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Outlasting them all
Cuba was valuable as a boogeyman for the frightened Mccarthy era Americans. China was valuable as a trading partner. I mean the fuckers in China were sooooo dirt poor it was too good to pass up-- they would work for 5 cents an hour!!!! Ideology has nothing to do with it, just manipulating/controlling the minds of the fearful american people and maximizing profit at the same time.
In all honesty, the America of the 1950s wasnt exactly free and individualistic and so on. Military industrial complex, 1000s of nukes dropped all over the world, federal highway system, 90% top tier tax rate, homogeneous population, civilians with shaved faces and crew cuts, socail security, Federal reserve, CIA doing ther fucked up and duplicitous shit, FBI in existence, Mushroom clouds visible from vegas, propaganda taught in schools, flag waving jingoism, overthrowing the shah, our meddling in latin and south america, and the most nightmarish thing of all.. Leave it to Beaver.
Who the fuck is conservative for the 1950's in here? Only Lana Del Rey and the writers of Back to the Future.
Poor innocent Castro. Americans treat him like he confiscated billions of dollars of American owned property, invited the Russian to put nuclear missles in Cuba, imprisoned thousands of dissidents and dumped thousands of mentally ill Cubans on America in a boat lift.
Oh wait...
This so called peace offering to Cuba is just another way of getting at Russia
The Castros are not falling for this, they will stick to Russia and China even more (they learned the lessons from Iraq and Libya).
This seems like an updated version of the old political cartoon where it was a lineup of all the Presidents from Kennedy to Clinton (this was back in the 90s IIRC). They were each saying a word of a sentence, something like "don't worry, Castro will fall any day now!"
Dear Leader is thrashing around trying to find a positive legacy to counter his legacy as the worst president, even worse than Carter. I don't know how it will happen, but Obama will screw Cuba up, just like everything else he has touched.
Forward (over the cliff)!
Since before he even set foot in office, Obama has known exactly what his legacy would be-- the President that destroyed the USA. Everything he has done has been in perfect accordance with this goal. In this way, he has been refreshingly straightforward and predictable.
Obama didn't destroy shit and has no real power whatsoever. In fact if we're comparing Castro and Obama the puppet ruler is OBVIOUSLY Barack. Evil as they may be, i have to give the Castro's credit, they played the geo-political game for half a decade pretty much by their own rules. There's likely not a Rotschild slave amoing the Cuban bourgeoisie...
Repost:
Che Guevara and Castro's 1961 prophecy is about to be realized as shown on this link.
It's in Spanish but easy to understand. (Papa in this case means the Pope)
http://lab.org.uk/images/2014/cuba_cartoon_dec2014.png
Hopefully, the Castros will not be so stupid as to let us infect them with our corporatism and faux democracy.
Yeah but we'll trade bicycles for 57 Chevys
AGAIN, America did the same thing to the rest of the world but we get a free pass cuz are us right? RIIIIIIIGHT....
Why do you post?
This site is completely unreadable without an adblocker. Laggy piece of shit. Though, I would like to Meet Eugenia.
Noscript and/or ghostery are essentials for all interwebs.
I don't have links but they're easy to find and highly recommended.
Castro was fighting against the corrupt dictatorship of the slimy, mobster-owned dictator Batista. Castro originally envisioned a sort of Western-styled social democracy for Cuba and repeatedly sought the help of the U.S. to overthrow the criminal tyrant Batista. Corporate (and Jewish mafia) interests outweighed those of the Cuban people and the U.S. steadfastly refused to help either Castro or the Cuban people. Batista was like money in the bank to the U.S. - it only cost three million a year to pay him off. The mob and corporations could pretty much do whatever they wanted in Cuba, and their paid-off U.S. politicians made sure nobody interfered with their plunder.
Castro turned to the Soviet Union out of desperation, not out of any ideological sympathy or any preference for Marxist Communism. Cuba was turned into a hell-hole of a soviet communist paradise for the next eighty years thanks to the spineless U.S. congress and their support for their little corrupt bitch, Batista, rather than for Cuban human rights and democracy.
Castro wasn't really much for any political ideology - his revolution mostly centered around the fact that he (and a lot of Cubans) hated that fucker Batista. The U.S. snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and - once again - ended up on the wrong side of history.
Considering the dismal U.S. track record for the next eighty years of democracy jihad, Castro should probably count his blessings that the U.S. didn't help Cuba.
Well said, and it's interesting that so many people forget the failed Bay of Pigs invasion (my birthday in April, 1961), and how that led directly to the Cuban missile crisis.
That said, I've always wondered how such a small, poor, backassward country like Cuba and Castro represented such a grave threat to the USA (post Cuban missile crisis, 1962). The 54 year trade embargo, the longest in modern history, really makes no sense at all. It is almost pointless as the USA is the only country that has an embargo on Cuba. In other words, it helps no one and only hurts Cuba and the US politically, socially and economically.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_Cuba
"... I've always wondered how such a small, poor, backassward country like Cuba and Castro represented such a grave threat to the USA ..."
Wonder no more.
The US embargo has nothing to do with the "US" and all to do with the Cuban exiles.
Castro robbed them of their capital, called them worms, scum ...
What Castro did not realize is that he "threw out the baby with the dirty water".
The Cuban exiles knew the very simple economic principle, which incidentally the liberal sh.t heads in the US don't understand, Capital = Production - Consumption.
And capital they did create. Enough that just the Miami Cuban exiles GDP is 1,000 times that of the entire Cuban nation.
And with a small piece of that capital they influence and control the US Cuban policy.
There are now two Cuban American senators and four members of the House of Representatives.
The reason for the embargo is: REVENGE.
Yes, the Castro's have been real sweeties. If they weren't communists before the revolution they surely adopted it fully afterword, and with all other communist revolutions, the opposition payed the ultimate price. Say what you will of America's fucked up foreign policies, but there is NOTHING in Cuba that deserves our sympathy other than the victims of the Castro regime.
Fuck dude, nobody likes Castro or communism but apparently you and a bunch of other posters cant stay on point. To talk about moral high ground with the current US policy and 54 year embargo is laughable. And speaking of victims, Im sure your comfortable and supportive of the torture that goes on there at Guantanamo Bay in the name of freedom as well.
I have many Canadian friends that go to Cuba regularly and say it is a wonderful place to visit with nice resorts, beautiful water and friendly people. Seems to me that people like you have no fucking idea what youre talking about.
cuba deserves our free trade with no entaingling alliances. where have I heard that before?
"... go to Cuba regularly and say it is a wonderful place to visit with nice resorts, beautiful water ..."
Well not really.
They do have a clean water problem, except at tourist resorts.
If you check you'll find that several groups of missionaries go to the island on a regular basis to donate water purification systems and to train the Cubans on how to operate and maintain them. Their water infracstructure is in ruins.
However, even though I fully supported the embargo for many years I have realized that it was a mistake, and a cruel one at that. I regret it and I'm working towards rectifying it.
I believe that at this point it would be best to unilaterally lift the embargo.
With the condition that not a single cent of US taxpayers dollars be given or loaned to the Cuban government.
