 Laicambana is an island city. We feel that we can learn so much from each other by establishing a rewarding relationship. And that is so. Today, we will talk to my dear friend, Jesus Cueto. Did I get it right, Jesus? And he, everybody here in Honolulu knows Jesus as the Cuban restaurant on Bethel Street. And so, sold to Cuba on Bethel Street. And then, up in the left, this went off to New Haven, but we want him back because we are starting the whole thing with the City Council to create the district city with Havana. So, Jesus, aloha, and welcome home. Aloha. Thank you, Marcia. It is so good to be here with you. And you know that I did not just up and leave. We had, you know, there was, we were just overwhelmed and had some challenges. So, we had to, we planned on temporarily closing and relocating. And we're still in that mindset, that temporary experience, and we will relocate and reopen again as soon as possible. As soon as possible. But thank you for coming out to be with me out where I do, you know, where I reside at Kahumana when I'm on a walk. You know, that's a community that I've been a part of for almost 10 years with Father Phil Harmon out there. And it was very nice to see you and have lunch with you at our organic cafe two weeks ago. It is wonderful. The food is fabulous. All of that fresh food. Thank you. Yes. It's a wonderful job out there. Yes. So, tell us about Hazel. Who is he? Where, what is your connection with Cuba and America? Tell us about that. Because you are with a Cuban name, no less. Well, I was, my father's Cuban. I was born in a very small Cuban community. And that's now a historic district within the city boundaries of Tampa, Florida. The area is called Ybor City. And it's the origin base of the tobacco industry for the most part in the U.S. The community was first established in late 1800s, around 1873 by a Cuban cigar manufacturer and a Spanish real estate developer. And they built the first factory there and Cubans, artisans came over to work in those factories. And those were my ancestors and then a small in our community there. And many of them were very, were actually anarchists and were coming to work in those factories so that they can, and they use their proceeds from their income to pool their monies. And by uniforms and even machetes and other resources to support the Mambi soldiers. Mambi soldiers are the rebel fighters that helped to gain Cuba's independence from Spain. And that happened in 1898. I had a footnote here just for anybody that doesn't know. From 1511 until 19, what was it, 54, 74, 54, whenever, with Adele. It was always, 59, yep. There were always uprisings in Cuba to get the foreigners to go back to Spain or back to America, wherever they came from. So the uprising you're talking about is a continuum, a part of the big picture. Yeah, and it was, and it was the, you know, the leaders of that movement were General Antonio Maseo, who was known as the Bronze Titan in Cuba, and poet Jose Martí, and, and, you know, and others. But these were the, if you go to Cuba today, you'll see the statues of these gentlemen all over, you know, they're the patron, the patriotic heroes of Cuba. And our family in Tampa actually protected Jose Martí when he was exiled by the Spaniards. He was exiled from Cuba and he spent about 10 years on East Coast and time organizing with our community in Tampa in, in the early 1890s, and was protected. There were assassination attempts on his life. So that story that my restaurant tells, so the Cuba Capay tells the story of this community. And so when you visit the restaurant, whether it's here in New Haven, Connecticut, or the one that we had in Honolulu and one we'll have again in Honolulu. You'll see this story through images that were preserved by my family since, you know, again the late 1800s. We have framed photos, you know, showcasing that story. I have images and original cigar labels that, that are used as the core around the restaurant. And, and we also tell the story of our, of our spiritual traditions, traditions that were brought over through the slave trade to Cuba from Africa. And we have iconic images of our, in Christian terms, we could argue that they were angels or saints. You know, I call them cosmic forces who have names. What are their names? Well, I can't give you all of their names because I don't know them all, but they're the ones that we have that in our restaurant. Yes. Oshun. Oshun is, is everybody knows Oshun, I think. I don't, I don't know. We know her as Mother Earth. And she was the embodiment of love and beauty. And our stories say that she showed human how to take soil and mix sweet water with it and seed and grow things so that humans sustain themselves. So that's, that's our story. We have images of, of Yamaya who was in charge of bees in the ocean. She's patron saint of our sailors and fishermen. And we have images as well of Babalu Aye, you know, we all know was made famous by Desi Arnez in the Lucio Ball show. And he is a, his energy is known to be a healer. You know, so these stories are very important and still are today in Cuba for our family and friends who are practitioners in the, the spiritual tradition of Lukumi. And also it is known to, you know, very well known throughout Cuban made parts of the world that it was synchronized with Roman Catholic spiritual traditions to, and that was, it was, it was done because the African slaves had their traditions were wanted to preserve their knowledge. And, but the, the Spanish missionaries, priests wanted to, you know, we're more interested in converting them to Catholicism. So they, they've used the saints with their deities. And in modern times, we look at that combined practice as santeria. Oh, yes. You had a festival like that. I remember that. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Now what part of Cuba are you, your family from? What part, what town? My family is in Juanabacua, Cuba, just outside of Havana. So Havana is the capital? Havana is the capital of Cuba and Havana is celebrating this all, and I think in October, November, 500 year biennial. Wow. Yeah. So what it would take, what does it take to be, This is a great time to go to Havana. Yeah, I was going to say now, what does it take to be there? Wonderful art festivals that are going on and, and many different forms of cultural displays, both act to preserve some of the colonial aspect and also modern art and artistic activities, as well as, as well as the Afro-Cuban traditions that have been really well preserved there. Well, now, we need to get this, Mr. City underway. Now you'll be here when next week, the 23rd? Can you believe it's been 12 years? And we've been working on this, yes. 12 years. Yes. And I thank you for your patience and your support every step of the way. Thank God. 12 years we've been doing this. But anyway, you will be here to talk to the City Council about this. Yes. Yes, just a few weeks. Yes. Councilman Icaica Anderson is pushing and pushing hard for this. He has been a patron saint for all those years. So, but again, a sister city is something, the sister cities were created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower right after World War II, with the theory that we would not have another war if we got to know each other. And I'm at that's basic. I'm at, there's more to it, of course, than that. But he proposed people to people, citizen diplomacy, interactive, as well as signing the check to fund the East West Center. Sister cities came as part of that. And that was the whole idea that we would get to know each other, to work with each other, and therefore wouldn't need a war like we had just come through with World War I and World War II. Sorry, it didn't work that way, but that doesn't mean we can't keep trying. So Honolulu has 32 sister cities, only one in Africa. And I don't think there's any, well Central America, yes, but we need Cuba. And part of the problem is the stigma of communism. So if we can get past that nonsense, because it doesn't exist on Cuba anymore. If we can get past that, I think we can make this happen. Yeah, I agree. And now is the time. And even though there has been some changes, you know, obviously every administration shifts policy of US policy towards Cuba. But the President Trump has continued to, even though there's been a reversal of many of the forward moving forward moving shifts that President Obama had made, there's still plenty of those changes intact. And I think Trump made an announcement in 2017 that there's still interest to support Americans who are interested in engaging and seeking opportunities to do business in Cuba. So that, you know, that's still promising in our, you know, our commercial airlines are still flying there, planes are going over full. So Delta has flight, United, JetBlue, Southwest, American Airlines as well. You know, there's a problem, you know, part of the United States is repairing installation Cuba, a wide variety of social and economic systems in Cuba are likely to transform in a short time. So Americans will establish with relationships and knowledge of Cuban culture. And government officials, all business entrepreneurs, health care systems and hospitality industries are needed to forge a partnership between Americans and Cubans. Well, I think that is where the opportunity is for us to connect with the sister city program. Well, I think that the given how Trump feels about Obama, the fact that Obama didn't make this happen, I think he will just to show I did something that Obama didn't do. Well, now that's an interesting way of saying it. Well, and not a bad, you know, that would be, hope springs into, you know, I'm all for just, you know, for, you know, that for connecting our people, you know, that's, you know me very well. And there's, there's many, you know, we can think of many reasons why that why that should happen. I'm biased, you know, I want the best for my family, both in Hawaii and in Cuba, you know, and I know that they, well, there's, there's, there's so much benefit in them, you know, and being able to connect and reconnect and for us to revisit and how we share ideas, best practice of how we can live, how we are living, and better even the way that we, and that our ancestors showed us how to live harmoniously in small island communities. There's a lot to share. We need to take a break. And when we come back, I want you to tell us how you got to Hawaii. Okay, we'll be back in 60 seconds. I'm Yukari Kunisue, the host of Konnichiwa Hawaii, Japanese talk show on Think Tech Hawaii. Konnichiwa Hawaii is all Japanese broadcast show and it's streamed live on Think Tech at 2 p.m. every other Monday. Thank you so much for watching our show. We look forward to seeing you then. I'm Yukari Kunisue. Mahalo. Hey, loha. My name is Andrew Lanning. I'm the host of Security Matters Hawaii airing every Wednesday here on Think Tech Hawaii live from the studios. I'll bring you guests. I'll bring you information about the things in security that matter to keeping you safe, your co-workers safe, your family safe, keep our community safe. We want to teach you about those things in our industry that may be a little outside of your experience. So please join me because Security Matters, loha. I'm Marcia and we're back. And we're talking to a dear, dear friend. You know I only talk to dear friends. Hello. Jesus, my darling friend. Tell us how Jesus from Tampa and Cuba gets to Hawaii. Tell us about that journey because that's a great journey. Well, yeah, it's kind of even today I can't believe how I ended up in Hawaii. So I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Samoa in South Pacific from 1998, 2000. And then I also worked there with Habitat Humanity and sponsored by the United Nations of 2002. And I had worked in headquarters in Washington when Ben was recruited to work with a charity in Connecticut that was founded by Paul Newman. And