a meeting of heads of state should be carried out? If they decide it will be held behind close doors it is because they deem it necessary. You should know about secret meetings, since you keep from the population much of your activities, including the seaside fishing village you own on the Bay of Pigs, the private island with the lighthouse, whose owner you dispossessed and took away his job, the island facility you have on the north coast of Cuba where you also go fishing, as well as the countless homes you stole and now own throughout the island. All of these are now revealed to the world thanks to Internet videos, Google Earth, and people that know you well and who are so sick of you that they’ve left the island, and inform the rest of us.

    Coma-andante: I do not wish to hurt Obama in the slightest degree, but he will be president for one or two terms. He has no responsibility for what has happened and I am convinced that he would not commit Bush’s atrocities. After him, however, someone similar to or worse than his/her predecessor could come along. Humans pass; peoples endure.

    Answer: This is very presumptuous of you, to think you can hurt Obama from your deathbed. Also, like President Reagan used to say, “there you go again” talking about atrocities. You are the king ping when it comes to responsibility for atrocities. We’ve already touched on what you’ve done in Cuba. But in addition, you’ve incited uprisings all over Latin America, resulting in hundreds of thousands of civilian and other deaths, all in the name of a demonstrably failed ideology which violates the dignity of human beings.

    Coma-andante: There are other extremely grave problems such as climate change, and the current president of the United States has decided to cooperate in that problem which is vital to humanity. We should acknowledge that.

    Answer: Don’t expect any kudos for stating the obvious. We all agree that climate change and the environment must be addressed….eso se cae de la mata !!

  17. Candido I know you liked Batista’corruption, I know you like Embargo USA against cuban’s people so you can use economic difficulties against Cuban’s resitence!
    Are you a miami’s cuban? Kick in the ass will be for you!

  18. ***
    Hi Yoani–I hope the benefits of no embargo will go to the brave Cuban people–not to the communist government. I think the Castro Brothers will keep the people in the same situation–no political or economic liberty for the serfs. But more money for the communist kings and princes.
    Hola Yoani–Espero que los beneficios de no mas embargo vayan a la valiente gente Cubano–no al gobierno communista. Creo que los hermanos Castro van a dejar la gente Cubano en el mismo situation–no libertad politico o libertad economico por los peones. Pero mas dinero por los reyes y principes communistas.
    John Bibb

  19. The embargo is just a STORY, cause Cuba has purchased what ever it wants from other countries. Fidel and his family live like KINGS , while the rest of the population stand in line for food. What goes on in Cuba is a shame. The regime is a big story teller, scaring its people to belive that the US is soon to attack. Thank you Yoani for your posts from inside the island. I hope media and attention to Cuba is what puts an end to that failed regime that has robbed that nation blind.

  20. IT would be nice if the Cubans could also travel freely, now that they are allowed into their own hotels on the Island. Revolution for the people is needed.

  21. marco dice: 15 Abril 2009 a las 13:51

    But you CAN”T DENIED a single word of my comment just because all is true. The only thing you can do is yell like a dumb and repeat consigns like a robot.
    But do not believe I hate you, I know you are a young inexperienced instrument in commies hands, I know they taught you to hate a thing you even don’t know: freedom. They even taught you to hate other cubans and I know you even do not understand the reasons they explained to you. I know you don’t know today USA put in jail all cuban fighter that intent fight with arms the tyranny, it is the law in USA and several cuban patriots are spending long jail sentenced thanks this law.
    I know you will continue learning the truth reading this page, so, keep coming, maybe tomorrow some of us give you another free lesson.
    Did you follow the link in comment #7?????…… Read, read there sonny, learn … the apostle Jose Marti said:

  22. Lift the Cuba Embargo?
    By Humberto (Bert) Corzo*…..9_O_3.html

    You don’t need to look further, here you have the answer from the “horse” mouth:

    “It is necessary to impose financial, economic and material restrictions to dictatorships, so that they will not take roots for long years….Diplomatic and morals measures do not work against dictatorships, because these make fun of the Governments and the population”. Fidel Castro

    (Excerpt from the book “Fidel Castro and Human Rights”, Editora Política, Havana, Cuba, 1988)

  23. Carbo you are only a servan’s servant

    carbo you don’t have argument about embargo becouse you want imperialism in Cuba

    Cuba’s people want be free by yankees becouse knew misery, death and hunger in Batista dictatorship..
    They knew usa terrorism against Cuba!

    All southamerica’s countries today live in a catastrofic capitalist system

    Cubans want resist against the capitalism destruction that Usa want bring there!

  24. GREAT COMMENT. I really enjoyed it.

    but one small thing… who’s the Cuban Minister of Commerce? I thought the Commerce Secretary was Gary Locke, a Chinese-American who used to be governor of Washington State?

  25. Marco:

    I’m 100 % sure, that you are one more provoker, instructed by Castro and his “Maffiosa” gang, that sooner or later will be here in the States, asking for asylum or some kind of protection when the Dictator- tired already of your lamb services- will be ready to kick your ugly and stinky ass.

    You will not be the first one doing it, like you, we had a lot of them, that, like rats, now are abandon the ship knowing that the future will be in a country where the freedom and the justice is respected.

    Remember, here in USA every single human being has the right to pursuit the happiness, however, in Cuba, with Castro and his gang, everybody is just one more slave of that stupid and cruel system.

    Candido Fernandez

  26. Well Candido, in the Spanish version of this blog there are many more insults from people like Marco. They advocate for the “Robolution” in Cuba based on hate and pre-learned phrases. Actually, I can confirm that critical writing and reading related to politics and democracy are never performed in Cuban universities. It is not a both-ways flow. It is a prepared lesson that people must learn from heart and repeat it everywhere without hesitating. Therefore, they cannot use critical thinking and rhetoric to support their points of view. Their only resource is confrontation and hate. Living isolated inside the Island made them believe that the rest of the world should be scared of them. They can inspire that fear in the Cubans inside the Island but not to the rest of the world. They believe that their authoritarian attitudes would convince others. I don’t think so. Personally, I just enjoy watching hem struggling to explain things that they do not understand.

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