How To Tell The Difference Between The Donald and Crooked Hillary

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I’m sure that you are overwhelmed lately with messages from friends regarding their inability of picking a candidate to vote for in the 2016 presidential election. Even the past suggestion of picking the lesser of the two evils does not seem to work in 2016.

Well, no more! It is not enough to wait until the Sept. 26th debate to make up one’s mind. The best way to tell the two candidates apart is by clicking on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQuDyuQFKE

Stolen Legacy and Celia Cruz

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You got to be kidding?!!! Celia Cruz will be part of the new African-American Museum in Washington, DC. During her lifetime, Celia was proud of her Cuban heritage, of her Hispanic culture, of her Latin fans. She was a proud Latina, and her memories belong in a Latino museum!

See: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2016/09/15/dress-worn-by-celia-cruz-to-go-on-display-at-new-african-american-museum/

Guillermo Fariñas & The Papa Che

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Cuban Human Rights Dissident Guillermo Fariñas is near his death after conducting a hunger strike with the intent of forcing the Cuban Government to stop harassing dissidents. Considering that the Papa Che played such a crucial role in President Obama’s Cuba opening, my question is why has he not interceded to save the life of this honorable Cuban?!!!

But when I look around the atrocities that radical Islamic terrorists have carried out against Catholics and Christians, I ask myself about the moral leadership and advocacy that the Pope Che has exercised?!!! Nowhere to be found!!!

Cuban-American Offers Thanks to Tampa Mayor Buckhorn

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So often, people judge others based on their party affiliation. Republicans talk to you only if you are a party loyalist. Democrats are also guilty of the same sin. And, yet, there are people who judge others based on their principled stance on key issues ranging from the second amendment to U.S./Cuba relations.

And this explains why when I come across U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), I thank him when he criticizes President Obama’s Cuba policy. And, I find it despicable when U.S. Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) joins President Obama on the historic visit to Cuba.

Actions and values do matter.

The Tampa Bay Times ran an article this week putting down Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn (Democrat) for being out of the step with many around Tampa Bay who are lobbying Cuban officials to set up the first Cuban Consulate in their cities. (See: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/on-cuba-buckhorns-out-of-step-with-many-around-tampa-bay-and-hes-ok-with/2287842).

Mayor Buckhorn could cares less about the incoming criticism, as he will not betray the core principles that he stands for. He stands with the cause to restore freedom and democracy to Communist Cuba. He honors a CIA agent who played a key role in the capture of aChesino Guevara, and he’s flown missions with Brothers to the Rescue.

Senator Menendez and Tampa Mayor Buckhorn remind me of a famous quote by German poet Bertolt Brecht: “There are men who struggle for a day and they are good. There are men who struggle for a year and they are better. There are men who struggle many years, and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives: These are the indispensable ones.”

To me, Senator Menendez and Tampa Mayor Buckhorn belong to the “indispensable” category to bring back a Cuba Libre.

I’ve honored Mayor Buckhorn by penning a letter-to-the-editor to remind readers that he belongs to the “one of kind” politician. See: http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/letters/wednesdays-letters-bay-area-leads-in-job-growth/2287841.

New Librarian of Congress and Cuban-Americans

Carla Hayden, shown in 2015, was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday to head the Library of Congress. Hayden is the longtime leader of Baltimore's library system

On July 13, 2016, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Dr. Hayden as the next Librarian of Congress.

Dr. Carla Hayden, president of the American Library Association (ALA) from 2003-2004, refused to support an amendment to the section of the final report on the proceedings of the ALA’s mid-winter meeting to help free ten librarians that Fidel Castro had imprisoned for making available such documents as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and George Orwell’s 1984.

It is noticeable that Dr. Hayden was a vocal opponent to the Patriot Act during her tenure as ALA president, leading a battle for the protections of library users’ privacy. She objected to the special permissions contained in Section 215 of that law, which granted the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI the power to access library user records. Dr. Hayden often disagreed publicly with then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft over the language of the law.

It is ironic that Dr. Hayden would not side with the ten Cuban librarians who were locked up by Fidel for circulating access to information to the Cuban people.

See:  http://www.villagevoice.com/news/the-abandoned-librarians-6408599

Candidate Marco Rubio Is The One

March 15, 2016 is a big day for Floridians. They will have a chance to vote for the GOP nominee. They will have an opportunity to vote for a native son with Cuban-American roots. Floridians will be able to vote for a candidate who cherishes democracy and capitalism for his country and other countries throughout the world. That candidate is U.S. Senator Marco Rubio. For Cuban-Americans in particular, Marco Rubio is “lo mejor de lo nuestro” (the best that we have to offer).

Marco Rubio is the one who can unite the Republican Party to defeat Candidate Hillary Clinton.  Rubio is the one who wears his Cuban-American heritage on his sleeve everywhere that he campaigns — not just when he is in Cuban Mecca Miami.  Rubio is the one who took the fight to “The Donald” to show him that his disparaging remarks have negative consequences.

I’ve penned two op-eds recently where I make the case for why Candidate Marco Rubio is what our country needs to retain its exceptionalism and to open the doors of opportunity to those who have been left behind.

See: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cuban-american-enamored-freedom-democracy-jorge-ponce?trk=prof-post and, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-two-sides-same-drug-jorge-ponce?trk=prof-post

Cuban-Americans and Mexican-Americans? Two Wings of the Same Bird?

Hispanic Heritage Month

In interviews conducted by the Washington Post in wedding chapels and casinos … Mexicans who make up so much of the workforce said it would be far more meaningful to elect the first Mexican American president than the first Latino. Many said they would vote for a non-Latino over a Cuban American. In two days of interviews, not a single Mexican said he or she supported Rubio or Cruz.

Which brings me to the point of questioning the viability of the term “Hispanic/Latino” by the Federal Government. Specifically, if a Mexican-American gets a supervisory position in the federal sector, and he/she gets to choose between a Mexican-American and a Cuban-American applicant with the appropriate qualifications, will he/she choose a Mexican-American or a Cuban-American? Most of us understand that the idea of applicants having “equal qualifications” is impossible.

To read the Washington Post article, click on https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2016/01/10/32d20f8e-b4bc-11e5-a842-0feb51d1d124_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_daily202

Agreeing with Che Guevara? What Has This World Come To?!!!

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It is not often that you’ll see me agree with a Che Guevara saying. After reading the article below, I agree with Che that “no se vive de esfuerzos, sino de resultados (one does not measure success by the efforts, but by the results). The Cuban Revolution under Fidel and Raul Castro has turned out to be “La Gran Estafa” (a big rip-off) for the Cuban people.

Read the New Yorker article HERE.

Yoani Sánchez — A Bridge Through Dialogue

Following is a magnificent interview conducted in Berlin, Germany in 2003, by Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez. While I disagree with Yoani when it comes to the lifting of the U.S. embargo, I respect her daily fight against the repression in Communist Cuba. She cited a famous saying by Cuban Founding Father José Martí: “Subir montañas, hermana a los hombres.” [Fighting for a just cause triggers the brotherhood of mankind]. Her cause – fighting for the restoration of freedom and democracy to Cuba – is my cause as well. She describes herself as bridge through dialogue. While you may not agree with each other through dialogue, it opens a window of understanding to the other side. Many people have asked me why I write so much, and I’m glad that Yoani used the same logic to respond: writing is a catharsis for my being a citizen of the world.

To listen to the interview, click on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbo03RidoD0