While the dems are scramabling to figure out how to attack the President one attack you won't find to often is "ethics reform." Democrats will breeze over the issue and you will hear buzz words like "culture of curruption" but don't let them fool you! Many House and Senate Donkey lovers have ties to high power lobbiest, like Jack Abramoff and many more- see http://www.noagenda.org/
So while Dems will be quick to point the finger now, they will do it quickly becuase they are to blame just as much as thier "friends" on the other side of the aile.
And while we are on the subject on lobbyist and things of the such, I think this issue has been blown up ALOT. While I understand and believe their are those who abuse the system and they have to be punished - this is not the majority of Members of Congress and staffers. I believe this is one of those issues the powers-that-be have used to devide poltiicians from thier constituents the "inside the beltway" people versus the rest of humanity. It really isn't that bad people are making it a big deal becuase of politics!
It's an election year, every and i mean EVERY issue, is going to be exaggerated for political reasons, so Americans be careful and read between the lines.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Before I analyze...
Before I analyze the President's State of the Union speech, a few observations...
1 - Why was Senator Clinton chewing gum????
1 - Why was Senator Clinton chewing gum????
- Luce como una vaca!! Didn't her mother teach her anything?
- She also gave a stupid smirk when President Bush made a comment that two of Pres. Bush (41) were hitting medicare age - Clinton and himself
- As long as I am talking about Medicare, what was up with the crazy reaction from the Dems when W said "congress did not act on fixing social security." What are the Dems proud they are letting the government go ot the gutter becuase of partisan politics?
2 - Did Representative Corrine Brown (D-FL) steal Bjork's swan dress?? I think she killed a bird and placed it around her neck?
- Rep. Brown is a representative for the Jacksonville area - yes I am embarrassed she is from my state - she is probably the stupidest member of Congress I have ever met and the tackiest.
- Too bad Celia Crus isn't around to teach a thing or two about how to whear crazy wigs. Rep. Brown's wigs are always about to fall off her head.
- In the past Rep. Brownhas accused Hispanics as "looking all the same." During her rampage on then Secretary Noriega she was swaying her head so fast, her bad wig almost fell off her head.
3 - Was Maxine Waters' butt super glued to her chair? Because the liberal California practically communist Representative never stood up. I think I saw her staring at her nails?
- I really do think Rep. Waters may be a card carrying member of the socialist party - if not a full on communist sympathizer. In my old jobs I use to get calls from people that lived in her area all the time saying to help them, that she was a crazy commuinist... if only I could do something I would... where is McCarthy when you need him?
- She supports Castro and is one of the dilusional people who think he is great! BLAH!!)
4 - A bigger question - Why are the same member of Congress who talk smack about President Bush on "the floor of Congress" push through their colleagues to get a picture with the President and to hob-nob with him in private??
- All I have to say is - Hypocrites!!
5 - Did you hear that Cindy Sheehan was arrested right before the State of the Union speech for protesting inside the House Gallery?
- Sheehan had a poster and was planning on disrupting the speech - Which is against the rules of the House of Representatives.
- Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) gave Sheehan a ticket to the speech, seated in Gallery 5, seat 7, row A. Sheehan was offered the ticket at an "alternative state of the union" press conference by CODEPINK, a group pushing for an end to the Iraq war. CODEPINK organizes trips to Cuba to defy US policy and as they say to "party in Cuba" -- see my old post "Stupid Pinkos")
- Rep Woosley supports Fidel Castro and ALWAYS supports legislation to end the embargo!
6 - I think Judge Samuel Alito has the "best first day on the job" story ever!!!
Preview of State of the Union
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release
January 31, 2006
STATE OF THE UNION EXCERPTS
As Prepared for Delivery
America is always at its best when we are shaping events, instead of being shaped by events. Tonight, the President will chart a clear path forward for our Nation:
“In this decisive year, you and I will make choices that determine both the future and the character of our country. We will choose to act confidently in pursuing the enemies of freedom – or retreat from our duties in the hope of an easier life. We will choose to build our prosperity by leading the world economy – or shut ourselves off from trade and opportunity. In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting – yet it ends in danger and decline. The only way to protect our people … the only way to secure the peace … the only way to control our destiny is by our leadership – so the United States of America will continue to lead.”
