Back in the fall and winter of 1964, my brother and I started school in Wisconsin and would hear a lot about “Ricky Ricardo”. It did not take long for us to figure out that Lucy’s husband was the only Cuban that they knew about.
Desi was born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III on this day in 1917. His father was a politician and mayor of Santiago de Cuba, or the second largest city in the island.
In the 1930’s, Mr Arnaz sent Desi and his wife to the US. He joined them a little late.
In the US, Desi worked in odd jobs and eventually found himself playing “bongos” on stage. In 1940, he met Lucy and they were married quickly. They worked separetly for most the 1940s until the idea of “I love Lucy” in 1951.
Banner at a protest in Venezuela: “Socialism is killing us”
The Democrat Party’s leading voices are embracing socialism as a “kinder, gentler” system of government. What none of them will tell you or admit, however, it is that same socialism that is starving, oppressing, and killing Venezuelans.
One would think watching what socialism is doing to Venezuela would be enough for Democrats to at a minimum question socialist policies if not completely abandon the failed idea. But it is really no surprise none of them have done so. If you can write off the lives of 100-million killed by socialism over the past 100 years, you can certainly ignore a few thousands Venezuelans murdered and millions more starving in brutal oppression.
Venezuela and the Myth of Kinder, Gentler Socialism
Venezuela is a socialist country. Venezuela is also a dictatorship. Currently, Venezuela has fallen into open violence and complete chaos, with the strongman Nicolas Maduro ordering troops to open fire on those attempting to bring humanitarian aid into the country.
Yet, strangely, Maduro still has his defenders.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the leading declared Democratic 2020 presidential candidate and avowed socialist, refuses to label Maduro a “dictator.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in full 9/11 truther mode, “Democrats need to be careful about a potential trap being set by Trump et al in Venezuela. Cheering humanitarian convoys sounds like the right thing to do, but what if it’s not about the aid?”
Fresh face of the Democratic Party Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has remained shockingly silent about Venezuela, except to tell The Daily Caller News Foundation, “I think that, you know, the humanitarian crisis is extremely concerning but, you know, when we use non-Democratic means to determine leadership, that’s also concerning, as well.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., another fresh face of the Democratic Party, grilled U.S. envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams in an obvious attempt to stall on behalf of a gentler approach to Maduro.
Why the shocking unwillingness by the socialist hard-liners in the Democratic Party to condemn Maduro and join the rest of the world in calling for his ouster?
After all, we’ve been assured by Sanders, AOC, Omar, and others that true socialism isn’t at stake in Venezuela—true socialism can be found in nations like Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Yet even so, these socialist Democrats can’t find it in their hearts to cut ties with Venezuela.
How strange.
Perhaps it’s because Sanders and his crowd understand full well that Venezuela is an excellent case study in socialism—nationalization of major industries by a centralized government, abolition of the profit motive, and redistribution of resources via tyranny.
A crowd outside a market hoping to find some cooking oil in Sagua la Grande.
Polling
places for the referendum last Sunday never achieved the snapshot of a
long, full line, stretching around the corner. The great winner of the
day was without a doubt vegetable oil for cooking, a product that has
been missing, capturing people’s interest and worry in many parts of the
national territory. That “candidate” did manage to convene multitudes.
The shortage of food has been worsening in recent weeks until now it
is the turn of cooking oil, a basic ingredient in the domestic kitchen.
The scarcity has provoked scenes like the one in this photo, in Sagua la
Grande, Villa Clara, where residents crowded together for hours in
front of a store to buy the product. The image has been repeated all
over the Island and is sparking fears of the return of the so-called Special Period, the economic crisis sparked by the end of the Soviet Union’s subsidies to Cuba.
With a culinary tradition in which fried foods, the wide use of
animal fats, and vegetable oils abound, for the majority of Cuban
families the lack of these ingredients turns into a grave problem.
