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.”

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