Translated by Capitol Hill Cubans
Roberto Alvarez Quinones is a Cuban journalist who spent over 25-years in Castro’s state-run Granma newspaper, as an economic commentator. He also served stints at the Cuban Central Bank and the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
By Roberto Alvarez Quinones in Diario de Cuba
The Castros do not want normalization, just the embargo lifted
The Castro brothers have always understood U.S. presidents and the intricacies of political power better than the Americans have comprehended the Cubans. In Washington they still can’t fathom why the two brothers and their military junta don’t want friendly and harmonious relations with the U.S., but rather for the embargo to be lifted, and to receive loans and tourists from the north with bulging wallets. Simple as that.
With the Venezuelan crisis deteriorating by the minute, an end to the embargo has become urgent for the Castro regime. But having politically cordial and normal relations with Washington is not in their best interest. Hence, they will do everything possible to prevent them, or to sabotage them, even if the “blockade” (a military term that has nothing to do with a unilateral trade embargo placed by one country on another) is lifted.
The dictatorial elite’s view is that “too much” rapprochement with the US would generate great internal and external trouble, as it would mean “betraying” its history as an anti-American leftist leader in Latin America. But, above all, it could undermine the regime’s Orwellian control over all of Cuban society. People on the island feel would be less fearful of demanding more freedoms if the “Empire” were a strong ally.
The gerontocracy of “historical” commanders is not prepared – nor do they want to be – to grapple in a civilized way with the political, ideological, economic, cultural and psychological “contamination” that could spring from a close relationship with the U.S. The training of the Castro regime’s nomenklatura has always been based on the opposite: visceral confrontation with the “imperialist enemy.”
Castro’s Manifest Destiny
In reaction to U.S.-made rockets fired at a farmer’s house in the Sierra Maestra by Batista dictatorship aircraft on June 5, 1958, Fidel Castro wrote a letter to Celia Sánchez setting forth the Manifest Destiny of his revolution: “When this war is over, for me a much longer and greater war shall begin: that which I will wage against them. I realize that this will be my true destiny. ”
That war did not end with the reopening of embassies in Havana and Washington. And it will not end as long as the island is ruled by Castro and the commanders who joined the anti-U.S. crusade conceived by their leader. There will be no close relationship between Cuba and the United States until there is a new “de-ideologized” political leadership on the island.
Feature continues here: Castros Despise Normalization
Cuba Confidential 
There is so much a citizen can do to help the leaders of this great nation, but the present administration was warned of the Castro’s intentions.
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Everyone warned our administration of Castro’s intentions,this is true. Castro all he was looking for,was the returned of the 5 spies. Castro already has the spies returned to Cuba and he is flexing his hands to see how much can he gets out of this administration.Castro is looking for the lifting of the embargo,without compromise,of course,Castro is looking for the return of Guantanamo naval base and the return of his crown”s jewel Ana Montes. Castro has been able to manipulate the Obama administration to believe that the Cuban regime wants to be a real friend of the US and this is not real.Castro does not have any intentions of stepping down or to provide any freedom to Cubans. Castro and the communists like I have said a thousand times before will never negotiate from a position that is not offering them full advantage. I had the misfortune to live and suffer under communism and I know how they would act. if Ana Montes is released,this event will become another political victory for Castro and I would not be surprise if the Cuban Intelligence services would kidnap another American citizen in Cuba and accuse him of espionage to trade for Montes. This tactic was used by the former KGB and was inherited by the Cuban repressive system.Castro is trying to portrait the current US administration as weak,fearful and unable to make the correct decisions. Time will tell. Chris ,thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts in this website.
Personally I do not believe the Castros want tbe embargo lifted,because that threat is their only excuse to blame tbe american for their demise. Eliminating the embargo would open the economic gates,which could help destroy their control over the cuban people. During the Clinton administration,the americans tried to open up. Fidel’s response was to shoot down the two defenseless planes in international airspace and sink a boat full of women and children; an obvious warning to Clinton , not to meddle with the system that kept him in power. Presently they are getting all the economic advantages and finally getting international credit,which they will never repay. On top of it all,they have been saved from the upcoming Venezuelan implosion,after milking it dry,comunist style. Now they will try to create a totalitarian capitalist society. Hopefully the cuban people,who are getting a better perspective of the outside world, might wake up and finally put a stop to the insanity.
Raul keeps calling the shots, we should not respond to his siren’s songs, particularly the Cuban exile community. They have repeatedly shown what they are capable of. Only fools believe they can survive, much less prosper, under a bloody communist dictatorship for any length of time. The dictatorship must be defeated,
at whatever cost.