Any private individual, company or organization that wants to risk their capital in Cuba should be free to do so.
I would recommend to the Cubans that they use a dual model economic system. A socialist model for their health, education and pension system and a free market economy for the rest. But this would not be a condition for lifting the embargo, it would simply solve their economic problems.
How about the overthrow of Batista and the removal of a whole layer of parisites? That gets my sympathy.
The same parasite layer that got removed in Cuba is under threat in Ukraine. The poster up thread saying the reason for the embargo is Revenge is right. That and to set an example for others who might engage in the same type of house-cleaning. Something for the good guys in Ukraine to be aware of when contemplating their opponent.
I think a bunch of US nukes in Turkey & Italy may have had something to do with it, too
Fuck the Castros. They whine like little bitches about the US embargo, when every single other nation in the world trades with them. They sucked off the tit of the Soviet Union for thirty years, and still couldn't wean themselves. How anyone could apologize for those filthy, useless, greedy pricks is inexplicable and indefensible.
Kennedy's mistake was not doing the job right. If he had simply sacked up and crushed the Castros back in 1961, he would have averted the missile crisis and saved everyone a lot of trouble. The one fucking place in the world where US military intervention would actually have made sense, and we didn't do it. What fucking bullshit.
Buck, it wasnt Kennedy's mistake. It was the failure of the CIA, and they helped to rub JFK out because he was going to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds".
and the fact that cuba was a whore house for the mafia and rich ugly americans, they came and stole everyting, the people became so poor, the families had to pimp out their wives and daughters, NOTHING classy or sophistacted about it it, simply a mafia playground. and the people there previously were not trash and uneducated, they saw everything they had being stolen by people with no souls and no end to greed.
i remember old men telling me how GREAT it was before castro, the obscene things they could do, eating, drinking, gambling, whoring - and so proud of that fact 'it was so cheap, castro ruined it'.
honestly, truly, disgusting.
Cuba was 99% fucked before Castro, and 110% fucked after Castro.
It was a corrupt, filthy place under Batista, now it is corrupt, filthy, and dirt poor under Castro.
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of
envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -- Winston Churchill
I don't know... Socialism seems to have worked out pretty well for TBTF and TBTJ.
And for the EBT and SNAP crowd, who'd otherwise have to march or storm the barricades, instead of doing what they're doing: staying put, surfing, gaming, watching TV, and shopping at Walmart. And don't forget how fit they get at Walmart on Black Fridays.
But I could be wrong.
and yet America looked the other way on China's dealings with their citizens. Along with dozens of other nations. Hypocrisy is not admirable
Bullshit. The USA fought two costly wars against China, in Korea and Viet Nam, and American military force has preserved the independence of Taiwan since 1949. The Cuban embargo is inconsistent with our China policy, but inconsistency is not the same as hypocrisy.
It is when you back it up with rhetoric
Shhhhhhh. or we won't get any seegars.
0b1knob, you are wrong. You have the balance of power backwards and the cause and effect sequence inverted.
The US was aggressively hostile from the get-go, and tried to strangle Cuba from day one.
Soundbite, 140 character or less comments cannot capture the much more complex reality of a situation that started in 1959 and goes on to this day.
Short attention span individuals should just skip this whole thing and scroll down to the next asinine "Four legs good, Two legs baaaad, US good, Castro baaad" post right now!
For those who care to look deeper into it, here is an extended excerpt from a larger essay I found very interesting. It challenges the "conventional" US perspective on Cuba. It discusses some aspects of US-Cuba relations prior to the Bay of Pigs invasion, and then narrates aspects of the invasion itself.
I copy-pasted the corresponding footnotes and links for this portion of it.
Enjoy.
------------------
“The one fact we can be sure of, is that he has those indefinable qualities which make him a leader of men. Whatever we may think of him, he is going to be a great factor in the development of Cuba and very possibly in the development of Latin American affairs generally.”1
Vice President Richard M. Nixon, after holding conversations with Fidel Castro, April 25, 1959
The failed invasion of Cuba by a large, well-trained, well-supplied and well-supported US proxy force was a turning point in US-Cuba relations. It put bilateral relations in a deep freeze, and spawned a brutal embargo and an irrational, implacable policy of hostility toward Cuba that has lasted well over 50 years and continues to this very day. The story of the invasion is often given short shrift, and many fail to understand the direct causal link between this invasion and the dramatic nuclear missile crisis that followed it.
So what is the truth? What exactly happened on the ground, sea, and air in Cuba in April of 1961?
Antebellum
Shortly after Fidel Castro overthrew the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, he launched into a massive campaign to break the shackles of neo-colonialism and do away with human, social, and economic underdevelopment in Cuba. The young and idealistic Castro had the will and the overpowering desire to do so, but he lacked resources and expertise.
The US missed an excellent opportunity to engage and influence Castro when he visited the United States a mere two months after taking power. President Eisenhower deliberately snubbed him and refused to meet with him. Vice-President Nixon patronized him in person and later privately branded him “naïve” and a “communist” to everyone in the administration.2
It is critically important to note that in the first years, Fidel Castro had not incorporated a Marxist discourse or socialist/communist approach to his actions; that came later.3
US Corporations and the US government saw Castro as a threat to their profit margins and neo-colonial economic dominance. In a blatantly self-serving manner, they also saw his government as too close to socialism and/or communism. Blinded by cold war blinkers and a fundamental misunderstanding of the Cuban situation, the US government flexed its muscles and crassly attempted to bully Cuba into returning to its previous subjugated state.
This was simply not going to happen with Fidel Castro in power.
The stage was set almost immediately after Batista was overthrown. “A top level decision was made to get rid of Castro. Specifically the secret agenda of the National Security Council meeting on March 10, 1959- two and a half months after Batista’s defeat and with President Urrutia and a moderate cabinet still ostensibly governing Cuba- included as a principal topic the modalities of bringing ‘another government to power in Cuba.’ The Cubans had not yet seized or nationalized any American property on the island, and the United States had no reason thus far to complain about any Cuban actions.” 4 The Eisenhower administration was already planning operations against the Cuban government mere months after Castro took power, and eight months later the plans were official government policy.5 The goal of these operations was to depose Castro and make his downfall seem to be the result of his own mistakes. As part of this effort, Cuban exile paramilitary organizations mounted sea borne raids and aerial bombing runs against Cuba from U.S. territory, while subversive forces inside Cuba carried out attacks and sabotage, and a US-backed guerrilla army operated in the Escambray mountains.6
By 17 March 1960, the Eisenhower administration had become impatient with the lack of results and resilience of Castro’s popular support. A much more muscular and decisive plan for a direct attack on Cuba with a military force was adopted. The name of this new and improved plan was Operation Pluto. This was the plan that the incoming Kennedy administration would modify, rename as Operation Zapata, and eventually execute.7
A Second Visit
"In the Theresa suite early today Dr. Castro received a group of Negro reporters and a leader of the so-called Muslim movement among United States Negroes, who calls himself Malcolm X,"
-The New York Times September 20, 1961
Six months after Operation Pluto was initiated, on September 18, 1960, A Cuban delegation headed by Fidel Castro arrived in New York to participate in the United Nations general assembly.
