Cuba Cruise to Offer Exclusive Cuba Circumnavigation Sailing

Calgary, Canada (PRWEB) October 31, 2013

Newly-launched Cuba Cruise breaks new ground with their Cuba circumnavigation itineraries, making the island’s fascinating but otherwise hard to reach ports more accessible and affordable than ever. Each cruise, aboard the Louis Cristal, includes visits to world famous cities and off-the-beaten path towns, UNESCO world heritage sites and national parks, as well as in-depth exploration of Cuba’s dynamic culture. The experience offers the best qualities of cruising and inclusive getaways combined with a Cuba that few American travelers have seen.

Cuba Cruise will dramatically increase the otherwise limited supply of Cuba travel options for American travelers in the years to come. The upcoming season will run sailings from December 16, 2013 to March 24, 2014.

“We’re excited to offer the travel market something truly unique,” said Cuba Cruise President Dugald Wells. “We provide the best of both worlds to our guests – a top-notch cruise experience and the type of in-the-know exploration of Cuba’s remarkable sights, sounds, flavors and history that is usually reserved for locals only.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1559865#ixzz2jPKRjzkM

Aca-idiota americano pide devolucion de la Base de Guantánamo a Cuba

un agente de influencias, colaborador en el extranjero, agente o tonto util; un tal jonathan hansen que el infinito google no encuentra y devuelve a un delantero del futbol argentino, propone que eeuu le devuelva la base naval de guantamo a cuba, para de "un solo golpe" normalizar las relaciones bilaterales. de free, claro.  

el asunto no es que este aca-idiota exprese eso, sino que el diario de la "mafia" cubana en mayami reproduzca sus declaraciones sin molestarse en hacerle un reviron de ojos. cual granma manana.

comprobarlo  aqui >>

Progreso Habana promociona al congresista Joe Garcia

dime con quien andas y te dires quien eres.
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Progreso Habana

Exagente castrista: Como capturaron a Rigondeaux en Brasil y los "Grupos de Solidaridad" con Cuba

Oscar Suarez

Uberto Mario, ex oficial de inteligencia comenta sobre la actividad creciente de los Grupos de Solidaridad de cubanos residentes en el exterior, apoyando al gobierno de La Habana. Revela como miembros de un grupo de cubanos solidarios con Cuba delataron la presencia de los boxeadores cubanos Guillermo Rigondeaux y Erislandy Lara cuando desertaron en Brasil. Asegura que Cuba ha incrementado apresuradamente esta actividad aplicando sobornos, chantaje y ciertas simpatías de inmigrantes cubanos con el régimen cubano.

Choteo kubiche: Tras encendida polémica, retiran aparente busto de Max Lesnik de la Fragua Martiana

Leer en eichikawa >>

"SUPERENSARTAJE" [1er boceto]/ Juan Abreu

Juan Abreu

SUPERENSARTAJE (Homenaje a Reinaldo Arenas), primer boceto. Septiembre 2013.

Exposing the CFR’s radical Castro sympathizer Julia Sweig

Babalú Blog

By Alberto de la Cruz

It took longer than it should have, but we are happy to see that Julia Sweig, a radical Castro sympathizer with dubious ties to Cuban intelligence is finally being exposed all over the country. Of course, all of this information has been readily available for years after being meticulously documented by Cuban American intransigent hardliners such as our own Humberto Fontova.

