Message To The Cuban Resistance!!!

Message To The

Cuban Resistance!!!

Enjoy Your Trip Canadians!

Enjoy Your Trip Canadians!

You all from the Great White North and elsewhere are helping Raul starve his own people for this? At least you are getting what you deserve. Below is how one happy traveler rated things from 1 to 5. By the way 1 is NOT good.

Traveler rating:
Holguin: Hotel Playa Pesquero: "ONE OF THE WORST HOTELS WE HAVE EVER STAYED AT"
Lloyd-Phillips, Southampton Jan 28, 2007

My experience with this property took place in:
January, 2007
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend? no way!
My ratings for this hotel are:
Value 1.0
Rooms 3.0
Location 2.0
Cleanliness 3.0
Check in / front desk 2.0
Service 3.0
Business service 3.0

I recommend this hotel for:

I do not recommend this hotel for: Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Great pool scene, Pet owners, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists

I selected this hotel because ... Beach / Sun, Great food / Wine
My age: 35-49
Traveling group: Spouse / significant other

My visit was for: Romantic getaway

I am not sure if other people that have written great reviews for this hotel have stayed in cardboard boxes and eaten gruel when they have gone on holiday before but this hotel is terrible. The rooms are kept quite clean but we noticed that even if we left towels on the floor for changing, often they were just picked up, folded and put back up for use. The coffee area looks nice but the coffee is very cheap and bitter (I own a coffee shop so I should know).

The bar is manned by miserable bar attendants that make you feel that it is a chore for them to get you a drink and every time you order a cocktail it is made comepletely differently by each ember of staff. At the beach bar the barman (Amando) would not let me have a bottle of water to take on the beach (so I would not have to keep standing in a long queue) he said 'if I let you have one, everyone will want one' but he was quite happy to let you have one if you gave him a $ tip.
You would waste 15-20 minutes queing for a drink as they would have only 1 person serving but 3-4 staff would be staning around chatting.

The beach is infested by sand fleas (which bite all around your ankles) and me and my wife ended up with over a 100 bites each (we used anti-bug spray as well). The food is disgusting, the buffet is full of badly cooked, barely warm food which is the same every day (I ended up having to make a sandwich every day). There are flys, birds and cats everywhere in the restaurants with flys and birds sitting on the food put out to eat. The a la carte restaurants were rubbish again with tough meat or badly cooked seafood (the lobster is like rubber) and take a magnifying glass to view the tiny portions.
Everytime a member of staff done anything for you, they expected a tip and if you didn't, they would ignore you next time and serve people that did leave tips.

Going back to food in the buffet, breakfast was worst, (we had to laugh), laid out was chips, brussel sprouts, peas, carrots, chick peas, breaded fish and bacon that was as hard as a brick and looked like it had been re-heated 10 times.
They had toasters where you would feed your own bread through that would take 2-3 passes through to get the bread toasted and even then it would only toast one side.

People say 'but it's Cuba, what do you expect' but this is a complete excuse. This hotel was constantly full and must be making a fortune, they could easily buy new toasters, get fresh sea-food and fresh ingredients and have good cooks. They have chosen to save money in every possible way at the expense of the holiday maker. Regarding weddings, it was like a conveyor belt with 2-3 a day and it would be the same old arch way, the same poor old horse and cart, the same band (who sung 'my way - regrets, I've had a few' at every wedding, to me and my wifes amusement) and then they left the people on the beach not knwoing what to do after the 10 minute weddings. Every day you would see a bride with a fag in one hand and a glass of beer in the other hand 30 minutes after the wedding. Not very special in my opinion...
If you haven't booked yet, don't go...


This TripAdvisor Member:
Liked: Nothing
Disliked: Food

There you have it travelers! Oh yes one more thing, The above traveller mentioned he was having a romantic get-away. In Cuba the sex acts could easily end up being video-taped by state security. It's okay I suppose if you've always fantisized about starring in your own porn video. Of course lets hope your dad doesn't see a copy at his next bachelor party.