Almost three decades ago, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end
of the Soviet Union, tricks to substitute oil for frying foods
proliferated.
People learned to recycle the oil they used again and again,
something that specialists advise against for its negative effects on
health, but they also substituted the product with that of a mineral
origin, taken fundamentally from pharmacies, where it is used for the
preparation of various compounds. Now, many Cubans fear having to return
to those practices and try to stick up on liters of the scarce
merchandise.
“If you see oil somewhere, buy me some because I’m preparing for what
comes,” one resident was yelling to another from a balcony in Old
Havana. “I can do without everything, coffee, chicken, and even bread,
but without oil I get depressed right away,” she added. “Right away I
remember the year ’91 and everything that came after.”
I’m not sure if Desi Arnaz was the first Cuban American on television when I Love Lucy premiered in 1951, but he was certainly the most famous and the most loved.
Today, March 2nd, Desi Arnaz would have turned 102 years old. We wish Desi a happy birthday because although he may not be with us in person, he is always with us in spirit.
Growing up in Miami, I Love Lucy reruns were a daily ritual for me after school. For a kid who was as much Cuban as he was American, it was the only show on television I could truly relate to.
Desi introduced Spanglish for the first time to an American television audience. But to a Cuban American kid growing up in Miami’s Little Havana switching back and forth between English and Spanish with a few Spaniglish words mixed in, it seemed perfectly natural.
Not only did Desi Arnaz leave his mark on countless Cuban Americans like myself, he also left his mark on American television. Desi was loved by all and continued to be admired and celebrated into his golden years.
Even Google is celebrating Desi’s birthday today with his very own Google Doodle:
As many of you may already know, this blog is named Babalú because of Desi Arnaz. Not only because I was always a big fan and because of all of Desi’s accomplishments and fame, and his love for Cuba, but because whenever someone that is not Cuban hears the word “babalú” they usually remember Desi’s Ricki Ricardo – Lucy’s Cuban bandleader husband on I love Lucy – on the congas with his famous “Babalú. Babalúúú“. I knew that once folks heard that name, they would immediately think “Cuban.”
Felicidades, Desi. Gracias por enriquecer nuestras vidas con to talento y tu amor. Y por hacernos todos orgullosos de ser cubanos.
Beginning in the heyday of socialism and communism in the 20th century, the media has had a habit of whitewashing or ignoring the human rights atrocities and mass murders committed by socialist dictatorships. Nearly a century later, that moral myopia continues.
Venezuela: Why Was the Pemon Massacre Ignored by Mainstream Media Outlets?
The Venezuelan military opened fire on indigenous Pemon people near the Venezuelan-Brazilian border last week; yet, the incident was largely ignored by the mainstream media.
The international mainstream media is generally eager to report on stories involving indigenous populations who are being discriminated against or abused by the powerful: governments, multinational corporations, wealthy landowners, farmers, oil pipelines. The Standing Rock protests in North Dakota were a classic example of this. The incident pitted a Native American tribe attempting to protect their ancestral land against the alleged environmental ravages of the Dakota Access Pipeline, a massive project designed to transport oil beneath the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, from the Bakken oilfields of North Dakota to southern Illinois.
[…]
In the remote Amazonian jungles of southeastern Venezuela, and northern Brazil, the Pemon remain one of the poorest tribes on the South American continent.
For anyone who thinks that the twenty year political project of Chavismo served to further the interests of the poor and weak, the Pemon represent a striking counter-example. They, along with several other indigenous tribes mainly in remote eastern Venezuela, have suffered greatly during the six disastrous years of Maduro’s rule.
Despite the proclamations of an army of pro-Maduro propagandists who deemed the humanitarian aid to be merely a pretext for military invasion, the Pemon enthusiastically welcomed the efforts of the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, in conjunction with British billionaire Richard Branson, to bring supplies of much-needed food and medicine into Venezuelan territory.
