WHY HISPANICS MUST VOTE FOR REPUBLICANS / by Jorge E. Ponce

Many politicians and media outlets imply repeatedly that President Trump is going to lose a significant number of Hispanics who voted for him in 2024 because of his aggressive campaign to apprehend and deport immigrants. 

But here lies the catch.  They intentionally muddle the discussion by failing to differentiate between “legal” and “illegal” immigrants.  Under federal law, unauthorized entry into the U.S. is criminalized under 8 U.S.C. 1325 and 1326.  No one is complaining about legal immigrants – let this be clear.

While I don’t doubt the motives for illegal immigrants to want to emigrate from their home countries because of dire economic conditions or human rights violations, it is also true that failure to monitor borders results in a quick dissolution of any country.  The United States has never been the haven for the world’s illegal immigrants. 

Immigration to a country is not a right nor a privilege of any immigrant group.  It is up to a receiving country to spell out the legal requirements that must be met before entry can be authorized.  Important issues like labor shortages in certain fields and skill sets in high demand are valid considerations. 

The principal duty of the U.S. Government is to look after its own citizens.  No immigrant group should impose a tax burden on the citizens of a country.  And yet, according to a recent report from the American Immigration Reform (FAIR)[1] the annual cost of illegal immigration to U.S. taxpayers is $150.7 billion.  When Democrats insists on making “affordability” a major campaign issue in the 2026 midterm elections, let the voters beware that it was during the Biden/Harris Administration that nearly 7.3 million illegal immigrants crossed the southwest border[2]. The Trump Administration delivered on its promises to close the Southern Border, stop illegal immigration, and aggressively implement a deportation program.

Considering that the majority of illegal immigrants are unskilled workers, they have a deleterious impact on the job opportunities available to Hispanics and Blacks with a legal status in the U.S. labor market.  The famous Mexican American labor leader and co-founder of the United Farm Workers Cesar Chavez said so.  Similarly, the late Democrat Congresswoman from Texas Barbara Jordan reached the same conclusion by saying that unchecked immigration lowers wages at the bottom of the labor market, strains public services, and disproportionately harms Black and low-income American workers.

Some employers prefer to hire illegal immigrants because they can pay them lower wages and offer them less generous benefits.  This explains why the Bracero Program[3] – a program set up by President Roosevelt in 1942 that allowed seasonal employment for Mexican workers to work in the U.S. agricultural and railroad industries – was terminated by President Johnson in 1964 because of the adverse impact that the program had on American farmers and domestic wages. These workers came to the U.S. on short contracts and were expected to return to their home countries upon termination of the contract. While the program was ideal to fill the agricultural shortages during World War II, it served its purpose at the conclusion of the War. 

Many Democrats in the U.S. Congress have flip-flopped on the issue of illegal immigration.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was against illegal immigration in 2009 and now favors it.  Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also opposed illegal immigration in 2005 and now welcomes it.  This is the latest fad to stay popular with the radical socialists who now control the agenda of the Democrat Party in 2026.  But what is good for radical-socialist politicians is not always good for legal Hispanic immigrants.

Some Hispanics who once held anti-illegal immigration views are victimized lately by today’s liberal Jacobins.  Take the case of Cesar Chavez.  President Clinton awarded him posthumously the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.  In 2024, President Barack Obama rolled out a proclamation designating March 31 as a federal commemorative holiday to honor his life and legacy.  Candidate Obama adopted the United Farm Workers of America motto of “Si Se Puede” into his “Yes We Can” logo of his 2008 campaign. But Chavez’ views were no longer popular in 2026.  Therefore, to no one’s surprise, on March 18, 2026, Dolores Huerta – who cofounded the United Farm Workers with Chavez in 1962 — at age 95 revealed that Chavez had raped her in the 1960’s. No longer a hero 64 years later but the Left is unforgiving! Chavez was transformed into an American pariah.

Former Republican President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986.  It was an amnesty law that legalized approximately 2.7 million illegal immigrants.  The President thought that this would be a once in a lifetime measure that would end this challenge for future incumbents of the Oval Office.  This was wishful thinking as we noticed the multiple caravans of illegal immigrants who crossed the Southern Border during the Biden Administration. 

Amnesty for illegals is not the solution. Miami-Dade County Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar broke with President Trump’s immigration policies by saying the following about illegal immigrants in September 2026: “I’m not talking about giving them amnesty. I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land.[4]” She is playing with words here — offering a dignified life to illegal immigrants who have broken federal law is an impossible feat to a Nation that is founded on respect for its laws.

Many critics of ICE raids against illegal immigrants argue that just like there was an exodus of Hispanic voters to Republicans in the 2024 election, there will be a opposite exodus to Democrats in 2028.  What they fail to take into consideration is that according to the most recent data, Hispanics make up 50% of Border Patrol agents and 24% of ICE agents[5].  For Hispanics with a legal status, a job is a job – a means to enhance the financial status of their families. Legal Hispanic immigrants love America, respect its laws, work hard to achieve the American Dream, and agree with assimilating into its culture and traditions. 

Some on the Left dispute the allegation that illegal immigrants commit more crime than native-born Americans[6].  But again, this is part of the propaganda machine that is accustomed to spinning the facts.  They purposely ignore the obvious that crossing the U.S. border illegally is a crime. When you add the latter cohort to the calculations, there is no doubt that illegal immigrants have a higher crime rate that native born Americans. End of discussion.  

Democrats are known for pushing unworkable and crazy policies to the rest of the population — but not to them.  A case in point happened on September 14, 2022, when Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent two plane loads with 50 primarily Venezuelan illegal immigrants to the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts[7].  Although Democrats voted overwhelmingly in Massachusetts in the past for immigration policies that they characterized as compassionate and welcoming, Martha’s Vineyards officials activated the National Guard and transported the 50 immigrants to military housing on the Cape Cod mainland. Their sympathy for Hispanic illegal immigrants only went so far!

The homicide rate of Hispanics is very high – in fact, it was the second cause of death for the 15-24 year cohort in 2022[8].  And the majority of homicides of females occur by intimate partner violence – which one can assume are from Hispanic males.  You would think that Hispanics need to rely heavily on the police and other law enforcement personnel for their safety. But here we have to revert to the mental gymnastics that Democrats are so used to play.  You’ll find that many leftist Democrats favor defund-the-police policies as a means of protecting minority communities.  But look closely at the case of Representative Ayanna S. Pressley (D-Mass.) – a strong advocate of the “Defund the police” movement – who spent close to $50,000 on her own security services[9]. If you ever wondered what the definition of an oligarch is for these Democrats, it refers to “you pay all the taxes, you do all the work while we reap all the benefits!”

Members of this elitist cartel must be exposed for what they are – the enemies of legal immigrant groups.

