Frances Martel in Breitbart:

Colombia: ‘Peace’ Deal Failed Because FARC Victims Refused to Forget

The Colombian government and leaders of the FARC terrorist organization have returned to negotiations following the narrow defeat of a brokered peace deal that would have allowed most FARC terrorists to return to civilian life without serving prison time and would have seen the group evolve into a Marxist political party.

President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), “Timochenko,” signed a peace agreement last week that would have allowed all FARC terrorists to return to civilian life if they handed over their weapons — and all those found guilty of only “political crimes” to escape prison time. The agreement would be viable only if the Colombian people, through a national vote, approved it. By a margin of less than one percent, Colombians voted “no” to the agreement.

In addition to impunity for “political crimes,” an undefined category, save for it being one of two potential verdicts in a special FARC court — the other being “crimes against humanity” — the FARC would have been allowed to launch candidates for political office and would have been given representation without being elected to the nation’s Congress. Election representation may have come in 2018, when FARC leaders said they would hope to launch their first round of candidates. The deal did not specify how the FARC would fund political campaigns; its extensive drug trafficking network has turned it into the wealthiest non-jihadi terrorist organization in the world.

[…]

Uribe, under whose tenure the FARC suffered the devastating losses that forced its leaders to retreat to Cuba, has been instrumental in pushing for the “no” vote. Following the vote, he told CNN he was “relieved” because, “for my country a ‘yes’ vote would have been more difficult.” He emphasized that those who support “no” do not want war: “We all want there to be no violence.”

The greatest evidence for this is that the vote was distributed nationally. The nation’s dense forest interior — the traditional FARC stomping grounds — voted in droves against the peace deal. The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo notes that among those towns overwhelming supporting the “no” vote were Planadas, the village known as the cradle of the FARC, and La Tebaida, Timochenko’s hometown. “Wouldn’t that be nice, handing the country over to the guerrillas?” an unidentified man snarked to an El Tiempo reporter in the latter location, where locals recall Timochenko as an avid reader and aggressive communist as a teen.

A man in Planadas explained his vote: “The guerrilla killed my wife and son, and I have seen too many atrocities and injustices to forget those horrible days.”

Read it all HERE.

Orlando Freire Santana in Diario de Cuba:

The wealth that irks Castroism

Ever since the Conceptualization of Cuba’s Socialist Economic and Social Model document was made public, its Section 104, referring to the prohibition against the concentration of property and wealth, was expected to be one of its most debated aspects.

But reality seems to have exceeded expectations. There has been barely a forum at which Section 104 has not come up for discussion. And there is bad news for supporters of reform: in most cases the Government’s proposal of impeding non-State actors from accumulating wealth has been supported. At least, this is the impression projected by the official press in reference to the most recent debates of the Conceptualization and the National Plan for Economic and Social Development until 2030.

A meeting of Popular Power delegates in Santa Clara, for example, endorsed “preventing the proliferation of a nouveau riche class in Cuba.” In that same city, but in a meeting with pro-Government journalists, the consensus was to inquire as “to what extent we will allow the concentration of wealth, so that no one thinks he is going to get rich at the people’s expense.”

In other cases the attacks on wealth have been launched from barricades alleging the “virtues” of socialism. The National Hotels and Tourism Union concluded that “it is not permissible for a concentration of wealth to violate the principles of socialism.” Meanwhile, workers in the Health sector in Bayamo called for “the State to regulate the concentration of property and wealth in the hands of non-State natural or legal persons in a manner consistent with the principles of our socialism.”

The National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), with Miguel Barnet and Abel Prieto seated in the front row of the assembly, suggested that “self-employment should not allow anyone to get rich.”

Those who think this way do not seem to realize that these kinds of threats are likely to curb the desire to produce among the self employed, and usufruct and cooperative workers. Obviously nobody can sleep soundly when they suspect their business might be shut down the next day. Also unnerving is not knowing what kind of mechanism the Government might use to prevent the aforementioned enrichment. Indirect or economic methods could be applied – the least traumatic – but the dreaded direct or administrative measures, like those employed during the Revolutionary Offensive of 1968, are not off the table either.

So long as economic logic is subordinated to ideological logic, and until changes on the Island are wrested from the hands of Raul’s hardline henchmen, economic reform will go nowhere. It would behoove us to remind Cuba’s rulers of why China remained economically chronically stagnant before Deng Xiaoping came along: just to prevent a handful of Chinese from driving modern cars, the Maoists forced 800 million Chinese to ride bicycles.

