News Travels by Airplane

Two interesting pieces of news arrived by plane to their respective political destinations, extending far beyond their implicit geographic boundaries. These involved the visit of the U.S. president to Beijing and that of the nation's top intelligence chief to Havana. It appears that prominent imperial figures have visited "epicenters of world communism," driven by diverse yet fundamentally similar reasons. Let us examine the facts.

Trump landed in the capital of the People's Republic of China accompanied by the cream of the American plutocracy, ranging from financiers to leaders of the military-industrial-technological complex. True to form, Trump displayed his perennial duplicity and showmanship. Once placed on the plane of an illustrious visitor—and it must be noted, as the promoter of the visit—he simply lowered the level of his "valiant" threats against the Asian giant to the sub-basement. Instead, he went out of his way to praise the Chinese president, who is, it is worth highlighting, the top leader of the Communist Party of China. Through subsequent memes, public opinion—among those interested in the event—was dominated by surprise or outright mockery toward the White House occupant, portraying him in positions completely devoid of honor and reflecting total submission.

One must ask: how did the superstar Trump, who possesses a golden statue in Doral—a chic area of South Florida—reach this point? What did he do with his well-known ego? As the poet would say, necessity, terrible necessity, works miracles. The answers to these questions reveal the true reasons behind the trip.

Trump arrived in Beijing after experiencing a resounding, strategic defeat in Western Asia, specifically regarding Iran. While this perspective has been extensively analyzed, and despite the fact that Trump claimed victory for U.S. forces over the Persians at least seven times, the truth remains that none of the objectives set forth to initiate that aggression were achieved. Rather, "anti-objectives," if the term is permitted, predominate. For instance, Iran continues its nuclear program, which has now been somewhat legitimized for military conversion, given the premise that if the country actually possessed such a nuclear weapon, it certainly would not have been invaded. Furthermore, the Strait of Hormuz, once open, is now controlled and semi-closed by Tehran. Regime change is out of the question, as the current leader—the son of the vilely assassinated predecessor—shares the exact same convictions as his father, only younger and healthier. To top it off, Israel is now more vulnerable than ever, a "minor" detail that should not be overlooked.

Added to the aforementioned scenario is the state of the U.S. economy, which remains in a stagnation mode. In fairness, this is not solely Trump's fault; it represents the structural trajectory of an empire in decline, facing successive crises without knowing how to overcome them, or perhaps only managing to postpone them. In this regard, experts presume that the current state of the domestic economy in the U.S. is not merely a product of the foolish war in Western Asia, but a prolongation of the 2008 crisis, which originally caused the entire system to fracture.

Consequently, the ego was conveniently stored away or left behind on the presidential aircraft—perhaps inside the Faraday cages where travelers, including Trump, protected their personal mobile phones. This was reportedly done to prevent the Chinese from "vacuuming" them of unpublishable content. At the very least, the world enjoyed a 48-hour respite from the usual avalanche of early-morning messages on the presidential social media network.

With this trip, the empire sought an alternative—a helping hand to emerge as gracefully as possible from the quagmire following its disastrous incursion in Iran. They aimed to see if the Chinese could convince the Persians to open the Strait of Hormuz, as if it were not already open to them, and to explore mediation options so that the U.S. Navy's departure from the Persian Gulf would be as minimal a humiliation as possible. Naturally, the crown jewel of the trip was an attempt to open the vast Chinese market to the products of the traveling tycoons and companions, and to see if they could secure "some cash" to alleviate the financial crisis and the unpayable foreign debt. At the very least, they hoped the Asians would stop "irresponsibly" selling U.S. Treasury bonds. In short, the goal was to explore formulas to keep forging ahead until luck illuminates an increasingly unattainable horizon.

The visit was filled with curiosities, some of which featured Mr. Rubio, or "Mr. Lu," as his surname was tactically modified by Chinese protocol to grant him entry. This entry had been previously barred due to the nonsense he spoke during his days as a cheerful senator representing the purest form of anti-communism, which is now temporarily contaminated by this visit to China. As an iconic Panamanian salsa song notes, "life gives you surprises."