Tomas Estrada-Palma

Breakfast in Paradise

Breakfast in Paradise

Talking with Cuban exiles can be a sad experience. Hearing all the tales of past abuse and pain can be very difficult. But talking to an actual Cuban living in Cuba today is incredibly depressing and frustrating. No, I’m not talking about one of the hundreds of journalists being starved and tortured in Raul’s dungeons. I can’t even imagine that so I won’t insult their painful life and even try. That would be disrespectful. One would have to actually go through this Gestapo treatment to know. What I’m talking about are the regular Cubans trying to survive on the island today.

I spoke again to Fidel yesterday and I’ll most likely speak with him today before I go to work. No…not Castro. But if I were to give my friend’s real name we would have one more political prisoner being tortured in the gulag so I’ll call him Fidel. Fidel is young and educated. He has a professional job in Cuba. He knew all about my great grandfather and found it difficult to believe I am related. After a bit of evidence he finally did believe me. He tells me my great grandfather is one of his heroes. When I told him I want to send the Canadian tourists packing he laughed and agreed with me. Then he warned me to be cool. He reminded me that he still lives under the oppressor. Fidel can see some of the world because of the Internet but it is hard to look at it because he lives in such poverty. He is so very depressed and hopeless. I assured him that I will do everything in my power to change things and anyone who knows me understands that my promise is a fact. I go to work, I sleep but otherwise I obsess over how to free Cuba. But Fidel tells me that some people have been saying for forty-eight years that things will get better. He no longer believes that will ever happen. Fidel has been trying to eat promises but he would rather have food. He is always hungry.

He never gets breakfast. There is none available. As he was telling me this I wondered what Virgin Atlantic’s CEO Richard Brandson had for breakfast that day. I wondered what Thomas Cook’s Manny Novoa ate. Did Sherritt International’s CEO Ian Delaney chow down on some Canadian bacon and eggs this morning? I knew if they didn’t it was out of choice but choice is not something that Fidel has on his menu. As I mentioned previously his father needs medicine but Raul’s miracle medical system cannot or will not provide it for him so he will die prematurely. I try to boost Fidel’s spirits and promise we are working to bring him a brighter future. Great but he tells me he needs food now - today. However Fidel tells me he is not a beggar and will work for money. That is the Cuban people – very proud. They are not a nation of people prone to beg but now they are desperate and hungry. So I’m trying to figure out how to send Fidel twenty bucks but he warns me that Raul will steal it if given a chance. He also tells me in Cuba a twenty they call an eighteen. That’s because Raul grabs two dollars right off the top at the dollar store as a tax for using American money. So if you are trying to get money to relatives and friends please used euros or pound sterling and not dollars. However Fidel wants to work for the money because Cubans hate the idea of groveling for charity. But I assured him it was just an advanced payment. When I come down there as soon as we boot Raul from power I will need a guide so it will just be his salary for showing me around. He liked that idea.

Fidel says his shoes are broken and he must walk 5 kilometers a day. He wanted to know why I wanted to help Cubans. I told him because he was not eating regularly and he and other Cubans needed our help. I tried to put a philosophical happy face on the prospects for the future but Fidel said without food he cannot think.

So we began a discussion of baseball. Fidel is a Yankee fan but in Cuba his team is the Havana Industriales who won the championship last year. He says they are like the Yankees of Cuba. Fidel says their biggest rival is Santiago de Cuba which is the region my family hailed from. The Industriales’ power hitter is Alex Mayeta and that Yoandri Urgelles had pitched a three hitter. He said the best pitcher in the World Baseball Classic was Cuban Yadel Marti. Fidel thinks his team’s record is about 41 and 30. He planned on seeing the game later that evening. We talked about how competitive Cuban teams would be against the major leaguers and the new Nationals team in DC. We talked about Cuban pitcher Livan Hernandez. We reminisced about the old Washington Senators and the time I met Frank Howard. We remember the bad luck the Yankees had last year especially the relief pitcher that died in the small plane crash.