Castro’s party was shabbily treated by design. For example, Castro had many federal agents assigned to follow him and his party, watching their every move, everywhere they went. Castro could not even move freely inside New York City; the US government strictly limited his “liberty of movement” to Manhattan Island only; the establishment New York press greeted his party with hostile yellow journalism and New York Hotels found various subterfuges to deny them accommodations.8
Fidel, perhaps seriously, said that he and his delegation could sleep in Central Park. "We are a mountain people," he declared, "we are used to sleeping in the open air". Clearly, spending a few days outdoors would not be a big deal for the former guerrilla fighters.
In the end, in a devastatingly simple, egalitarian fashion, he went down to Harlem with his entire entourage and found accommodations in the black side of town, sending an unmistakable and powerful message. While he was there, he met with black leaders, intellectuals, and world leaders including- to the American government’s horror- with Malcolm X, Gamul Abdul Nasser, Allen Ginsberg, Jawaharlal Nehru, Langston Hughes, and Nikita Khrushchev.9
Underscoring his hostility and contempt, President Eisenhower, speaking to the American Nationalities for Nixon-Lodge Committee, referred to "troublemakers trying to come to our country" without explicitly naming Fidel Castro.10 Eisenhower did not have to; everyone there knew exactly whom he meant.
As Eisenhower’s destabilization plans proceeded, the US and Cuba started talking past each other and engaged in serious escalations on many fronts. To give just one example of the many available, in 1960, Che Guevara made a favorable deal (for Cuba of course, not the US multinational corporations) to purchase and import Russian oil at a substantial discount. The American owned refineries in Cuba -by direction of the US Treasury Department- refused to process this oil into different fuels, deliberately causing economic hardship and shortages.11 Castro retaliated by expropriating the refineries and processing the oil himself. The US reply was a strangulation of the Cuban economy. The US blocked the importation of the remainder of the sugar quota of Cuba for the year, and announced that there would be no further purchases of sugar, which at that time represented well over 80% of Cuba’s exports.12
Faced with this economically catastrophic strangulation, Castro turned around and nationalized thirty-six American sugar mills, two oil refineries, two utility companies, and two Nickel mines. In addition, he expropriated several properties in Cuba of both the US-based, and the exiled Cuban oligarchy.13
On 3 January 1961, Eisenhower officially severed all diplomatic relations with Cuba.
The die was cast.
The Forces
Question: W. Kenworthy, New York Times: It has been a week and a half since Ambassador Bonsal returned to Havana, and in that time the attacks upon the United States have grown increasingly more violent. Are you satisfied that the Castro Government sincerely wishes to compose the differences with us through negotiation?
Answer: Really, I cannot guess on the thing very much. I will say this: any progress in that direction has been disappointing to me. We have sent back Mr. Bonsal because we thought it was a better thing to do, in view of certain statements that had been made; but the whole thing, our attitude stands as it has been before. We stand ready to discuss all of the complaints that the Government of Cuba has against ours, and we certainly think it would be reasonable and decent in discussing them. That is as far as I can go.
-President Eisenhower, March 30, 1960 (13 days after authorizing the Operation Pluto invasion)
"I can guarantee, categorically, that Guatemalan territory is being used at this very time with the complicity of President Ydígoras and the assistance of United Fruit, as a bridgehead for an invasion of our country."
Raúl Roa, Cuba's Foreign Minister, Apr 23, 1960 (37 days after Eisenhower approved Operation Pluto, and one year before the invasion)
Cuban Intelligence was closely following the developments of the United State’s multi-pronged destabilization and invasion plans. They were aware that US supported stooge dictators in Nicaragua (Somoza) and Guatemala (Ydigoras) were hosting bases and training grounds for anti-Castro forces. Cuban Intelligence services had remarkably detailed information of the proxy force’s training, armament, and capabilities.14 For example; they estimated the housing capacity of the training camps in Guatemala at 6000 troops total. Approximately 1500 combat troops were used for the actual invasion, which demonstrates that the estimate was remarkably precise and consistent with the customary 3 to 1 support troops to combat troop ratios of that era.
The Proxy force for the invasion included 15, 16
· Approximately 1,500 heavily armed and well equipped fighting Soldiers broken down into five Infantry Battalions and one Paratrooper Battalion
· An undetermined amount of support soldiers and staff for the fighting force
· Four large ships, the Houston, Río Escondido, Caribe, and Atlántico, to transport the invading troops and armaments close to the invasion beaches
· A fifth ship, a Freighter named the Lake Charles, loaded with follow-up supplies and hardcore “Operation 40” infiltration, sabotage, and intelligence personnel.
· Nine Landing Craft of different types- two LCIs (Landing Craft Infantry), three LCUs (Landing Craft Utility), and four LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicles, Personnel) which had been outfitted with heavy armament at Key West, Florida
· Twenty B-26 Bombers , seven C-54 , and four C-46 transport aircraft
The Cuban Army had the following forces17, 18
· The Cuban Army, approximately 25,000 strong
· A supplementary force of approximately 200,000 militia and auxiliaries, many of whom were graduates of Che Guevara’s militia school
· An undetermined number of Soviet T-34 Tanks, 122mm Artillery pieces (Howitzers), and Czechoslovakian made anti-aircraft artillery (acquired in the two years preceding the invasion)
· Four Sea Fury light attack bombers, one B-26, and three unarmed T-33 trainer jets (this is all that remained after the US proxy force’s pre-invasion bombing raids)
· Negligible naval assets armed with small arms
The US Proxy Force’s Mission
A CIA Cuban task force memorandum dated January 4, 1961, clearly defined the mission of the invading proxy force. Here is an extended, but critically important mission statement that defined the invasion’s strategy. It stated19
“The initial mission of the invasion force will be to seize and defend a small area, which under ideal conditions will include an airfield and access to the sea for logistic support. Plans must provide, however, for the eventuality that the force will be driven into a tight defensive formation which will preclude supply by sea or control of an airfield. Under such circumstances, supply would have to be provided entirely by airdrop. The primary objective of the force will be to survive and maintain its integrity on Cuban soil. There will be no early attempt to break out of the lodgment for further offensive operations unless and until there is a general uprising against the Castro regime or overt military intervention by United States forces has taken place.
It is expected that these operations will precipitate a general uprising throughout Cuba and cause the revolt of large segments of the Cuban Army and Militia. The lodgment, it is hoped, will serve as a rallying point for the thousands who are ready for overt resistance to Castro but who hesitate to act until they can feel some assurance of success. A general revolt in Cuba, if one is successfully triggered by our operations, may serve to topple the Castro regime within a period of weeks.
If matters do not eventuate as predicted above, the lodgment established by our force can be used as the site for establishment of a provisional government, which can be recognized by the United States, and hopefully by other American states, and given overt military assistance. The way will then be paved for United States military intervention aimed at pacification of Cuba, and this will result in the prompt overthrow of the Castro Government”.
The Invasion
“Are those the men who will come to overthrow the armed people? Don’t make us laugh! This mercenary government will not last 24 hours in Cuba! The people here have asked many times; when will they come? People (here) too, are impatient... Those who have illusions and vain hopes in those plots, they have no alternative but to come here, sooner or later”
Fidel Castro talking about the CIA-Backed “Democratic Revolutionary Front” April 1961
The CIA invasion planners believed that Castro had no doctrine of any kind. In line with this reasoning, the CIA had the idea that diversionary activity on various points of the island 48 hours before the actual invasion would confuse Castro and force him to improvise his defense.20
The CIA fatally underestimated Fidel Castro. They did not truly understand that the man they were facing was tactically sound and fully capable of strategic thinking. Castro was defiant and undaunted; he had other ideas in mind, and he sure as shit was not going to lie down for “los yanquis”.
For the pending invasion, Castro divided the Cuban forces among the “big three” Commanders, his brother Raul in the East, his Chief of Staff Juan Almeida in the center, and the ferocious “Che” Guevara in the West. Fidel was overall in charge and retained direct control of all forces inside Havana. To defend the island, he devised a doctrine of main force deployments and mobility by tactical units. He used his larger militias for early tactical operations and engagements, while stationing his stronger core of regulars in key strategic areas, ready to surge and achieve mass where needed. In this way, he retained flexibility and could avoid having his main forces fixed by the diversionary attacks and deceptions he fully expected.21
Preparatory Attacks and Distractions
Friday, April 18, 1961 (D-3)
Fidel Castro had taken up temporary residence at his command post, known as “Punto Uno” (Point One). He received reports of a suspicious ship spotted off Cuba’s western coast. Raul Castro’s forces operated in this area. The western province of Oriente had traditionally been the gateway to “liberations” of Cuba, and this could well be the vanguard of an invading force.
A freighter named La Playa was carrying a 164-man diversionary force commanded by a former revolutionary fighter who turned on the revolution, Major Nino Diaz. This force intended to land at or near the mouth of the Ocambo River, but aborted the landing when scouts detected the presence of Cuban militiamen on the coast. The force attempted a landing elsewhere the next day, but met with the same situation. In the face of adversity, this force turned around, sailed for home, and never fought. 22
Saturday, 15 April 1961 (D-2)
Less than half a mile from Castro’s location, Invading B-26 bombers with false Cuban Air Force markings rocketed the Ciudad Libertad military landing strip, and made additional bombing and strafing runs. Although directed at the runway, they also hit houses and civilian structures in the densely packed area. Simultaneous attacks took place in two other air bases. Their purpose was to obliterate Cuba’s already tiny Air Force.23 Cuba lost five serviceable planes and many other unserviceable planes on the ground in the three air raids. This left Castro with just four Sea Fury , one B-26 bomber and three unarmed T-33 trainer jets as his only operational aircraft. Castro was beside himself, raging at the fact that he now had “eight planes and only seven pilots!”
On a humorous note, Lt. Gustavo Bourzac, a Sea Fury pilot, probably made air combat history by being the first man to scramble against enemy forces wearing only his 'jockey' shorts. Awakened from a sound sleep, he wasted a precious few seconds looking for his flight suit and parachute. Not finding them, he simply raced “al fresco” to the flight line and jumped into the first available aircraft.24
Sunday, 16 April 1961 (D-1)
Fidel Castro holds a funeral ceremony for those killed the day before, giving a powerful and impassioned speech, which turns the funeral into a stirring act of nationalist mourning and revolutionary defiance. With his voice rising to a roaring climax, Castro bellowed: “Because this is what the imperialists cannot forgive us... is that we have made a socialist revolution under the noses of the United States, and that we shall defend with these rifles this socialist revolution!”25
The only item out of Castro’s extended and substantive declaration that the US press covered and analyzed ad-nauseam was Castro’s declaration that Cuba’s revolution was (gasp!) “socialist”.
Monday, 17 April 1961 (D-day)
Jose “Pepe” San Roman was the commander of brigade 2506 (named after the serial number of its first volunteer to die in training in Guatemala). He was a US trained career military officer who had fought with Batista’s Army, and then turned against the dictator towards the end. He now fought as the US proxy force’s commander against Castro.
Sometime around 1 A.M., the first waves of Brigade 2506 started pushing ashore on Cuba’s south coast from the Barbara J. on the "Blue" beach, near Giron, which had also a small landing strip. Shortly after, the second part of the Brigade landed on “Red Beach” near Playa Larga, in the Bay of Pigs. The USS San Marco and seven landing craft followed the first two ships, which delivered five M-41 tanks to Playa Larga. The Cuban Militias made contact with the invaders, exchanging fire with the troops that came ashore, but initial Cuban resistance was weak, and the Brigade 2506 had no problems in establishing a several kilometers deep bridgehead.
Word did not get to Castro until a little over an hour later. When it did, Fidel instantly swung into action. His first call went to Captain “Gallego” Fernandez. Castro ordered him immediately to the Bay of Pigs. He was to pick up over 800 Regulars from Matanzas on the way down and take command of any forces in the scene, militias included. His second order was for 122mm Artillery and Tanks to be loaded on flatbed trucks and moved south immediately to support the defense.26
His third order was to one of the air bases that proxy forces had attacked previously. Castro was about to unveil a surprise for the attackers. On this airfield were the remnants of his tiny air force, two Sea Furies, two B-26s, and three T-33s, and they were ready to roar. What the CIA planners did not know was that Fidel’s people had installed two M3 .50 caliber machine guns on each of the T-33 “trainers”. They were now fast, agile, and lethal, gun platforms.
At 4:30 A.M., the senior pilot, Captain Enrique Carreras, who was strapped in and ready to go, was ordered to exit his aircraft and run to the nearest telephone. Once he got there, the first thing he heard was Fidel Castro on the other end exclaiming “Chico! You must sink those ships for me!”27 Castro had insisted on personally briefing him on the importance of destroying the invading ships and landing craft. He would later go on to do this with his other few pilots.
If Castro was to be successful in isolating the beachhead and smashing the force, he had to deprive them of follow on supplies, food, ammunition and arms. He was greatly concerned that the beachhead would expand to control two key points in Palpite and San Blas where they could control the main paved highways that linked the area with firm land to the North. He was completely aware that If the proxy force accomplished this, held the Giron airfield, and kept their supply lines open from the sea, they might become impossible to dislodge from their position.
Unbeknownst to him at the time, the proxy army had already dropped paratroopers who were closing in to attack and take over these two key points.
At first light, two Sea Furies appeared over Giron’s skies and saw the Houston approaching Playa Larga. Aboard it was the fifth battalion and all their equipment. Captain Carreras attacked with a vengeance, going through a hail of small arms fire from the ship. He missed on his first pass, but hit it flush with his rockets on the next. Seconds later, the second Sea Fury also blasted the Houston.28 The battered Houston ran aground on the western side of the bay, quite possibly to avoid sinking. Although the fifth battalion eventually managed to disembark some troops and equipment from the fatally wounded Houston, they were not a significant factor in the invasion. They had been badly derailed and were stranded in a vast swamp that was far from the decisive point of battle.