When I became a Republican in 2014, many accused me of being an “unauthentic Hispanic.” In other words, the liberal mob expected me to embrace all their irrational policies regarding Hispanics.  My individual views did not count.  They wanted me to discard them in their entirety and replace them with a total allegiance to the collective. 

Of course, I refused to abide by this insanity as I believed that those who advocated for those policies were the real “unauthentic Hispanics!”

[1] https://www.fairus.org/new-fair-report-annual-costs-illegal-immigration-soars-1507-billion-year

[2] https://nypost.com/2024/02/21/us-news/7-2m-illegals-entered-the-us-under-biden-admin-an-amount-greater-than-population-of-36-states/

[3] https://fedlaws.org/how-the-bracero-program-worked-and-why-it-ended/

[4] https://dailycaller.com/2026/09/17/maria-elvira-salazar-immigration-deportation-trump-ad-dignidad-act/

[5] https://www.parriva.com/latinos-make-up-more-than-50-of-border-patrol-agents-and-24-of-ice-agents-for-latino-agents-its-about-the-money/

[6] https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/08/03/no-undocumented-immigrants-dont-commit-more-crime-research-shows-they-commit-a-lot-less/

[7] https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-marthas-vineyard-celebs-silent-opening-up-island-homes-illegal-immigrants?msockid=3810939777756fa22fb6847176dd6e71

[8] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11655122/

[9] https://nypost.com/2022/03/08/squad-rep-ayanna-pressley-spent-50k-on-security-in-2021/

THE DENGUE PLAGUE HITS FLORIDA / by Jorge E. Ponce

The Tampa Bay Area has a record number of locally-acquired dengue cases in 2026. During the month of September, there was one confirmed fatality and 160 cases in Hillsborough County, 7 in Pinellas County, and 2 in Pasco County.

All three counties have issued temporary states of emergency and deployed targeted truck and aerial spraying plus frequent mosquito trapping in affected residential communities. 

The counties also recommend wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants when working outside, using insect repellent, and frequently replacing water in outdoor pet dishes and birdbaths.

The international travel-associated cases paint an even a worse picture.  There are 212 dengue cases in this cohort as of September 19, 2026 — with Miami-Dade leading the pack with 126 cases, followed by Broward with 12 cases, and Palm Beach and Hillsborough with 12 cases each.

Typical symptoms associated with dengue include muscle aches, joint/bone/muscle pain, high fever, pain behind the eyes, nose or gum bleed, and sometimes a rash.

Dengue is not contagious and is transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito – the same insect that spreads yellow fever.

Dr. Carlos J. Finlay, a Cuban epidemiologist, is credited with finding in 1881 that yellow fever was transmitted from infected to healthy humans by an Aedes aegypti mosquito.  

But there was a problem with this major breakthrough.  No one outside of Cuba believed him.  And this was not unusual at the time.  Reading from a letter to the editor penned by Cuban Founding Father Jose Marti in the New York Evening Post, dated March 25, 1889, and addressing an injurious comment printed in the Manufacturer of Philadelphia, Marti vehemently objected to the description of Cuban men as “destitute vagrants and immoral pigmies.” Nothing could have been further from the truth!

It took a team led by an American doctor, Walter Reed, to confirm the theory of Dr. Finlay in 1901.  While Doctor Walter Reed was the recipient of much of the credit for beating yellow fever in history books, Dr. Finlay remained unknown to many. 

Yellow fever decimated many countries’ populations. Between 1693 and 1905, yellow fever was responsible for at least 100,000 deaths in the United States.  When the French tried to build a Panama Canal between 1882-1889, yellow fever became a serious problem for canal builders because the casualties were so numerous that it became difficult for the French company to retain a workforce to sustain the effort. During the U.S. successful endeavor to build the Canal between 1904-1914, there were no more deaths from yellow fever in Panama by 1906.

Between the French and the American efforts to build the Panama Canal, there were more than 30,000 deaths – the world’s project with the highest fatality rate.

Upon visiting Panama City, Panama in the past, I was touched when I saw a plaque honoring the Cuban physician in a park. Panamanians were fully aware of the importance that Dr. Finlay played in the construction of the Panama Canal and the immense debt of gratitude that they owed him by honoring his legacy.  Cubans honor this hero as well!

MY INTERVIEWS ABOUT MY BOOK / JORGE E. PONCE

I’ve been interviewed on TV and radio innumerable times in the past.  I’m grateful to those who have interviewed me.  But there is always a challenge associated with these interviews.  They are all time limited — with space allowed to air commercials. 

With the above limitations in mind, I’ve prepared this article to cover more broadly what I had no time to do at live interviews.

1) INTRODUCTION

My name is Jorge Ponce.  Many ask me when first meeting me if I’m related to the late Spanish explorer Don Juan Ponce “de Leon.” Considering that Leon was a Christian kingdom before the unification of Spain as a country in 1492, I respond that I might be related.  Nevertheless, I tell them that I am Jorge Ponce “de La Habana.”

I was born in the Santo Suarez neighborhood, the place where the late Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz was born and raised.  One of Celia’s most famous songs was “Life Is a Carnival” which is an ode to optimism in the whole world except in Cuba where “Life is a Perennial Nightmare.”

I lived in Havana for eleven years until my family emigrated via legal means to the United States in 1966 – where I’ve lived for the last sixty years.

I grew up in Virginia and retired from the federal workforce after serving for 39.5 years – when my wife and I moved to the Tampa Bay Area.

My wife is Cuban, and we have one son and two granddaughters.

2) MY BOOK

My book is “Examining the Past to Understand the Present – The Journey of a Cuban American Refugee and What Led to His Conversion from Democrat to Republican.”

The inspiration for the title comes from a famous quote by the late Spanish philosopher George Santayana: “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.”

You can purchase my book on the Amazon.com portal in hardcopy, paperback, or Kindle formats.  If you type just my name (Jorge Ponce), my book will show up.

The book has 5 parts.  My advice is that you start reading Part 5 first since it has over 60 articles on different subjects that have moved my soul in the past – from politics, to Cuba, to Cuban Americans, Hispanics, and philosophy.  Parts 1-4 are autobiographical to satisfy the readers’ curiosity as to who is the person who wrote the articles in Part 5. Part 1 describes by life in Cuba BC (Before Castro), Part 2 my life in Cuba AC (After Castro), Part 3 my life in the United States, and Part 4 my retirement.

Most people nowadays don’t have the time to read books.  It is because of this that I framed Part 5 in a way that anyone can pick up my book at any time, read one or two articles from beginning to end, and putting it down until next time.

3) REASONS FOR WRITING MY BOOK

To satisfy one of the quotes from Cuban Founding Father Jose Marti: “every man should do three things in his life: plant a tree, have a son, and write a book.” If Marti were alive today, I’m certain that he would say the same about every woman.

To provide a legacy for my family, especially my granddaughters – so that they know me more fully than just a name or a photograph.