We began discussing our families. Fidel was very curious about my family background and how I came to have two last names. I told him the story of how my great, great grandmother had been marched to her death by the Spanish during the war for independence and my great grandfather out of respect added her maiden name, Palma, to the Estrada family name out of respect. He gave me all of his family information but I obviously cannot discuss that here. We had a discussion on poverty in both our countries and we agreed there was far more in Cuba then here. I told him about my job at the Washington Post where it really is the worker’s paradise. I kept telling him about life in America. I told him of my car woes trying to keep them running but he said he has never owned a car. We laughed when we compared life in our Cuban families where everyone is talking loudly all at the same time but no one seems to be listening. He asked if it was true that my great grandfather was responsible for the Americans being in Guantanamo Bay and I explained that it was partially true. My great grandfather signed the original lease but that was to run for 99 years so would have expired by now if a future Cuban president had not amended it to an open ended lease. He asked if my famous ancestor had left me a fortune and I laughed as anyone who knows me would understand. I reminded him that my great grandfather was the only Cuban president to die a pauper wandering the streets of Bayamo. This is a fate that will not befall either of the Castro boys. I told him in fact that Castro had stolen my grandfather’s retirement pension causing him to be supported by my father in his last years.

We compared our personal preference in music. Fidel likes country and jazz but was familiar with my favorite Jim Morrison and the Doors. I started reciting some of my favorite lyrics and he was impressed I could do so. I turned him onto some Internet things I knew about.

The news was on the TV so I began telling him what was happening which he seemed to enjoy. Timely, truthful news is hard to come by in Cuba. I told him about the horrible Indonesian plane crash with the survivors struggling away for the plane. But he returned to thinking about food. He said cows left Cuba in 1959. I told him I knew as Castro had slaughtered all my family’s cattle at the time and the people had fresh meat – for two weeks. Fidel groaned that today he would have is normal lunch of a bit of bread and some sugar water. Then I told him Scooter Libby was convicted but that Bush could always pardon him. I explained that I had a hundred stations on the tube but there was hardly ever anything worth watching. He said in Cuba there are five stations but they all suck. I told him how lucky he was, for not having to watch Geico Gecko commercials. We discussed toilets and how ours’ were highly regulated as well as how obsessed Americans were about their bathrooms. He thought that funny and we had a good laugh together. I told him another roadside bomb blew up in Iraq killing a bunch of Shiites. We talked about how politics sucked for both of us. I explained that we have 6 computers and a laptop at home all networked together so everybody in the family could have use of a computer on demand. This was beyond his conception of things and he pondered how rich I must be. I explained that these all were used computer purchases and that they were cheap and widely available. He told me with one computer he would be able to earn money to survive but regular Cubans are forbidden to own them. So tourists can comfort themselves in believing that the embargo has made Cubans poor and that the embargo on freedom to use the tools of the 21^st Century by their own government has nothing to do with it. But you kid yourself so you can’t see your own cruelty to the Cuban people.

I kept worrying that our conversation would get him into trouble but he insisted he didn’t care anymore. I told him to stop talking foolishness. That he must take precautions and survive to see a better day. I reminded him that he is young and has his whole life ahead of him while Raul is old and ready to die. Cubans already assume Fidel Castro is dead despite what the government asserts. Cubans are not dumb.

To lighten the air a bit I told him Britney Spears shaved her head and along with Paris Hilton have taken to not wearing underwear and giving the media photographers a peek for their cameras. He got a good laugh out of that but said he didn’t care for Britney’s music. I said we were agreed on that fact. I told him gasoline had gone to $3 a gallon in California and he said for $3 his whole family could eat. Every conversation topic seemed to always drift back to food or more precisely the lack of it. I told him for that money all I get is a double espresso and 75 cents change. I explained it was almost nine bucks just to get a burrito at Chipole’s but that I mostly brown-bag it to work. I had to explain the brown bag concept. I told him how my co-workers were always worried about money and making ends meet. For $250 they can get front brakes put on but that the mechanic was sure to say that their “johnson rods” were shot, playing on a Seinfeld comedy bit and that it would cost them another thousand to fix that. This he found very amusing and he understood why I do my own repairs. I told him of my wife calling to say one repair man was saying my truck needed bearings and that I told her to tell him to shut up and just puts new tires on the truck. He laughed when I explained that I have replaced virtually every component on the truck during the last eight years – EXCEPT the bearing! He said he had only taken the bus and this thing they call the “camel” which I think is a trailer looking thing that is hauled behind a semi. He's never owned a car.