The Sea Furies also strafed the LCI Barbara J, which served as a CIA command vessel, with their 20mm cannons, severely damaging it. Barbara J started taking on water and it fled for the safety of the open sea, where the US Navy had a formidable naval task force headed up by the aircraft carrier USS Essex just outside of Cuban territorial waters. 29
Having expended all his ammunition, Captain Carreras returned to refuel and rearm, and was back in the fight over the bay around 9:30A.M. This time, he focused on attacking the Rio Escondido, which carried ten days worth of ammunition and essential communications gear for the brigade. After hitting the ship repeatedly, it exploded in a spectacularly massive fireball and sank. Although Carreras had no way of knowing it at the time, he had just landed a devastating blow to the invaders. The "Rio Escondido" goes down with 145 tons of munitions, 38,000 gallons of vehicle fuel and 3,000 gallons of aircraft fuel. At this juncture, the other invasion ships rapidly steamed out of the bay, effectively leaving a fighting force of approximately 1350 men stranded ashore. With his Sea Fury all shot up to hell and one engine damaged from enemy fire, Carreras limped home, where ground crews rushed to repair the plane.
As the fight developed over the bay, the proxy force’s B26s were bombing and strafing the Cuban regulars who were pushing south to join the fight, with their fierce “eight gun noses”. They also hit the transportation columns bringing in tanks and artillery, and every target of opportunity they could find. The modified Cuban T-33s took to the air to counter them and absolutely savaged the slower, less nimble B26s, bringing down four of them on that day and damaging several others.30
On the ground, “Gallego” Fernandez, was racing south to capture the strategic point of Palpite. Under fire from the invading force’s B26s, he beat the proxy force’s paratroopers to it and secured Palpite. The paratroop force that was to attack Palpite never really stood a chance. They landed too far away and they encountered a militia force that decisively engaged them and eventually defeated them, capturing all the survivors.
From Palpite, “Gallego” launched a direct attack on the invading force at Playa Larga with 500 men armed with machine guns, mortars and rifles. Brigade 2506 repulsed this attack and inflicted heavy casualties on the Cubans.31 As the Cubans were reorganizing and reconsolidating their forces, Fidel Castro appeared in their midst.
Castro thought that his presence might energize his forces, so he gave instructions to his staff, grabbed a vehicle and made a “cannonball run” down to the fighting at breakneck speed. Probably much closer to the truth is that the veteran fighter wanted to be there anyway and was simply unwilling to stay in his headquarters, trying to direct his military forces from the rear.
Tuesday, 18 April 1961 (D+1)
The noose was tightening on the invading force. The Cuban Army was now bringing to bear its artillery and tanks. Although there were still aerial attacks on the Cuban Army, the Brigade was under severe bombardment, and their naval supply lines had been effectively cut. Although the Brigade fought the rear-guard well, their situation was desperate. Their remaining organic B26s were not flying because their pilots were exhausted from running back to back 7-hour round trip sorties from Nicaragua. Four CIA-recruited American pilots died on this day when their planes were shot down by the Cuban T-33s. Surrounded, depleted, and demoralized, the last serious efforts at resistance ended around 5:30 P.M.32
Wednesday, 19 April 1961
Two US destroyers approached the beach at Giron. Gallegos and several other commanders believed a second landing was underway, but Castro correctly saw it for what it was- an attempted evacuation. He ordered his forces to fire on all escaping forces and boats, but forbade firing on the US destroyers, since that would escalate things and could have unforeseen consequences. 33
Most of the invading force was captured. Castro personally ensured that the combatants were not harmed or mistreated, and spent the entire day satisfying his curiosity by walking around the enemy positions and talking with the defeated fighters, many of whom still had their weapons with them as they crowded around him to answer his questions.
The Aftermath
The disaster at the Bay of Pigs had a lasting impact on the Kennedy administration. Determined to make up for the failed invasion, the administration initiated Operation Mongoose—a plan to further sabotage and destabilize the Cuban government and economy. The plan included the possibility of assassinating Castro, and even deliberately murdering a large amount of US citizens to provide a false-flag cassus belli to invade Cuba. 34, 35
Although Cuba probably did not know about Mongoose and other plans in place, they were correctly concerned that the US would directly invade the next time. This was a powerful justification for the emplacement of Russian missiles on Cuban territory and a direct causal link to the missile crisis.
The brigade prisoners remained in captivity for 20 months, as the United States negotiated a deal with Fidel Castro. The United States refused to be seen as paying reparations to a small third world island. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy made personal pleas for contributions from pharmaceutical companies and baby food manufacturers, and Castro eventually settled on $53 million (419 million in today’s dollars) worth of baby food and medicine in exchange for the prisoners.36
On December 23, 1962, just two months after the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a plane containing the first group of freed prisoners landed in the United States. A week later, on Saturday, December 29, surviving brigade members gathered for a ceremony in Miami's Orange Bowl, where the brigade's flag was handed over to President Kennedy. "I can assure you," the president promised, "that this flag will be returned to this brigade in a free Havana." 37
Relations between Cuba and the United States remain strained and tenuous. To this very day, more than 50 years later, the United States of America is still trying to subvert and overthrow its government.38
-------------------------------------------------------------
beaver cleaver? i like beaver, and i like cleaving it.
that said, as a kid, even i caught on to the lies of that show.
but i still like beaver.
Gone futher downhill since then.
As if 638 attempts on Fidel Castro's life were not enough of a signal:
For nearly half a century, the CIA and Cuban exiles have been trying to devise ways to assassinate Fidel Castro, who is currently laid low in Cuba following an operation for intestinal bleeding. None of the plots, of course, succeeded, but, then, many of them would probably be rejected as too fanciful for a James Bond novel.
Fabian Escalante, who, for a time, had the job of keeping El Commandante alive, has calculated that there have been a total of 638 attempts on Castro's life. That may sound like a staggeringly high figure, but then the CIA were pretty keen on killing him
On one occasion, a former lover was recruited to kill him, according to Peter Moore, producer of the new film. The woman was given poison pills by the CIA, and she hid them in her cold cream jar. But the pills melted and she decided that, all things considered, putting cold cream in Castro's mouth while he slept was a bad idea. According to this woman, Castro had already guessed that she was aiming to kill him and he duly offered her his own pistol. "I can't do it, Fidel," she told him.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/aug/03/cuba.duncancampbell2
If those at the top (e.g. the owners of the Fed) wanted Castro dead, he would have been dead, so they obviously wanted him alive - regardless of what the TV says.
So by your logic, the owners of the Fed wants Assad of Syria, Kim Jong-un of N. Korea, Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China alive.
Apparently, by your logic, the 638 attempts on Fidel Castro's life were not made on behalf of those at the top. Maybe those attempts were made on the behalf of a street vendor in Miami.
"the owners of the Fed wants Assad of Syria, Kim Jong-un of N. Korea, Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China alive."
Yes, if they're alive then they want them alive, or else they are about to kill them. Although, in the case of Syria, the people surprised Obama and his handlers and temporarily stopped them from attacking Syria - temporarily.
Even though the TV tells you the CIA made 638 attempts, you don't have to believe it. Didn't you read the ZH article today on propaganda?
