If you haven't done so go read Marc Masferrer's interview with Mark Cuban, the maverick owner of the Dallas Mavericks (pun intended). One of Cuban's companies is distributing Andy Garcia's upcoming release, The Lost City.

You wont find many recently arrived Cubans donning the famous Cuban Guayaberas while here in exile. I myself have been ogled rather suspiciously a few times while wearing my own here in Miami. The reason for this is simple: the white Cuban Guayabera is the official uniform of Cuba's G2, the infamous State Security Agency.

As I just viewed this video from PowerLine (thanks for the reminder Gigi!) on the April 10th protests on immigration throughout the country, I saw a brief glimpse of something that, if true, is very very troubling.

Id like for you all to check it out. First, go here for the video.

There's a short video of the protest in Seattle at the beginning and then photographs begin to flash. Once they do, hold your cursor over the pause button. When the third picture appears, pause it.

What you will see is a Cuban flag desecrated with the image of Che Guevara clearly. There's another Cuban flag visible to the left but not completely. But directly behind the tow Cuban flag bearers are two men in jeans and white Guayaberas. Could these two men in white Guayaberas following closely behind another two bearing a che emblazoned Cuban flag actually be from fidel castro's deadly G2?

Coincidence? Perhaps. But what are the chances?

You decide.

The guy in the blue shirt with glasses in the photo below is Brian Becker, National Director of ANSWER Coalition, at the NYC illegal immigration protest this week. The guy on the flag to his right above him is none other than Che Guevara, the mass murdering butcher of La Cabaña and a man instrumental in the destruction of Cuba, her people, her culture, her history, and the separation of millions of Cuban families.

I'm absolutely certain Mr. Becker knows exactly who Che Guevara was and I am absolutely certain he's not the only one so learned in that crowd. I'll also note that on ANSWER's website (I refuse to link to it) there are calls for the extradition of Posada Carriles to Venezuela and for the lifting of the US embargo on Cuba with no mention whatsoever of the dismal human rights record of the island's government. There are also numerous Che tshirts you could buy on that site and again, no mention whatsoever that Che Guevara urged the use of Soviet nuclear weapons against the United States of America.

As an American I am insulted. As a Cuban I am disgusted. And there is absolutely no way in hell that I , in good conscience, could support a cause that so blatantly espouses such anti-Americanism.

No way in hell.

Oh, and one more thing. Find me a Cuban flag on that ANSWER poster in that picture that reads "Full rights for ALL Immigrants."

Remember this creepy Gary Moran guy? The one who spent his whole life as a castroworshipper, and then to help his hero, did a "study" of the Miami community and just happened to find that it was so shot through with racism and unfairness that the Cuban Five, castro's slimey spy henchmen, could never get a fair trial due to Miami Cubans' irrational, intransigent dislike of communist spies spying on them and shipping the information back to castro. Crazy, crazy, unfair Miami Cubans they are!

Moran's crummy "study" managed to put the Miami Cubans on trial instead of the castro spies, saying that THEY were the problem, not the castroite covert agents who'd been caught.

Moran's a disgusting, disgusting man.

Now he's claiming that the Miami Herald and Oscar Corral "wronged" him, insinuating that a castroworshipper could possibly be motivated by bias related to their love for castro. It's the sickest logic I have ever heard.

The Moran creep says he got the other researchers quoted to say that they never meant to impugn Moran, nevermind that a guy with castroworshipping credentials might just have some friends in the G2 to sic on them. So, The Herald allowed him a correction and then a correction of a correction.

The whole thing stinks. The Miami Herald did a good reporting job and this guy's disgusting denials don't have the faintest ring of truth about them. They are only about self-preservation. I wonder how many lawyers he hired to get this result he wanted.

Listen up, Moran. You worship castro. Nothing you say is believable after that. You take after your master.

UPDATE (From Conductor): I work in an area of advertising called account planning. In that job I am responsible for the design of surveys. I did an depth analysis of the survey conducted by Mr. Moran and posted it at cubanamericanpundits.com. If you think this is a case of "He said, he said" check out the survey for yourself and draw your own conclusions. To me the survey Moran designed was very biasing regardless of his denials.

Ziva reported on comments by ex JFK advisor Norman Birnbaum this week where he defamed Cuban exiles by calling us "truly repellent." Today, one of our esteemed truly repellent exile brothers, Humberto Fontova, gives the Birnbaum cockroach a good shot of reality Raid at NewsMax:

A 'Truly Repellent' Minority
Humberto Fontova
Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Imagine an exalted academic, author and Washington political adviser spouting – and for public consumption – any of the following phrases: "those truly repellent New York Jews" or "those truly repellent Detroit Negroes" or "those truly repellent Los Angeles Mexicans."

