US needs to keep past in mind with Cuba

[flamingdem]

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/u-s-needs-to-keep-past-in-mind-with-cuba-louis-a-perez-jr-1.9907498

To better assess the recent change in U.S.-Cuba relations, we need a fuller historical understanding.

Much of the discussion in the United States during the last some weeks has focused on undoing the effects of the past 50-plus years, a time that the Wall Street Journal has characterized as a period of "long-strained relations." But Cuba has experienced these years of "long-strained relations" very differently than the United States. In Cuba, this period of "long-strained relations" has signified half a century of sustained U.S. efforts at regime change, including punitive economic sanctions and political isolation, one-armed invasion, scores of assassination plots against the Cuban leadership and years of covert operations, including sabotage of Cuban agriculture, industry and transportation.

But that would be so simple a matter. In fact, Cuban memory reaches deeply into the past, to 150 years of U.S. policy dedicated to obstructing Cuban national sovereignty and self-determination. U.S. meddling in Cuban affairs has seared its way into Cuban memory, and must be understood as the context with which Cuba approaches dialogue with the United States.

[flamingdem]

1. In related news "Shark Week" will be filming in Cuba this week

or filmed there already, not sure, but heh.

[Judi Lynn]

2. You may remember that when Dubya was occupying the White House, some dingbats in Miami

claimed that Fidel Castro had trained sharks to make their way to Florida to munch people in the water to destroy Florida's tourist business. That was a year that saw a lot of Florida shark bites.

We never heard scientific confirmation that this had really happened. I wonder what that was!

(They also claimed that Castro had infected birds in Cuba and trained them to fly to Florida to cause the bird flu.)

Thanks for the "Shark Week" heads up.

[flamingdem]

5. I remember something like that

Well now we might get nostalgic for some of the looney things the M. Mafia tried to pull, or pulled.

Haven't made it yet to the Museum of the Ministry of the Interior where they display the cigar meant to blow up etc.

They need to put Rubio's photo in there, he's ready for the nostalgia museum already!

[Mika]

3. Ugh.

Can't stand that program that shows the murder of sharks.

I have dived around Cuban reefs for 4 decades.
There is coral depletion going on there from ocean warming and pollution, but, otherwise, the Cuban reef systems are pretty much untouched.

[flamingdem]

4. I'm assuming they have a plan to keep the reefs

alive even with an influx of tourism?

[Mika]

6. Me too. That's going to be the direction of my efforts there post travel normalization.

I hope and wish for the preservation of Cuba's natural and untouched reefs.
I have a BS degree in marine biology, and went to Cuba for coral studies under the auspices of the U of M school of marine biology (on Key Biscayne, Fla.).
Some of the most spectacular diving. Amazing corals, and such a spectrum of marine species.
The Cuban coast guard are very rigorous about dive boats using the pre-set anchorage points they've installed to prevent people from throwing anchors onto the reefs and destroying them. The dive boat captains have to submit an itinerary of locations they will be.

[flamingdem]

7. How great to be involved with that

Sounds like a critical area and really worthwhile, not to mention all the undersea beauty. It might be a challenge to control all the tourist dive boats.

Someday hope to get out there.