If you get out and talk to a diverse range of people, it will be more clear that it is far more probable that Castro's own people made 638 attempts because he ruined and/or ended so many of their lives.
The USA is not a magical entity. We cannot kill anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Just because they may wish someone was dead, that does not mean they are going to get their way. That is not a knock on our military and spook organizations, that is simply reality. We are not as good as our myth of ourselves would lead us to believe.
You are the one who said "USA". The owners of the Fed are international. None Dare Call it Conspiracy sums it up pretty well.
Future Jim - I hear what you're saying, but its a question of the scale and scope of the power. You're going for omnipotence and I'm not buying it. Maybe a case can be made for omnipotnce within the homeland as its now called, or the anglo-zionist countries. But the entire world? And there is no real or effective opposition? Like I say, I'm not buying it. Posters make the claim, probably zionist posters out of desperation in trying to find some slag that sticks, that Putin works for the red sheilds. A ridiculous claim to anyone that looks into Putin's rise and the accompanying death or disposession of many of the usual suspects.
I don't think anywhere near omnipotence is necessary, but yes, their cabal certainly has more power collectively than any one public leader has.
I think the only way to defend oneself from them would be to have a sufficient number of zero squads in place. Maybe Russian or Chinese leaders have those, or maybe they are front men for the same cabal, or maybe, like Castro, they are convenient foils to justify more military and more police state.
If we REALLY wanted to actually do something about Cuba, we would have invaded and crushed it like a grape underfoot within 3 weeks, a long time ago. It would be a challenge comparable to the invasion of Grenada, or Panama. Two countries we had no problem invading and crushing on far less pretense than we might have with Cuba.
These bullshit assassination stories are just that-- bullshit, designed to throw a bone to the Cuban-American constituency in Florida. The CIA undoubtedly assigned their "C" teams to those projects and kept an eye on them to make sure they didn't come anywhere close to actually succeeding.
You need to account for size and the economic power of a state. It is going to be a lot easier to assassinate the leader of a small, poor country then it would be a technological (as in ability to acquire) powerhouse like Russia
Yes, because the owners of the fed are omnipotent superhumans with magical powers. Any resistance to them is obviously futile since they are without flaws and due to their clairvoyancy will see any opposition coming from afar and will thwart it without fail. We should all get on our knees and present Them with our assholes so they may fuck us with their gigantic cocks.
Yes, because unlike Saddam and Khadafi, Castro and Assad are omnipotent superhumans with magical powers. Any resistance to them is obviously futile since they are without flaws and due to their clairvoyancy will see any opposition coming from afar and will thwart it without fail. We should all get on our knees and present them with our assholes so they may fuck us with their gigantic cocks.
See how that works?
BTW, the owners of the fed are just a few examples. They are not the only ones in finance in their cabal, and not everyone in their cabal is in finance.
Wonder how many attempts were made on Putin thus far.
JuliaS, The Russians have become extrememly adept at keeping their leaders alive from western attempts to assassinate them . When Mr. Putin attends any conference where the west is also represented he brings enough of his own water supply for all needs to last the entirety of the events. This shows us how much the rest of the world trusts the scum bag west. This is what precipitated the Iraq War according to John Perkins. The "jackals" just could not get to Saddam Hussein after multiple trys so the only way left to achieve regime change was a war. The CIA is working overtime you can bet in trying to achieve regime change in Russia either by colour revolt or the death of Putin and/or his senor staff.
I read your post and I have to say, who would down vote this? What's to down vote? Only an ideologue.
As a socio-fascist Obama has more in common with the Castro brothers than not.
It is also a jab at the Russian Federation. Give it 10 years and Cuba will be our Greece.
It's simply a undisputed fact that Obama has more in common with the Castros than he does any of the former US presidents. Just as a reminder the con man has just two more years to bring on the complete transformation of America. He better get busy unless he plans to stay on longer which that can no longer be disregarded as an impossibility.
"Obama has more in common with the Castros than he does any of the former US presidents"
No. They're all socialists. and they are all fascists, but then again, I suppose Obama and Castro are the most fascist of them.
Obama is a communist. He was raised communist, and has adhered to Marxist ideology while in office. Fascists work with national corporations and national bankers; Marxists work with international corporations and international bankers. Please make an effort to understand the distinction.
Fascists work with national corporations and national bankers; Marxists work with international corporations and international bankers.
Talk about tomato, tomato...
In order to defeat your enemy, you must know it first. That is why these distinctions are so important.
"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle." -- Sun Tzu
Historically, communism has been more internationalist, and fascism has been more nationalist, but neither has to be. Fascism is merely about conformism, and nationalism is merely a very convenient means to promote conformity. Fascism is thus highly compatible with socialism and communism. Heck, even fascists haven't had reeducation camps, like communists. Reeducation camps are uber fascist!
he needs to take his (monthly) golfing vacation. The wrecking ball will resume in the new year is my bet.
In 10 years Cuba will be our Greece?
In 5 more years Florida will be our Greece
In 4 more years Illinois will be our Greece
In 3 more years California will be our Greece
In 10 years the USA will be Greece....and no one will be us.
It's the gift that keeps on giving.......
The US already is its own Greece.
and the burners turned up high, ready to fry all us american spuds to a crispy golden brown
Since when did the President get to say what he thinks.
POTUS just reads the script he's given by those who truly control things, no matter which president you think of in the last 100 years at least.
don't suppose it will occur to any of the war dogs here, but......
given our now low level war with Russia....
Cuba was a WIDE OPEN back door.....
just sayin'''.....
A backdoor to what exactly?
Russian facility monitoring usa reopenned. Hudreds of thousandsof big and small boats move around the Carribean every day. Maybe we're so omnipotent that we track everyone, but we somehow we lose track of the Malaysian airliner flying by Diego Garcia.
In spite of Castro's many limitations and those of his Communist regime, you have to respect their determination to go their own way. Batista and his gangster friends were no saints.
Batista and his gangster friends were totally criminal bastards.
Why else would the US have supported them?
Don't be a fool. If the US actually supported Batista, he (or his successors) would still be in office.
He was a clown, who got replaced with an insane clown.
Omnipotence Rules. I think that will be my next Zerohedge handle.
and SOCIO-FASCIST? ah, have you actually looked around at what is going on? we are passing out of the cannabalistic capitalism phase into straightout oligarchic dictatorship with the dictators being the heads of our six largest banks.
hello?
socialism and calling some one a socialist implies that person gives a damn about taking care of the little folks.....that happenin' here in US now?
i think not.
A socio-fascist pretends to care while using the police state and corporations to oppress citizens.
Obamacare enforcement and militarized police forces are good examples.
"Of the Banks, by the Banks, for the Banks" = correct.
Thanks for the clarification. I see rampant misuse of political terminology in America today, and it's no accident. Our vocabulary has been systematically stripped of meaning to the point where we can barely communicate about politics.
For instance, say what you like about socialists, but no actual Leftist anywhere has ever advocated diverting the wealth (public and private) of a nation through the banking system to enrich the oligarchs.
