“I assured him (Stalinist dictator Raul Castro’s son Alejandro, a KGB-trained secret police colonel) that any Democrat who succeeded Obama would continue our approach.” That’s failed novelist and Obama aide Ben Rhodes, exulting in his memoirs.
Rhodes was tasked by President Obama with secretly “negotiating” his famous “opening” with Stalinist Cuba (i.e. with groveling before Raul’s son Alejandro, who pretty much runs Cuba with a few secret police and military henchmen, though you’d never guess any of this from all those intrepid “news” agencies bestowed Havana bureaus by the totalitarian regime.)
Just last week pursuant to the tumult in Cuba President Biden invited a group of Cuban-American “leaders” (as designated by the Democrat-Media Complex, instead of by any actual majority of Cuban-Americans) to the White House for some brainstorming on a response.
And wouldn’t you know it? Many of these “leaders” were responsible for “advising” on (i.e. rubber-stamping) Obama’s famous “opening” (i.e. sniveling unconditional surrender) to the Castro regime.
In fact, many of them traveled to totalitarian Cuba with the Obama entourage to celebrate the opening.” And they keep traveling in and out of totalitarian Cuba basically at will–which is essentially all you need to know about how a totalitarian regime in power for 62 years–which carefully vets all visitors on a cost/benefit basis regarding how they will affect the regime’s image, financial well-being and hold on power– regards their work.
If the Foreign Agents Registration Act was ever actually enforced some of the people involved in this Democrat-sponsored racket would probably end up in hand-cuffs.
Perhaps a refresher on what Obama’s “opening” actually accomplished is in order:
The Fake News Media, Democrats and libertarians hail Obama’s surrender to Raul Castro as an “opening!” as a “diplomatic milestone!” In fact it was a humiliating U.S. surrender to terrorist regime that had kidnapped a U.S. hostage named Alan Gross and offered to exchange him upon the freeing and return to Cuba of multi-convicted Castroite spy/terrorist/murderer (of American citizens) Gerardo Hernandez.
This blackmail by the mass-murdering Russian satraps on our doorstep gave Obama just the excuse he needed to finally –and officially--buddy-up with them, a Democrat goal/craving for decades.
You see, amigos: Back on December 3rd, 2009, Alan Gross, a U.S. citizen distributing cell phones and computer equipment to Cuba’s Jewish community on contract for the U.S. Agency for International Development, prepared to board a plane homeward at Havana’s International Airport. Hovering nearby, but unnoticed by Mr. Gross, were plainclothes officers of Castro’s KGB-trained secret-police.
As the boarding order loomed, these officers rushed up and grabbed Mr. Gross, who then languished in Castro’s dungeons until he was ransomed by Obama on Dec. 17th 2014, under the guise of a “diplomatic opening.”
A “prisoner exchange” of sorts was claimed by the Obama team and their media auxiliaries. To wit:
In 1996 Castro ordered his Migs to shoot down the unarmed planes of the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue and murder four Americans in international airspace. The Cuban spy, Gerardo Hernandez, who was serving two life sentences for facilitating these murders by infiltrating into the humanitarian group and relaying the flight plans to his spymasters in Cuba was released by Obama as part of the “opening.” (i.e.Rhodes’ groveling.)
"I gave the order,” (for the MIGS to shoot down unarmed Cessnas and murder U.S. citizens in international airspace) boasted Raul Castro to U.S. Rep James McGovern (D-MA.) a few years ago. Mcgovern was genuflecting before Castro during a visit to Havana while preparing for Obama’s “diplomatic opening.”
Not only did Raul Castro get away with the murders, he also got his terrorist spy/murderers back and had Obama shaking hands with him shortly thereafter during a Panama summit. A few weeks later Obama removed Cuba from the list of terror-sponsors and further loopholed the so-called embargo to a point where the annual cash-flow (mostly from travel expenses and remittances) from the U.S. to Cuba started actually exceeding annual Soviet subsidies during the 1980’s!
The U.S. ransom to Castro was almost unprecedentedly shameful in the annals of U.S. diplomacy. I say “almost” because it closely mimicked the whimpering Obama’s ransom to the snickering Taliban for Bowe Bergdahl. You’ll recall the Taliban got five of their terrorists back from Gitmo as the ransom.
But Castro came out of his blackmailing of Obama smelling even rosier than the Taliban. In fact, well before the Stalinist dictator got his spy/murderer back, Castro was already reaping enormous benefits from the Obama Team.
You see, amigos: Promptly upon entering office in 2009 Obama began frantically issuing executive orders to circumvent the (so-called) embargo of Cuba and open a financial lifeline from the U.S. (often on the taxpayers’ dime) to the Castro Family-Crime-Syndicate.
“Here I come to save the day!” was a good motto for Obama and his team of whimpering Cuba policy Pajama Boys (Ben Rhodes, particularly) - because that U.S. economic lifeline came just as Venezuela’s was drying up.
Despite Deep State (especially Deep State Department) foot-dragging and outright sabotage, the Trump Team recognized and rectified the Democrat racket to extend the terror-sponsoring Castro regime a financial lifeline. The squeals of pain and outrage at the time from Castro’s (unregistered) U.S. agents provided the best proof.
Now it looks like things are reverting back to square one (i.e. Obama’s financial lifeline to Castro.)
“We WON THE WAR!” exulted Raul Castro on Dec. 20, 2014. We can almost hear the same jubilation from Havana this week.