To show every legal immigrant the trajectory of one of their own through his defeats, the obstacles overcome, and the victories reached to land at the highest levels of the Federal Government and achieve a very rewarding life.

To motivate politicians to find out what moved a Cuban American to switch his political affiliation from one camp to the other.  With 68M (20%) Hispanics in the U.S. population as of 2025, no political party can win future elections without having this group in their tent.

4) BRIEF SAMPLES OF MY ARTICLES IN MY BOOK

A) I Am Who I Am

Some of my friends in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area have brought to my attention recently that I’ve changed since moving down to Florida. You might ask the obvious questions: How have I changed? Has it been for the better? Is the main culprit senility? When I asked them, they responded that I’ve changed my political views, and it’s been for the worse. I never suspected that Florida could have such a deleterious effect on its new arrivals.

The years that I lived in Communist Cuba taught me the difference between right and wrong. The attempt to forcefully supplant individualism with collectivism was not well received by many Cubans. Parents wanted and insisted on teaching their children their traditions, their religion, their values. It was inconceivable to these Cubans that the government would want to take the place of the family. And my family decided to vote with their feet by emigrating to the United States.

President Obama gave a speech to the Cuban American National Foundation on May 23, 2008, in which he underscored that his “policy toward Cuba will be guided by one word: Libertad. And the road to freedom for all Cubans must begin with justice for Cuba’s political prisoners, the rights of free speech, a free press and freedom of assembly; and it must lead to elections that are free and fair.” He lied — just like when he says that he is a Christian but defends Islam at every opportunity that he gets, while putting down Christianity.

December 17, 2014 was a day in infamy for freedom-loving Cubans, Cuban-Americans, and world citizens interested in seeing a Cuba Libre. A day when President Obama gave a speech announcing a new day in U.S./Cuba relations. 8,000 Cubans immigrants are in Costa Rica in 2015-2016 trying to gain entrance to the United States. This is an anomaly, as you would think that with President Obama’s New Day in U.S./Cuba relations, no Cuban would want to leave the Caribbean Island. After 57 years of totalitarian oppression under the Castro Brothers, most Cubans recognize who the bad actors are. When they saw U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s slight to Cuban human-rights dissidents by not inviting them to the official ceremony of the reopening the U.S. Embassy in Havana in August of 2015, they realized that President Obama was not truthful in his promise of hope and change for a Cuba Libre. They understood that President Obama’s gestures were in solidarity with the Cuban Government, and not with the Cuban people. They knew that the actions of President Obama would prolong the totalitarian rule of current and future dictators for a very long time. They knew that President Obama was not a friend of liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands.

B) The Truth About Cuban Americans

Cuban-Americans have been the target of insults in the past. They have been called all kinds of pejoratives – Batista sympathizers, inveterate hardliners, cavemen, reactionaries, and not-authentic Hispanics. They don’t deserve these slanderous labels. Those who mischaracterize them do not really know the story of one of the most successful immigrant groups in the United States.

So, are Cuban-Americans Batista sympathizers? Some of them are, but they are a minority and have to play by American rules while living in the United States. Although I’ve been called this designation in the past, I could not be a sympathizer of any political figure as I was 11 years old when I left Cuba. This shows vividly that these people who dislike Cuban-Americans so much are not interested in logical debates, but in ad-hominem attacks.

5) CLOSING REMARKS

The majority of Cuban Americans embrace two phrases: “All Lives Matter” and “Black Beans Matter.”

Unlike what the former First Lady Jill Biden called Hispanics – we are not “breakfast tacos.” We are men and women who work very hard to achieve the American Dream.

The majority of Hispanics believe in the existence of just two sexes – male and female.  And “LatinX” does not fit in these categories.

For many Hispanics, the only bunny that we like is the “Energizer” bunny made famous in batteries –not the “Bad Bunny.”

The majority of Democrats stand for “DSA.” Republicans stand for “USA!”

The majority of Democrats preach “nonsense.” Republicans embrace “common sense!”

And I am and will be always what I have been – a Cuban American who loves freedom and detests socialism and communism!

LIVE OR DIE ON NOVEMBER 3, 2026 / by Jorge E. Ponce

Prior to the election of Barack Hussein Obama to the White House in 2008, the political gamesmanship was played very differently. It was more collegial and served the Nation well.

Previously, Americans favored and voted to have split control of at least one chamber of the U.S. Congress.  Their rationale was that this provided a check-and-balance on the decisions and legislations that congressmen/women considered.  This was good for the Nation and forced legislators to compromise. 

But for the system above to work smoothly, there was one requirement: a need to look after what was good for all Americans, and not just for their Party.

And outstanding patriotic Democrats – like Senators Sam Nunn (Georgia), Scoop Jackson (Washington State), Joe Lieberman (Connecticut), and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neall (Massachusetts) worked side by side with Republican legislators and Presidents on legislation that benefited all Americans.

But all of this camaraderie changed for the worst nowadays.  Traditional Democrats attempted to undermine both presidential terms of Donald J. Trump without addressing or compromising on policy differences that they had with him or his Party.  They are blinded by a terminal virus called Trump Derangement Syndrome that has clouded their sound judgment. And because of this malady, the socialist wing has hijacked the Democrat Party and left them impotent to resist. 

Rather than reaching the better angels of voters, Democrat politicians have preached resisting ICE agents, impeaching President Trump, invoking the 25th Amendment, and labeling the President as a king. 

But going back in history, kings ruled without the consent of the governed.  They relied solely on the belief that they were chosen directly by God to rule.  Donald Trump participated in caucuses and primaries in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. He was ultimately selected as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention by delegates casting their votes.  This resulted in Trump winning the 2016 election by 74.22M and the 2024 election by 77.3M.  He was definitely elected by the consent of the governed.  On the other hand, if we want to talk about kings and queens, President Joe Biden handpicked Kamala Harris as the Democrat Party’s presidential nominee.   No one can deny that this is how kings and queens operate. Biden behaved not only as a king, but as God!

But the insults and calls to resist by Democrats have gone unabated.  These have resulted in three assassination attempts against President Trump and the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. This also led to U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran to say on July 22, 2026, that his agency has opened more than 10,000 investigations this year into threats against civilians and public figures.[1] 

And despite all the threats, we hear a constant mantra from many Democrats that what Republicans legislators and MAGA Americans need to do for the good of the country is to come together.  This is the usual “peace and love will bring us together” slogan of past years.  Sounds good, but it’s only a political gimmick by Democrats to fool voters.  Take for example President Biden’s “Battle for the Soul of the Nation” speech on September 1, 2022, in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he proudly proclaimed that “the Republican Party is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. MAGA forces are determined to take the country backwards.”[2] This doesn’t sound like a “peace and love” call to action!