The President will talk about America’s leadership role in the world, and the importance of working together to better protect our country, support our troops, and advance freedom:
“Abroad, our Nation is committed to an historic, long-term goal – we seek the end of tyranny in our world… the future security of America depends on it.”
“In a time of testing, we cannot find security by abandoning our commitments and retreating within our borders. If we were to leave these vicious attackers alone, they would not leave us alone. They would simply move the battlefield to our own shores.”
“…Ultimately, the only way to defeat the terrorists is to defeat their dark vision of hatred and fear by offering the hopeful alternative of political freedom and peaceful change.”
“To overcome dangers in our world, we must also take the offensive by encouraging economic progress, fighting disease, and spreading hope in hopeless lands.”
To keep America competitive in a dynamic economy, the President will set out an agenda focused on the priorities that families are most concerned about. He will talk about the importance of having an educated, skilled workforce, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and making health care more affordable, accessible, and portable:
“Here at home, America also has a great opportunity: We will build the prosperity of our country by strengthening our economic leadership in the world.”
On Competitiveness:
“The American economy is pre-eminent – but we cannot afford to be complacent. In a dynamic world economy, we are seeing new competitors like China and India.”
“We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity. Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hard-working, ambitious people – and we are going to keep that edge.”
On Energy:
“America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world… The best way to break this addiction is through technology.”
On Health Care:
“Our government has a responsibility to help provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility. For all Americans, we must confront the rising cost of care … strengthen the doctor-patient relationship … and help people afford the insurance coverage they need.”
Finally, the President will speak to the character and compassion of America:
“…our greatness is not measured in power or luxuries, but by who we are and how we treat one another. So we strive to be a compassionate, decent, hopeful society.”
# # #
STATE OF THE UNION EXCERPTS
As Prepared for Delivery
America is always at its best when we are shaping events, instead of being shaped by events. Tonight, the President will chart a clear path forward for our Nation:
“In this decisive year, you and I will make choices that determine both the future and the character of our country. We will choose to act confidently in pursuing the enemies of freedom – or retreat from our duties in the hope of an easier life. We will choose to build our prosperity by leading the world economy – or shut ourselves off from trade and opportunity. In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting – yet it ends in danger and decline. The only way to protect our people … the only way to secure the peace … the only way to control our destiny is by our leadership – so the United States of America will continue to lead.”
The President will talk about America’s leadership role in the world, and the importance of working together to better protect our country, support our troops, and advance freedom:
“Abroad, our Nation is committed to an historic, long-term goal – we seek the end of tyranny in our world… the future security of America depends on it.”
“In a time of testing, we cannot find security by abandoning our commitments and retreating within our borders. If we were to leave these vicious attackers alone, they would not leave us alone. They would simply move the battlefield to our own shores.”
“…Ultimately, the only way to defeat the terrorists is to defeat their dark vision of hatred and fear by offering the hopeful alternative of political freedom and peaceful change.”
“To overcome dangers in our world, we must also take the offensive by encouraging economic progress, fighting disease, and spreading hope in hopeless lands.”
To keep America competitive in a dynamic economy, the President will set out an agenda focused on the priorities that families are most concerned about. He will talk about the importance of having an educated, skilled workforce, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and making health care more affordable, accessible, and portable:
“Here at home, America also has a great opportunity: We will build the prosperity of our country by strengthening our economic leadership in the world.”
On Competitiveness:
“The American economy is pre-eminent – but we cannot afford to be complacent. In a dynamic world economy, we are seeing new competitors like China and India.”
“We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity. Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hard-working, ambitious people – and we are going to keep that edge.”
On Energy:
“America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world… The best way to break this addiction is through technology.”
On Health Care:
“Our government has a responsibility to help provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility. For all Americans, we must confront the rising cost of care … strengthen the doctor-patient relationship … and help people afford the insurance coverage they need.”
Finally, the President will speak to the character and compassion of America:
“…our greatness is not measured in power or luxuries, but by who we are and how we treat one another. So we strive to be a compassionate, decent, hopeful society.”
# # #
We love you Greenspan!!
Here is my Revolutionary leader - Alan Greenspan!!!!!Long Live A Free Market Economy!!!!