that's how I got to New Haven. Eventually, I found an opportunity to open the first solar Cuban downtown New Haven, right? A block from the entrance of Yale University where actually we just celebrated 14 years here. And I wanted to showcase my culture and the food, the music, but I also had the vision to take the story back to Samoa and live with my host family that adopted me when I had been a Peace Corps volunteer. So I thought, well, it'd be great if I can go back to Samoa and be able to economically sustain myself by way of this story. I stayed up at the shop, displayed the images and held this story in exchange for being allowed, you know, a chance to live and continue the wonderful lifestyle that I enjoyed there in the South Pacific. Six months after opening this location in New Haven, I was preparing to leave for Samoa to meet with real estate agents and explore the possibility of opening the restaurant there when a gentleman visited my restaurant and was just describing how he always enjoyed the experience and he asked, what was our plan for expansion? And I said, well, I'm on my way to Samoa. I'm going to stop in Hawaii, but in Samoa, I hope to open the second location. So, and that was all I, my early vision was with relocations and strategic places around the world where I enjoyed community or I had, you know, I thought that the story would resonate and that people would appreciate the knowledge about Cuban culture. So, I, this gentleman who happened to be the Director of Admissions for Yale University, and he introduced me, he says, well, if you're going to stop in Honolulu, you should meet a man named Jamie Brown, the real estate agent in downtown and connect with him. And, and, and, you know, maybe you, since you don't already have a real estate agent, and I said, well, that's a great idea because I don't have an agent there. So, that's how I met my agent. And within 11 months of that initial meeting and that initial discussion, Solda Cuba Cafe was open in Honolulu, thanks to the efforts of Jamie Brown's office and John Selby, the agent that helped us. And that was, that was it, carried on there. And, and I, one of the things that really surprised me when I was there, what I said, I saw a lot of names of street and different places that were in Hawaiian language, but they reminded me of Samoan language. And I saw this, this interconnection and it opened me up. And I, and I, to the idea of, of, which I had not known of, of the interconnection throughout the whole, you know, the Pacific peoples. And I just couldn't figure out at that time, this is back in 2006. So how in the world could this connection be. And eventually I learned about layer and about, you know, Polynesians being, you know, navigated ocean navigator. And being able to do so, Celestrally, by way of understanding the skies and the stars. And, and eventually I began to study more of this linguistic connection. And because I also, well, what I learned is that, you know, in scholarly terms, the language is referred to as an Austronesian language. And that I was, I began to recognize this Austronesian language in other parts of the Pacific, all the way into the Americas. But it was in, in, in the cases of South American Central America, it was smothered under Spanish phonetics, and then eventually was able to find this also the spread leading to the Caribbean, and even even South Eastern United States. So I just found it very interesting. And, and I hope through the sister city relationship with, with Cuba, will be able to our, you know, connect our scholars at the University of Hawaii and those at the University of Havana. And on this platform of very clear linguistic connection, we can work to connect students and bring more understanding and awareness to the ancient past. Well, you know, speaking of connection between Hawaii and Havana, Havana or Cuba has a reputation for being the very best in medical care. And their doctors, every time there is a problem around the world, they send their doctors out to help. Do you suppose that there could be a relationship between the University in Hawaii and the University in Havana in terms of the doctors? Absolutely, why not? Because that, they had the best reputation ever. And, and in Cuba, there's no charge for medical care and the doctors go out into the hinterlands and, you know, once you leave urban Honolulu, there is no such thing as rural health. It's, it's terrible. So that seems to me to be a fabulous connection between the two. I agree with you, Mark. And, you know, I'm no expert in the medical field, but I certainly do my part in helping to forge those relationships, build those bridges. Yes. Now, when, again, when will you be back? I'll see you all a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks. Yes. Oh, just to let you know that I was, the day he opened Golda Cuba, I was one of his first patrons and bear until the end. That's right. Yes. Yes. And the food was. There is no end. The food was fabulous. It was absolutely fabulous. And so, yes, we are looking forward to Sister City. And we're also looking forward to you reopening Golda Cuba here in Honolulu or any other place in Hawaii, for that matter. I am too. Thank you, Mike. Thank you. Thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure spending this time with you. It's always a delight to talk to you. And we're looking forward. Now, this is aired on YouTube and iTunes, which is all over the world. So if there's anybody that wants to support our Sister City relationship, please write to the City Council at Honolulu.gov. And write your letters of support for our Sister City. And we have 32 Sister Cities around. And this is a perfect time so that we can establish better relationships with everybody. So again, thank you so much, Jesus. I love you. And we look forward to seeing you. Mahalo to you. Thank you very much. Thank you to you and your team there at the radio station. Thank you, Marcia. Aloha. Aloha.