Alex Newman in The New American:

Exposure of Radical CFR Latin America Boss Offers Broad Insight

The infamous global government-promoting Council on Foreign Relations is under fire again after its director of Latin American studies, Julia Sweig, was exposed thanking convicted terrorists in her book, calling for more brazen attacks on the Second Amendment, and having myriad close associations with Castro’s brutal communist dictatorship ruling over Cuba. Some prominent analysts, even a former military official charged with tracking Cuban-regime spies, have suggested that Sweig is actually an “agent of influence” for the autocracy in Havana. The implications are enormous.
For one, the fact that the immensely powerful CFR would employ Sweig sheds additional light on the organization, as well as on various disturbing trends that The New American magazine has been highlighting for years — particularly the ongoing takeover of Latin America by a closely knit network of autocratic, Castro-friendly socialist regimes and forces. This network, the Foro de São Paulo (FSP or São Paulo Forum), now dominates regional politics south of the U.S. border. It was founded by despot Fidel Castro, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva, the Sandinistas, and an array of Marxist narco-terrorist groups.
The U.S. government, meanwhile, which according to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton actually gets its orders from the CFR, has been linked to the so-called “pink tide” in more than a few ways. Among them: concealing the resurgence of communism in Latin America and overtly aiding some of the regimes at the heart of the FSP with billions of American tax dollars. Indeed, analysts say the Obama administration and previous administrations have been crucial to letting the Communist Chinese and Russian-backed dictatorial network expand its power unmolested.
Details about Sweig, who also serves as the CFR’s “Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies,” were reported most recently by Charles Johnson at the online Daily Caller in an explosive article headlined "‘Nation’s most influential foreign-policy think tank’ employs pro-terrorist Castro follower." However, as far back as 2010, prominent analysts, such as author and Cuban exile Humberto Fontova, who wrote The Longest Romance: The Mainstream Media and Fidel Castro, were publicly exposing the scandalous revelations.

Continue reading HERE >>

How Castro's Bio-Scam Works

capitolhillcubans

It's no surprise that former U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA), now a federal lobbyist, is trying to pitch Members of Congress and the Obama Administration on Castro's latest commercial bio-scam: a diabetic foot treatment.

As a Congressman, Delahunt pushed for a similar bio-scam nearly a decade ago regarding a purported Cuban cancer vaccine. He did so alongside some of the same faces from Castro's fan club on Capitol Hill -- namely U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY).

At the time, believe it or not (with the help of a powerful pharmaceutical lobby that has apparently learned its lesson), they managed to successfully pitch the Bush Administration.

Today, Delahunt sold the same scam to U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia (D-FL).

Here's how it works:

In 2004, Castro's cancer vaccine was licensed to U.S.-based CancerVax -- for a pretty sum of cash.

Pursuant to intense lobbying, the Treasury Department caved and authorized U.S. trials for the cancer vaccine. This news, coupled with Castro's intense propaganda, helped CancerVax's stock explode -- making some people very wealthy.

Two years later, the scam was on us -- Castro's cancer vaccine was some sort of placebo.

Fast forward today, Delahunt, now a federal lobbyist, is engaged by Healiance Pharmaceuticals, a rather obscure U.S. company owned by an equally obscure foreign parent company, Digen Pharmaceuticals.

Through Delahunt's relationships with the Castro regime, the diabetic foot treatment is licensed to Healiance Pharmaceuticals -- surely, for a healthy sum (to be paid now through the foreign parent company or contingent upon Treasury approval).

Then, the lobbying campaign begins -- and if approved by Treasury, the propaganda campaign will intensify and small fortunes will be made (regardless of the results).

(As a reminder, this so-called treatment, has only been "tested" in totalitarian Cuba and authoritarian Venezuela. No developed country has commercialized it -- for a reason.)

The scam will be on us (again).

Lopez Levy & Hugo Cancio: Obama speaks to Rouhani. Is Raul Castro next?

pushing and pushing and pushig, these motherfuckers agents of the cuba regime.
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Last Friday, President Obama made a historical phone call to President Hassan Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran. For millions of Americans and Iranians this conversation of minutes offers an opportunity to think on past decades of confrontations and a hope for less antagonistic relationships in the future. The Presidents' phone conversation was possible because of some important leadership transitions in Washington and Teheran. In 2008, president Obama proclaimed his flexibility to establish a dialogue not only with friends but also with adversaries. During the Iranian presidential elections, president Rouhani declared his will to negotiate and compromise with the West about his country's nuclear program. Although the U.S.-Cuba relationship is lower in American priorities than Washington's policy towards Teheran, the positions presented by president Obama and Secretary Kerry make the public wonder why there are not similar bold steps of dialogue with the Raul Castro's government. As Cuban-Americans committed to better relations between Cuba and the United States, we believe that there are favorable conditions in Havana, Washington and Miami to build greater understanding and direct communication between government, civil society, business and social leaders on both sides of the Strait of Florida. The processes of economic reform and political liberalization in Cuba and the generational change in Miami are showing a Cuban nation that is eager to engage and for the links between the U.S and Cuba to grow. 

Keep reading on Hola Arkansas >>

Congressman Joe Garcia breaks with Cuban-American lobby to support testing of Cuban diabetes drug in US

Daily Journal

El Joe con los All Stars

MIAMI — Miami Congressman Joe Garcia is supporting the efforts of a Cuban research institute that wants to test and market a diabetes treatment in the U.S.

The drug is intended to help people who suffer from diabetic foot ulcers, and, if successful, could help the estimated 70,000 Americans who undergo an amputation due to diabetes complications each year, Garcia said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday.

But because of U.S.-Cuba trade restrictions, the Office of Foreign Assets Control would first need to approve whether to grant a license for the drug to be put to clinical trials in the United States.

The drug was developed by Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, and the 51-year-old embargo prohibits nearly all trade until there are democratic changes on the island, though a clause allows for the sale of food products and some pharmaceuticals.

Garcia's support for the drug, called Heberprot-P, is one of the first if times that a Cuban-American representative in Congress has publically supported a measure critics would say undermine the embargo. Garcia, a Democrat, has largely stayed away from discussing Cuba issues, both during his campaign and in office, though he has stated his support for humanitarian travel and the "people-to-people" exchanges re-established under the Obama administration.

Garcia said Tuesday he remains in favor of the embargo, and that the drug's entrance into the U.S. market isn't about politics but potentially saving lives.

"I'm all for the embargo," he said. "I'm all for being against the Cuban regime. But what I'm not for is people suffering if they don't need to. Certainly not Americans."

The Miami Herald first reported Garcia's stance on the diabetes treatment.

Garcia said chronic diabetes runs throughout his family, and recalled how his grandfather, a gardener who suffered from the disease, constantly worried about getting cuts on his hands and feet. According to the National Institutes of Health, diabetics are at an increased risk of developing foot sores that can take months to heal and often result in hospital stays.

According to the Cuban institute that developed the drug, Heberprot-P has been registered in 15 other countries, treating more than 100,000 patients. The medication contains recombinant human epidermal growth factor to accelerate the healing of deep and complex ulcers.

An article published in Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde earlier this year stated that nations including Russia, Brazil and China were in the process of applying to use Heberprot-P in their hospitals. The story quoted a lawyer affiliated with the research center stating the drug had helped more than 200,000 people in Cuba.

Recently, former Republican New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu and former Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt, a Democrat who now lobbies for Healiance Pharmaceutical, spoke with Garcia about drug trials for the Cuban medication in the U.S.

After their meetings, Garcia joined other representatives in supporting a draft letter circulating in Congress requesting the U.S. Treasury Department grant authorization if a U.S. company seeks a license to conduct clinical trials of the drug.

"The lack of access to an effective treatment for this life threatening condition, which afflicts millions of Americans and results in billions of dollars in direct medical costs, is a serious unmet medical need for the American people that should be viewed as a human issue and not as part of a Cold War era political one," the letter states.

Polling of the Cuban-American community has shown support for the embargo against Cuba has waned, especially as Miami becomes increasingly populated with Cubans who grew up on the island after the revolution and travel back to visit relatives.

Garcia said he didn't have the changing face of the Cuban-American electorate in mind when he decided to support the drug's entrance into U.S. markets.