After 18 years leading the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan is stepping down. The economic guru is practically the most loved man in the administration. More than seven in 10 Americans approve of the way Greenspan's handled his job as Fed chairman. Republicans, Democrats and independents alike all give Greenspan high marks. This far surpasses approval ratings for any other leader in the Administration. Ben Bernanke has been tapped to take over for Greenspan.
Can you only imagine if the Cuba's plazas were filled with images of this revolution instead of that idiota of Che. Most probably Cuba won't look like an ancient city of rumble stuck in time.
Viva Greenspan!! Viva La Economic Revolution! Viva Capitalism!
Monday, January 30, 2006
Tancredo wants to wear a speedo in Miami!!
Immigration is the hot topic these days. Unfortunately a big part of the debate is created by Rep. Tancredo! (BLAH!!!!) The Republican from Colorado is an extremist who want to close ALL immigration to the country and deport every immigrant - most specifically Hispanic (Mexicans and OTM- Other Then Mexicans) back to their country.
This small minded man does have one redeeming quality, he loves the Cuban News Ticker outside of the US Interest Section in Havana. Rumor has it, he may even author a resolution supporting the news ticker. Supposedly he is all about Freedom for Cuba.....
But I don't trust this immigrant hater - I think he figures with Cuba free he can get rid of at least 3% of the Hispanic population in the United States and clean up Miami so he and his family (who are only second-generation Italian) can visit South Florida with out all of his "exotic people." I bet he is dying to wear a speedo on Miami Beach along with all the other wired tourist...
But with no latins around, who will wait on your over privileged white @ss???
I bet he is praying that Puerto Rico never becomes a state of the U.S.
The immigration bill, which already passed the House of representatives, is set to be debated in the Senate between President's Day and St. Patrick's Day.
So get ready folks, its going to get nasty.
Chaves supports Sheehan
Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, just announced his full support of Cindy Sheehan for U.S. Senate!!!!
Sheehan, a resident of California, announced she will run against long time politician, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record) of California because the Senator will not support calls to immediately bring the troops home. Feinstein who does not support the President but felt with troops committed immediate withdrawal is not possible.
In the past Sheehan has thanked Chavez for "supporting life and peace." Sheehan also said she was impressed by his "sincerity"
This entire series of events make me laugh and cry!!! The only thing Chaves is "sincere" about is hit attempt to RULE TO WORLD. Thankfully I think that Sheehan has lost ALL credibility and people see here for what she is - CRAZY!
I bet people in the White House are laughing their asses off... Yeah Cindy you go win that Senate seat, good luck with that!!
Friday, January 27, 2006
Directly form Havana.... Viva Cuba Libre
Thought you might be interested in some of the messages running on U.S. Interest Section's electronic display in Havana... You can see why Castro is all jumpy... come-mierd@....
TITULARES:
PALESTINOS PARTICIPAN EN PRIMERAS ELECCIONES LEGISLATIVAS DESDE HACE 10 ANOS.
ONG REPORTEROS SIN FRONTERAS ACUSA A LA JUSTICIA VENEZOLANA DE CENSURA A LA PRENSA.
A SOLICITUD DE CHILE, EEUU DETUVO A HIJA MAYOR DE PINOCHET.
ESTADOS UNIDOS OTORGO PERMISO AL EQUIPO CUBANO PARA
PARTICIPAR EN EL CLASICO MUNDIAL DE BEISBOL.
PRIMER PARTIDO DE CUBA SERIA MARZO 8 EN PUERTO RICO.
SEGUN LA OEA, EN HAITI TODAS LAS GARANTIAS ESTAN DADAS PARA QUE SE REALICEN ELECCIONES FEBRERO 7.
LEA LO QUE QUIERA, DIGA LO QUE PIENSA, HAGA LO QUE LE PAREZCA CORRECTO.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: NINGUN HOMBRE ES LO SUFICIENTEMENTE BUENO
PARA GOBERNAR A OTRO HOMBRE SIN EL ACUERDO DE ESE OTRO.
INDIRA GANDHI: EL PODER DE CUESTIONAR ES EL BASE DE TODO DEL PROGRESO HUMANO.
