Miami-Dade Schools ban book on Cuba

Miami-Dade Schools ban book on Cuba
A parent's challenge to a book about Cuba resulted in the Miami- Dade School Board voting to ban it -- along with 23 other books in the series, even though no one objected to them.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14820707.htm

A controversial children's book about Cuba -- and similar books from the same series about other countries -- will be removed from all Miami-Dade school libraries after a School Board vote Wednesday that split Hispanic and non-Hispanic members in an incendiary political atmosphere.
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Of the six board members who voted to remove the book, three are facing reelection this fall -- Hantman, Barrera and Marta Pérez -- and Bolaños said he will resign from the board to run for state Senate.

Board member Robert Ingram voted for the ban, but only to invite the ACLU's lawsuit so the issue could be resolved by the courts, he said. In an impassioned speech, he said threats from the exile community left him thinking board members ''might find a bomb under their automobiles'' if they voted to keep the book.

''There's a passion of hate,'' Ingram said. ``I can't vote my conscience without feeling threatened -- that should never happen in this community any more.''

Hard line exile politics as usual in S Florida. Bombings, threats of bombings, censoring, bannings are all part of the flavor of post Cuban revolution Miami-Dade.

It is, without question, one of the most openly hostile cities in the US.

Good restaurants, though, for what it's worth. ;-)

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assassination of FRANK PAíS in the streets of SANTIAGO DE CUBA and ended DEC. 31, 1958 with the ASSASSINATION OF NACHO MARTI, a SANTIAGO DE CUBA student at the UNIVERISTY OF HAVANA, whose body was found post jan. 1, 1959 along the CARRETERA CENTRAL in PINAR DEL RIO.

VIVA BATISTA IS THE SAME AS SAYING VIVA BUSH.

Oh, that's nasty. I assure you that I would never say "¡Viva Bush!"

The so-called "victims" that you cite were urban terrorists who wreaked havoc with indiscriminate bombings in public places, kidnappings and other illegal activity in support of the Revolution.

He was quite the dictator. It is patently insane to claim otherwise in the face of insurmountable evidence.

He led a coup to take power, acted against any opposition, had private armies to protect him, neglected the poverty in the country and did not improve the peasantry (and don't try to tell me his half-assed programs did anything or were designed to do anything because you'll be wrong) and more. His government was corrupt, authoritarian, negligent and even had ties to the mafia.

Please, get a grip.

"Following the El Uvero attack, government censorship was again imposed, and the Presidential elections that had been scheduled for November 1, 1957, were postponed until June 1, 1958. Coincidently, Batista's counter-terrorist measures against the civilian population were increased, especially in Oriente Province. Generally, these amounted to the loss of all civil liberties and the institution of martial law. Illegal searches and seizures, torture and outright murder became commonplace. Batista's soldiers would stop at nothing to present the impression that they were in control of the situation. Frequently, when frustrated by their inability to gain information or capture rebels, soldiers would summarily execute civilians, claiming that they were either guerrillas or rebel sympathizers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Pais

That's but a taste.

You know so little about Batista's bloody regime...and you certainly know even less about souls like Frank Pais, Jose Ignacio Marti, and a whole history of young people brutally killed and assassinated by Batista's goons and henchmen who dumped their bodies on the streets of Santiago de Cuba night after night, day after day, and who, despite the fact,refused to be sent to study at American Universities by their parents because they wanted to fight the bloodiest dictator in Cuba, ever, and, who gave up their lives at the hands of Cuba's bloodiest dictator ever, to free it from the chains of repression, cronyism, and fascism.

Like Bush, you seem to want to deny reality, or you have swallowed the kool-aid sold to you by former BATISTA HENCHMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN, i.e., the Ros-Lehtinen and Diaz-Balart brothers type.

is a fucking fascist troll. Don't pile on the bullshit by saying you would never say Viva Bush.

that Meyer Lansky wanted. Who in the living fuck are kidding?

How about José Antonio Echevarría, was he an "urban terrorist" too?

For the benefit of DUers, José Antonio Echevarría was the president of the student body at the University of Havana. He was murdered by Batista's death squads.

Pelayo Cuervo was the leader of the opposition Orthodox Party, and he always opposed Batista since the coup of 1952. Cuervo was beaten and shot to death by Batista's henchmen. Here is a photo of his open casket:



You are beginning to sound like the Argentinian military junta and their pretext for "los desparecidos," the disappeared.