"This is something that's right," he said. "This is something that could benefit up to 70,000 Americans. I'm a member of the United States Congress and my job is to represent those folks."

Jorge Duany, director of Florida International University's Cuba Research Institute, said he believed there would likely be some support in the Cuban-American community for treating issues like medications as a special issue with humanitarian implications, rather than in the context of the continuing political conflict between Cuba and the United States.

"I think he's gambling that, in fact, it's not going to cost him any significant number of votes," Duany said in an interview on Tuesday.

At least two other members of the Cuban-American congressional delegation have voiced their opposition to allowing the drug entrance into the U.S. market.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., said it shouldn't be permitted because Cuba remains on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and because he said the drug has not been commercialized in any developed nation.

"This is the (latest) shiny object the regime is trying to use to weaken sanctions," Diaz-Balart said.

Furthermore: Fidel’s apologists

trentonian

Like conditioned dogs barking right on cue when presented with stimuli in one of those Pavlovian lab experiments, the Left barks right on cue upon being confronted with the stimuli of critical observations about the beloved Cuban jefe, Fidel Castro.

When the old dictator’s record as ruthless ruler is mentioned, the leftist apologists invariably go into their Pavlovian, barking-dog routine. Yeah, they say, so maybe Fidel does subject his critics to brutal imprisonment. But Cuba does have a good health care system, they hasten to add.

We were reminded of this recently by New York’s Bill de Blasio. He’s a one-time huge fan of the Nicaragua’s Sandinistas and now, likely, Gotham’s next mayor (Lord help the city). Sure, he said, he has qualms about Cuba’s “undemocratic” arrangements. However, he added — woof, woof — Castro has accomplished some “good things,” for example, “in health care.”

Yes, you can get a government aspirin from a Cuban “doctor” whose medical skills are equal, maybe, to those of one of our rookie EMTs. That is, you can get that free aspirin if you can manage to sell one of your scrawny chickens and scrape enough change for cab fare — providing, however, that the cabbie is able to get his 1968 Chevy to start so that you can get to the “doctor.”

As if this island relic of the Communist era is a place de Blasio or any other lefty would think twice about going to for neurosurgery or even, really, to have a splinter tweezed out of a finger.

Countless Hollywood limousine liberals who have sojourned to Castroland over the years have been willing to overlook the regime’s imprisonment of gays, black Cuban activists, poets, artists, authors, etc., to offer gushing kudos to the regime’s health care. Even though they only hail the health care, never go there to partake of it themselves.

— The Trentonian

Marifeli Perez-Stable to Speak on Friday Regarding Cuban Reconciliation

cubaconfidential

gss.fiu.edu

By Chris Simmons

PROGRAM: 2nd Conference on Reconciliation & Change: The German Experience

Editor's Note: The Cuban Intelligence ties of Dr. Marifeli Perez-Stable have been well documented by defectors over the last several decades.

Will Pro-Castro Group Provoke Confrontation in Miami this Saturday?

cubaconfidential

By Chris Simmons

The Cuban news agency Prensa Latina (PRELA), long associated with Havana’s intelligence services, proudly announced that the pro-Castro group, Alianza Martiana, will caravan through the streets of Miami this Saturday. According to PRELA, “participants will demand the release of four of the Cuban Five who remain in U.S. prisons: Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez.” The news agency also reported that Alianza Martiana will also call for the prosecution of “right-wing extremist Cuban-Americans” in Miami.