VOLTAIRE: EL HOMBRE ES LIBRE EN EL MOMENTO QUE LO DESEA SER.
PRESIDENTE GEORGE W. BUSH: EL OBJETIVO DE EEUU ES AYUDAR A LOS DEMAS A ENCONTRAR SU PROPIA VOZ, LOGRAR SU PROPIA LIBERTAD, Y ABRIR SU PROPIO CAMINO.
WINSTON CHURCHILL: LA DEMOCRACIA ES LA PEOR FORMA DE GOBIERNO MENOS TODAS LAS DEMAS.
PORQUE LOS CUBANOS NO SE PUEDEN HOSPEDAR EN LOS HOTELES DE LUJO?
FIN.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Representing us well....
Just to update you all on what's going on in Washington D.C. here is the letter co-authored by Congressmen Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, and Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen.
Letter of The Members of Congress Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart to The U.S. Department of Homeland Security
January 10, 2006
The Honorable Michel Chertoff
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
3891 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20528-0001
Dear Secretary Chertoff:
On September 17, 2003, while reiterating our profound opposition to the "Clinton Castro Migration Accord" (CCMA) of May 1995, we wrote to then Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega and Ambassador Otto Reich, with a series of recommendations to address the inconsistencies and arbitrariness of the "CCMA". At that time, we were informed that the "CCMA" was under review and that our recommendations were being considered.
Since we sent our letters, we have witnessed a record number of human trafficking cases from Cuba, a dramatic increase of Cuban nationals attempting to flee the island, an extraordinary amount of refugees repatriated without regard for the merits of their asylum petitions, and, basically, an overall process that constitutes an embarrassment to the United States.
The most recent repatriation of 15 Cuban refugees, who did reach U.S. territory by touching the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys, is simply the most recent example of an arbitrary process that uses any excuse to repatriate as many Cuban nationals as possible without due process.
Currently, 75% of all Cuban nationals who enter the United States and file for asylum have their applications approved. However, of the 11,137 Cuban nationals intercepted at sea from May 1995, through 2005, about 301 Cuban refugees were taken to the Guatanamo Naval Base (GITMO).
This means that less than 3% of Cuban nationals intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard were taken to GITMO having demonstrated a "credible fear of persecution." The disparity in the treatment of these two groups is most concerning, and underscores the severe inequities of the existing process on board the Coast Guard vessels.
We hereby reiterate our strong opposition to the immoral "CCMA" and urge that existing policy be reviewed forthwith. In an effort to remedy the obvious disparity outlined above, we, once again, recommend the following:
1. An immediate, through review of how the interviews of Cuban nationals intercepted at sea are conducted and "credible fear of persecution" is determined;
2. Legal counsel from recognized Volunteer Agencies should be allowed aboard the Coast Guard vessels in order to provide legal advice to refugees;
3. If it is determined that it is not feasible to have legal counsel on board U.S. Coast Guard vessels, all Cuban nationals intercepted at sea should be taken to GITMO for their cases to be properly evaluated and for the refugees to be afforded procedural rights consistent with Cuban nationals who seek asylum on land;
4. A percentage of the unallocated reserve of 20,000 refugees in FY 2005 should be reallocated to Cuban nationals who are not relocated to a third country after 120 days of the date they arrive at GITMO; and
5. The United States Interests Section should issue a report on the status of Cubans who have been repatriated to determine if they have sought and obtained refugee questionnaires as well as the status of their applications for refugee visas.
We believe that even though the very nature of this "Migration Accord" between the Cuban totalitarian regime and the United States runs contrary to the Cuban people’s aspiration for democracy and the United States’ rich tradition of granting refuge to the oppressed, these recommendations would significantly alleviate the detrimental impact of the "Migration Accord."
We urge you to review these recommendations, and hereby request a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss their possible implementation.
Sincerely,
Lincoln Diaz-Balart Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Mario-Diaz-Balart
Viva Cuban Power!.... Letters authored by these three have helped many of Cubans stay in the country. I hope this makes a difference.