Imagine the media hullabaloo, the orgy of indignant squawking, the affected frowns, the finger pointing, the gasps. Trent Lott, Earl Butz, Jimmy the Greek and John Rocker all caught hell for less. Would a "professor emeritus" at prestigious Georgetown University utter such insensitive blasphemies in a media interview?

One has. The eminent professor Norman Birnbaum (Ph.D., Harvard), whose credentials truly stagger. Besides his Georgetown gig, Dr. Birnbaum has professed his wisdom and erudition as a visiting scholar at Oxford, The London School of Economics, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and the Universities of both Frankfurt and Bologna. His scoldings of American society and his prescriptions for its betterment have appeared everywhere from The New York Times to The Nation, where he also sits on the board. He has also served as adviser to the National Security Council, to numerous Democratic congressional candidates and to three presidential candidates.

Last week, during an interview by Green Party candidate for the Maryland Senate Kevin Zeese, Dr. Birnbaum referred to an American ethnic group as "truly repellent." Among other media outlets, the interview has run on Al-Jazeera – yet not a peep of protest has been heard from the usual bloodhounds and watchdogs in these matters.

"Those truly repellent Miami Cubans" was the eminent Dr. Birnbaum's phrase, and now you understand the discrepancy. Now you comprehend the utter silence from professional sniffers and snouters in matters regarding "ethnic sensitivity." Now the rocklike insensitivity of the usually ultra-sensitive in matters ethnic – from Abe Foxman to Jesse Jackson, from Ted Kennedy to Nancy Pelosi, from CNN to Univision – becomes clear. Unsurprisingly, Dr. Birnbaum was an adviser to the presidential campaign of John "Bay of Pigs Betrayal" Kennedy, Jimmy "The Cuban embargo is the stupidest law ever passed in the U.S." Carter, and Jesse "Fidel Castro is the most honest and courageous politician I've ever met! Viva Fidel!" Jackson.

I say U.S. political discourse would be greatly enlivened by more such talk. The Europeans are much saltier than we are in their political dueling and haggling, and so their campaigns are much more entertaining as spectator sport. Benito Mussolini's granddaughter, for instance, recently snapped at a TV interviewer of uncertain sexual orientation that she'd "much rather be considered a Fascist than a fag**t!"

How refreshing! But in the U.S. she'd been crucified, mediawise. So again, I don't object to Dr. Birnbaum's comment in the slightest. I actually wish we had more of it. I simply point to the media double standard.

It's actually an old story regarding Cuban-Americans. Bryant Gumbel referred to the demonstrators in front of the house of Elian Gonzalez's uncle as "disgusting"! Okay, fine. But let's hear some commentator say the same about the demonstrators in Jesse Jackson's New Orleans march last week or the ones in Los Angeles this week. Then let's see him keep his job, or escape a mandatory course in "sensitivity training" or a "hate speech" rap.

Among Dr. Birnbaum's's manifold complaints against U.S. foreign policy is that (because of our bullying) we "terminated any chance of converting Castro into a Caribbean Tito ... independent of the USSR." Is there something in Harvard water that turns brains to mush – at least regarding Castro/Cuba?

Based on their powers of observation, children eventually discard their belief in the tooth fairy. No such powers seem to grace Harvard's long list of Best and Brightest.

First they botched the Bay of Pigs. Then on the October 14, 1962 edition of the TV program "Issues and Answers," a disdainful McGeorge Bundy (JFK's National Security Advisor and former Harvard Dean) made himself very clear on national TV. "Refugee rumors" he called the eyewitness reports from Cuban exiles about those very missiles – reports the exiles had been giving the State Department and CIA for months by then, after risking their lives to obtain them.

"Nothing in Cuba presents a threat to the United States," continued Bundy, barely masking his scorn. "There's no likelihood that the Soviets or Cubans would try and install an offensive capability in Cuba."

Exactly two days later JFK had the photos – taken by a U-2 spy plane of those "refugee rumors," nuclear-armed and pointing at the U.S. – sitting on his desk. The solution from the Best and Brightest was to team up with the Soviets and grant the Cuban Communist regime (though not necessarily Castro himself) its Mutually Assured Protection.

Shortly after came CIA honcho Desmond "Des Fitz" Fitzgerald (Harvard Law LL.D.), who was appointed by Kennedy to head the Cuba Task Force in 1962. "Des Fitz" promptly sneered at his Cuban exile charges as "militantly childish" and "genuinely stupid." He also concocted the schemes to off Castro with exploding seashells, poisoned wetsuits and hypodermic inkpens. Remember, it was the Cubans, who balked at these Austin Powers-like plots, who were called "militantly childish."

Best of all, the crafty "Des Fitz" entrusted the Castro assassination to his "inside man" in Cuba, Rolando Cubela, a Castro double agent. Remember, it was the Cuban exiles who, repeatedly warned him against trusting Cubela and who insisted Castro would retaliate, who were "genuinely stupid." "Des" was immensely proud of his gadgetry and was himself handing over a pen with a poison hypodermic tip to Rolando Cubela on November 22, 1963 (look at the date closely).