Plenty of people claiming to be Leftists do that sort of thing. But they've only claimed to be Leftists because very few people would support their true policies.
Calling Obama a "Socialist" or "Leftist" has driven me nuts since I first heard it. Way back in his days in the Illinois legislature he was advocating privatization. That's why we've ever heard of him; Wall Street knew he was their boy before anybody had ever heard of him.
Look at Obama's policies. Every single one has benefitted the kleptocracy first, and anyone else second if at all. "Making Housing Affordable?" How about "Making sure the banks get paid at full face value." "Affordable Care Act?" You mean, "Bail out the medical finance sector which has priced itself out of the market otherwise?" The feeble peeps that surfaced just before the recent election about the looming collapse of the Student Loan bubble were all focused on using public funds to make sure the payments got made to the private lenders.
These are about as "Socialist" or "Leftiist" as letting Hermann Goering's family companies have huge Luftwaffe contracts. No wonder he got so fat.
Predictably, we have the corporatists saying the Nazis were actually Leftists since we don't like them and "Leftist" mostly means "whatever I don't like" anymore, and besides, the Nazis were "National Socialists." By that logic, the PATRIOT Act was really patriotic, the "Affordable Care Act" has made health care affordable, and the "Personal Responsibility Act" of 2005 wasn't just a reclassification of the wealth of the middle class to be an asset to be leveraged by the Elites.
I can understand and agree with your terminology, with your added explanation. You're a smart poster; one of my favorites on ZH these past few years. I was really hoping you weren't using the words as sloppily as Americans have been trained to do. And you don't disappoint; you're not.
Thanks!
Thanks, and likewise.
" 'Affordable Care Act?' You mean, "Bail out the medical finance sector which has priced itself out of the market otherwise?' "
Bingo! All hail the kleptoligarchy of the New Rome.
Left - Right
Left - Right
Left - Right....
Marching to oblivion.
The real battle is between the psychopaths and the rest.
Nothing will change until the Left - Right paradigm goes away.
The hybridization of socialism and capitalism has enabled them to steal with BOTH hands, rather than only one.
LogicMan you are on fire.
+1 Outstanding comment.
Obama has been the perfect Manchurian Candidate for the Wall St Banksters and their agenda to rape and pillage America.
+1 "I see rampant misuse of political terminology in America today, and it's no accident. Our vocabulary has been systematically stripped of meaning to the point where we can barely communicate about politics."
a favourite rant of mine, here on ZH. your Goering example is apt: there is corruption, and there is ideology
the Nazis were an alliance of conservatives and socialists against liberals with a frosting of totalitarian madness and revenge plans
but those three ideological directions are compressed to two, in the US political system that favours two long-lasting, permanent parties
"socialism and calling some one a socialist implies that person gives a damn about taking care of the little folks...."
Not to be devil's advocate but what has been transpiring in the U.S. is fascism aka corporatism, not socialism.
Only marxists distinguish fascism from socialism.
Just ask the national socialists.
Please stop confusing national corporations with international corporations.
Fascism ceased to be relevant in the 1930s, when the age of the national corporations ended.
International Socialism (aka Communism) happens when the political elites merge with International Corporations. Fascists have no interest in a "One World Order"-- that is the bailiwick of the International Socialists, aka Communists.
Simplified difference between fascism (corporatism) and socialism:
Fascism - big corporations are privately owned and control (own) the government
Socialism - big government controls (owns) country resources and means of production
Sorry, that's neither a complete nor correct definition.
Under National Socialism, aka Fascism, corporations and their owner/executives are simply agents of the State. They take direction from the political elite, and are allowed to profit in service of the state. Political power is narrowly held and concentrated and corporate owners and executives are largely excluded from the hierarchy. However, those corporations in political favor were clearly in a position to make outsize profits, thanks to the ruthless power of the fascist state at their backs, which tended to reinforce their loyalty to the State.
There is a famous quote by Mussolini which suggests that Fascism is the merger of corporate and government power. Unfortunately, he never actually said that; in fact, what he did write on the subject clearly indicates that corporations would be allowed to operate freely to the extent that they serve the state; when they failed to do so, their power would simply be usurped.
http://www.publiceye.org/fascist/corporatism.html
Under the old form of Communism, there were no corporations. The political elite managed the productive elements of society directly. This model failed utterly, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone on Zerohedge.
Under the modern version of International Socialism, aka Communism, corporations play a more nuanced role. Corporate Executives become merged into the political elite two ways: either by cross-pollination into the regulatory bureaucracies, or by politicians retiring into corporate or banking executive positions. In this way, publicly-traded international corporations become thoroughly merged into the apparatus of government. It is no longer an agent-principal relationship; rather, the international corporate elite merges seamlessly into the international political elite so that they become a single entity.
It is absolutely critical to make these distinctions, otherwise, it's all just name-calling.
Starts at 21:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc30eeXZTlg
you are right. i look around and see one group as socialist, the other seems to be facist. not many lovers of indiviual liberty. two roads that will end in the same place,wide,downhill and paved with good intentions.
Off-shore banking, here we come!
The Cayman Islands aren't gonna like to hear that.
Stop this hype already . Things will only become friendly when us leaves cuba and shifts its gulag aka g'bay from cuba to mainland usa .
Better stock up om my Cuban cigars, will be soon be too expensive.......
Putting aside the nonsense of the Cuban embargo, "Why now?," can be answered with, "That's how bad things are in the Zionist banksters' west." So bad they even need what lucre they can extract from Cuba and Cuba's buddy, Venezuela.
Subjugate Cuba, and one has a clear shot to plunder and takeover Venezuela.
The banksters need to repay us.
We don't agree with your government therefore we'll punish the citizens by blocking trade. Isn't that the definition of terrorism? I think it's great zero is finally starting a conversation. Pushing Cuba into the hands of the soviets was one of the dumbest ideas ever.
There is not anything dumb about the cuban missle crisses. Being in the US Navy aboard a troop transport at the time, the embargo worked. Communism is the dumbest idea.
Corporate fascism disguised as Capitalism isn't much better, unless you're a bankster. Are you a bankster? I'm not.
There is a lot of evidence that indicates that the "Missile Crisis," like many others, was not real.
Just saying.
The banksters need to repay us.
It is rather remarkably unprecedented the fact that a US president admits openly that a certain policy applied for decades by the United States, has actually failed. Further from the symbolism of this decision, its significance should be translated not in terms of the end of a Cold War, but probably in terms that mark the beginning of a radical transformation of the US policy.
Nope, opening of the USA towards cuba is all about Castro granting the Russians reopening their military station in cuba. Russia forgave cuba 90% of their outstanding debt.
http://rt.com/news/173092-russia-sigint-facility-cuba/
Perhaps the USA has finally realised that there is no surer way of destroying friend or foe than by getting a Walmart built on any territory so Cuba needs to be on the lookout for any such possibility.
Cuba, an alternative view to consider :
A giant experiment in social engeneering. Cuba was never a real adversary of the USA. CIA unable to kill Castro ? And you expect me to believe that....lol. Guantanamo bay on the same island ? Maybe it was high time to end that silly joke.
