It reminds me of my days in Cuba

It reminds me of my days in Cuba: Our family left Cuba in 1964, so we remember the tense period of the Bay of Pigs and the Missile Crisis. As I recall, the Castro regime kept putting the military on alert with anti-aircraft weapons in El Malecon, the famous avenue around Havana and….

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It reminds me of my days in Cuba - American Thinker https://t.co/qdDeX4AHwy

— Silvio Canto. Jr. ( 

silvio_canto) January 30, 2025

 Our family left Cuba in 1964, so we remember the tense period of the Bay of Pigs and the Missile Crisis. As I recall, the Castro regime kept putting the military on alert with anti-aircraft weapons in El Malecon, the famous avenue around Havana and the ocean. All of a sudden, as my parents said, the soldiers replaced the young couples who would take romantic walks under that Havana moon.

It was done back then to prepare the nation against “los yankis” or the invasion that the Castro regime kept talking about. He had the entire nation thinking that it was coming any day, any hour, any moment.

Anyway, the soldiers are back in the street many years later. This is a story about the latest mobilization:

Entrenched in their “Homeland or Death” chant and vowing to prevail against the “imperialist onslaught,” Cuba’s leader have paused the release of political prisoners and kicked off military exercises following President Donald Trump’s first-day decision to put the country back on the list of nations that sponsor terrorism.

Just a week earlier, former President Joe Biden had taken Cuba off the list after telling Congress the Cuban government did not provide “any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period.”

Trump also nullified Biden’s decision to eliminate a list of sanctioned Cuban military companies and hotels.

Biden’s measures were instrumental in a deal mediated by the Vatican, under which the Cuban government agreed to release 553 “prisoners.” While it was unclear whether some or all would be political prisoners, shortly after Biden’s announcement Cuban authorities started releasing political prisoners, as many as 170, according to a recount by an independent media coalition.

But that came to a halt after Trump reversed Biden’s actions on Monday evening shortly after his inauguration.

So the regime cancelled prisoner releases and put the soldiers on the streets again.

My parents are gone but those of their generation must be watching all this and wondering if this a rerun of those early days of “la revolucion.” I remember as a kid playing baseball on a sandlot about 250 feet from one of those anti-aircraft weapons. In retrospect, maybe one of us kids would have started a war by hitting a soldier with a fly ball. Who knows he could have mistaken the fly ball for a bomb and started shooting at the imaginary jet?

These actions confirm that the Cuban regime is a bit concerned with the Trump-Rubio team. In other words, they fear that the Trump administration will actually enforce the embargo and put an end to remittances flowing into Cuba. They need a soft embargo and those dollars flowing.

So time passes and nothing changes. Cuba does not change but it fears Trump a lot. And that’s the best news that the Cuban political prisoners can get.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

 

 

Happy # 82 Davey Johnson

We say happy birthday to Davey Johnson, who was born on this day in Orlando, Florida in 1943.   

We remember Johnson as a great second baseman and then as a manager.   

As a player, he hit .261 with 136 HR & 609 RBI over 1,435 games.    He played in 4 World Series with Baltimore and won several Gold Gloves.

As a manager, he won 1,372 games with an excellent .562 winning pct.    He led the New York Mets to the 1986 World Series title.   Johnson also won division titles with Baltimore in 1997 and Washington in 2012.

Great player & manager.

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Sandy Amoros: The Cuban who lives in the hearts of old Brooklyn Dodgers fans

(My new American Thinker post)

On Sunday, I always say hello at church to a couple of old-time Brooklyn Dodgers fans.  Like many others, they moved to Texas years ago but cannot stop talking about their old team, the Brooklyn Dodgers.  They know that I was born in Cuba and can't help to remind me of that Cuban who made one of the greatest postseason catches in baseball history.

Edmundo (Isasi) Amoros was born in La Habana on this day in 1930.  He died in Miami in 1992.

Sandy Amoros, as he was known in the majors, broke with the Dodgers in 1952. He was a part-time outfielder, a platoon hitter facing primarily right-handed pitchers.  Amoros was also a late-inning defensive replacement.

Amoros also played in the Cuban winter league.  I remember my father speaking about him.

His biggest moment was Game 7 in the 1955 World Series.  Amoros made a running catch and then threw back to shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who then doubled off a Yankee runner at first base.  It killed the rally and preserved the eventual 2-0 shutout and the only Brooklyn Dodgers World Series victory.

It turned the Cuban outfielder into one of the biggest heroes in Brooklyn baseball history.

This is how they recall the play at The Society of Baseball Research:

On October 4, 1955, outfielder Edmundo Amorós helped "Next Year" arrive at last for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His racing catch off Yogi Berra near the left-field line at Yankee Stadium saved the Bums' 2-0 lead in Game Seven of the World Series. Johnny Podres held on for the remaining three innings to bring Brooklyn its only title. The grab by Amorós still stands as one of the greatest in Series history, and it was the defining moment of the Cuban's career.

Amoros played seven years and retired with a .255 career batting and did hit 16 HR in 114 games in 1956.  Nevertheless, he was King Kong one afternoon in Yankee Stadium, and the Dodgers finally won the World Series.

Hey, Sandy — they don't stop talking about you whenever old Dodgers fans recall their legendary history.

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

1964: The Beatles in France and getting ready for The Ed Sullivan Show

The Beatles performed a couple of concerts in France on this day in 1964.   They also recorded German versions of "She loves you" and "I want to hold your hand".   

Two weeks later, the guys were introduced on The Ed Sullivan Show and Beatlemania was off and running.

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