Letter of The Members of Congress Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart to The U.S. Department of Homeland Security
January 10, 2006
The Honorable Michel Chertoff
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
3891 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20528-0001
Dear Secretary Chertoff:
On September 17, 2003, while reiterating our profound opposition to the "Clinton Castro Migration Accord" (CCMA) of May 1995, we wrote to then Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega and Ambassador Otto Reich, with a series of recommendations to address the inconsistencies and arbitrariness of the "CCMA". At that time, we were informed that the "CCMA" was under review and that our recommendations were being considered.
Since we sent our letters, we have witnessed a record number of human trafficking cases from Cuba, a dramatic increase of Cuban nationals attempting to flee the island, an extraordinary amount of refugees repatriated without regard for the merits of their asylum petitions, and, basically, an overall process that constitutes an embarrassment to the United States.
The most recent repatriation of 15 Cuban refugees, who did reach U.S. territory by touching the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys, is simply the most recent example of an arbitrary process that uses any excuse to repatriate as many Cuban nationals as possible without due process.
Currently, 75% of all Cuban nationals who enter the United States and file for asylum have their applications approved. However, of the 11,137 Cuban nationals intercepted at sea from May 1995, through 2005, about 301 Cuban refugees were taken to the Guatanamo Naval Base (GITMO).
This means that less than 3% of Cuban nationals intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard were taken to GITMO having demonstrated a "credible fear of persecution." The disparity in the treatment of these two groups is most concerning, and underscores the severe inequities of the existing process on board the Coast Guard vessels.
We hereby reiterate our strong opposition to the immoral "CCMA" and urge that existing policy be reviewed forthwith. In an effort to remedy the obvious disparity outlined above, we, once again, recommend the following:
1. An immediate, through review of how the interviews of Cuban nationals intercepted at sea are conducted and "credible fear of persecution" is determined;
2. Legal counsel from recognized Volunteer Agencies should be allowed aboard the Coast Guard vessels in order to provide legal advice to refugees;
3. If it is determined that it is not feasible to have legal counsel on board U.S. Coast Guard vessels, all Cuban nationals intercepted at sea should be taken to GITMO for their cases to be properly evaluated and for the refugees to be afforded procedural rights consistent with Cuban nationals who seek asylum on land;
4. A percentage of the unallocated reserve of 20,000 refugees in FY 2005 should be reallocated to Cuban nationals who are not relocated to a third country after 120 days of the date they arrive at GITMO; and
5. The United States Interests Section should issue a report on the status of Cubans who have been repatriated to determine if they have sought and obtained refugee questionnaires as well as the status of their applications for refugee visas.
We believe that even though the very nature of this "Migration Accord" between the Cuban totalitarian regime and the United States runs contrary to the Cuban people’s aspiration for democracy and the United States’ rich tradition of granting refuge to the oppressed, these recommendations would significantly alleviate the detrimental impact of the "Migration Accord."
We urge you to review these recommendations, and hereby request a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss their possible implementation.
Sincerely,
Lincoln Diaz-Balart Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Mario-Diaz-Balart
Viva Cuban Power!.... Letters authored by these three have helped many of Cubans stay in the country. I hope this makes a difference.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Cuba Paid Oswald to Kill Kennedy, New Film Says
Cuba Paid Oswald to Kill Kennedy, New Film Says
By Mark Trevelyan, Reuters
BERLIN (Jan. 4) - Cuba lay behind the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald and its agents provided the gunman with money and support, an award-winning German director says in a new documentary film.
Wilfried Huismann spent three years researching "Rendezvous with Death," based on interviews with former Cuban secret agents, U.S. officials and a Russian intelligence source, and on research in Mexican security archives.
The film, shown to journalists in Berlin on Wednesday, says Oswald traveled to Mexico City by bus in September 1963, seven weeks before the Kennedy shooting, and met agents at the Cuban embassy there who paid him $6,500.
Oscar Marino, a former Cuban agent and a key source for the documentary, told Huismann that Oswald himself had volunteered for the assassination mission and Havana had exploited him.
"Oswald was a dissident. He hated his country...Oswald offered to kill Kennedy," Marino said in the film.
"He was so full of hate, he had the idea. We used him...He was a tool."
He said he knew with certainty that the assassination was an operation of the Cuban secret service G-2, but would not say if it was ordered by President Fidel Castro.