Looking at the new platform from the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) titled “Workers Deserve More” that was rolled in mid-July 2026[3], it calls for the elimination of the U.S. Senate and replacing the U.S. President and the U.S. Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by the U.S. Congress.  Let’s pay close attention here to the lies generated by most Democrats when they advocate for defending the U.S. Constitution.  Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution deals with the establishment of a U.S. Senate, Article 2 deals with the setting up of a U.S. President, and Article 3 refer to the creation of a U.S. Supreme Court.  While the U.S. Constitution does not specify the number of justices who serve on the Court, the number has remained constant at 9 since 1869.  So, who’s better suited to defend the U.S. Constitution?!!!

Some not so radical Democrats as the DSA ones but still pretty radical call for the expansion of the U.S. Supreme Court beyond the current nine justices.  They do this because they are unhappy with the conservative majority of the Court nowadays.  However, the conservative justices have not always rendered decisions favored by most Republicans – as was the case with the abominable decision on birthright citizenship.  To increase the number of justices based on who occupies the Oval Office will result in a never-ending game of upmanship that will turn the Court into a political playground.  When a Democrat occupies the White House, he/she will  increase the number of justices beyond the nine, and when it’s the Republican’s turn, he/she will do the same – and this would to go on in perpetuity. This is insanity at its best!

Democratic strategist James Carville in a July 2026 interview said that Democratic Socialists “are paternalistic.  It’s a bunch of overeducated little white turds who think they know more than other people know.” He vigorously objected to the remark that a progressive House candidate in a Michigan district made who claimed that “Black U.S. political leaders are a pillar of the capitalist, imperialist American establishment.” [4] Carville rejected this invidious thinking by arguing that it dismissed the most important Black civil rights figures like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Carville is right, but most traditional Democrats in the House and Senate are petrified to anger the Democrat Socialists and remain silent.

So, Republicans, centrist Democrats, and Independents have a major choice to make when they vote on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.  Split control of the U.S. Congress is no longer an option.  It’s an anachronism.  If the radical wing of the Democrat Party gains control of even one chamber of Congress, the Trump presidency is over.  It’s over because Democrats will be unrelenting in attempting to impeach him and remove him from office – as well as voting down all legislation crafted by Republicans.  A DSA in control would abolish the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and all other founding documents and substitute them with a socialist/communist platform where citizens are relegated to the consent of the all-encompassing Government. 

November 3, 2026 is not a mere day in the calendar.  It’s the day when freedom and democracy and the United States that we all love and fought for could become a thing of the past! Tyranny and misery would replace them. The fate of the Nation is in your hands!

So, don’t stay home on November 3, 2026.  You must go out and vote for Republicans and centrist Democrats like Senator John Fetterman (Pennsylvania) who will Keep America Great Again for our and future generations!!!

[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/secret-service-has-investigated-10000-threats-in-2026/ar-AA28wDJ2

[2] https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/joe-bidens-this-is-not-normal-speech

[3] https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/15/updated-dsa-platform-calls-abolishing-ice-scrapping-senate/

[4] https://www.tampafp.com/overeducated-turds-james-carville-torches-democratic-socialists-in-explosive-rant/

WHY IS COMMUNISM POPULAR IN THE U.S. IN 2026? / by Jorge E. Ponce

I’m amazed that with so much documented history on the failures of every communist regime in history, there is an upsurge in sympathy in some sectors in the United States for socialism and communism. 

And make no mistake about it.  Socialism, Democratic Socialism, and Communism are all part of the same leftist propaganda to obfuscate the uninformed.  There is absolutely nothing “democratic” about socialism or communism.  If you don’t believe me, look at the official name of Communist North Korea – “Democratic” People’s Republic of North Korea.  I don’t think many people think Kim Jong Un cares much about democracy or his people.

The communist virus is being spread in our U.S. cities, in our elementary schools, in our high schools, in our colleges, in our universities, in city halls, and in the U.S. Congress.  And Americans who love our Judeo-Christian traditions, our freedoms, and our democracy cannot sit still.

Just focusing our attention at the 20th century, over 100 million killings have been attributed to communist dictators like Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Fidel Castro.  Peaceful protesters lack the most fundamental protections in these rogue countries.  They either get long jail sentence, sent to labor camps, or suffer the ultimate punishment of death. 

But I ask myself, hasn’t Americans supporting these regimes learned of their crimes and failures in history books, schools and universities, and media outlets?

One of the answers to this question is that the rarest thing for most Americans nowadays is to read a book.  Even with the availability of audio books, most claim that they lead such busy lives that reading a book is a luxury that they don’t have.  They let others do the thinking for them. And, they forget the wisdom that an educated citizenship is necessary for the survival of freedom. 

In schools and universities, there are too many teachers and university professors who simply don’t hold any allegiance to the foundational documents of our Nation.  In fact, many hold views that are the antithesis of our Judeo-Christian values and propose the overthrow of our system of governance.  If the perpetuation of our culture lies with the younger generation’s buy-in, this challenge must be addressed immediately.  One of the best solutions is to give parents the option to send their children to charter schools that have America-First curriculums.

With the scarcity of well-read Americans, media outlets fill in the gaps.  But with most TV networks and newspapers having a left-wing bias and with soundbites lasting no longer than 1 minute, listeners and readers get their minds filled with anti-American ideologies.  And by doing so, they become the useful sheep who will purchase the rope to hang themselves. 

When you ask many of these useful idiots why they hate President Trump, they respond with illogical answers like they don’t like any kings.  But if we are to examine what U.S. presidents have behaved like kings, we have to look no further than at Joe Biden who selected his successor without consulting the wishes of the voters.  This is what kings and queens do when dealing with succession to the throne – only members of the Royal Family belong to this club.

After I – with my family – immigrated to the United States many years ago, I made it my business to tell as many Americans as I could about the hardships that I had endured in Communist Cuba.  But I realized quickly that they did not take me seriously.  For this, I do not blame them for my physical appearance then left a lot to be desired.  I was undernourished, not very muscular, and my dress attire was not very fashionable.  I can see that many must have thought that I looked like a geek.

All of this changed after I gained better English fluency, became more athletic by joining the rowing team, and dressed more fashionable.  My letters to the editor started getting published in the Washington Post and the Washington Times.  I was more outspoken in high school and college about my dire experiences with Cuban communism and communism in general. 

Nevertheless, a turning point was reached with the Vietnam War and Watergate.  With a very unpopular war and a failed presidency, many Americans felt betrayed by their government and Chief Executive.  The Viet Congs, Fidel Castro, and Che Guevara gained popularity with this crowd.  Yankee imperialists – not the baseball team – became the enemy.  When many of these Americans joined the labor force, they gravitated to professorships at our colleges and universities where they could mold the minds of students into faithful followers of Marx and Hegel.

When Cuban Americans warned Venezuelans that their country could fall into the orbit of communism in the late 1990’s, they laughed and said that Venezuela was not like Cuba.  And Hugo Chavez and Maduro turned Venezuela into a failed communist state.  And after this happened, many Venezuelans were no longer laughing, but it was too late.  Many voted with their feet by immigrating to the United States. 

