Sección Constante 1

JMB received a visit this week from the Justice Department (or "usdoj.gov" as it's identified on Sitemeter). It was brought here on May 2 by a Google search for "May 20, 1902." Now this is interesting. It used to be the custom under President George Bush to celebrate Cuban Independence Day at the White House. Obama discontinued the practice, whether because he did not wish to offend the Castro regime, which abolished its commemoration after it had declared Cuba a Marxist state; or because the Cuban-American worthies who were traditionally invited to this affair by Bush were not to Obama's liking nor he to theirs. It would appear, however, that the Obama administration may be reconsidering its decision this year, for two reasons: because it's an election year and Florida is as important this time around as it was in 2000; and because it now has its own coterie of "House Cubans" that it can invite, including Saladrigas, one Fanjul, and Joe García. I should not be surprised if my old nemesis Alejandro ("Alex") Barreras took my old nemesis Val Prieto's place at this event.

In any case, you can read what the Justice Department found so interesting here. And if you want to know what is this "Sección Constante," go here.


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What does a six-year old Cuban boy who saw his mother drown and was himself almost eaten by sharks have in common with a blind Chinese man under house arrest who scaled a 20 foot wall before undertaking a perilous 300-mile trek on his country's underground railroad? Well, of course, Elián González and Chen Guangcheng shared the same quest for freedom and the same destination, and when it seemed that they were at last in possession of what they sought and clearly deserved, their hard-won prize was taken from them because of political expediency, moral equivalence, and the congenital inability of U.S. liberals to tell right from wrong, or good from evil, which too often leads them to put their faith in tyrants and dismiss the witness of their victims.


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Nobody has said it so I guess somebody should: the Pope and Cardinal Ortega killed Bishop Agustín Román. He died of a broken heart because he believed in his church and in his country. Nowadays, it is not possible to believe in both. Either you desire a free Cuba or what the Catholic Church desires for Cuba: resignation to slavery and an entente cordiale with the slave masters.