Obispos de EEUU apoyan al regimen castrista

ni una palabra de los mercaderes de dios sobre los crimenes de toda indole cometidos por los hermanos castros en mas de 54 anos. ni siquiera por guardar las apariencias dentro del tradicional marco equidistante y celestial de la iglesia catolica. desbocados en favor de los

cafefuerte.com

asesinos de siempre. si su dios no da cuenta de ellos, los pueblos y la historia se encargaran de hacerlo.
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Tomado de Café Fuerte

26 de septiembre del 2013

Dr. Susan E. Rice
Consejero de Seguridad Nacional
La Casa Blanca
Washington, DC 20036

Estimado Dr. Rice :

Escribo como Presidente de la Comisión de Justicia y Paz Internacional de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos (USCCB). El 15 de septiembre del 2013, la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Cuba emitió una importante Carta Pastoral: “La esperanza no defrauda”. Esta declaración visionaria desafía con valentía al Gobierno de Cuba para participar en el diálogo y la reforma, y promover los derechos humanos y la dignidad humana. Nos solidarizamos con nuestros hermanos obispos en Cuba haciéndonos eco de su llamado a un mayor respeto de la persona humana.

La Pastoral también tiene implicaciones para la política de Estados Unidos hacia Cuba. Adjunto el original en español de esta Carta Pastoral para su pronta referencia . El siguiente fragmento es de especial relevancia para Estados Unidos (reproducido del original en español) :

36. Se hace necesario considerar las relaciones de Cuba con los Estados Unidos, que durante largas décadas, de diverso modo y de manera constante y profunda, han afectado la vida de nuestro pueblo. A esto se refirió el beato Juan Pablo II al decir que “el aislamiento provocado repercute de manera indiscriminada en la población, acrecentando las dificultades de los más débiles en aspectos básicos como la alimentación, la sanidad o la educación”. Y concluyó pidiendo se suprimieran “las medidas impuestas desde fuera del país injustas y éticamente inaceptables”.

Urgimos a realizar esfuerzos para levantar el embargo de EEUU contra Cuba a fin de que un mayor apoyo y asistencia pueden fluir hacia el cubano de a pie . También es hora de retirar la designación de Cuba como patrocinador del terrorismo de Estado . Esta obsoleta clasificación impide el acercamiento entre nuestros países y pueblos.El acercamiento hará mucho más que el aislamiento en virtud de promover los derechos humanos y aliviar el sufrimiento humano. También es el momento de reconocer el papel constructivo de Cuba en la mediación de las negociaciones de paz de Colombia y la cooperación con el Servicio Guardacostas de Estados Unidos en actividades de interceptación de drogas .

Es tiempo ya para que  Estados Unidos establezca plenas relaciones diplomáticas con Cuba, levante todas las restricciones a los viajes a Cuba, retire la designación de Cuba como país terrorista, fomente el comercio que beneficiaría a ambas naciones y facilite la cooperación en las áreas como la protección del medio ambiente, la iterceptación de drogas y el intercambio científico. Más acercamiento ayudará al pueblo de Cuba a lograr una mayor libertad, derechos humanos y participación religiosa .

Atentamente,

Mons. Richard E. Pates
Obispo de Des Moines
Presidente, Comisión de Justicia y Paz Internacional

Añel, De Armas, Sotomayor, Pacheco, Gálvez… ¿se dejarán calar por Cala?

Ichikawa

Si los escritores cubanos de Miami como Armando Añel, Armando de Armas, Sindo Pacheco, Rodolfo G. Sotomayor, Joaquín Gálvez, etc., se dejan meter el pie de que Alejandro Ríos y pandilla cuelen el panfleto de Ismael Cala en la Feria del Libro de Miami como un gran documento de la cultura hispana, no podrán quejarse de nada más.
No podrán protestar, por ejemplo, cuando Amir Valle o la fogonera Venegas pretendan imponerse como los sucesores de Lezama, Piñera o Arenas.
No es que boicoteen la Feria, pero algo hay que decir en ese café de Demetrio para que respeten a Miami.

Pro-Castro aspirante democrata a alcalde de Nueva York

martinoticias

Chirlane McCray and Bill de Blasio/ www.nydailynews.com

Diarios neoyorquinos pusieron de relieve el fin de semana la filiación izquierdista y los escarceos con los sandinistas nicaragüenses y con Cuba del candidato demócrata a la alcaldía de Nueva York, Bill de Blasio, quien el 5 de noviembre próximo se medirá en las urnas con el republicano Joe Lhota.