With so many Cuban Americans and Venezuelan Americans warning Americans about the communist infiltration in their country, are they listening now? The majority of Cuban Americans and Venezuelan Americans do not have the geeky appearance that I had when I came from Cuba.  They are highly successful businessmen/women and politicians who love America, the American Dream, and capitalism. 

The answer is that many Americans think that what happened in Cuba and Venezuela can never take place in the United States.  But they don’t have to look to the Caribbean, Central and South American to get an answer.  All they need to do is to look at the rapid deterioration of fiscal responsibility and law and order in U.S. cities like Chicago, New York City, and Seattle run by leftist mayors. 

And there is no question that the United States has made plenty of errors in the past.  Considering that humans are not infallible, this is to be expected.  In the early years of our republic, only white males who were property owners could vote in elections.  Slavery was sanctioned even though it was counter to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.  But the country corrected its past mistakes by freeing the slaves, making them U.S. citizens, and giving them the right to vote.  It later gave women and Native Americans the right to vote.  Many more errors were eliminated to make our Land the most prosperous civilization that humans have ever experienced.

Why is socialism/communism so popular with these gullible people?

You must understand that the only thing that communist dictators care about is power and how to keep it.  The first thing that they go after is religion – Marx called it the opium of societies.  There can only be one god to this cabal, and it’s the Communist Party.  Citizens’ well-being and lives are secondary agenda items.  But considering that so American values are derived from the Bible, communist agitators copy many of the Christian principles to sell their ideology.  You hear them saying that communism cares about open-borders, looking out after the poor, providing equal wages for employees, lowering prices at supermarkets and bus transportation, and eliminating the very rich.  In other words, a communist country is the utopia that many dreamed of.  Who can object to these generous options?!!!

But those who get their information from leftist fake-news outlets and publications fail to do their own research – to their detriment.  These are the people that you see yelling anti-American rhetoric at No-Kings rallies and May-Day protests.  None have stopped to think that there has not been one communist country in the history of the world that has improved the lot of its citizens. None have stopped to read about the high-crime and fraud rates in U.S. cities run by leftist mayors. 

And yet, these leftist fools want to negate the vote of 77 million Americans who elected President Trump to a second term.  Logic is foreign to them.  Following is how they think. America and capitalism are the devils that need to be abolished.  President Trump must be impeached and put to prison.  The Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution are foundational documents that need to be discarded for having been drafted by white-racist oligarchs.  President Trump is a Nazi but many support the candidacy for the U.S. Senate from Maine of Graham Platner who does have a Nazi tattoo.  Logic is not their forte!

MAGA Americans will never let this happen.  But they cannot get complacent.  They must fight back in every venue, in every media platform, in every election, in every gathering.  Every time in the past that our well-being has been endangered, Americans have risen to the challenge. 

This is one of those moments when we have to deliver and safeguard an America enshrined in the Judeo-Christian values that are found in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

Letter to Andres Oppenheimer Article on the Pope Leo/President Trump Controversy / by Jorge E. Ponce

Andrés Oppenheimer wrote an editorial on April 24, 2026 in which he cited multiple surveys showing that Pope Leo XIV was winning the latest controversy with President Trump.

It would be wise for Oppenheimer to read the wise words of the American writer Andrew Ferguson, who wrote an article in the November 2010 edition of “Commentary” magazine, arguing that you can find a survey that says anything you want it to say.

For example, I found a national Fox News survey, conducted between April 17 and 20, 2026, that showed that Catholics approved of President Trump’s decisions by 51 percent.

Most Catholics are grateful that President Trump is the most pro-life and pro-Catholic President of the United States in the last 53 years. President Trump ended the war against Catholics launched by the Biden Department of Justice and the FBI, pardoned pro-life activists, stopped the chemical mutilation of our children, protected parental rights, and appointed three conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court who played a key role in overturning the infamous Roe v. Wade decision.

Pope Leo has criticized President Trump’s military operation against the theocratic and totalitarian regime of Iran, as well as his immigration policies against illegal immigrants.

With a nuclear-armed Iran and a United States overwhelmed by illegal immigrants who refuse to swear allegiance to our founding documents and Judeo-Christian values, a ‘United States of America’ will cease to exist. A ‘Disunited States of America’ will not keep loyalty even to the Vatican.

This explains the reasons why the majority of Catholics support President Trump.

REPUBLICANS, IMMIGRATION AND THE 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS / by Jorge E. Ponce

With the midterm elections scheduled for November 3, 2026, Republicans can’t afford to lose their majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.  If they lose the House, Democrats will be quick to launch impeachment inquiries — and the President’s “Keep-America-Great” agenda will be hampered significantly with dire consequences for Republicans in the 2028 presidential election.  The stakes are high, and it’s time to get busy.

To prevent this catastrophe from happening, Republicans must do everything possible to retain the Hispanic vote.  It’s never been more important than now, but there are some warning signs happening as we speak.

According to statistics from the 2020 decennial census, Whites make up 57.3% of the U.S. population, while Hispanics make up 19.5%[1].  Not all Hispanics in this category are U.S. citizens and can vote, but the same holds true for Whites.  Without capturing a large portion of the Hispanic vote, Republicans would be in a life-support situation to keep the majorities that they now hold in both chambers of the U.S. Congress.

Hispanics supported Candidate Trump by wide margins in the last three elections.  In 2016, they gave the President 28% of their vote; in 2020, they gave him 36%; and in 2024, they gave him 48%[2].  They liked the policies that Trump campaigned on – primarily on the economy and immigration – but they have not been as supportive of Republican candidates lately. 

Two Democrat Governors – Spanberger in Virginia and Sherill in New Jersey – defeated their Republican opponents in November 2025.  And then, the unthinkable happened in December 2025: a Democrat Mayor of Miami (Higgins) got elected, making her the first Democrat in over 30 years to the city that many considered the Cuban Mecca[3].  And more recently, in January 2026, Democrat Emett won the special election to serve as a U.S. Representative for Texas 18th congressional district (which covers part of Houston).  These warning signs cannot be ignored by Republicans!

Looking at the election results in Miami, one needs to get a handle about what is triggering the dissatisfaction of Hispanic voters who turn their back on Republican candidates.  This city has large populations of Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans – most are political refugees/legal immigrants who have fled the communist regimes of Diaz-Canel, Maduro, and Ortega.  The majority support the decision of President Trump to remove the illegitimate President of Venezuela (Maduro) from power.  Nevertheless, most object to the ICE raids and deportation of immigrants that while entering the United States illegally have secured jobs, pay taxes, and have no criminal record. 

When I have questioned some of my Hispanic friends and relatives on this issue while visiting Miami, they have objected strongly to the tone that Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Stephen Miller uses when describing the President’s immigration policies.  Some think that he shows no mercy towards the plight of these immigrants and favors their immediate deportation.

From a legal perspective, Stephen Miller is not entirely wrong.  Illegal entry and reentry into the U.S. are both criminal offenses – the first is a misdemeanor and the second is a felony[4].  When liberal media outlets claim that illegal immigrants commit less crimes than native-born Americans[5], I am sure that Miller objects – based on the U.S. immigration laws, although realizing that most Americans are not very familiar with them.  Democrats also try to muddle this issue by labeling President Trump’s policies as “anti-immigrant’ policies – without distinguishing between “legal” and “illegal” immigrants.

But Democrats have been vociferous by saying that no one is above the law.  In fact, prominent Democrats in the Oval Office, the House of Representatives, and the Senate have condemned illegal immigration.  Even Senator Bernie Sanders proclaimed that the United States cannot afford to have open borders.  But all these proclamations were said in the past.  Now with Donald Trump as the 47th President, they’ve changed their tune to support open borders and protect illegal immigrants.  See video prepared by Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-05),  which he showed at a February 11, 2016 congressional hearing with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi[6]

Even Cesar Chavez of “Si Se Puede/Yes We Can” fame and co-founder of the United Farm Worker Labor Union was strongly opposed to illegal immigration[7] – because it lowered the wages and/or jobs of legal workers.  Nevertheless, times have changed since Chavez times, and there is a shortage of applicants for many jobs in the U.S. economy triggered by the reduced fertility rate of women.

But politics is a game that is not limited to legal frameworks and statistics – optics play a big part – especially when a large portion of voters get their news from soundbites from fake-news media outlets. 

So, former President Regan signed an immigration bill in 1986 that granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants[8].  He did this because he was a compassionate person who thought that his decision would be a one-time solution to this challenge.  But as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.  Under the Biden’s administration, anywhere from 6 to 20 million illegal immigrants (depending on the sources used) crossed the southern border.

President George W. Bush also wanted to come across as a compassionate conservative and would have signed into law the Dream Act in 2001 – which would have granted permanent residency and a pathway to citizenship to children who came to U.S. through illegal means[9].  Although the law was hotly debated in the U.S. Congress, it never garnered a majority of votes for passage.

At a speech in 2010 to the American University School of International Service[10], former President Obama said the following: “Ultimately, our nation, like all nations, has the right and obligation to control its borders and set laws for residency and citizenship.  An no matter how decent they are, no matter their reasons, the 11 million who broke these laws should be held accountable.” These words are not that much different than the ones coming out from Stephen Miller or President Trump. 

But there is a “but” to President Obama’s words in the previous paragraph.  He said them during the third year of his first term in the Oval Office – when the majority of the 3 million deportations in his two terms took place.  In fact, he became so unpopular with Hispanics nationwide that most resorted to calling him the “Deporter in Chief.”

President Obama had to do some quick thinking if he wanted to win a second term in 2012.  In June 2012 – five months before the presidential election – he signed the DACA executive order that gave a 2-year deferment from deportation to children brought to the U.S. through illegal means.  This was enough for Obama to win a second term with 71% of the Hispanic vote.

To secure his legacy with Hispanic voters and to protect the Democrat candidate in the 2016 election, President Obama introduced in November 2014 the DAPA program – that allowed certain illegal parents of children who were either U.S. citizens or permanent resident a 3-year period of deferred action and work authorization[11].  However, the program faced immediate legal challenges that prevented it from ever being fully implemented.

So, what is President Trump to do now to secure Republican majorities in the U.S. Congress and protect the Republican ticket in 2028?

During an interview on February 4, 2026, Tom Llamas from NBC asked  President Trump whether it was his mission to deport everyone who came in illegally or just people who had come illegally but had committed additional crimes[12].  And this was President Trump’s response: “We are totally focused on criminals, really bad criminals. Now, you could say people that came in illegally are criminals. But I’m talking about murderers from different countries. We have 11,888 murderers that Biden and his group let into our country.” (See 00:09:27-00:09:47 (21 sec) of the  interview).

So, this says it all.  President Trump has embraced a more compassionate immigration policy – like his predecessors did.  The challenge is that he needs to communicate this new policy to the rest of his Cabinet immediately – so that they are all reading from the same sheet.  And this new policy has to be widely publicized to the media outlets before November 3, 2026.

There are other important issues that need to be addressed that impact immigration in the near future: birthright citizenship and the placement of a U.S. citizenship question in future decennial censuses. 

Like Cesar Chavez would say to President Trump: “Si Se Puede/ Yes We Can” win the midterm election in November 2026 with a majority of the Hispanic vote.

[1]  https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/12/politics/us-census-2020-data

[2]  https://www.axios.com/2025/06/26/trump-harris-latino-voters-2024-election-pew

[3] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/a-democrat-wins-miami-mayors-race-for-the-first-time-in-nearly-30-years

[4]  https://felonfriendly.us/crime/penalty-for-entering-us-illegally/

[5]  https://www.npr.org/2024/03/08/1237103158/immigrants-are-less-likely-to-commit-crimes-than-us-born-americans-studies-find

[6]  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lnswiwqvn0

[7]  https://humanrights.fhi.duke.edu/chavez-ufw-and-wetback-problem/

[8]  https://www.salujalaw.com/when-reagan-gave-amnesty-remembering-the-1986-immigration-reform-that-legalized-3-million-people

[9]  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DREAM_Act

[10]  https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/realitycheck/the-press-office/remarks-president-comprehensive-immigration-reform

[11]  https://legalclarity.org/barack-obamas-immigration-executive-orders-daca-and-dapa/

[12]  https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-interview-tom-llamas-nbc-news-february-4-2026/

SOME INCIDENTS IN MY TRAJECTORY AS A CUBAN REFUGEE / by Jorge E. Ponce

The trajectory of a refugee is one of embracing other cultures while never forgetting the one where you come from.  It could be painful at times but often life doesn’t offer many viable choices.  

With fifty-nine years living in the United States, I’d like to offer four incidents that caused me to stop and think deeply about how to respond politely and adequately to each.

The first one deals with my Ponce surname.  Some people assume automatically that I am Puerto Rican — as Ponce is one of the most important cities in this Caribbean Island.  Ponceños think so highly of their city that their motto is “Ponce es Ponce y lo demas es parking” or “Ponce is Ponce and all other cities in Puerto Rico don’t measure up.” The city was founded in 1692 and is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the great grandson of Spanish conquistator Juan Ponce de León.

To the great surprise of many when I clarify that I am Cuban American, they learn that there are Ponces of all nationalities.  But let’s get a reality check.  If you gathered all the Ponces throughout the world in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, this metropolis would become the center of attention of the entire world.  No one could bring together so much talent to one place! Just kidding!

Others asked me if I’m related to the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León.  There are all kinds of insinuations about this question – one of which is that for me to be treated like a VIP in the world, I have to be related to the Spanish royalty.  A Cuban-American, a denizen from a Caribbean Island – even one that Christopher Columbus described in 1492 as “the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen” — does not deserve the top scores in these people’s scorecards. 

Those who underestimate Cuban Americans have no clue about the grit, determination, and successes of so many of us who have achieved the rewards that the American Dream has to offer.  Just think of two outstanding Cubanos in American society nowadays: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the 2025 recipient of the Heisman Trophy, Fernando Mendoza.

But let’s follow up with a history lesson regarding the Spanish conquistador and the country Spain.  After the Christian armies recaptured territories from the Muslims that had occupied Spain since 711 AD, multiple Christian kingdoms emerged like Castile and Aragon.  An important milestone for the unification of Spain was the marriage in 1469 between King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile.  An even more important event was the conquest of Granada in 1492 – the last Muslim stronghold in the Iberian Peninsula and which played a pivotal role in the unification of the country. 

So, the “de León” in the Spanish Conquistador’s Ponce surname was indicative that this family came from the Kingdom of León before the reunification of Spain.  It pertains to a geographic region and has nothing to do with one’s genealogy.  It is very possible that I may be related to this Spanish conquistador’s family – as Ponce is not a common surname.  But I’m not losing any sleep over it. 

To make it easier to those who want to place such an important value to my ethnicity, I often refer to myself as: “Jorge Ponce de La Habana” – my birthplace.

Upon finding out where I come from, many want to display their pseudo erudition by asking whether I have gone back to Cuba.  I quickly respond that I would never set foot on a communist gulag that my family fled from, and that has continued to oppress the Cuba people for sixty-six years.  I clarify that I will only go back when I am able to drink a Cuba Libre with authentic Cuban American Bacardi Rum in a Cuba that is really Libre – in a Cuba that has replaced the Communist motto of “Patria y Muerte” (“Country or Death”) with a more Christian alternative of “Patria, Vida, y Libertad” (“Country, Life, and Freedom”).

But most are not done with me yet.  When they see my name spelled on multiple forms as “Jorge,” they proceed to call me “George.” If my mother would have wanted me to name me “George,” she would have done so.  The pronunciation of Jorge as “horhe” does not even come close to the pronunciation of “George.”  With the U.S. population in 2025 made up of 68 million (20%) Hispanics, I would have thought that many would run across many “Jorge’s” in their business dealings by now.  Popular American Writer Dale Carnegie in his magnum opus book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” reminded his readers that “a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Mr. Carnegie realized that it was not just the correct spelling of a person’s name that mattered, but its pronunciation as well.

And the last question is one that I’ve asked myself repeatedly.  How to respond when people ask me where do I come from.  In the past, I’ve responded by calling myself a Cuban American.  But when I’ve traveled overseas and I’ve responded this way, people confused my allegiance to the communist government in Cuba.  In fact, most of these people expressed their admiration for Fidel Castro and Che Guevara — both of which I consider to be a”che”sinos! And rather than enjoying my vacation, this triggered an adrenalin boost of negative energy – which is totally unnecessary for good health and to seize the joyous moments that life offers us.  Therefore, I’ve made an adjustment. 

Cuba will always be a part of me, of my personality, of my way of thinking.  But the Cuba that I keep in my soul and the one that I toast to when I order a Cuba Libre is the Cuba BC (Before Castro).  I share nothing in common with the Cuba DC (During Castro) and Cuba AC (After Castro).

When I’m asked this question again, I’ll respond that I am “an American of Cuban descent.”  

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION / Jorge E. Ponce

Andres Oppenheimer challenged, in a December 3rd op-ed, the current immigration policies of President Trump.  His one-sided arguments merit a more impartial rebuttal.

While I submitted a letter to the editor to the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, where Andre’s op-ed was published, my letter was ignored.  I was not surprised given the liberal ideological orientation of both newspapers in a city that just elected a Democrat mayor on December 9, 2025 – the first Democrat elected in 28 years.

He states that the President has labeled “all” immigrants as foreign invaders.  This is only partially true.  The President is lumping only “illegal” immigrants into this cohort.  He has no problem with immigrants who have gained entry to the U.S. by following the legal processes that include a fully-vetted protocol.  Even famous Hispanic civil rights leader and labor-movement activist Cesar Chavez opposed illegal immigrants who undermined the boycotts and strikes orchestrated by United Farm Workers to improve the labor conditions of legal employees.  The legendary former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-TX) also advocated for an immigration policy based on legal means that aimed to have new arrivals be a benefit and not a burden to the country.

He attempts to make President Trump feel guilty by invoking the Emma Lazarus poem attached to the Statue of Liberty that reads: “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” He is not the only one to do this. However, the economy of our country in 1883, when this poem was written, was different than the economy of our nation today.  There is a world of difference in a manufacturing-based economy in 1883 as compared to a 2025 economy that is based on service-oriented industries — where English fluency is a requirement and technological skill-sets are competing with artificial intelligence options.  The 2025 poem in the Statue of Liberty should be interpreted to read as follow: “Give me your legal immigrants with the skill-sets and English fluency that will guarantee them success in our American society.”

To wrap-up his argument, he invokes studies claiming that illegal immigrants on average commit fewer crimes than U.S. born Americans.  This is bogus reasoning.  Unlawful entry and illegal reentry are both criminal offenses that may result in criminal penalties, with enhanced penalties for illegal reentry. When you add both of these categories to the other crime categories, you must reach the conclusion that illegal immigrants commit the most crimes in our country. 

Some Democrats argue that the contributions that illegal immigrants make to the economy by their tax receipts on the purchases they make outweigh their cost to taxpayers.  To those who don’t do their research and who get their information from soundbites from fake-news media outlets, this argument sounds reasonable. 

But those who rely on factual information find out that the argument is wrong.  According to a 2023 report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) – presented at a hearing before the House Budge Committee in 2024 – the net annual cost of illegal immigration to American taxpayers is 150.7 billion dollars.  This figure is reached by subtracting the gross cost of 182 billion dollars from the 31 billion dollars that illegal immigrants pay in taxes.  So, the bottom line is that illegals pay for only 17 percent of the cost they create – a severe burden on law-abiding taxpayers.

The Democrats under the Biden/Harris administration planned to open the Southern Border to illegal immigrants from all over the world.  Their goal was to provide them with a path to citizenship — with the hope that they would vote to keep the Democrats in power in perpetuity. 

And the question remains why would the Democrats want to substitute their loyal voting bloc of blue-collar workers with illegal immigrants? And the answer can be found in former President Obama’s remarks that Americans in small towns in Pennsylvania and in the Midwest cling to their guns and religion because they are mad as hell. Democrats realized that these blue-blooded Americans would never accept their woke agenda of defunding the police, embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and radical climate-change policies, and substituting a capitalist economy with a centrally-planned socialist state (where everyone became poor except those in the political class). 