Furthermore, another element upended the arrogant Trumpian rhetoric: the concept of achieving peace through strength. It remains to be explained clearly whether the peace they seek with China was achieved through strength, or if, in fact, China's strength forced them to seek peace with Beijing. In reality, the latter scenario appears far more evident.

In any case, the parsimonious speech delivered by the host leader, Xi Jinping, in authentic Chinese style, was a highly interesting piece of oratory. A particularly viral moment was his allusion to the "Thucydides Trap," which he invoked to signify that the decline of the empire and the rise of China cannot be resolved through war within a context of a virtual catastrophic military stalemate, as it is termed. The concern among some observers is whether Chief Trump comprehends this parable; many expect someone to explain it to him, given that he responded by blaming Biden, just in case.

As part of the trip—literally during its trajectory—Mr. Rubio offered statements to an accompanying journalist who serves the vital interests of the State Department, strictly adhering to the regulations governing freedom of the press in the U.S. The American foreign minister expounded upon his habitual fabrications against Cuba, returning to the conspiratorial monotheme alleging the existence of a military structure in Cuba that sinisterly hoards between 15 and 16 billion USD, using it as a personal seat, or something to that effect. Naturally, these elements are blamed for the "failed" nature of the Cuban state. He believes that through this rhetoric, he can separate the Cuban armed forces from the populace, ignoring the reality that in Cuba, the military is the uniformed populace itself.

Frankly, it is not even worth delving into the figures provided by Mr. Rubio. One recalls when this theory was exposed last year by a writer from the neo-Batista exile community, who published similar data in the Miami Herald, placing a Cuban business conglomerate above Nestlé. Even the micro-circuit of counter-revolutionary economists stepped forward to debunk such absurd data.

Beyond this specific rhetorical ridicule, events left Mr. Rubio in a highly unfavorable position for more serious reasons. This brings us to the aforementioned visit to Havana on May 14 by the super-agent and spy John Ratcliffe, Director of the CIA. Regarding this matter, the Cuban government issued a timely clarification, making public not only the event but also the explanations provided to the visitor.

The first aspect to consider is the timing, and in politics, timing is paramount. Ratcliffe was present in Cuba precisely when Trump and Rubio were paying deference to the leadership of the government and the Communist Party of China. Is this a coincidence? Perhaps. Is it an attempt to exclude Rubio from this process? It cannot be ruled out; he is clearly an obstacle to any dialogue project Trump might pursue with Cuban authorities.

However, another question arises: why Ratcliffe? This is logical; he is one of the primary figures within the empire's foreign relations system, directing the CIA, an agency that claims to know everything, even if history stubbornly demonstrates the opposite. Above all, Mr. John Ratcliffe enjoys Trump's absolute trust, a relationship dating back to his first term, during which he played a prominent role in the electoral processes that brought his chief to the White House. He is a foundational, chemically pure Trumpist from his days as a legislator for the state of Texas. Consequently, he is far more reliable than Mr. Rubio, to put it briefly.

Speculation has arisen regarding whether the CIA Director's visit reveals a rift within the Trump administration concerning policy toward Cuba. It could potentially be admitted that there is a division on how to proceed, and that the perverse, absurd idea of scorched earth against Cuba championed by Mr. Rubio and the Miami underworld lacks unanimous support.

Several factors converge simultaneously. These range from the most obvious—Trump, as a businessman holding the presidency, gains nothing financially from invading Cuba—to the rejection of such an adventure by U.S. public opinion, which is currently pushing Republican legislators to reject that option. Additionally, the evident resistance of the Cuban people and government remains the key and most relevant factor, an element the empire lacks the capacity to alter.

Therefore, receiving the Director of the CIA constituted a masterstroke of Cuban foreign policy. He was compelled to hear the truth: that Cuba does not represent even a remote threat to the United States. If he came to request assurances on that matter, the issue is resolved. It is now up to Washington to de-escalate its aggression, desist from its bellicose rhetoric and threats, order "silence!" to the Miami factions eager for Cuban blood, and accept that any meaningful dialogue requires mutual respect for the sovereignty and independence of both parties. Only time will tell.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff