Meet the Facilitators of Cuba’s Oppression |
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Many wealthy businesspeople with familial ties to Cuba’s oppressive and corrupt society under US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista have spent a lot of money to ensure the Cuban people suffer for supporting the 1959 Revolution, then and now.
The goal decades ago is the same as it is today: create nearly insurmountable economic conditions and starvation through lobbying for isolationist policies and funding various violent groups against the Cuban people – all with the support of the US government.
Operations and terrorist attacks conducted by Cuban American hardliners over the last six decades have killed more than 3,400 Cubans combined and left more than 2,000 disabled. Groups such as the Alpha 66 paramilitary group, founded in the 1960s, the Omega 7 paramilitary group, founded in the 1980s, and other groups since have waged countless violent attacks against Cuba to achieve right-wing political aims on the island. For example, Alpha 66 was active into the mid-1990s, implementing a strategy that involved drive-by shootings on tourist beaches in Cuba.
Similarly, the recent attempted attack by boat was organised publicly on social media. I reported on these groups and identified the people behind them. Their public recruitment efforts and planning over more than two years highlight how authorities in the US were likely aware of them and chose to look away, as they have historically done with these terrorist groups.
Sugar barons, such as the Fanjul family, have funded the political campaigns of many candidates on both sides of the aisle to achieve their aims, including locking in subsidies for their businesses. In 2016, they hosted fundraisers in Miami for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The Fanjul family founded Domino Sugar and Florida Crystals, the latter of which was accused of polluting Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades in Florida.
The Fanjul brothers splitting their funding and loyalty, with Alfonso “Alfy” Fanjul Jr. supporting the Democratic Party and José “Pepe” Fanjul supporting the Republican Party, ensures that they are involved in both parties’ political agenda. The brothers’ differing views converge with Cuba. The two are widely regarded as the architects behind the anti-Cuba lobby in the US Congress. The financial backing offered by the Fanjuls transcends simply backing candidates.
As major financial backers of the Cuban American........