Val Prieto, the estimable and amazing Cuban-American blogger at Babalu blog has been asked for advice about creating a post-Castro Cuba, along with Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Carlos Eire and others luminaries, by none other than the White House and its top policy makers.

He’s obviously been watched and read for a long time by the White House and the leading policy makers in the U.S. for a post-Castro Cuba.

I am not surprised. Val projects a warmth, a soul, an unerring sense of timing, a social intelligence, and a referent power. He’s someone everyone in the Cuban-American community (and well beyond) likes and respects.

He admitted he was a little afraid to be in the company of intellectual powerhouses like Vargas Llosa and Eire, but I think he’s exactly in that league. Val is one of the most unique and admirable people I know. The White House called it right. There will be a free Cuba, and Val is one of the people who understands how to make it happen.

Congratulations, freedom fighter Val!

Read it here.