When members of the Pemon tribe observed a Venezuelan military convoy speeding towards the Brazilian-Venezuelan border, with the intent of preventing the entrance of humanitarian aid, they decided to take matters into their own hands. In the southeastern Venezuelan village of Kumaracupay, 40 miles from the border, they attempted to block Highway 10, and prevent the arrival of the soldiers.
They were met with live ammunition from the Venezuelan military.
The first victim was identified as Zoraida Rodríguez, 40, who died of a gunshot wound. A second as-of-yet unidentified victim died later at a local hospital.
A dozen wounded were also taken to the hospital. One man, Alberto Delgado, spoke forcefully about why he came to protest against the Venezuelan military, and how the Chavista regime has impacted his life, and that of his family:
“I did this for my grandfather, who has been sick in bed for six years; I did this for my uncle Jorge William, who is in a wheelchair; I’m doing this for my uncle, Cipriano López, who is doing dialysis every week and we have to spend money…I was shot in both legs and I hope that all Venezuelans see this. The only person responsible is named Maduro and he has to leave now. We’re going to get this criminal out.”
For those Democrats in Congress who refuse to label Maduro a dictator, perhaps they should speak with Alberto Delgado and the members of his tribe.
UN Human Rights Council covers up famine in Venezuela & places Che Guevara’s image on display
On the eve of the start of observing the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this blog highlighted some of the shortcomings of the United Nations and called on UN officials to engage in a serious and “profound reflection” on their actions to ensure that they do not continue undermining their own mission. Sadly, this advise was not heeded.
Ideas have consequences and those ideas are sometimes represented by iconic images. This is the case with the image of Ernesto “Che” Guevara and the philosophy of political action that he advocated and that others seek to emulate.
It is disappointing and an outrage that the United Nations Human Rights Council would display the image of Che Guevara. The legacy of Che Guevara is a rejection of international human rights standards.
Consider that Guevara’s claim to fame was the role he played along with Fidel and Raul Castro in installing a totalitarian communist regime in Cuba and attempting to spread this model using violent means in Africa and Latin America. Guevara was executed summarily on October 9, 1967 in La Higuera, Bolivia after he and his band of guerrillas were captured trying to overthrow the government there and install a Castro style regime. His is a legacy of blood and terror that should be lamented not celebrated.
Despite this record, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decided on June 18, 2013 to add “The Life and Works of Che Guevara” to the World Registrar. UNESCO is providing funds to preserve Che Guevara’s papers.
There are consequences to having Guevara as an exemplar. The UN Human Rights Council’s longest-serving official Jean Ziegler is a Che Guevara admirer. Ziegler was appointed to the UNHRC in 2000 at the request of the Castro regime. He also created and won the “Qaddafi Human Rights Prize.”
This kind of moral bankruptcy extends beyond the symbolic to impacting the lives of millions.
UN experts continue to whitewash and cover up the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Venezuela. On February 28, 2019 UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer exposed the right to food expert’s cover up of the famine in Venezuela.
Many years ago, I watched Miñoso play in Cuba. My father used to take my brother and I to the Sunday baseball games in Havana. It was a treat even if I was too young to understand that I was watching a legend.
Cuban fans were often rough on Miñoso, who was a bit careful in the winter leagues. He didn’t slide as hard or take the extra base like he did in the majors. He was sensational in the outfield and I recall a running catch that afternoon. The fans loved and hated him.They understood that the great Miñoso had to save his body for the major league season up north. My guess is that the White Sox would have preferred to have Miñoso resting in the off season but the pressure to play was so intense. I’m sure that the money wasn’t bad either! Miñoso probably understood what he meant to Cuban baseball and the thousands of fans who adored him.
Like many of the other Cuban players, Miñoso moved north when the professional league was dissolved by the communists. He played a few more years until his retirement with the White Sox in 1964.
From our Bureau of Capitalists Who Seek To Profit From Communist Mass Murderers, a.k.a. our Bureau of Ironic Extremes and Colossal Hypocrisy:
Get a load of this. Two stories about Che idolary (Chedolatry) in one day.