I'm not trying to be confrontational, but wondering how much your views extend beyond Cuban politics?

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He wrote this in 1889 (in addition to many other writings in warning of American influence):

"Once the US is in Cuba who will get her out?"

Well, it took some time, but the revolution finally got the US out. How? Batista was a lap dog of the US government. The government after the revolution, however, did what it needed to do to help the Cuban people, even if it meant kicking the American corporations out of Cuba. This enraged the US government, which has never halted its attempts to sink its greedy fingers back into Cuban soil.

Cuban-Americans, in spite of their industrious souls, are cry baby clingers who received incredible support from the U.S. to turn an anti-Batista revolution into a big anti-communist victim status that should have ended with the fall of the Berlin wall or after the USSR stopped helping them. Cuban-Americans, in spite of their industrious ssuccesses, have held this country hostage for 47 years. No other immigrant group has been given the degree of monetary seed money an outright handouts as the Cubans. No other immigrant group has been given as much pro-legislation that exceeds any other immigrant group. No other immigrant group has received as much of our tax money funnelled to them and also into the pockets of Congress through NED and Cuban-American associations - all of which guaranteed continued legislative hostage taking of our country. Beneficial to Congress, bad for the citizens.

In spite of settling in and becoming exceedingly industrious, loyalty revolves around a victim-nostalgic loyalty to a five decade old hyped up exaggeration - that keeps our country hostage.

These are good people who adore their families, like to work, like to provide, like to have fun, have boundless creativity, but who have played the victims way too long and have made many Presidents and many Congresspeople look stupid and act stupid (stupid as without logic and with detriment to humanity and normal relations while they had our tax mondey end up in their pockets).

Buy from China. BORROW from China. Allow China to become our creditor, but be sure to set-up Cuba as the worst Communist country ever and to remain stuck in the victim state so that feeding on hate can thrive.

that's what the issue is here!

Many of the hard line exiles in Miami mewl about the censorship in Cuba. Then upon discovering a book that they have a difference of opinion with - the hard line rallies to get it banned.

The hard line exile radio stations in Miami have been pushing for a review of all books about Cuba and Castro from ALL libraries in Miami-Dade for a push to get them banned also.

Non Miami residents have little idea of just how extreme this minority is. It just pisses me off to no end when politicians at all levels of government, Dems and repukes, come to Miami and pander to the most vile extremist minority here. This minority IS NOT representative of the general Cuban-American community, but they get the press and the pandering.


Cuban-Americans focus is local, not on Cuba or Castro

MIAMI - Although Cuban Americans still hold strong opinions about U.S. foreign policy on Cuba, a majority now believe their quality of life here in the U.S. is more important, according to a new poll sponsored by a national Latino voter registration group.

The survey, aimed at gauging Cuban American views on a range of topics, also found that most of those polled want their elected officials to focus more on local issues rather than on international concerns, such as the much-debated U.S. trade and travel embargo against Cuba.

"The poll shows that a majority of Cuban Americans, but particularly those under age 45, care more about the quality of life in Florida than about whether Fidel Castro is overthrown," said Alvaro Fernandez, Florida Director of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, which commissioned the poll through their sister organization and research arm, the William C. Velazquez Institute. "This should send a signal to the politicians that there's a newly emerging voice in the electorate."

health-care and decent housing, and resent the Socialist guarantee of such to all?

Maybe you'd prefer the 1950's Cuba of the Mob, crime, degradation, poverty, and a "typical" Latin American dictator-toady-to-the-U.S.?

You're hardly much of one if you find the market fundamentalist Gilder and the corrupt Batista worthy of adulation.

Your sneering at other Hispanics is pitiful, too. Seek within yourself the motivation for such invidious resentment.

Yes, Castroism is certainly better than your arriviste longings.

I moved to No. Georgia in 1989 and the Cubans were one of the many reasons I left So. Florida.

Good for Ingram for standing up to them. It is time to stop their intimidation.

He's right to fear being bombed. Back in the late 70's when I first moved to Miami, Cubans were blowing up resturants and buildings all over the place. Nobody even thought much about it. I remember walking down Collins Ave passing some of these places. At the least, you'll find a headless chicken at your front door.

1. He voted for the ban out of fear.
2. He left it to the courts out of fear.

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What's the poop?