I told him my humiliating experience picking up the translation from a Japanese translator’s house years ago with a hole in my sox then having to remove my shoes exposing my big toe to politely enter the Japanese home. He got a good laugh at my humiliation which made me feel good. I reminded Fidel that I was home sick and asked if people usually got colds down there in the winter and he said, “No way.” Then he reminded me how nice the weather was there, which was a small measure of revenge for our living standard. But he said he would trade in a second. We talked football and I told him what a capitalist dog Danny Snider was giving away free salty chips on fan appreciation day then charging us $8 for a half pint of water. Again he laughed and I relived the days of Jack Kent Cook and the glory days of the Redskins.

We discuss many more topics and I’m hopeful we will have many more conversations. I will keep you informed my readers. But again I must warn you tourists and capitalists. Cubans do not like you there or here in the US. Raul is lying to you about everything. Look how he is treating his own people so cruelly. Do you really expect fair treatment by him in the long run? At least you WILL be treated fairly by the Cuban people one day. But I can absolutely promise you that you will not be happy about it. Still you will be a million times happier that the poor Cuban people are today. Fidel was hopeful that dinner that night would offer a few more calories to him but tomorrow would bring only more despair. Again I beg you all to stop helping Raul.

Tomás Estrada-Palma

Week One Cuba Libre

Week One Cuba Libre

In the first week of Cuba libre the best thing the Cuban government in transition can do is get out of the way. Humanitarian aide will begin to flood in bringing desperately needed medicine, doctors and other vital supplies. Now is the time to reverse 48 years of bungled central planning but it will not be accomplished overnight. However, it will not take forever either.

The NUMBER ONE CONSIDERATION will be the poor Cuban people and meeting their immediate needs. Medical and critical dietary necessities will be initially filled by the exiles and relief agencies (NGO’s). The next most pressing need is housing. I have already proposed that Cubans be given title immediately to the property which they occupy for their residence. From the very beginning of this fresh start for Cuba we must implement a sensible tax policy that will cause investment to flood into Cuba. Therefore I advocate the single tax – a tax on land location value. The most expensive properties will be in central Havana. When corporations realize that they will pay no income tax, capital gains, corporate tax, import or export tax or any tax other than a simple location tax based on the value of the property they wish to occupy for their operations in Cuba they will fall over one another rushing in to set up shop. They will bid against one another to buy up Havana property from the new Cuban owners. I recommend that the purchase price for a given property be the highest offered along with modular housing units to serve as temporary housing. Each Cuban citizen will ink his own deal with these corporations. But the main idea is the corporation does not take possession of the downtown location until it has shipping in replacement housing for the former Cuban owners or built a new residence for them a bit farther out from the business center of Havana in areas deemed appropriate as well as arranged to pay any additional money owed to the Cuban family. The necessary electric, water, sewer and other infrastructure should be provided by private entities who would buy this right from the Cuban government to service a particular area or Cubans could set up their own coops to provide these things within a homeowner’s association setup.

Next we should return seized business property to the former business owners who wish to return to restart their business operations in Cuba. These businesses should be given a land tax break commensurate with their loss under the Castro regime which will satisfy any claim against the Cuban people legally.

Property that is owned solely by the Cuban government should be sold to private interests with the proceeds being poured into rebuilding roads and other vital public infrastructure. In addition, to raise more revenue the government should sell off all state owned industries to the highest bidder or turn them over to the former employees to operate for profit. Other rights should also be auctioned off such as broadcast frequencies for TV and radio, cable and satellite, telephone land lines and cell providers, oil drilling rights and mining complete with a resource depletion tax for whatever they extract and the list could go on for quite awhile but you get the idea. Millions will flow into the Cuban treasury overnight.

Former Cuban farmers and ranchers who wish to return to this life should be given their property back so production of food will meet the needs of the Cuban people without having to resort to any imports in the future. Cuba will very rapidly become a food exporter again. But you have people like me who are old and have no desire to become a rancher or farmer. We should still be compensated. For our situation just being given a piece of appropriate land with which to build a retirement home would suffice nicely. Cuban exiles that lost residences should be given government land appropriate for development as compensation for this new housing. In these cases we should also receive some relief from initially paying our land tax as compensation for our family’s losses under Castro.

What all of the above will also cause is an enormous building boom and that requires workers. Initially, Cubans will fill these jobs as well as providing the services for the corporations flooding into Cuba. Initially, I recommend doing everything in dollars. But within a few years the dollar will not be able to compete with the Cuban peso’s value which will be superior under this economic policy. There will be no income tax so every dollar a Cuban earns he keeps and the corporations will have no withholding duties or other such paper requirements cutting their overhead costs.

In short, under this economic plan the rest of the world will not be able to compete with the Cuban model and will eventually be forced to adopt it or fall farther behind Cuba. Better than even full employment, Cuba will very soon have a shortage of workers in relation to the number of jobs needed to be filled. This will constantly drive up wages and benefits as employers compete with one another for limited workers. Finally, Cuban money should be stabilized by tying its value to commodities like gold so in the future it will not be legal to inflate the peso. That will guarantee the solvency of the currency and keep Cuba’s economy forever on sound footing. All we have to do now is be rid of the tyrant Raul. He will be the only loser under this plan.

Tomás Estrada-Palma

Cuba: Hunger and Despair

Cuba: Hunger and Despair

I know you tourists and capitalists want to believe that you are somehow helping Cuba. I just finished a four hour conversation with; well…I’ll call him Fidel for the irony of it all. But I’m protecting this person. But the irony is Fidel didn’t really care really anymore. Though, I suspect Fidel would feel differently if the worst were to happen and Fidel had to go to the death camps or dungeons.

I asked Fidel: “What’s the mood in Cuba?”

Fidel said: “Sad…hopeless…”

Then Fidel told me how hungry he was just for something to eat. That it would be a good day if Fidel could just fill his stomach. Although he has a better than average job, meaning he earns $20 per month instead of the average $15, it was not adequate to buy enough food to stave off hunger. Most Cubans are not starving, though a few are out of sheer neglect, they are being denied adequate calories to lead a healthy life. They are consuming less than 1000 calories per day. They are not receiving adequate intake of protein, vitamins and minerals. Meat is rarely available unless you have hard currency. Their health is, as a nation, in a slow decline. Adding to Fidel’s woes, his father needs medicine but the marvelous Cuban health care system can’t provide it – at least not to regular Cubans. In his father’s case, this WILL lead to his premature death. But you will never hear it reported that way by the Cuban health authorities who even tried to cover up a dengue fever outbreak so as not to scare away you tourists.

So why is this all happening? Well it is sort of a hybrid between a southern slave plantation and the company store in Cuba. It is a slave plantation because Raul Castro can tell anybody on the island what to do, forbid them to leave and execute or imprison them. This is the definition of slavery. But Cuba is also like the company store run by the old West Virginia coal mines. The store owns all the housing and can raise the rent whenever they want or kick you into the street. Yes Cubans pay rent to Raul’s government so who owns Cuba? But in this perverse setup there is a dual marketplace in Cuba or two company stores. One is for the average Cuban where food cost almost nothing but in these stores there is virtually nothing available to buy. The other company store is well stocked with provision but you must pay in dollars or euros. Fidel tells me a Cuban cannot live on his government salary. They must find some way to hustle a few dollars or they WOULD starve. But earning any income outside of your government salary, whether through prostitution or just selling candy on the street, can bring you a steep fine. But no matter how much hard currency Cubans earn Raul can always raise prices. He’s got the only company store in town. So if you think your tourist dollars are helping Cubans you are mistaken. No matter how many dollars filter their way down to regular Cubans, and that is a microscopic amount in relation to Raul’s take, the company store can always raise the prices. Then Cubans are right back where they started – hungry.

What’s the answer? It is so very simple. Cubans will survive the next six months if you stop supporting Raul’s plantation with your tourist dollars. But without these and the western built tourist infrastructure Raul surely would not. Raul has very adequate holdings in other countries to satisfy the needs of him and his family. He will not spend them to stay in power. As soon as he cannot make anymore money he will leave. Then we can get these lovely people a decent meal and show them how to fend for themselves.

Tomás Estrada-Palma

General Quarters

General Quarters

Below is a list of some of the known Real Estate holdings of the Castro boys. I propose that the Cuban general who arrests Raul Castro (Fidel is probably too senile for prosecution, if he’s not dead already) be given his choice of one of these multi-million dollars properties as a reward for freeing the Cuban people.

1. Castle in Austria
2. Large ranch in Galicia, Spain
3. Large ranch in Monterrey, Mexico
4. Large ranch near New Delhi, India
5. There are reportedly properties in France, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Italy, Bahamas, Tanzania, and Egypt, and properties in Ecuador under the control of Raúl and his wife's family.

There you have it men…take your pick. All you have to do is arrest this traitor to the Cuban people so he may be justly prosecuted and punished. Besides being a hero to all Cubans you will have a nice family home for your patriotic effort. It’s long past due for Raul to do the “perp’ walk” before the Cuban people.

Tomás Estrada-Palma

Delusional Hypocrisy

Delusional Hypocrisy

You Canadian, European and South American tourists as well as you corporate CEO’s have deluded yourself into believing that you are helping the Cuban people while you are turning a buck or sunning. You are not! You are helping Raul turn the screws on the Cuban people and they despise you for it. YOU don’t allow Cubans to use their OWN beaches. YOU block fishermen from fishing their own waters to help feed their family so tourists can trophy fish. Then YOU all expect to be happily invited back once Raul is gone. You really are deluded and El Café Cubano Forum (a site that is fast becoming one of my favorites) can prove it. Your choice is simple. Look at this short video to discover the reality of life on Raul’s plantation or continue your delusion. If you decide to watch let it load for a half an hour or more so it won’t start and stop. I dare you to watch then tell me I’m wrong.

Tomás Estrada-Palma

Black Listed Companies

Black Listed Companies

Below, Cubanos, is a starting list of the biggest offenders who have decided to extract a profit in league with Raul Castro, on the backs of the 50 cents per day Cuban slaves. These companies and their CEO’s admit that they are carpetbaggers but they use warped rationalizations to justify helping themselves to the cheap labor to make a quick buck. For example, Merritt International pays Raul $2,700 per month for each Cuban geologist on the payroll. Then Raul pays the geologists $19 each per month and pockets the difference.

These are the biggest Cuban slave traders. These companies, their CEO’s and any employees who have worked in Cuba most definitely must be banned for life from even setting foot in Cuba if they don't mend their ways soon! Every single asset that Raul has not already stolen or used up will be seized by the Cuban people for slave reparations. As you are kicked out of Cuba the rest of the world will be invited in to do legitimate business and earn an honest profit. This is the one fact that unifies both the exile and island population. So keep believing Raul’s shills that tell you how much the Cuban people love you. We all despise you and condemn you for helping Raul enslave the Cuban people. Here they are:

Sherritt International Corp. – CEO Ian Delaney - $650 million invested in Cuba

Miramar Mining which is run by CEO Berukoff owns, Con Gold Mining in the Northwest Territories.

Air Canada

Virgin Atlantic Airlines – CEO Richard Branson

Thomas Cook Tours – CEO Manny Novoa

Pierre Trudeau

New York Medical, Inc.

Wilton Properties Ltd.

Pizza Nova

Delta Hotels of Toronto

Holmer Gold Mines, Ltd

MacDonalds Mine Exploration, Ltd. – CEO Frank Smeenk

CaribGold Resources, Inc.

Saskatchewan Opportunities, Ltd.

Grupo Domos, Mexican telecommunications company

Western Mining of Australia

Spain's Hotel Melia

All Chinese government investment

However, Fracmaster Ltd. pulled out after 3 years after taking big losses which should be punishment enough. I say companies that learned their lesson and pulled out of Raul’s slave plantation be given a second chance. Everybody makes mistakes. They have done the right thing even if for the wrong reason so let’s concentrate on punishing those who continue to abuse the Cuban people.

Again, I call on these companies to leave Cuba today and contact us about agreeing to a settlement for this damage. Everyday you remain will cost you more and if you are still there when we kick Raul out - you will be banned, period! Cubanos, please send me the names of additional violators and I will post them.

Tomás Estrada-Palma

Day One Cuba Libre

Day One Cuba Libre

It is really important to describe what Day One Cuba Libre will be like. The first day should be about celebration and not retribution or revenge. Hopefully, once we make it impossible to earn any hard currency then Raul and all the top crooks will take their loot and escape removing the need for the Romanian Treatment. Cubans just wake up one morning to find that the rats have abandoned the sinking ship. Here is what I advocate for day one:

1. About 600 foreign firms have opened offices in Havana. These will be the best appointed facilities to house the government in transition. Therefore, all foreign personnel currently manning these offices will be deported that day and these offices will be seized as partial compensation to the Cuban people for the use of the transitional government. The government in transition should be a collection of leading dissidents and key exiles that have expertise in economics, construction, law enforcement and other social policy. The make-up of this government in transition should be decided on immediately and I call on my fellow bloggers to compile this list. I believe time is of the essence.
2. Accept everyone’s resignation from employment with the government of Cuba – EVERYBODY. The police should disarm, lock up the guns and turn over the keys to the transitional government and go on holiday like everyone else.
3. As ton of goods begin to pour into Cuba, along with tens of thousands of exiles bringing supplies and food and drink, the Cuban people will be able to take this break but also enjoy a fiesta of great food and drink and merriment before they have to get back to work rebuilding Cuba. However, during this celebration the transitional government will be doing the following:
1. Securing all foreign property and cataloging it
2. Deporting the foreign personnel
3. Secure the broadcast facilities then broadcast every second that the government meets and what policy they are enacting
4. Set a date (with-in 6 months) to hold local, provincial and national elections and the criteria to follow. Again bloggers this is something that must be worked out yesterday so get busy, especially you computer wiz kids who could create a computer PC based election system which we could have ready to import
5. Officially convert all foreign operations into corporations with the stock in these ventures divided equally among the former Cuban employees
6. Open an office to register complaints against former regime members for prosecution and nominate then elect judges to rule on these cases. Exile lawyers should already be drawing up this process. Time is of the essence.
7. Deport all tourists immediately and officially open Cuba for tourist not connected with the former criminal regime.
8. Open a Title Office to legally give ownership to the poor residents for their living space.
9. Open a Privatization and Compensation Office to sell off all state owned industries to anyone not connected with the former regime or as compensation for enterprises that were illegally seized by Castro.

4. Declare a holiday for the foreseeable future and open the beaches and other tourist areas to all Cubans.

Sure there is still plenty more to do but in due time. This is just the first day.

Tomás Estrada-Palma

Hate Canadians?

Hate Canadians?

Do I hate Canadians? It would be easy to hate Canadians for supplying Raul with the vital revenue necessary to pay for his police gang. After all, you Canadians, Europeans and other tourists are Raul’s last hope of staying in power. Without your money his terror apparatus would collapse in a matter of months. He and his brother have already mismanaged every other nook and cranny of the Cuban economy. After the Soviet Union collapsed following this exact business plan the country was heading south fast and people were actually beginning to revolt. Castro, realizing that he himself was a moron about matters of economic investment and management, decreed that capitalist dogs like Sherritt International, Thomas Cook and Virgin Atlantic, Spanish construction firms and many others seeking to profit on the backs of everyday Cubans’ fifty cents per day labor pool, be invited into Cuba for joint ventures. Of course most of these capitalists are very sorry they ever got into this swindle. So if you think Raul gives a rat’s ass about you tourists, this is how he treats his A-list customers. But that’s another story.

To answer my initial question – no, I do not hate any of you travelers. It is true that you all as a group are ignorant and too selfish to take the time to find out the truth about Cuba in lieu of using that time to soak up some rays at Plantation Raul. But life takes from the takers and gives to the givers. You cosmic types probably know it as karma. So even though I do not hate you and I believe that your cruelty to Cubans is not driven by malice but by ignorance, you ALL are doing a very bad thing by giving Raul your money. Therefore, in the universal scheme of things, even though you can claim ignorance, you will be punished for those bad things. It is just the way of things. The reason most never make the connection is because it doesn’t happen like on TV where the villain is punished before the credits start rolling every week. It may be decades from now when that horrible thing happens to you and you ask yourself: “Why? Why me?” Now you don’t need to ask. Bon Voyage…

Tomás Estrada-Palma

Canadian Tourists Look Here

Canadian Tourists Look Here

This link, sent to us from Cubanology explains to young people that Che is not a hero but a mass murderer. But you will also find a slide show at the end which shows how Castro has used your tourist dollars to spruce the place up. Gee, these Cubans who are not permitted to even get close to tourists, don't seem to be as happy as those who grovel before you Canadian tippers at the hotel. They look a bit desperate and angry. But you Canadians and Europeans think these poor people just love you tourists so much that they would never, ever put something nasty into your food or drink. "Boy...another Margarita! And make it snappy!"

Tomás Estrada-Palma