First, the UN in Geneva. See that nauseating story posted here earlier today. Now, a capitalist franchise in England, Northern Ireland,and Scotland that owns a whopping 79 Che-and-Fidel-themed bar/restaurants.
Yes, a business that glorifies murderous dictators who hated private property and stole it, tried to do away with money, and killed anyone who dared to challenge them.
This story involves a bit of poetic justice. The “Revolucion de Cuba” chain has run into financial difficulties due to a loss of profits.
Profits! What would Che say?
Newcastle
Well….never mind….Now, instead of opening more Chedolatry pubs — as if 79 were not enough — these capitalists have to do a bit of belt-tightening and to scale back their plans.
Awwww. How sad. How tragic. Bloody Hell. What’s wrong with these Brits? Why aren’t they all flocking to these Chedolatrous pubs to get drunk under giant photos of sociopathic monsters?
And, awwwww, poor Hitler. When will he get his chain of pubs?
How long do we have to wait till we see “Drittes Reich,” “Sieg Heil,Führer”, “Get Blitzkrieged”, or “Mein Kampf, Mein Bier” pubs all over the map of the United Kingdom?
Maybe if they rename these unsuccessful Chedolatrous pubs “Dream Holiday,” or “Apartheid Paradise,” they’d attract more customers?.
Opening day at Revolucion de Cuba, Belfast
From Insider.com.UK:
Revolucion de Cuba pub chain blames rising costs and lack of investment for £3.5 million pre-tax loss
Boss says plan is in place to turn around fortunes of Che Guevara themed bars.
Bar group Revolution, which operates five sites in Scotland, today blamed rising costs and under-investment in its brand for a poor trading performance in the first half of the year.
The group has now put a halt to new bar openings and downgraded its profit guidance for the year as it focuses on returning to growth across its existing sites.
Revolution also said trading at the start of 2019 has been “challenging” with life-for-like sales down 7.3% in the 8 weeks to February 23, although recent weeks had seen an improvement….
… The company, which operates 79 Revolution and Revolución de Cuba bars including sites in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness, said like-for-like sales in the 26 weeks to December 29 declined 4% with pre-tax losses of £3.5 million. It warned that annual underlying earnings will be between £11 million and £12 million compared to a consensus estimate of £12 million.
The Habana Libre Hotel, an
emblem of the Cuban capital and the entire Island, has been converted,
lately, into a symbol of the times that are coming. Little by little,
the sign with the name of the celebrated lodging place has been losing
letters, a deterioration that has not escaped the popular humor, intent
on reading a code in the phrase that is left: “”bana Libre,” “na Libre,”
“a Libre” have been some of the final variations suffered by the
icononic blue lettering.
“Now we just need the “a” to drop off so that Cuba can be libre
(free) again,” joked a passer-by who stood for several minutes looking
up, waiting to witness the moment when “freedom comes,” at least on the
roof of the hotel that was managed by the American company Hilton before
the Revolution and from where Fidel Castro ruled the country during the
first months of 1959, and later, in 1960, the hotel was seized and
nationalized.
In 2018, the hotel celebrated six decades. With 27 stories and an
initial investment of 28 million dollars, the building has gone through
moments of light and shadow, years of glamor and others of frank
deterioration. But few Havanans remember an image like the current one,
with its sign falling apart.
The allegory seems appropriate a few days before the constitutional
referendum that has filled society with questions and officialdom with
fears. The 500th anniversary of the city’s founding will be celebrated
in 2019, and that has also contributed to the interpretation of that
progressive spelling as a sign of the changes that Cubans are asking
for.
Whether it is laziness or the result of some strong winds, the Habana
Libre has once again starred in the photos and selfies of those who
expect the uncomfortable letter “a” to fall, leaving only the word
“free” on top of one of the most famous buildings in the Cuban capital.
