“Let’s build some American hotels in Cuba.” Photo credit: The Wall Street Journal.

The thrust behind Obama’s Cuba deal, according to a November 29, 2016 article in the Peruvian daily El Ojo, is “conceder licencias a compañias hoteleras estadounidenses para hacer negocios en la isla,” which means, “to grant licenses to American hotel companies to do business on the island.” However, the abuse of such activity was the main reason for the Cuban Revolution in the first place. At the time, it was said that American companies would take over homes and then consider it a gift to the owners to allow them to stay to clean the toilets. Naturally, the tropical paradise nation will now only be open to negotiation with deeply concentrated scrutiny.

Enter the Donald. Sit down, take a deep breath and remember… he’s a billionaire real estate developer who’s built luxury resort hotels all over the planet. Upon hearing of Castro’s death, Trump stated he could at last start a program of “prosperity and liberty” for the Cuban people. According to his spokesperson, Jason Miller, his negotiating points are:

• The release of political prisoners.
• The return of American fugatives of justice who’ve escaped to Cuba.
• Political and religious freedom for all Cubans.
• A good trade deal with the United States.

What’s not mentioned in the article is, of course, Guantanamo Bay. Cuba doesn’t want it, the majority of the people in the United States don’t want it and the rest of the world considers it a disgrace. Yet it remains a point hidden by most of the American (select your own adjective) mainstream press. However, a Venezuelan news source reports Cuba is adamant that without the removal of Gitmo, there will be no deal. Period. Now keep in mind that one of Obama’s first campaign promises was to close it. Eight years later, it’s still there. So who insists on keeping it? Perhaps the financial backers of America’s six biggest media conglomerates are the only ones who need it.

Let’s all Tweet Trump to ask him if he’ll dump Gitmo.