Now Dr. Norman Birnbaum, another Harvard alumnus, holds forth on Castro. Doesn't Dr. Birnbaum know that as early as 1958, when the U.S. was actually easing his way to power by embargoing Batista, Castro wrote that "war with the U.S. is my true destiny"? Doesn't he know that a dozen different back-channel attempts to mend fences with Castro were made from 1959 to 1961? Or that the first anti-Castro rebellion, planned and staffed completely by Cubans who, despairing of any help from the U.S., turned to Rafael Trujillo, was tipped off to Castro by the liberal U.S. ambassador to Cuba at the time, Phil Bonsal?

The Boston elite's belief in witches eventually dissipated. But the belief in the "We bullied poor little Castro into the arms of Mother Russia" fable persists up there. Given Professor Birnbaum's long romance with liberal Democrats, his exasperation with Cuban-Americans is easy to understand. These insufferable people have never sought admittance into the Democratic plantation. They've never squatted attentively at the Democrats' feet and looked longingly upward for a little doggie treat and a nice little pat on the head like good little "Hispanics."

In fact, these insufferable people persisted in looking at Democrats with a fishy eye and standing afar while holding up one hand. Close inspection showed it wasn't the peace sign they were giving. Indeed, only one finger was upraised.

Even more infuriating, the 1998 census showed that second-generation Cuban-Americans have educational and income levels that are not only higher than the groups who dutifully punch the clock at the Democratic plantation every morning but also higher than the U.S. population in general.

"The nerve!" gasps Mr. Birnbaum and his Democratic Party patrons. We're a sensitive people ourselves, Mr. Birnbaum, and capable of Democratic-like emotions. So let me assure you, sir, in light of all the snubs and humiliations you and your party have suffered at our hands, "I feel your pain."

Personally, I kinda like the "repellent" metaphor. What would you rather be: the parasitic cockroach or the repellent that kills it?

Via AP we have this story detailing the new deal between Cuba and Venezuela which would revamp and finish a Soviet refinery in Cienfuegos, so Cuba can produce 65,000 barrels of crude daily. Although the article does not specify, I'm assuming Cuba would be refining Venezuelan oil. The cost of this happy venture? It is estimated at about $100 million....and the name? PDV-CUBAPET SA! Isn't that original! The interesting part is that even though Cuba would have 51% stake in the joint venture, its still named Petroleos de Venezuela. Sort of to let you know who has the money.

HAVANA (AP) - Communist Cuba is deepening its relationship with oil-producing Venezuela, forming a joint venture to refurbish an idled Soviet-era oil refinery in central Cuba, the two countries said Tuesday.

President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez were at the ceremony Monday night where officials signed the contract between the two nations' state oil companies, the Communist Party newspaper Granma said. Venezuela's oil company issued a similar statement.

Cuba will hold 51 percent of the new joint venture, to be called PDV-CUPET SA, with Venezuela holding the remaining 49 percent.

The agreement fulfills a letter of intent signed last year by Castro's government and the administration of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez under their own vision for a regional trade agreement, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas. Cuba and Venezuela, so far its only members, hope to expand it to include other countries.

Neither Granma nor the Venezuelan announcement gave financial details. But last year, an executive of the state firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, said the project would cost between US$60 million (euro50 million) and $100 million (euro83 million) .

Alejandro Granado, PDVSA's director of refining, said at the time the rehabilitated Soviet-era refinery could open as early as June 2007 and would initially process 65,000 barrels of crude daily.

During a news conference Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of a short-lived coup attempt against his older brother, President Chavez, Venezuelan Ambassador Adan Chavez said that the two countries soon will form three other joint ventures: a publishing company and firms to produce music recordings and films.

Adan Chavez said the joint ventures are "agreements for cooperation in our America. No one is trying to take advantage of the other."

The Cuba-Venezuela pact is an alternative to the Washington-backed Free Trade Area for the Americas, which Castro and Hugo Chavez say is a U.S. effort to "annex" Latin America.

The new petroleum joint venture will rehabilitate an idled Soviet-era refinery in the central city of Cienfuegos on Cuba's southern coast to refine, store and distribute crude oil.

The announcement comes as trade rapidly increases between the two political allies.

Cuba-Venezuela trade is projected to reach more than $3.5 billion (euro2.9 billion) this year, Adan Chavez told The Associated Press here during an exclusive interview here last week.

That's up 40 percent from the $2.5 billion (euro2 billion) in trade in 2005, the ambassador told the AP on Friday. He quoted slightly lower trade estimates during the Tuesday news conference.

The bulk of trade comes from the 90,000 barrels of crude petroleum that oil-producing Venezuela sends to the communist-run island daily.