Un comentario publicado en The New York Times dice que “de Blasio, el defensor público de la ciudad, ha mencionado solo ocasionalmente el tiempo que fue un joven idealista que se opuso a las guerras en el extranjero (…) a fines de 1980 y principios de 1990” y su activismo ha sido “omitido en el sitio web de la campaña”.

Pero una revisión de cientos de páginas de archivos y “más de una docena de entrevistas sugieren—señalan—que su época de joven activista fue más influyente en dar forma a su ideología de lo que se conocía, y con mucho fue más política que un trabajo típicamente humanitario”.

El Times destaca que De Blasio se convirtió en un ardiente simpatizante de los revolucionarios nicaragüenses. “Ayudó a recaudar fondos para los sandinistas en Nueva York y se suscribió al periódico del partido, Barricada”, y cuando se le preguntó en 1990 sobre sus metas sociales dijo que “era un defensor del socialismo democrático”.

Tras apuntar que el político demócrata se declara ahora “progresista” y que en su época de activista hasta dio publicidad a fiestas parta celebrar la revolución cubana, destaca que incluso pasó su luna de miel en la isla en 1991 “en violación de la prohibición de viajes establecida por EE.UU.” y hasta hoy habla “con admiración” de los sandinistas.

Un artículo difundido por el periódico New York Post, apunta que de acuerdo con la visión que tiene De Blasio de “combatir la desigualdad y la injusticia económica” podría mirarse a lo que sucede en Cuba, donde las cifras “reflejan el paraíso” que describe el político.

El Post subraya que luego de 54 años en los que Fidel y Raúl Castro han sacado adelante el sueño socialista “todo el mundo es igualmente pobre, con salarios promedios al mes de $19 dólares, mientras un par de zapatos de niño cuesta casi esa cantidad”.

Según el periódico, el alboroto armado con el sistema de salud cubano es “un chiste”, porque cada cual debe llevar sus propias sábanas, orinales y comida a los hospitales, y “rezar para no morir de una infección o por negligencia”.

El autor del artículo narra sus propias experiencias de un viaje a Cuba y dice haberse quedado pasmado por la “total ruina” de todo excepto de la policía. “La una vez gloriosa arquitectura de La Habana se derrumba, y hay pollos y puercos en una buena parte del centro de la ciudad, pero no agua corriente”, añade.

Dice que la mitad de los carros son propiedad del gobierno, que las pequeñas ciudades dan la impresión de haberse quedado detenidas “en el Siglo XIX”, y que el transporte público “consiste en un hombre conduciendo una carreta halada por un caballo”.

También destaca que la TV e Internet son escasas y “fuertemente controladas” y que cualquiera que se queje de eso “puede terminar en una celda”. 

Médico de la Salsa: ¨Vengo a Cuba a normalizar mi situación con el Ministerio de Cultura¨(Vídeo)

buscando patron y patronicio que la cosa esta dura en jayalia. ok. te vamos a emplantillar como cantante de salsa "b", pero ahora vas para el mato grosso do sul brasileno a curar parasitos.

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Desde la chiringadecuba

Pobre asistencia y protesta en juego de Industriales en Fort Lauderdale

matthew22712

 El video de la intervencion policial  Aqui >>

Denounced by Havana! I Must Be Doing Something Right

cubaconfidential

By Chris Simmons

James Bruno

By James Bruno in DIPLO DENIZEN

Whether as a diplomat or as a writer, I don't feel fully successful in my work unless denounced by oppressive regimes and their propaganda organs. Well, it's happened again. Yesterday, "El Heraldo Cubano," denounced me as a "yankee ex-intelligence officer" who helped "carry out subversive actions against the Cuban government." The Miami Herald describes El Heraldo Cubano as "an official Cuban blog." A Cuban intellectual and former political prisoner now residing in the United States says that the blog is an arm of Cuban intelligence.

El Heraldo Cubano's screed is in reaction to my latest political thriller, HAVANA QUEEN, which apparently has come to the attention of both Cuban intellectuals and their government. Emails concerning my book from the former have been forwarded to me. I have no indications yet that copies, digital or print, of HAVANA QUEEN are circulating inside Cuba. My novel poses a scenario for the collapse of the Castro regime. I draw on my service in Cuba as well as copious research.

Anyway, here are highlights of the denunciation, translated into English:

"With all that information, Bruno decided to fictionalize his experiences in a kind of thiller, under the suggestive title of Havana Queen, where he distorts the internal situation and invents others, with views that were approved by the Department of State in their prior security review done as a security measure to prevent information leaks that reveal the espionage work of the American federal intelligence agencies and, in particular, the Defense Intelligence Agency.

"Unintentionally, James Bruno confirmed in Havana Queen that which Cuba has denounced repeatedly, that the United States uses its diplomatic mission in Havana as a headquarters for human and technological spying, while it selects, trains and finances counterrevolutionary elements to carry out subversive acts against the Cuban government.

"If someday this outdated policy is replaced by one that recognizes the right of Cubans to choose the political and social system they want to, allowing Americans to freely visit the island, and in the United States they detect Bruno’s absence, remember his prophecy: "If I go missing, look for me... in Cuba."

Well, what can I say? First, thanks to El Heraldo Cubano for adding to my authorial notoriety. We writers crave attention and, the more controversial, the better. History has shown that official condemnations have done wonders for authors' book sales. Boris Pasternak comes to mind. While by no means in his league, I can use all the denunciations I can get. Tell you what, Heraldo Cubano: should you need more fodder for your anti-Bruno propagandizing, just shoot me an email. I'll be glad to send you more dirt on myself.

But... I can't consider myself to be a true thriller writer success and victim of oppression unless I hit the Big Leagues. I really, really would love to be denounced by the biggest kahouna in the vast Castro propaganda machine: the official organ of the Cuban communist party, Granma! Hey, Heraldo Cubano -- how about putting in a bad word for me??

Executive Editor of NYT Picks Cuba as Vacation Spot

breitbart

By Warner Todd Huston 

www.nydailynews.com

In a long article bemoaning the fact that the new CEO of the New York Times likes to keep his eye on the newsroom, an interesting anecdote reveals executive editor Jill Abramson has a special vacation destination when she wants to unwind: Cuba.

Former BBC head Mark Thompson was hired in September of 2012 to take over as the CEO of the New York Times, but when he finally began to execute his duties, the paper's editors and writers found that he was making a habit of hanging around the newsroom. This was not to their liking.

"The Times’ reporters and editors, eager to hold on to the protocols of a legacy media world, hold quasi-religious views about the sanctity of the newsroom against the influence of business concerns," the article in New York Magazine notes. "The mere presence of a corporate suit among the journalists was like a belch in a cathedral nave."

The article is an amusing illustration of the "uneasiness" between the editors and journalists of the paper of record and their new overseer, who has taken the non-traditional tact of keeping his thumb directly on the denizens of the newsroom instead of observing the usual hands-off role most executive "suits" had obeyed in years past.

But one bit of info is telling. Executive editor Jill Abramson finds one of the most oppressive countries in the world to be a fitting vacation spot.

Deep in the story we find this passage (emphasis added):

In February, when the staff held farewell parties for two popular veteran (and, by Times standards, expensive) editors, Jon Landman and Jim Roberts, who had been encouraged to take buyouts, Abramson left on a trip to Cuba with her sister. "I remember at one point Jill announcing she was leaving on this vacation because she was exhausted by all the tension of the buyout," says a colleague. "Oh, I'm sorry, it was even harder for the people who were leaving."

So, here we learn that the executive editor of what is purported to be the premier American newspaper, the New York Times, thinks the oppresive Communist utopia of Cuba is the best place to unwind.