..

not getting reelected?

I read the same thing--Ingram et. al. succumbed to the Hecklers' Veto...hardly noble and in fact, they avoided their duty to office by not standing up for the publics' interests.

Politicians that don't stand up to the "terrorists, murderers and thugs" are really no better than "terrorists, murderers and thugs" and should be treated with equal revulsion in these dangerous times where our basic rights are being stripped from us.

The bombings of the 1970s were conducted against Cuban-Americans by agents provocateur of Fidel Castro. No Anglo was ever hurt in any of the bombings. In fact, the only casualty was Rolando Masferer, who had once headed an anti-Castro militia. But as usual, the victims are portrayed as the perpetrators in the liberal media, at least if they happen to be Cuban-Americans.

his cold blooded hands killed many young students who opposed the batista government, his repressive hand, and his CIA installation.

Thank-you for backing me up. Yes, Masferrer was killed by Castro's agents in Miami because of his anti-Communist past. He was the only casualty of the Miami bombings of the 1970s which were instigated by Castro to discredit the Cuban-American community. In the 1940s, when both were gangsters in the service of the Ortodoxo Party, Masferrer and Castro were fast friends.

was not JUST anti-communist. He was an insturmental founder of Los Tigres, the group responsible for terrible things and the support of the bastard Batista. He threatened monks and is very likely responsible for many murders (to the tune of 2,000). He had strong ties to Alpha 66 and helped establish the 30th of November organization. He was a terrorist while he was in Cuba and while he was exiled and his plans to topple Cuba (there were many) were ill-fated, not to mention devoid of good intentions. It is not clear who killed him, but it is clear that he did anger many exiles, and was known to mistreat exiles through extortion and the like.

"According to Saul Landau: 'Masferrer, a master of anti-Castro slogans, supported violence against the Cuban revolution. But his efforts had brought no results and the more ambitious exiled Cubans began to think of his rhetoric and his purported militant actions as a front for his “business” activities. Masferrer stood as an obstacle to Mas Canosa’s plans to forge an effective and unified counter revolution'."
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmasferrerR.htm

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Did you even read my post? Seriously, go back and try to comprehend what I had said. Thank you.

No, I do not like Maferrer. That quote shows that the other exiles were spiteful of him and his actions, because they thought they could do it better (they've done a real great job...wait...). Therefore, they would have a very good reason to get rid of him, which would validate the claim that the exiles were behind the bombings and NOT Castro's shadowy agents, as you foolishly assert. Nice try.

I guess reading comprehension, along with historical comprehension, is a problem for you.

"He was rival of Fidel Castro in the bloody feuds of the trigger happy Action groups and subject of at least one failed attempt by Castro to kill him."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolando_Masferrer

That was in the 1940's. Yeah, they were real "fast friends". :eyes:

i've not backed you up one single iota. MASFERRER WAS A CRIMINAL THUG WHO WORKED ON BEHALF OF FULGENCIO BATISTA Y ZALDIVAR. ON BEHALF OF BATISTA, MASFERRER KILLED HUNDREDS OF CUBA'S YOUNG WHO OPPOSED THE BATISTA GOVERNMENT...As to whether Masferrer and Castro were ever friends... that is a fact that i've no knowledge about.... you certainly take a page from the swift boat liars and seem to have learned your lesson well.

This is just a short list of many Miamicuban radical anti Castro exile terrorist bombings in Miami.

The Miami-Dade organized crime bureau has many many more terrorist exile bombings on their listings.


The Burden of a Violent History
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2000-04-20/mullin.html

The following list of violent incidents I compiled from a variety of databases and news sources (a few come from personal experience). It is incomplete, especially in Miami's trademark category of bomb threats. Nor does it include dozens of acts of violence and murder committed by Cuban exiles in other U.S. cities and at least sixteen foreign countries. But completeness isn't the point. The point is to face the truth, no matter how difficult that may be. If Miami's Cuban exiles confront this shameful past -- and resolutely disavow it -- they will go a long way toward easing their neighbors' anxiety about a peaceful future.

1968 From MacArthur Causeway, pediatrician Orlando Bosch fires bazooka at a Polish freighter. (City of Miami later declares "Orlando Bosch Day." Federal agents will jail him in 1988.)