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Cuban American comedian, Miami’s own Mario Ramil:

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No one is buying Hillary Clinton’s sudden interest in enforcing U.S. sanctions against Cuba’s murderously repressive apartheid dictatorship.

Via Capitol Hill Cubans:

Hillary Clinton Fails “Two Faces” (“Dos Caras”) Standard on Cuba

Hillary Clinton has launched a radio ad in South Florida attacking Donald Trump for Newsweek‘s allegations that he violated the Cuban embargo.

The ad is entitled “Two Trumps” in English and “Dos Caras” (“Two Faces”) in Spanish. It says:

“One Donald comes to sip cafecito Cubano and talk about the human rights abuses of Castro’s communist regime. The other Donald thinks because of his money and his businesses that he is above the law.”

As we’ve repeatedly posted, if Seven Arrows (a consulting firm Trump hired) didn’t obtain the appropriate OFAC license for its travel-related transactions, or lied about the purpose of the trip, there should be legal consequences against Seven Arrows and any Trump executives that knowingly colluded with it.

However, note how the ad fails to mention that Hillary Clinton supports lifting the Cuban embargo, President Obama’s lax enforcement of the embargo, or his efforts to encourage American businesses and travelers to skirt the embargo.

So let’s apply the “Two Faces” standard to Hillary:

“One Hillary talks about the human rights abuses of Castro’s communist regime. The other Hillary supports lifting the embargo to allow business deals with Castro’s communist regime“; or

“One Hillary attacks Donald Trump for allegedly violating the Cuban embargo. The other Hillary won’t press Obama to strictly enforce the Cuban embargo“; or

“One Hillary attacks Donald Trump for looking ‘to line his pockets’ in Cuba. The other Hillary supports Obama skirting the embargo to allow American hotel companies (Starwood) to cut deals with the Cuban military, which violate corporate ethics and international labor law“; or

“One Hillary attacks Donald Trump for looking ‘to line his pockets’ in Cuba. The other Hillary forgets that (Congressional records show) her brother-in-law, Roger Clinton, was ‘receiving substantial sums of money’ at the time to lobby then-President Bill Clinton on business in Cuba, while failing to register as a lobbyist“; or

“One Hillary attacks Donald Trump for putting his business ‘ahead of the laws and values’ that comprise the Cuban embargo. The other Hillary supports Obama skirting the embargo to allow banks (Stonegate) to finance transactions involving property stolen in Cuba from fellow Americans“; or

“One Hillary argues the Cuban embargo has ‘empowered extremists‘ in Cuba. The other Hillary instead supports cutting unethical business deals, and for corporate America to ‘line its pockets’, with those same ‘extremists’“; or

“One Hillary argues that the Cuban embargo has ‘prolonged repression‘ in Cuba. The other Hillary hides the fact that repression in Cuba has dramatically increased under Obama’s one-sided deal with Castro’s communist regime“; or

“One Hillary rejects ‘trickle-down economics’. The other Hillary supports Obama’s ‘dictator-down economics’ policy in Cuba, whereby business deals with Castro’s monopolies (Cuba’s 1%) will purportedly ‘trickle-down’ to the people.”

Et al.

By all measures, Hillary fails her own “Two Faces” standard on Cuba.

Depiction of Jesus Christ by some of the cheekier disciples of Liberation Theology–which (fervent death-penalty opponent) Tim Kaine considers “a great influence in his life,” as he boasted during last nights debate.)

“Certainly we execute!” boasted Che Guevara to the UN General Assembly Dec. 1964.  “And we will continue executing as long as it is necessary!” Those executions (murders, actually; execution implies a judicial process) had reached about 16,000 by the time of Che Guevara’s boast, the equivalent, given the relative populations, of almost a million executions in the U.S. (This figure comes from The Black Book of Communism, by the way, written by French scholars and published in English by Harvard University Press, neither outfit exactly a bastion of “Crazy! Embittered! Loud-Mouthed! Batistiano! Right-Wing! Cuban Exiles! With-An-Ax-To-Grind!”)

“The Catholic Church is against the death penalty and so am I.” (Tim Kaine Oct. 4th, VP debates.)

“In its far-flung pueblos…Mr. Kaine embraced an interpretation of the gospel, known as liberation theology…this was “the turning point in my life…I worked with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras now nearly 35 years ago –and  they were the heroes of my life,” according to Tim Kaine.

As revealed by KGB defector Ion Pacepa,  Liberation Theology (that “turned around (fervent death-penalty opponent) Tim Kaine’s life” was hatched by the KGB (the most murderous organization in the modern history of the human race,) and used mass-murderers Fidel Castro and Che Guevara as its idols!”

