Mr. Prieto Goes to Washington (Part II)

Val Prieto has been "honored and humbled" again by "a possible official trip to Washington DC" ["Back to DC," Dec. 5]. What interest is lost by that "possible" is supplied again by that intriguing "official." I thought only heads of state made "official trips" to other countries. Unless the Villa Valentina, Val's storied bailiwick, has declared its independence, Val is travelling to the nation's capitol in an unofficial capacity to meet with officialdom.

Although Val says he is not free at present to reveal the details, we are certainly not constrained from speculating on the nature of his trip. I think we can presume that he has not received an invitation to Barack Obama's inauguration, though from the beating that John McCain took on his blog for more than a year, he certainly earned one. No, I am sure that it is Bush, not Obama, who has invited Val to attend a final Bush bash at the White House.

Let us hope that it is not what I think it is, for the sake of decorum at least, not because the parties involved are beneath such conduct but precisely because they are not. I mean that Bush may be intending to mark the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution with some kind of commemoration of the "betrayed Revolution."

There were plenty of traitors in the Cuban Revolution, to be sure, but they betrayed God and Country, not their Communist tenets and beliefs. The biggest traitor of all, of course, was the United States itself, which delivered Cuba to Castro and has maintained him in power for 50 years.

Is that what President Bush proposes to celebrate? He himself is responsible for keeping Cuba in bondage for 8 of those years. If he invites all living presidents (Carter, Bush and Clinton), together they will account for 24 years of Cuban oppression. If Obama is invited that would mean 200 years of oppression.

It's "incredibly important" to Val that he should be there, hobnobbing with the architects of Cuba's destruction and especially with the idol of his devotion George W. Bush. Val is "astounded," "amazed" and "honored to have been considered for participation." He respectfully requests a "few bucks" to defray the cost of his sojourn to Washington and promises to do his best to "represent you, Cuba and her people."

Well. Really, what can we say? That the next four years will cure Val of his delusions of grandeur? We hope so.


POSTSCRIPT:

In today's [Dec. 6] edition of Babalú there is a post by Alberto de la Cruz entitled "We Talk, You Listen and Send Money." When I saw it, I thought it was another appeal for donations to underwrite Val's state visit to Washington. But actually the words are attributed to the Castro regime.

Related posts:

Cry Me a River, Val
Tío Val Cuenta Cuentos (Uncle Val's Tales)
Mr. Prieto Builds His Dream House
The Villa Valentina