1972 Julio Iglesias, performing at a local nightclub, says he wouldn't mind "singing in front of Cubans." Audience erupts in anger. Singer requires police escort. Most radio stations drop Iglesias from playlists. One that doesn't, Radio Alegre, receives bomb threats.

1974 Exile leader José Elias de la Torriente murdered in his Coral Gables home after failing to carry out a planned invasion of Cuba.

1974 Bomb blast guts the office of Spanish-language magazine Replica.

1974 Several small Cuban businesses, citing threats, stop selling Replica.

1974 Three bombs explode near a Spanish-language radio station.

1974 Hector Diaz Limonta and Arturo Rodriguez Vives murdered in internecine exile power struggles.

1975 Luciano Nieves murdered after advocating peaceful coexistence with Cuba.

1975 Another bomb damages Replica's office.

1976 Rolando Masferrer and Ramon Donestevez murdered in internecine exile power struggles.

1976 Car bomb blows off legs of WQBA-AM news director Emilio Milian after he publicly condemns exile violence.

1977 Juan José Peruyero murdered in internecine exile power struggles.

1979 Cuban film Memories of Underdevelopment interrupted by gunfire and physical violence instigated by two exile groups.

1979 Bomb discovered at Padron Cigars, whose owner helped negotiate release of 3600 Cuban political prisoners.

1979 Bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.

1980 Another bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.

1980 Powerful anti-personnel bomb discovered at American Airways Charter, which arranges flights to Cuba.

1981 Bomb explodes at Mexican Consulate on Brickell Avenue in protest of relations with Cuba.

1981 Replica's office again damaged by a bomb.

1982 Two outlets of Hispania Interamericana, which ships medicine to Cuba, attacked by gunfire.

1982 Bomb explodes at Venezuelan Consulate in downtown Miami in protest of relations with Cuba.

1982 Bomb discovered at Nicaraguan Consulate.

1982 Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre defends $10,000 grant to exile commando group Alpha 66 by noting that the organization "has never been accused of terrorist activities inside the United States."

1983 Another bomb discovered at Replica.

1983 Another bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.

1983 Bomb explodes at Paradise International, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1983 Bomb explodes at Little Havana office of Continental National Bank, one of whose executives, Bernardo Benes, helped negotiate release of 3600 Cuban political prisoners.

1983 Miami City Commissioner Demetrio Perez seeks to honor exile terrorist Juan Felipe de la Cruz, accidentally killed while assembling a bomb. (Perez is now a member of the Miami-Dade County Public School Board and owner of the Lincoln-Martí private school where Elian Gonzalez is enrolled.)

1983 Gunfire shatters windows of three Little Havana businesses linked to Cuba.

1986 South Florida Peace Coalition members physically attacked in downtown Miami while demonstrating against Nicaraguan contra war.

1987 Bomb explodes at Cuba Envios, which ships packages to Cuba.

1987 Bomb explodes at Almacen El Español, which ships packages to Cuba.

1987 Bomb explodes at Cubanacan, which ships packages to Cuba.

1987 Car belonging to Bay of Pigs veteran is firebombed.

1987 Bomb explodes at Machi Viajes a Cuba, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1987 Bomb explodes outside Va Cuba, which ships packages to Cuba.

1988 Bomb explodes at Miami Cuba, which ships medical supplies to Cuba.

1988 Bomb threat against Iberia Airlines in protest of Spain's relations with Cuba.

1988 Bomb explodes outside Cuban Museum of Art and Culture after auction of paintings by Cuban artists.

1988 Bomb explodes outside home of Maria Cristina Herrera, organizer of a conference on U.S.-Cuba relations.

1988 Bomb threat against WQBA-AM after commentator denounces Herrera bombing.

1988 Bomb threat at local office of Immigration and Naturalization Service in protest of terrorist Orlando Bosch being jailed.

1988 Bomb explodes near home of Griselda Hidalgo, advocate of unrestricted travel to Cuba.

1988 Bomb damages Bele Cuba Express, which ships packages to Cuba.

1989 Another bomb discovered at Almacen El Español, which ships packages to Cuba.

1989 Two bombs explode at Marazul Charters, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1990 Another, more powerful, bomb explodes outside the Cuban Museum of Art and Culture.

1991 Using crowbars and hammers, exile crowd rips out and urinates on Calle Ocho "Walk of Fame" star of Mexican actress Veronica Castro, who had visited Cuba.