“Le RRRONCA!!!”

“I read Fontova’s book in two sittings…couldn’t put it down!” (Mark “The Great One!” Levin on Exposing the Real Che Guevara.)

A great service for human freedom. Every American should read Humberto Fontova’s book.” David Horowitz on (Fidel; Hollywood’s Favorite Tyrant.)

“Le ZZZUMBA!!!”

Shocking video taken on Sunday, October 2nd in Cuba shows the violent arrest of the Ladies in White by Castro State Security agents as they are dragged away just seconds after leaving their headquarters in Havana. Take a good look, this is what life is like for Cuban human rights and democracy activists in Obama’s Cuba.

More information on this video from the Coalition of Cuban-American Women:

Below, a link to a short video sent via email from Cuba by Angel Moya Acosta, an ex Cuban political prisoner of conscience and husband of Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White. It shows the violent arrest by gov’t forces (many in plainclothes) of human rights defenders, particularly members of this peaceful feminine group dressed in white in front of their headquarters located at: Calle E, #51 e/ Cumbre y Porvenir, Reparto Lawton, Municipio 10 de Octubre, Havana, Cuba on Sunday, October 2, 2016.

Take note:

1. Of the photographs at the beginning of the video showing operatives of the Cuban political police posted around the clock during the week at strategic corners in Havana, with the purpose of stopping and preventing the peaceful activists from leaving their homes and/or reaching the headquarters of the Ladies in White.

2. As the women exit their headquarters to attend mass at the Church of Santa Rita de Casia, they display a sign that reads: ALL FOR A FREE CUBA.

3. Agents take the Cuban flag away from Berta Soler, the leader of the Ladies in White, who is eventually carried away by her legs and arms. The activists are transferred in patrol cars to detention centers where they are subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment and conditions.

4. Children and adolescents are used as part of the Rapid Response Brigades (BRR) to scream insults at the activists as well as pick up and burn the pro-democracy leaflets, as well as copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the activists disperse in the street.

The Coalition of Cuban-American Women make the Cuban government responsible for the physical and mental well-being of all members of the peaceful human rights movement who struggle on behalf of freedom and justice for the Cuban people. The lives of these human rights defenders and their families in Cuba are in danger. We urgently request ongoing solidarity for these brave men and women in the island of Cuba from the international community: dignitaries, journalists, NGO’s and all men and women of good will in the world.

Mimi Whitefield reports via In Cuba Today:

Hurricane Matthew slams eastern Cuba in short dash across the island

Hurricane Matthew made a short, intense dash across the easternmost tip of Cuba Tuesday, toppling trees and power lines, washing out a bridge, sending waves crashing ashore and pelting communities with torrential rains.

High winds began whipping Cuba late Tuesday afternoon and just before 6 p.m. Matthew’s eye made landfall near Punta Caleta on the sparsely populated southeastern tip of Cuba. Highest sustained winds were near 140 mph.

Landfall was further east in Guantánamo province than originally forecast, putting more distance between densely populated areas and the U.S. Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay than initially anticipated.

Another fortunate break was that the Category 4 hurricane came ashore on one of the narrowest strips of Cuban territory. Instead of churning across the island for 12 hours, the eye exited near Baracoa on the northern coast only about two hours after coming ashore. Trailing hurricane-force winds were expected to impact the island until about 2 a.m. Wednesday.

In picturesque Baracoa, which has about 40,000 residents, waves reaching 10 to 13 feet crashed ashore and water streamed down the streets. The high winds downed many trees and electric wires. Tony Matos Romero, the head of the municipal defense council, said in a telephone interview with Cuban national television that the city was pelted by “intense, constant rain.”

Cubadebate, an official Cuban website, reported that a bridge in Imías, between Guantánamo and Baracoa, had fallen.

José Rubiera, Cuba’s chief hurricane forecaster, said in updates on Cuban TV that tropical-storm-force winds could affect the island as far west as Camagüey and Ciego de Avila and storm surges were expected to batter Cuba’s north coast from the eastern provinces to the central part of the island. On the southern coast, east of Cabo Cruz, storm surges of 7 to 11 feet were expected.

Continue reading HERE.

Jose Cardenas in National Review:

Why the Colombian People Rejected a Flawed ‘Peace’ Plan

Will the vote against President Manuel Santos’s FARC peace plan lead to renewed war?

Much as when Britons rebuffed the pleadings of international busybodies with their votes for Brexit, the Colombian people defied international expectations by voting to reject a “peace” plan with a narco-guerrilla conspiracy that has ravaged their country for five decades. The margin of victory was slim — less than a percentage point — but, coming after pre-referendum polls suggested an easy, double-digit win for the Yes camp, the result stunned proponents of the accord, leaving them dumbfounded and thrashing about.