Obama's rush to get friendly with Cuba is the direct result of restarting the Cold War against Russia. Putin kept Russia on the Western-friendly road that Russia was put on after the USSR fell apart in 1989-1991. Russia built trade and financial links with Europe and America, and invited Western businesses and banks into Russia. Putin pushed for a free trade agreement that would include all of Europe and Asia. But after the Ukraine fires were lit, and the US and European Union imposed sanctions, Russia saw that it had to protect itself against the West, and so Putin went to visit Cuba and renewed trade, financial, and military ties in 2014. THAT is when the USA and Obarmy suddenly rediscovered Cuba and thought it better to get friendly with the Castros. Its all about geopolitics.
And the best part is that Obama is such an awesome negotiator that I'm sure it will be a huge plus for America.
Fully expect this to explode in our faces while costing us billions if not trillions and possibly the flash point of another conflict.
The problem with your logic is, you assume that Obama is in some way acting in America's interests.
This stupid cunt is doing everything in his power to fuck up our country. Whatever he does turns to shit, because that's exactly what he wants to happen.
BB - weak sauce. I don't think we're debating Obama the Manchurian candidate here. That's a given. In that light, "Obama" is sometimes shorthand for Team-Obama or The-Cabal-of-Opperatives-Currently-Managing-Obama/Obummer.
obama is giving cuba the handshake sign, and ukraine the nixon sign.
hes willing to sacrifice 45 mil. ukranians for a prime fascist location, cubans will get the nixon sign when the deeds signed.
location, location, location, obama wants that location before putin makes them an offer they can't refuse.
Our dear tropical monkey announces the lifting of 50 years of sanctions on Cuba because they were a failure. Next day imposes some more on Russia.
Telling us what?
Another destabilization move couched as a resolve to remedy human suffering. He's doing it for the "folks". Same as with every war.
Is Clinton grabbing a boobie?
If there was no Ukraine events nobody in the US would even start thinking of this "restart" with Cuba. It's actually not very difficult to connect the dots if you actually follow what's going on in the world.
Castro sole billions in US property.
You do not own property in another's sovereign nation. You rent it.
I come to that realization twice yearly when I pay my local property taxes. I just rent from the county. If you don't believe it, try not paying your taxes.....your property will soon 'belong' to someone else (who will then have to pay 'rent' to the county). THEY OWN YOU!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsL6mKxtOlQ
What about Batista?
Was he a good guy?
ZH a little background please
Than you
Batista was no friend of our State Department. His requests for aid were rejected including surveillance planes to provide intelligence against guerrilla invaders. Just as we treated Chiang Kai-shek In China, denying critical support in the face of Mao insurgency. The State Department maintains their own agenda and has for decades. The Yalta agreement basically gave Russia part of China, what became North Korea, against protests of Chiang Kai-shek. Big shock how it all turned out. Read about it a bit.
The State Department was infiltrated by communists by World War 2. Alger Hiss, anyone? US foreign policy has been communist foreign policy for going on a century.
Incoherence
we have lost our minds
Does anyone else think the USSA "befriended" Cuba to make absolutely [as possible] certain that Cuba doesn't allow Russia to install missles in Cuba again?
The USSA loves to have the playing field infinitely tilted in their favor. While the USSA keeps pushing their military bases and weapons closer to Russia... the USSA doesn't want the same happening in reverse anywhere nearby the mainland USSA.
I guess Russia will have to build a huge fleet of submarines to part their missles near to mainland USSA. Much more expensive than land based options, but... not subject to flaky allegiances, as this episode demonstrates.
It's the only reason. Well, that and the naked emperor needs to keep the lemmings distracted from the recent revelations pertaining to the 1.1 trillion spending arrangement (that furthers the police state), Obamacare failures, and NSA analyst violations. Oh, and it keeps him from having to take any action on the race wars he's instigated.
There is a narcissistic component to it too. He hopes to get accolades in future grade school history books. In 50 years the action will be interpreted as 'the greatest foresight of any president in history' and 'the action that averted WW3'. He'll have learned from his predecessor and idol JFK and headed off disaster.
Unless--Cuba lets Russia in anyway. What's BHO going to do then? He's already played the card and stated Cuba is our friend. Will he admit a mistake and change his mind? No; he'll cover it up and/or lie about it, just like he's tried to do with all his other diplomatic catastrophies. What did he do when Russia sent a convoy of aid to Ukraine? He got pretty belligerent and said it was an invasion. Turns out he convoy was full of aid.
Get the popcorn and let's see if Russia sends a convoy to Cuba. Putin should paint the ships white like he did with the Ukraine convoy (and Teddy Roosevelt did with the Great White Fleet). BHO won't know what to do. Will he have John Kerry announce on TV that it's an invasion and we should bomb the ships? I'm sure that's what McCain will demand.
I can picture it now-- the ships arrive in Cuba under great media scrutiny as the Admin puppets scream into cameras, set up a blockade, and spend weeks negotiating UN inspection of the ships prior to docking. Cameras will roll during inspection and the ships will be full of teddy bears, nesting dolls, caviar and vodka with a congratulatory Hallmark card signed by Putin, wishing Cuba the best of luck with it's new Amerikan friend.
As the emperor tries to save face, Russia will coordinate chinese delivery of missle components to Cuba through the Panama canal.
Putin and Castro play chess while Obama plays scratch-off lottery tickets.
Hahaha. Love your imagination and take on this.
There's another objective. The naked emperor will develop the Cuban relationship a bit, close Guantanimo prison and release the prisoners in Cuba.
It's perfect--the prisoners will stand out like sore thumbs and will be isolated by locals. For $20/mo each, the USG can give them all pensions so they'll never have to integrate into society. They'll never make enough money to leave or get Cuban passports. Finally, there will never be an issue trying to dump these guys into the general population of our allies (who are fewer every day). If all goes well, they'll end up in Cuban prison where their lives will be short and their deaths ignored.
I'm getting ahead of the emperor. He probably hasn't scratched this ticket yet.
Never understood any of this 'punitive' bullshit. Just like here & everywhere else, the ruling elite pay NO cost for embargos & sanctions, etc., it's the common folk that pay the price. It's the same everywhere. To think that the elites will 'change their tune' because 'sheeple' suffer & lead to some sort of regime change is infantile thinking. Whether it's Cuba, the U.S. Russia, etc. THEY OWN YOU!!!...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsL6mKxtOlQ
michael moore says healthcare is better there.
We may have more people migrating TO cuba than the thousands of cubans who have already begun rafting here for U.S. benefits.
After reading this post and each and every one of the comments I like to propose the following:
It is time to forgive, reconcile and move on.
US side:
!. Lift the embargo
2. Not one cent of US taxpayer dollar grants or loans to Cuba
3. Any private individual, corporation or organization that wants to risk their capital in Cuba should be free to do so.
Cuban side, but not a condition to lifting the embargo:
1. Change your single socialist model to a dual model
a) Socialist model: Health, education, pensions and police. No need for a military in Cuba.
b) Free market model: All industry, agriculture, finance, contract law and the courts
Please, 55 years of this conflict is enough!