1992 Union Radio employee beaten and station vandalized by exiles looking for Francisco Aruca, who advocates an end to U.S. embargo.

1992 Cuban American National Foundation mounts campaign against the Miami Herald, whose executives then receive death threats and whose newsracks are defaced and smeared with feces.

1992 Americas Watch releases report stating that hard-line Miami exiles have created an environment in which "moderation can be a dangerous position."

1993 Inflamed by Radio Mambí commentator Armando Perez-Roura, Cuban exiles physically assault demonstrators lawfully protesting against U.S. embargo. Two police officers injured, sixteen arrests made. Miami City Commissioner Miriam Alonso then seeks to silence anti-embargo demonstrators: "We have to look at the legalities of whether the City of Miami can prevent them from expressing themselves."

1994 Human Rights Watch/Americas Group issues report stating that Miami exiles do not tolerate dissident opinions, that Spanish-language radio promotes aggression, and that local government leaders refuse to denounce acts of intimidation.

1994 Two firebombs explode at Replica magazine's office.

1994 Bomb threat to law office of Magda Montiel Davis following her videotaped exchange with Fidel Castro.

1996 Music promoter receives threatening calls, cancels local appearance of Cuba's La Orquesta Aragon.

1996 Patrons attending concert by Cuban jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba physically assaulted by 200 exile protesters. Transportation for exiles arranged by Dade County Commissioner Javier Souto.

1996 Firebomb explodes at Little Havana's Centro Vasco restaurant preceding concert by Cuban singer Rosita Fornes.

1996 Firebomb explodes at Marazul Charters, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1996 Arson committed at Tu Familia Shipping, which ships packages to Cuba.

1997 Bomb threats, death threats received by radio station WRTO-FM following its short-lived decision to include in its playlist songs by Cuban musicians.

1998 Bomb threat empties concert hall at MIDEM music conference during performance by 91-year-old Cuban musician Compay Segundo.

1998 Bomb threat received by Amnesia nightclub in Miami Beach preceding performance by Cuban musician Orlando "Maraca" Valle.

1998 Firebomb explodes at Amnesia nightclub preceding performance by Cuban singer Manolín.

1999 Violent protest at Miami Arena performance of Cuban band Los Van Van leaves one person injured, eleven arrested.

1999 Bomb threat received by Seville Hotel in Miami Beach preceding performance by Cuban singer Rosita Fornes. Hotel cancels concert.

only refers to 68 incidents which were included in a report, but obviously the actual number is simply beyond belief:

~snip~
According to the Center for International Policy, "Militant hard-line exile activities in the late 70s and early 80s caused the FBI to designate Miami the ‘terrorist capital’ of the United States. The terrorist activities in Miami included death threats, beatings, mob attacks, vandalism, extortion, bombings and outright murder," (7) The same article reports 68 acts of terror in Miami since 1968, including the bombings of:

The Continental National Bank, where Bernardo Benes, who was one of seventy-five Cuban exiles who met with Fidel Castro to negotiate the release of 3600 political prisoners in Cuba, was an executive (in 1983); the Cuban Museum of Art (in 1988 and again 1990); the home of Maria Cristina Herrera, the organizer of a conference on U.S.-Cuba relations (1988- the bomb was discovered in her garage before it went off); Marazul Tours, which arranges travel to Cuba (1989 and again in 1996): Little Havana’s Centro Vasco, prior to the performance of Cuban singer Rosita Fornes (1996); the Amnesia nightclub before a performance by Cuban singer Manolín (1999)…
(snip/...)

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/319/1/

The father of one of my neighbors, Luciano Nieves, was gunned down at Variety Children's Hospital, what is now Miami Children's Hospital, in 1975 or 1976. I remember that very clearly. Nieves was a Cuban who wanted to open dialogue with Cuba.

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do not make this one any less unjustified and ridiculous. Cuban-Americans have no reason and they shouldn't have a right to ban books just because it disagrees with their myopic, ignorant and reactionary mindsets. A book that is objective to the reality of Cuba would meet my approval, although REALITY is unacceptable to the frothing Miami fascists. Books should not be banned because of wanton disagreements, that is an act of utmost intolerance and narrow-mindedness.

I'd like to see a citation of human rights abuses. Actually, let me cut to the chase and tell you that those 71 or so "dissidents" were arrested because they took money from the US and related groups in an attempt to destabilize the country. People are allowed to oppose what they will in Cuba, just ask Oswaldo Paya, but taking money and support from an aggressive government for political activity is rightfully illegal, and I do believe that will get you in trouble in the US as well (not to mention, well, most countries of the world).

I condemn human rights violations by any leader. Thing is, most leaders of any country are responsible for human rights violations IF they, as leaders, are to be held ultimately responsible for violations by authorities of their country.

Leadership is judged by balancing the deeds overall.


--

I see that you are back to calling people commies and Castro apologists and generally flaming on this thread too. Never any link or sources to validate your spew.

I believe that your intention is to get the thread locked, just as you did on the last Cuba related thread that you "participated" in.

There is no such country called Cuba! Hahahahaha!

this is the same City/Banana Republic where a crowd stormed the offices of elections in 2000 where the recount was to take place.

revolution. they want their long ago dictator back...perhaps his grandson, raul cantero who sits in the florida supreme court, put there by jebuttinsky bush, will do.

I could half-believe he was a Democrat until he used the phrase "the liberal media". That's kind of a give away by any standards since nobody believes it anymore except the extreme right

doesn't win a senate seat.

I hope this wakes up the progressive Cubans because enough is enough. Book burnings went out of style in the 1950s.

So it will either be Bolanos or Villalobos, another Republican.

He is a republican but he has been accused of being too liberal. I would vote for him in a heartbeat over the other facsist. He's no friend of Jeb Bush, that's for sure. I think he became a republican only to win Cuban American votes.

Only a couple of months ago Alex Villalobos was on the cusp of making history as a future president of the state Senate, the first Cuban American who would hold the post.

But the Miami senator's long history as a moderate and independent cost him the leadership post. Then, Monday night, it led to his firing as Senate majority leader minutes after he cast a deciding vote to kill Gov. Jeb Bush's efforts to revive one of his prized education jewels: giving parents public money vouchers to send their kids to private school.

Three days earlier, Villalobos had helped to kill another Bush-backed effort to scale back Florida's law capping class sizes.

By Tuesday morning, four days before the end of the lawmaking session, the aftershocks were clear: The Florida Senate stewed in political disarray and bitterness. Villalobos was forced to move from his spacious majority-leader digs into a cramped office. And a whisper campaign -- implicating Bush himself -- began in earnest to find a political opponent for a man who hasn't faced a challenger in 14 years. (more)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/14485634.htm

most of the cuban-americans down there are probably applauding bolaños who has managed to wedge himself into an emotional issue and is exploiting it, just like bush exploits the emotional issue of fear, terrorism and 9/11.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Most of the Cubans down here are most likely not applauding him. But like the right-wingers in the rest of the US, the Cuban right-wingers are more vocal and aggressive while the progressive Cubans usually go about living their lives, not getting involved in politics because they are afraid of speaking their mind.

Besides, Bolanos is running against a very popular Cuban American republican who has been accused of being too liberal in the past; Alex Villalobos.

the gall to tell some homegrown boy (also a member of the Miami School Board) ..."and you are going to tell me anything about freedom, when...." (and he went on into the whole history of Castro)...so in my humble opinion, i agree with you. Banning a book sounds like dictatorship to me too, but they (the Cuban-Americans in Miami are just too blind to see it, just as they are too blind to see that there is a link between their support and admiration of the Right Wing Dictator of long ago fulgencio batista y zaldivar and their admiration and support of the Bushes).

...need to sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up.

Seriously.

:-)

heard for YEARS of the bizarre control the right-wing Cuban "exile" element has over First Amendment rights, etc. in Miami, and this is a great illustration.

I've read of one of the well-known former city commissioners, Eladio Armesto-Garcia, who actually threatened to beat a fellow church member INSIDE THEIR CHURCH when he and his wife showed up with campaign banners on their SUV for a local politician, Jay Love, because Armesto-Garcia hated Love's sexual identity, then called his son who came up and slashed the tires on the vehicle while they were still in church.

(Armesto Garcia's son conducted the "Take Back Miami" campaign to overturn gay rights legislation, and was caught with fraudulent names on the petitions he gathered.)

I've heard of art galleries being fire-bombed because they were showing art by Cuban artists.