Democrats gambled that these illegal immigrants would become their steady loyalists in future elections.  The majority of these immigrants belonged to the lower socio-economic classes in their countries, lacked English fluency, had poor educational levels, and were ill-equipped to fill high-skill jobs.  To keep them happy, Democrats resorted to a panoply of welfare programs that would never allow illegals to attain the American Dream of self-sufficiency and success that those who pulled themselves by their bootstraps achieved.

But Democrats relied on the famous quote by the former minister of propaganda for the German Third Reich, Joseph Goebbels, that “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Democrats aimed to have these immigrants treat them as their patron saints and not ask any questions – also a risky proposition.

Ours is nation of laws and enshrined in Judeo-Christian traditions.  Our immigration policy should be based on entry to the country through legal means and ensure that entrants do not become a burden to our taxpayers, pursue assimilation and English proficiency, and respect the cultural traditions of the homeland.

The United States is a beacon light to those who respect all of our laws from the very beginning – without any exceptions.  I fully embrace this ideal and so does President Trump.

PATRIA Y VIDA / by Jorge E. Ponce

“Patria y Vida” or “Homeland and Life” – a protest song that became the anthem of the largest protest demonstrations in Cuba in 2021. 

Written by Yotuel Romero, the group Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo, Eliecer “el Funky“ Marquez Duany,  and Beatriz Luengo (Yotuel’s wife), it won song of the year and best urban song at the 2021 Latin Grammy awards.  

“Patria y Vida” is an inversion of the Communist Cuban slogan of “Patria o Muerte” — “Homeland or Death.”

There is a world of difference between the conjunctions “and” and “or” – between “y” and “o.” The latter symbolizes a my-way-or-the-highway mindset.  Completely totalitarian.  It leaves no room for individual thinking – typical of the communist ideology where the Communist Party is supreme.  It is also delusional to think that Cubans would be willing to die for a homeland ruled for sixty-six years by a totalitarian regime that has denied them the most basic human rights. 

On the other hand, “patria y vida” offers the option to aspire to a homeland where the dignity and prosperity of all citizens would be implemented – a homeland of, by, and all Cubans.  A homeland where no one would be left behind.  

Despite the bogus claim by Cuban authorities, racism is still prevalent in Cuban society.  Yotuel recounts the following incident in Cuba: “Once I was walking down the street with Bea (Beatriz Luengo, who is white and a Spaniard) and they told her: Wow, you’ve set the race back.”  

With the exception of Beatriz, the other composers of this song are all Afro-Cubans.  But this did not stop the official website CubaDebate to label Yotuel a “jinetero” (“prostitute) for marrying Beatriz.  Cuban Government sympathizers forget the basic fact that love has no racial barriers.  Love is an emotion that triggers an unstoppable chemical reaction in the heart.

But this was not all.  Back in 2020, an agent of the Castro regime wrote on social networks the following: “He [Yotuel] has reached where he has arrived thanks to Fidel and the Revolution without whom he would only have been a black shoeshine boy.”

Yotuel does not live in Cuba anymore for political reasons and dreams of returning only to a Cuba Libre.  If the Cuban Revolution had taken Yotuel under its wings, there would have been no need for him to emigrate.  Indeed, outside the Cuban Revolution, Yotuel is now a very successful musician with multiple awards under his belt.  It is not inconceivable that if he had stayed in Communist Cuba, his destiny would have been nothing more than that of a “black shoeshine boy.” He found fame, a loving wife, and a society that rewarded talent and not race outside of Cuba.

The massive demonstrations on July 11, 2021, had its genesis in Decree 349 – a Cuban law enacted in 2018 that obligated artists to get advance permission for public and private exhibitions and performances.  Government inspectors were authorized to confiscate the artwork of those breaking this law.  In September 2018, a group of artists who went by the name of “San Isidro Movement” launched a protest against Decree 349.  In February 2021, the song “Patria y Vida” was released.  In April 2021, residents of the San Isidro neighborhood impeded the arrest of rapper Maykel Osorbo and chanted the song “Patria y Vida” and other anti-government slogans. 

It was only a matter of time before things took a turn for the worst.  July 11, 2021 saw the largest anti-government protests since 1994.  Cubans denounced cultural censorship, food and medicine shortages (especially during the COVID pandemic), lack of basic human rights, the government’s hypocrisy regarding racial and socioeconomic equality, and the unfulfilled promises to bring about economic and political reforms.  Cubans got tired of the communist charade and demanded a change.  They dreamed of a country where they could prosper, grow, live, and vote in free elections for political candidates of their choice. 

Rather than meeting with the leaders of the demonstrations, the Cuban government made hundred of arrests and charged many with crimes that included sedition.  Maykel Osorbo was arrested in May 2021 and is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence.   

The fact that one of the composers of this song, Maykel Osorbo, is serving a jail sentence because the Cuban authorities feared the emotions that it engendered demonstrates vividly the weakness of the Cuban Communist regime.  Its sustainability is only possible by repression.  A song being an existential threat to the Cuban authorities?!!! Laughable!

I am not a fan of rap, hip-hop, reggaeton, and cubaton music. To me, music entails harmony, and the latter genre lack it.  Nevertheless, I do like the message that this song brings to the table.  As a social protest to the dire conditions that Cubans have endured for over sixty years, where the average salary of a Cuban worker in 2025 is a meager $17, where there has been a 24% decline in the Cuban population during the last four years since 2024 due to massive mass migration (which puts the Cuban population at 8M), I stand firmly in solidarity with “Patria y Vida.”  

The recent Cuban migration could be designated as a “reverse Pedro Pan Program.”  The original “Pedro Pan Operation” was a clandestine exodus of over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors ages 6 to 18 to the United States over a two-year span from 1960 to 1962 to save them from communist indoctrination.  The current program differs from the original because it entails parents leaving their children with their parents or close relatives in Cuba because of the risks associated with sea and land crossings. The original program took children out of Cuba while the current one kept children in a communist country. 

It easier for some people to capture the essence of a message or a story by reading a book.  Others favor instant gratification and prefer getting information through a song.  Others gravitate towards the visual arts to get informed. 

It is because of the latter group that Beatriz Luengo memorialized the impact that her husband’s song had worldwide by producing a documentary.  “Patria y Vida: The Power of Music” debuted in most AMC theaters in Florida on July 11, 2025. It is expected to be released in other areas of the U.S. shortly. The documentary lasts ninety minutes to symbolize the ninety miles that separate Key West from Havana.   

The song and the documentary have united Cubans living in Cuba, Cuban-Americans, and Cubans throughout the world into one family wanting a change in their homeland for democracy and a free-market economy where everyone can move up the social scale based on his/her talents. 

Patria y Vida, Venceremos! With the “Homeland and Vida” chant, we will attain Victory!