Oswald was shot dead by Jack Ruby two days after killing Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
The film argues Cuba wanted to eliminate Kennedy as the chief enemy of its Communist revolution, and portrays him and Castro as dueling opponents each trying to assassinate the other first.
What They Said
''Oswald was a dissident. He hated his country... Oswald offered to kill Kennedy. ...We used him.''-- Oscar Marino, a former Cuban agent, speaking in the documentary
Former CIA official Sam Halpern told Huismann: "He (Castro) beat us. He bested us. He came out on top, and we lost."
FBI PROBE ABORTED
Laurence Keenan, an officer of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who was sent to
Mexico City immediately after Kennedy's death to investigate a possible Cuban connection, said he was recalled after just three days and the probe was aborted.
"This was perhaps the worst investigation the FBI was ever involved in," Keenan said. "I realized that I was used. I felt ashamed. We missed a moment in history."
Keenan, 81, said he was convinced Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, blocked further investigation because proof of a Cuban link would put him under irresistible pressure to invade the island, a year after the Cuban missile crisis had brought the United States and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.
"Most likely there would have been an invasion of Cuba which could have had unknown consequences for the whole world," he told journalists at the screening, saying that was why Johnson preferred to accept Oswald was "a crazed lone Marxist assassin."
Interviewed for the film, Alexander Haig, then a U.S. military adviser and later secretary of state, quoted Johnson as saying "we simply must not allow the American people to believe that Fidel Castro could have killed our president."
"And the reason was that there would be a right-wing uprising in America, which would keep the Democratic party out of power for two generations," Haig said.
He added that Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the assassinated president and attorney general in his administration, had personally ordered eight attempts on the life of Castro, who is still in power to this day.
Cuban and Russian sources interviewed in the film say the KGB alerted the Cubans to Oswald in mid-1962 after he left the Soviet Union, where he had lived for three years, and returned to the United States with his Soviet wife and their daughter.
Cuban intelligence first made contact with Oswald in November 1962, according to the film.
Huismann also unearthed a U.S. intelligence report shown to Johnson which said Cuban secret service chief Fabian Escalante flew via Mexico City to Dallas on the day of Kennedy's assassination, and back again the same day.
Tracked down by the film maker, Escalante denied he had been in Dallas and evaded questions about Cuba's alleged role. "What is truth, what are lies?" he said, smiling.
By Mark Trevelyan, Reuters
BERLIN (Jan. 4) - Cuba lay behind the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald and its agents provided the gunman with money and support, an award-winning German director says in a new documentary film.
Wilfried Huismann spent three years researching "Rendezvous with Death," based on interviews with former Cuban secret agents, U.S. officials and a Russian intelligence source, and on research in Mexican security archives.
The film, shown to journalists in Berlin on Wednesday, says Oswald traveled to Mexico City by bus in September 1963, seven weeks before the Kennedy shooting, and met agents at the Cuban embassy there who paid him $6,500.
Oscar Marino, a former Cuban agent and a key source for the documentary, told Huismann that Oswald himself had volunteered for the assassination mission and Havana had exploited him.
"Oswald was a dissident. He hated his country...Oswald offered to kill Kennedy," Marino said in the film.
"He was so full of hate, he had the idea. We used him...He was a tool."
He said he knew with certainty that the assassination was an operation of the Cuban secret service G-2, but would not say if it was ordered by President Fidel Castro.
Oswald was shot dead by Jack Ruby two days after killing Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
The film argues Cuba wanted to eliminate Kennedy as the chief enemy of its Communist revolution, and portrays him and Castro as dueling opponents each trying to assassinate the other first.
What They Said
''Oswald was a dissident. He hated his country... Oswald offered to kill Kennedy. ...We used him.''-- Oscar Marino, a former Cuban agent, speaking in the documentary
Former CIA official Sam Halpern told Huismann: "He (Castro) beat us. He bested us. He came out on top, and we lost."
FBI PROBE ABORTED
Laurence Keenan, an officer of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who was sent to
Mexico City immediately after Kennedy's death to investigate a possible Cuban connection, said he was recalled after just three days and the probe was aborted.
"This was perhaps the worst investigation the FBI was ever involved in," Keenan said. "I realized that I was used. I felt ashamed. We missed a moment in history."
Keenan, 81, said he was convinced Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, blocked further investigation because proof of a Cuban link would put him under irresistible pressure to invade the island, a year after the Cuban missile crisis had brought the United States and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.
"Most likely there would have been an invasion of Cuba which could have had unknown consequences for the whole world," he told journalists at the screening, saying that was why Johnson preferred to accept Oswald was "a crazed lone Marxist assassin."
Interviewed for the film, Alexander Haig, then a U.S. military adviser and later secretary of state, quoted Johnson as saying "we simply must not allow the American people to believe that Fidel Castro could have killed our president."
"And the reason was that there would be a right-wing uprising in America, which would keep the Democratic party out of power for two generations," Haig said.
He added that Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the assassinated president and attorney general in his administration, had personally ordered eight attempts on the life of Castro, who is still in power to this day.
Cuban and Russian sources interviewed in the film say the KGB alerted the Cubans to Oswald in mid-1962 after he left the Soviet Union, where he had lived for three years, and returned to the United States with his Soviet wife and their daughter.
Cuban intelligence first made contact with Oswald in November 1962, according to the film.
Huismann also unearthed a U.S. intelligence report shown to Johnson which said Cuban secret service chief Fabian Escalante flew via Mexico City to Dallas on the day of Kennedy's assassination, and back again the same day.
Tracked down by the film maker, Escalante denied he had been in Dallas and evaded questions about Cuba's alleged role. "What is truth, what are lies?" he said, smiling.
Always looking over the ocean
Happy New Year] all!!!
My short pause away from blogging was caused by my trip home to Miami.
There is nothing in the world like being home. And when that home combines warm sunny beaches, cool tropical breezes, great food and the people you love it's like heaven.
In the last three years I might have flown back and forth from Miami to DC about 20 times. Not only do I get home sick, but thankfully work sends me to Miami pretty often. Yet no matter how many times I fly over the Atlantic on my way to South Florida, each time I stare determined into the ocean's water. I look over every wave, every spot, always looking, just in case, I see a balsero.
Balsero's those brave men and women who risk life and limbs to reach the DRY lands of the United States.
Reports estimate that 6 Cubans die EACH DAY fleeing the Cuban island.
I have met many in my life. Even have some family members who arrived here on balsa. Unfortunately I have also been to many of their funerals, as most of them die at sea. Most of them never to be found again.
From hundreds of miles above the sea my little eyes look over the ocean wondering if I will spot one. Sometimes I think, if I did spot one, would I even say anything. Part of me thinks yes, so they can be saved but knowing the policy as it is now, if they get picked up by the Coast Guard, goodness knows what will happen. Most probably they will be sent back to Cuba.
I pray for these people and for the safe voyages. It's amazing to me to know that while some risk everything to leave Cuba, some tourist waste thousands to vacation there...
A prayer for the brave balseros, may the lord protect them on their voyage.
Learn more http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/cubanrafters.html or http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y04/ago04/25e7.htm
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
In Case You Missed It
December 30, 2005
THE AMERICAS
Counting Castro's Victims
By MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADYDecember 30, 2005; Page A17
"On May 27, [1966,] 166 Cubans -- civilians and members of the military -- were executed and submitted to medical procedures of blood extraction of an average of seven pints per person. This blood is sold to Communist Vietnam at a rate of $50 per pint with the dual purpose of obtaining hard currency and contributing to the Vietcong Communist aggression.
"A pint of blood is equivalent to half a liter. Extracting this amount of blood from a person sentenced to death produces cerebral anemia and a state of unconsciousness and paralysis. Once the blood is extracted, the person is taken by two militiamen on a stretcher to the location where the execution takes place."
-- InterAmerican Human Rights Commission, April 7, 1967
This weekend marks the 47th anniversary of the triumph of the "26th of July Movement," which many Cubans expected would return their country to a constitutional government. Fidel Castro had other ideas of course, and within weeks he hijacked the victory, converting the country into one of the most repressive states in modern history.
Waiting for Fidel to die has become a way of life in Cuba in the past decade. Conventional wisdom holds that the totalitarian regime will hang on even after the old man kicks the bucket. But that hasn't stopped millions from dreaming big about life in a Fidel-free Cuba.