The Miami Herald's former editor, David Lawrence, was the subject of a massive hate campaign organized by Cuban "exile" Jorge Mas Canosa, after publishing material Mas Canosa didn't like concerning the Cuban community in Miami. He bought up advertising on the sides of buses saying "I don't believe the Miami Herald," and suddenly the paper was receiving death threats, bomb threats to the point Mr. Lawrence and his wife both started using security people to inspect their cars every time before starting them. Newspaper vending machines throughout the city were jammed shut, and smeared with feces. David Lawrence finally left, and was eventually replaced by a Cuban "exile," and of course the content of the paper shifted radically to a servile, exile-pandering position.

A "Cuba Ordinance" was passed, which made it "ILLEGAL" for Cuban musicians to play in Miami. If they persisted, there were bomb threats to the buildings, and death threats to the performers, and screaming crowds would arrive far in advance of the concerts, throwing rocks, bottles, eggs, D-cell batteries, and baggies full of human excrement. Obscenities and spit were flung at the performers as they attempted to make their ways inside.

Finally a legal group got this loathesome, and illegal "law" rescinded, formally, but the same problems remain, obviously. One of the Miami politicians made his claim that "This isn't a First Amendment issue. It's a Cuban issue."

Additionally, a local woman on a city board made a statement supporting the rights of Cubans to appear in Miami was simply fired from her position. People who made statements in support of her, ALSO got a lot of trouble from the community.

So now they're adding book bans to the pile of crimes against the First Amendment. Terrific. They've taken Miami back to the DARK AGES. All that's missing is a plague or two.

Did my speedread miss it? The rest of the article seems tangential to precisely what is the objection to the childrens' books storyline.

I guess if they're going to ban something, nobody needs to know the real objection.

~snip~
A current controversy in Dade County Florida involves two books for elementary school children about life in Cuba today. Vamos a Cuba is for primary grades, written in simple sentences, and features photographs of Cuba and its people. It shows a pretty nice, simple picture of Cuban life. Cuban Kids is for grades 3-5, and is a photo essay about the life and culture of Cuban children, while also showing effects of the Communist system and the long standing embargo.

The sentence that many people find objectionable in Vamos a Cuba is the one that says that children in Cuba "eat, work, and study like you".

According to the book's detractors, the sentence is inaccurate. Many Cuban Americans and Cuban exiles have alluded to their own experiences in Cuba with food rationing, forced labor, and political indoctrination in school. Vamos a Cuba is written for younger readers, so detailed explanations of the complicated events since 1959 really don't fit. For those who are reading this book, the accounts of life in Cuba they hear from their families just don't agree with the account in this book.

Cuban Kids is for older elementary school students. Its detractors argue that by showing ill effects of the embargo, the book is blaming Cuba's problems on the United States, not on Fidel Castro, and thus is inaccurate.

The Supreme Court has previously ruled that books may not be banned from school libraries because they are politically incorrect or present an unpopular point of view. The opinion actually states that students do not check their right to freedom of speech and information at the schoolhouse door. But can a book be banned for being inaccurate, especially when the assessment of that accuracy is politically charged?

The children of Cuba eat. They work. They study. That is true. They don't do it like us. That is also true.

But if they ate, worked, and studied like we do, we wouldn't need a book to tell children about them.
(snip/...)

http://education.families.com/blog/ban-that-book-it-just-aint-right-vamos-a-cuba-and-the-first-amendment



The book cover

I guess the objection is the reminder that whatever economic, political, and social differences there truly are between the U.S. and Cuba, reminders that we are all human beings with the same basic needs aren't allowed.

It's curious that your referenced article mentions "political indoctrination" as being the purpose of allowing the book, while the banning the book from school libraries certainly smacks of "political indoctrination" through deliberate censorship.

If U.S. citizens were truly similar species to Cuban citizens (both as human beings), then the enemy is harder to persecute in hearts and minds; if one doesn't know that we're all human, then presumably inciting hatred against that enemy is that much easier.

Why don't they just let the process proceed? You can't turn back the clock. No matter how much one wishes. The palacios are apartments and schools now. The workers aren't peasants and peons any longer. You will never be a padron again.
Your grandchildren will barely speak Spanish and will have last names like Jones and Silverstein. They will vacation in Havana.
What you wish for will not be realized: it is like Scarlett turning her curtains into a gown. Just a charade...

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It's spelled T-R-O-L-L...

Heh heh. :evilgrin:

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First Amendment sez you can have and express any damn opinion you want; it doesn't say you have a right to do it here. Buh Bye.