Indeed, just as with Brexit, the irony of the Colombian peace deal is that it was always more popular abroad than it was at home, and, similarly, that hell hath no fury like international busybodies scorned. As a result of the vote, Colombians are being castigated for not knowing what is best for them, for the temerity of standing up for their perceived interests, and for rejecting “peace” in favor of “war.”

That is ridiculous. The Colombian people didn’t reject “peace”; they rejected a deal that they believed would never bring them genuine peace. Former Colombian minister and presidential candidate Marta Lucia Ramirez put it best when she wrote prior to the vote,

It is evident that after 50 years of killings, massacres, kidnappings, recruitment of minors, terrorism, drug trafficking, and millions displaced, the Colombian people long for peace. We are all for peace, but not all are in favor of an agreement that, to end the conflict with the FARC [Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, i.e., the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia], weakens our institutions and the rule of law, and permits crimes against humanity to remain without adequate sentences and those responsible to enter politics, with risks for the future of our democracy.

Four years in the making, the peace plan was Colombian president Manuel Santos’s shot at political immortality, succeeding where his predecessors failed in pacifying a country that had known only violence and criminality for several generations. However, much like the Alec Guinness character in the World War II–epic Bridge on the River Kwai, President Santos, in his zeal to achieve his objective, lost touch with the political realities of his country.

At issue for the many Colombians was the particularly lenient terms agreed to as regards justice and accountability for FARC leaders. Those guilty of human-rights abuses or crimes against humanity could avoid jail time by simply admitting guilt and making restitution to victims. Those involved in lesser crimes such as drug trafficking would be included in a general amnesty.

As far as political participation, the deal would have guaranteed the FARC a minimum of five seats in the lower house of the Colombian congress and five in the senate for two legislative periods, with guarantees of government protection and access to media. The deal would also lay the financial burden of reintegrating FARC foot-soldiers on the Colombian taxpayer, even as the FARC leadership sits on billions of dollars in ill-gotten cash stashed away in foreign bank accounts.

Clearly, those provisions were a bridge too far for the Colombian people, who don’t see the FARC as misunderstood agrarian reformers, but, rather, as cold-blooded killers who have raped and pillaged their way across the Colombian landscape for decades. Under Santos’s peace plan, they saw the FARC as simply picking a new means to wage their war against the state.

Continue reading HERE.

By Ivan Garcia in Translating Cuba:

Making a Living in Cuba on Gambling

Although the bleachers of the old stadium in Cerro are deserted, the overcast sky promises rain and the poor quality of the baseball game between Industriales and Sancti Spiritus invites a siesta, a chubby mulato with arms tattooed in Chinese writing — let’s call him Óscar — sits on the left side in the bleachers to place bets.

“Some years before, betting on baseball had more followers. But present-day baseball is so depressing that people prefer to see a European-league football [soccer] match. But there’s always something that comes along,” he says, agreeing to a bet of 10 Cuban convertible pesos (CUC) with a gray-haired man who smokes a mentholated cigarette.

There are various types of bets, explains Óscar. “There are bets that cover you, which are when you see you can lose, and then you opt for what we call rapid bets. An example: Ten pesos that some player is out or that the pitch is a strike. It’s really a booby trap, since in baseball there are more outs than hits or men on base, and the pitchers have to throw more strikes than balls.”

Bets or gambling where money flows is an old passion in Cuba. In the Republican era, the average Cuban played the lottery and the bolita or charada.* And he bet on cock fights, baseball games, or a match of billiards or dominoes.

A sector of the wealthy class went to the casinos and the grand Havana hotels to play roulette, dice or cards, or they went to the Hippodrome, to bet on the best horses. After Fidel Castro came down from the Sierra Maestra and took power, betting was prohibited.

Opportunistic soldiers and diehard supporters of the bearded revolutionaries wrecked the billiard tables, slot machines and roulette tables in the casinos with baseball bats and meat cleavers.

The delusional aim of the Castro brothers and the Argentine, Che Guevara, to construct a laboratory man who would work for free without pay, obey the Regime and hate Yankee imperialism, would happen, among other things, by prohibiting betting.

Cuban laws punish, with prison sentences that range from three months to five years, those who facilitate or manage illegal casinos, lotteries or make bets.

But the prolonged economic crisis that has lasted for 27 years has postponed alienating social experiments and their corresponding punishments.

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Eduardo EDO Sanabria: