Elian Gonzales: "Castro is like a father to me"

[ReindeerThistle]

Bravo, Kaitzilla.

And, I linked The Power of Community 1 or 2 times.

 

[Formaldehyde]

You forgot to post the totally unbiased first few paragraphs of the article:

Fidel Castro made a liar out of me.

Okay, I didn’t have to lie to immigration, customs, and security officials at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport. I could have just applied for a journalist visa and hoped they’d approve me. But colleagues warned I’d have to wait months for an affirmative, and the authorities wouldn’t tell me if the answer was no. They’d simply toss my application into the trash if they thought I’d write anything “negative.” Six months, nine months, a year would finally pass and I’d still be waiting and wondering if I’d ever hear from them.

The Cubans knew I was coming. My name was on the flight manifest. If anyone Googled me, they’d find out at once that I work as a journalist. And if they checked their records they’d know I didn’t have the right visa. Reporters who work in Cuba on tourist visas are arrested, interrogated, and deported. It makes no difference whether or not off-the-books journalists are friendly to the government. They must register with and—more important—get permission from the proper officials.

He is literally lucky to have made it out alive. Just look at how many tourism bloggers never do so?

Guess who else heavily screened all "journalists" before allowing them to portray the Iraq War to their liking?

In July 2007, Totten traveled to Baghdad to embed with several U.S. Army units before transitioning to Anbar province and embedding with Marines.[4] In late 2007 he embedded with Marines in Fallujah, and he embedded again with the Army in Baghdad in late 2008.