Cuban reconciliation won't come easy, even if Fidel's ruthless, money-grubbing little brother Raul is somehow pushed aside. One painful step in the process will require facing the truth of all that has gone on in the name of social justice. As the report cited above shows, it is bound to be a gruesome tale.
The Cuba Archive project (www.cubaarchive.org1) has already begun the heavy lifting by attempting to document the loss of life attributable to revolutionary zealotry. The project, based in Chatham, N.J., covers the period from May 1952 -- when the constitutional government fell to Gen. Fulgencio Batista -- to the present. It has so far verified the names of 9,240 victims of the Castro regime and the circumstances of their deaths. Archive researchers meticulously insist on confirming stories of official murder from two independent sources.
Cuba Archive President Maria Werlau says the total number of victims could be higher by a factor of 10. Project Vice President Armando Lago, a Harvard-trained economist, has spent years studying the cost of the revolution and he estimates that almost 78,000 innocents may have died trying to flee the dictatorship. Another 5,300 are known to have lost their lives fighting communism in the Escambray Mountains (mostly peasant farmers and their children) and at the Bay of Pigs. An estimated 14,000 Cubans were killed in Fidel's revolutionary adventures abroad, most notably his dispatch of 50,000 soldiers to Angola in the 1980s to help the Soviet-backed regime fight off the Unita insurgency.
The archive project can be likened to the 1999 "Black Book of Communism," which documented the world-wide cost of communism, noting that "wherever the millenarian ideology of Communism was established it quickly led to crime, terror and repression." The Castro methodology, Cuba Archive finds, was much like that used in Poland and East Germany, less lethal than Stalin's purges, but equally effective in suppressing opposition.
In the earliest days of the revolution, summary executions established a culture of fear that quickly eliminated most resistance. In the decades that followed, inhumane prison conditions often leading to death, unspeakable torture and privation were enough to keep Cubans cowed.
Cuba Archive finds that some 5,600 Cubans have died in front of firing squads and another 1,200 in "extrajudicial assassinations." Che Guevara was a gleeful executioner at the infamous La Cabaña Fortress in 1959 where, under his orders, at least 151 Cubans were lined up and shot. Children have not been spared. Of the 94 minors whose deaths have been documented by Cuba Archive, 22 died by firing squad and 32 in extrajudicial assassinations.
Fifteen-year-old Owen Delgado Temprana was beaten to death in 1981 when security agents stormed the embassy of Ecuador where his family had taken refuge. In 1995, 17-year-old Junior Flores Díaz died after being locked in a punishment cell in a Havana province prison and denied medical attention. He was found in a pool of vomit and blood. Many prison deaths are officially marked as "heart attacks," but witnesses tell another story. The project has documented 2,199 prison deaths, mostly political prisoners.
The revolution boasts of its gender equality, and that's certainly true for its victims. Women have not fared much better than men. In 1961, 25-year-old Lydia Pérez López was eight months pregnant when a prison guard kicked her in the stomach. She lost her baby and, without medical attention, bled to death. A 70-year-old woman named Edmunda Serrat Barrios was beaten to death in 1981 in a Cuban jail. Cuba Archive has documented 219 female deaths including 11 firing squad executions and 20 extrajudicial assassinations.
The heftiest death toll is among those trying to flee. Many have been killed by state security. Three Lazo children drowned in 1971 when a Cuban navy vessel rammed their boat; their mother, Mrs. Alberto Lazo Pastrana, was eaten by sharks. Twelve children -- ages six months to 11 years -- drowned along with 33 others when the Cuban coast guard sank their boat in 1994. Four children -- ages three to 17 -- drowned in the famous Canimar River massacre along with 52 others when the Cuban navy and a Cuban air force plane attacked a hijacked excursion boat headed for Florida in 1980.
The horror of that event cost one more life: After visiting survivors in the Matanzas hospitals, the famous revolutionary guerrilla Haydée Santamaría, already in despair over the massive, inhumane boat exodus from the Port of Mariel, killed herself. That was a tragic admission of both the cost and failure of the revolution. The only riddle left is how, 25 years later, so-called "human rights" advocates like Argentine President Nestor Kirchner still embrace the Castro regime.
Copyright 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
