Socialism in Cuba collapsed long ago. What's left is basically an organized crime syndicate which retains total power through fear and intimidation, and which enriches itself through every means possible, and at the expense of the population.
The members of this Junta of approximately 15 Men never changes, except with a member's death and the possible succession of an underling. They include at the very top, the Castro Brothers, of course. Below them are two hardline "Comandantes Historicos", Machado Ventura and Ramiro Valdez (Valdez was the feared Internal Security Minister during the 'T aliban' years of the 1960's and 1970's). They are followed by leading officers in the FAR (Armed Forces) and the MININT (Interior Ministry). The most powerful among these, are Gen Abelardo Colome (Known as Fury) who heads the Interior Ministry and Gen Alvaro Lopez Miera, who heads the FAR.
Below these fifteen men are approximately several hundred men who do the actual dirty work in the twelve provinces. These men are always from the FAR or the MININT, and they hold military ranks of Colonel and above. They get a piece of money making ventures, such as tourist transportation, foreign mining, re-selling Venezuelan Oil, etal.
The Cuban Government will always present a series of individuals with big titles, such as Vice Presidents, as the faces of the Revolution. These individuals, however, never hold real power. The ones with real power are generally unknown to the media and the foreign public. Just recently, the best known Cuban Govt official outside Cuba, Foreign Minisiter, Ricardo Alarcon, was unceremoniously purged from the government. The charge was corruption, which is always the case, but in reality he fell out of favor with the real power brokers. It appears that Alarcon spent too much time with foreigners, and apparently had the temerity to speak out of line about the dirty word of "reforms". These Ministers, Vice Presidents, etal, come and go. They never hold any real power.
The ones with the real power ensure that the Regime does not face any challenges. Their children, grand children, nieces, and other relatives own business throughout the world, especially in Spain.
The Cuban Regime is facing a real problem now, due to the situation in Venezuela and the fall of Oil prices. Their credit throughout the world has been burned. The Cuban Regime does not and cannot pay anybody. Their hope now, is that President Obama, Kerry and Company, throw them a life vest in the form of loans. Short of that, you can bet on some sort of retaliation, which is typically in the form of a mass exodus of Cubans from the Island.
In the late 1970's, Jimmy Carter extended his hand to the Cuban Regime. Castro's response? The Mariel Boat Lift, which, among others, sent to US shores tens of thousands of Paranoid Schizophrenics, Psychopaths, Habitual Criminals and every Cuban that the Regime considered a Deviant. Bill Clinton wanted good relations in 1992. The Cuban Regime's response? Removing Internal Security from Cuba's northern coast, and allowing Cuban word of mouth to take effect. Within hours, tens of thousands of Cubans were floating in the Straits.
To "open up" or 'Negotiate" with the Cuban Regime is not the problem. The issue is who the US Negotiator is going to be, and whether or not he or she understands the nature of the Cuban Government. President Obama laid out his intentions by parroting the same old talking points used by the Cuban Regime. Obama either has no idea what he is doing, or does understand but does not care. Either way, this move will do nothing for regular Cubans on the Island. And it could very well backfire, and ruin Hillary's Campaign in two years, when several hundred thousand desperate Cubans land on US Beaches-------- because that's what the Cuban Regime does..
The members of this Junta of approximately 15 Men never changes, except with a member's death and the possible succession of an underling. They include at the very top, the Castro Brothers, of course. Below them are two hardline "Comandantes Historicos", Machado Ventura and Ramiro Valdez (Valdez was the feared Internal Security Minister during the 'T aliban' years of the 1960's and 1970's). They are followed by leading officers in the FAR (Armed Forces) and the MININT (Interior Ministry). The most powerful among these, are Gen Abelardo Colome (Known as Fury) who heads the Interior Ministry and Gen Alvaro Lopez Miera, who heads the FAR.
Below these fifteen men are approximately several hundred men who do the actual dirty work in the twelve provinces. These men are always from the FAR or the MININT, and they hold military ranks of Colonel and above. They get a piece of money making ventures, such as tourist transportation, foreign mining, re-selling Venezuelan Oil, etal.
The Cuban Government will always present a series of individuals with big titles, such as Vice Presidents, as the faces of the Revolution. These individuals, however, never hold real power. The ones with real power are generally unknown to the media and the foreign public. Just recently, the best known Cuban Govt official outside Cuba, Foreign Minisiter, Ricardo Alarcon, was unceremoniously purged from the government. The charge was corruption, which is always the case, but in reality he fell out of favor with the real power brokers. It appears that Alarcon spent too much time with foreigners, and apparently had the temerity to speak out of line about the dirty word of "reforms". These Ministers, Vice Presidents, etal, come and go. They never hold any real power.
The ones with the real power ensure that the Regime does not face any challenges. Their children, grand children, nieces, and other relatives own business throughout the world, especially in Spain.
The Cuban Regime is facing a real problem now, due to the situation in Venezuela and the fall of Oil prices. Their credit throughout the world has been burned. The Cuban Regime does not and cannot pay anybody. Their hope now, is that President Obama, Kerry and Company, throw them a life vest in the form of loans. Short of that, you can bet on some sort of retaliation, which is typically in the form of a mass exodus of Cubans from the Island.
In the late 1970's, Jimmy Carter extended his hand to the Cuban Regime. Castro's response? The Mariel Boat Lift, which, among others, sent to US shores tens of thousands of Paranoid Schizophrenics, Psychopaths, Habitual Criminals and every Cuban that the Regime considered a Deviant. Bill Clinton wanted good relations in 1992. The Cuban Regime's response? Removing Internal Security from Cuba's northern coast, and allowing Cuban word of mouth to take effect. Within hours, tens of thousands of Cubans were floating in the Straits.
To "open up" or 'Negotiate" with the Cuban Regime is not the problem. The issue is who the US Negotiator is going to be, and whether or not he or she understands the nature of the Cuban Government. President Obama laid out his intentions by parroting the same old talking points used by the Cuban Regime. Obama either has no idea what he is doing, or does understand but does not care. Either way, this move will do nothing for regular Cubans on the Island. And it could very well backfire, and ruin Hillary's Campaign in two years, when several hundred thousand desperate Cubans land on US Beaches-------- because that's what the Cuban Regime does..
