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 So You Say You Want a Revolución?Posted on Aug 4, 2006
By Saul Landau Editor’s note: President Bush may be offering Cuba the chance to refashion itself in America’s image, but Cubans aren’t buying what Bush is selling. Wonder why? Saul Landau, an award-winning American filmmaker and journalist who has worked extensively in Cuba over the last 40 years, lays out the answers.
On July 26, five days before Fidel Castro entered the hospital for intestinal surgery, he led a celebration of the 53rd anniversary of his attack on Fort Moncada, which kick-started the Cuban Revolution. Earlier in July, George W. Bush had made his own inroads, of sorts, into Cuba: a government commission he had handpicked delivered its transition plan for a post-Castro Cuba. Taking as its starting point a refusal to recognize either Fidel or his brother, Raul, as legitimate leaders, the commission recommended remaking Cuba in America’s image: privatizing its economy; setting up free elections; revamping its educational system; and even making its agricultural industry more efficient. Fidel Castro, unsurprisingly, called this plan a new Platt Amendment—the clause Washington inserted in Cuba’s constitution in 1903 that allowed the United States to intervene in Cuban affairs whenever it decided to do so. And though Castro may be laid low due to intestinal surgery—from which he appears to be recovering—there’s no reason to expect that illness will moderate the Cuban leader’s stance: Before entering the operating room, Fidel delegated his powers to Raul, on whom he could count to follow the same course. Indeed, for both Castro brothers and the politburo that rules Cuba, their entire raison d’etre is predicated upon independence from the United States. The same holds true even among Cuba’s most economically and politically disadvantaged: the Cuban people themselves, who have demonstrated only a paltry amount enthusiasm for America’s economically and politically ‘liberating’ vision for its neighbor 90 miles to the south. Why should this be?
First of all, poor as their nation may be, Cubans actually live quite well compared with neighboring capitalist countries in the Caribbean or Central America. And, speaking as someone who’s made scores of trips to the island since the 1960s, I can tell you that Cuba looks poorer and more dilapidated than it is. Buildings need paint, but its 13 medical schools and 13 universities turn out well-prepared citizens; its applauded healthcare system claims an infant mortality rate lower than that of Washington, D.C. Cubans who listen to Miami radio or Radio Marti (Voice of America) know of George Bush’s disinclination to spend money on public service, an attitude very unlike that of Castro’s government. And if U.S.-style capitalism should return to Cuba, many on the island know they would have to start paying for medical services and education that they now receive gratis. Further, should the floodgates to America open, many islanders believe that the influx of land-hungry Miami-based Cubans will result in their losing title to their homes or having to pay exorbitant rents as their parents and grandparents did in the pre-revolutionary era. Right now, for better or worse, many Cubans have a very laissez faire attitude toward work and official responsibilities. It’s not hard for them to imagine how difficult and grating their lives might become once their labor goes toward enriching a true parasite class.
Of course, the picture in Cuba is far from rosy. A healthcare worker told me how, after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, she grew accustomed to severe food shortages and routine power outages, often during the intense summer heat. “Hemos sufrido” (we have suffered), she said. The disappearance of the U.S.S.R. and its satellites cost Cuba 35% of its trade and most of the aid it received. Its GDP dropped almost 40% after 1991. In the 21st century, however, other countries began filling the vacuum left by the breakup of the Soviet empire. President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela began delivering sharply discounted oil to Cuba. In turn, Venezuela imports Cuban doctors, nurses and medical technicians. Venezuela and China have both invested hundreds of millions in Cuban mineral resources and in newly discovered oil reserves. “So,” the healthcare worker continued, “life began to improve. This year there were fewer blackouts and more food.” She, like most Cubans I’ve met over four decades, retains a sense of pride about the revolution’s accomplishments. Cuba, an informal U.S. economic colony until 1958, has become a nation whose citizens have acted on the stage of history. In 1993, at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration after the demise of the apartheid system, the new South African president embraced Fidel Castro. “You made this possible,” Mandela whispered audibly to Castro, referring to Cuba’s assistance in defeating apartheid South African forces at the battles of Cuito Cuanavale, Angola, in 1987-1988. Cuban doctors have helped earthquake and other disaster victims in Honduras and Pakistan. Cuba has more doctors abroad than the World Health Organization. Its own doctor-patient ratio is similar to that of Beverly Hills.
Cuban artists, intellectuals, writers, athletes and scientists also have engraved their works and feats in the annals of many countries throughout the world.
Still, there is reason for concern.
Even before the Soviet Union’s dissolution, Cuba had begun to lose revolutionary purity. Heroic guerrilla warriors often turned into ineffective ministers and even worse politicians. They did not build system by which power could be transferred evenly to the next generation of worthy heirs. Instead, leaders who enjoyed certain material privileges began to lose close contact with the people. Paternalism, inherited from centuries of Spanish culture, also began to erode the spontaneous rapport and enthusiasm of the early years. In 1968, while I was filming “Fidel,” a PBS documentary, the elder Castro told me that “socialist democracy should assure everyone’s constant participation in political activity.” However laudable that theory may have been in theory, in practice Castro’s paternalism sapped initiative from Cuban society. By “giving” people what they needed instead of asking Cubans to take responsibility for their own decisions, and by maintaining control of virtually all civic projects, the Communist Party helped depoliticize the very people it had hoped to educate.
Castro’s illness didn’t throw Cuba into crisis, no matter what the Miami Herald would have you believe. The buses run, electricity and water flow, and people go to work as they have every day. But the fading of a charismatic leader raises a natural question: What will happen after...? There’s little chance that Bush will succeed in re-colonizing the island. That much seems assured, at least with Raul in power. But Raul and his successors appear to lack the outside-the-box thinking that would inject new life into the Cuban experiment. And that is what is sorely needed. Cuba’s citizens have endured their share of hard knocks over the last 40 years—nuclear brinkmanship with the U.S., a strangling embargo, and the absence of many freedoms – all without revolting, mind you. They deserve the right to participate in the policies that guide their nation. They have earned that much by now. Perhaps Raul’s very lack of charisma—and his advanced age—is just what Cuba needs: breathing room for a populist-driven reinvigoration of the revolutionary spirit that Fidel once sparked. But this time, the revolution would draw its energy not just from one man, but rather from all Cubans. It would put renewed meaning, at least, into Castro’s slogan, Patria o muerte.
Landau’s most widely praised achievements are the more than 40 films he has produced on social, political and historical issues and worldwide human rights. He has won the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, the George Polk Award for Investigative Reporting, and the First Amendment Award, as well as an Emmy for “Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang.” Landau has written over 10 books, plus short stories and poems. He received an Edgar Allen Poe Award for “Assassination on Embassy Row,” a report on the 1976 murders of Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier and his colleague, Ronni Moffitt. His next book, “A Bush and Botox World,” will be published in September by Counterpunch. Previous item: Molly Ivins: Media With No Guts, No Grace Next item: Truthdig Weekly Video Roundup Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig. Add Your Comment |
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By "The Paladin", November 9, 2006 at 4:36 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
hmm nobody has questioned comment 24820 nor answered comment 36923 so I presume that both those comments are ethier offtopic , or completly right both of which even I don’t think apply completly to my comments still i think that we really need to figure out what we are going to do .
Report thisI agree whole heartedly that a number of countries including cuba are not paradise (what is?) but nowbody (no offense) has come up with a soultion which doesn’t lead these country further down hill , infact somepeople seem to be just repeat the same ideas while trying to downplay others ideas , I we start fighting we’ll NEVER come up with a soultion .
It is clear that you all have good ideas.
but with out co-operation those ideas can’t be used to the maximum of thier abilities .
Thank you Members of truthdig.
(email me any comments at ogreunited at gmail dot com)
(P.s Honda your Website doesn’t seem to work)
By The Paladin, November 6, 2006 at 5:24 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
I respond to Response number 1846 since as honda said nobody has responsed to his question , the answer is as simple as the question evidently they believe that if they go to america they will be happier , happier enough to risk death by being eaten (although i wonder how many get eaten by sharks) there is no doubt that Cuban’s Seek a better life , but the real question is how to solve this problem ? I leave this Question to you all knowing non right wing Honda Guy./sir.
Report thisBy Gary, November 4, 2006 at 12:47 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
America has a largely STATE-RUN economy NOW! Check out Freedom to Fascism website, or any SERIOUS Intelligent Right wing site, (or some serious lefty sites like takingaim.info).
We’re arguably moving towards the worst of Stalin + Hitler, not yet, but the legal and structural institutions are in place (since Clinton, but thru Bush) for any President to declare complete or partial Martial Law for any reason.
Parroting talking points doesn’t prove much.
As for cuba, that one link above —ihatecastro.blogspot == a few clicks down there was an article about SLAVE LABOR in capitalist Brazil, literally people kidnapped to work for companies which feed cheap material to major US companies, which ‘don’t know’.
So, there’s better, there’s worse, than Cuba. So what?
Report thisBy The "Paladin", September 21, 2006 at 6:01 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
be you a communist , capitalist , anacist monacist tribalist I believe that an old saying is very applictable at this moment , “ it’s always greener on the other side”
Choose what system or leader you want but DON’T think life will be paradise just becuase you change .
Report thisBy Hondo, September 8, 2006 at 9:44 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Eleanore, your comment about 25% of Americans living in Third World poverty might be the single dumbest statement I have ever heard. poor, confused Eleanore! Do you have any clue at all about how people in other countries actually live? Third World poverty means having no food, no shelter, no clothes, no government assistance, and absolutely no way of reversing your fortunes. In America over 50% of our “poor” own cell phones and color TV’s. Well over 50% of America’s poor live in a house that they own. Compare that to a poor person in the Sudan who lives in the mud! Good grief, Eleanore! Are you really that dumb, or are you just play-acting to get my blood pressure to rise? Let’s try a couple of facts. Black ownership of business and homes has risen to an all time high during the last 6 years. The percentage of the overall tax burden shouldered by the bottom 50% of American wage earners has fallen from 3.9% (under Clinton) to 3.3% (under Bush). Unemployment is at an all time low. What color is the sky on your planet, Eleanore? The facts just don’t support your idiotic statements.
Report thisOh, and by the way, you have NEVER given a straight answer to my original question, which was----If things are so much better in Cuba than in the U.S., why are Cubans swimming with the sharks to get here, but there are no Americans swimming with the sharks to get to Cuba? I swear, Eleanore, it seems like such a simple question to me, but clearly you are struggling with it. Go ask a trusted friend or relative to patiently explain the question to you, if you are having some comprehension issues, and then get back to me with an answer. If it isn’t too much trouble.
By Eleanore Kjellberg, September 4, 2006 at 7:49 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Honda let me correct your misinterpretation of the term, culturally incarcerated, obviously you are not aware that more than 25 percent of Americans are living in “third world” poverty; allowing for NO upward mobility.
You must be living on the defunct planet Pluto, if you do not know that an underclass exists in the U.S. which will never achieve the American dream.
You might have caught a glimpse of this third world poverty last year, when Katrina hit New Orleans—-those poor souls were abandoned, left to beg for food and water.
Guess what, that was not an isolated phenomena—there are millions of Americans who live in poverty, with NO chance of escaping--they don’t need to swim with sharks—-living at the poverty level is like swimming with sharks on a daily basis.
CEOS WILL NEVER GO HUNGRY
According to the Corporate Library, a big-business watchdog firm, the five best-compensated CEOs will bring in an average of $5.5 million a year or over $100,000 dollars a week from their pensions.
Top 25 Largest Annual CEO Pensions
• Pfizer Inc. - Henry A. McKinnell - $6,518,459
• Exxon Mobil Corp. - Lee R. Raymond - $6,500,000 (retired)
• AT&T;Inc. - Edward E. Whitacre - $5,494,107
• UnitedHealth Group Inc. - William W. McGuire - $5,092,000
• IBM Corp. - Samuel J. Palmisano - $4,000,000
• Home Depot Inc. - Robert L. Nardelli - $3,875,000
•Colgate-Palmolive Co. - Reuben Mark - $3,700,000
•Comcast Corp. - Brian L. Roberts - $3,600,000
•Bank of America Corp. - Kenneth D. Lewis - $3,486,425
•Union Pacific Corp. - Richard K. Davidson - $2,700,000
•Exelon Corp. - John W. Rowe - $2,600,000
•ConocoPhilips - James J. Mulva - $2,600,000
•Lockheed Martin Corp. - Vance D. Coffman - $2,591,856
•Robert Half International Inc. - Harold M. Messmer - $2,555,000
•BellSouth Corp. - F. Duane Ackerman - $2,512,300
•Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. - Patrick T. Stokes - $2,500,000
•Mattel Inc. - Robert A. Eckert - $2,500,000
•Coca-Cola Co. - E. Neville Isdell - $2,500,000
•Prudential Financial Inc. - Arthur F. Ryan - $2,456,000
•FPL Group Inc. - Lewis Hay - $2,430,134
•Eli Lilly and Co. - Sidney Taurel - $2,300,000
•General Electric Co. - Jeffrey R. Immelt - $2,300,000
•Valero Energy Corp. - William E. Greehey - $2,236,000
•Countrywide Financial Corp. - Angelo R. Mozilo - $2,171,358
•PepsiCo Inc.- Steven S. Reinemund - $2,170,870
Sources: AFL-CIO, The Corporate Library
Instead of scaling down benefits to executives, companies set-up separate programs to benefit their highest-paid workers, creating an economic apartheid system, between workers and management, resulting in lavish and excessive benefit for executives, while long-time workers no longer have pensions and are forced to live hand-to-mouth in their old age.
Report thisBy Hondo, September 1, 2006 at 7:59 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Poor, confused Bukko. Do I have to hold your hand to direct you to the quote I was referring to? Please look at Comment #19773. In that comment (from Eleanore) the phrase is “culturally incarcerated.” It sounds to me like she is saying that American culture doesn’t allow for upward mobility of the poor, but I hate putting words in people’s mouths. That’s what liberals do. If that is what she meant, then she is wrong. Americans are blessed to be living in a place where it is possible, even on a meager salary, to save and accumulate wealth over time and to move up the economic ladder. That’s a big reason why Cubans do the shark swim.
Report thisBy Bukko in Australia, August 31, 2006 at 5:42 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Hondo: First off, “cultural incarceration” was not my phrase. “Ideological incareration” was. That one I can explain. It’s when your mind is so locked up by your chosen ideology that you canot see reality, such as the reality that things in the U.S. are going crappo.
Like the pervasive climate of fear that grips the country. I hear this from Aussies who have visited the U.S. They’re surprised at the oppressive “security” at the airports. You know, that only applies to U.S. destinations—airport procedures for the rest of the world are relatively relaxed, although vigilant.
And the poverty rate in the U.S., speaking of crappo. One out of eight Americans ae living below the poverty line, according to the latest Census Department figures. And that “poverty line” is set artificially low. There are 38 million Americans who are officially poor—that’s almost twice the population of tnis entire continent!
Anyway, I don’t want to make this a diatribe on America’s problems. You were asking about cultural incarceration. EVERYONE is culturally incarcerated to some extent, because the culture you were brought up in shapes the way you view the world. A Russian growing up under communism would think one way about how government should relate to society, how people should act toward each other, what’s proper to be on television, etc. Unless you get out of your culture, you don’t notice how it affects you. And when you try to relive your old culture, as many of the Cubans I used to see in Miami did, you’re incarcerated.
As for why Cubans still flee, try money. Cuba is damned poor. If you’re in a place where getting food is a challenge, and the rich country where your relatives live is just across the Florida Strait and you know you’ll get a free pass in if only you put your feet on the beach before the feds catch you, you go for it. Witness the Mexicans. It’s not about the “freedom.” Cuba is not as free as the U.S., but the U.S. is not as free as many other countries. If you parked Europe 90 miles SOUTH of Cuba, I think the balseros (or gusanos, as some would have it) would point their rafts in a different direction.
Report thisBy Hondo, August 31, 2006 at 3:41 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
We have arrived at a teachable moment (I know how much you love that phrase, Bukko). I posed two questions--what do you mean by culturally incarcerated (it sounds like liberal B.S. to me) and what does cultural incarceration have to do with Cubans swimming 90 miles with the sharks to get to The Promised Land? Nobody, as of yet, has answered either of those questions. Typical. The liberal fairy tale always follows the same format: liberal says something dumb that can’t be backed up with facts/logic/reason, conservative refutes dumb liberal statement with facts/logic/reason, liberal changes subject and ridicules conservative. That about sums it up, doesn’t it? If one of you liberal scarecrows ever gets a brain from the wizard and you want to take a shot at either of those two questions, let me know.
Report thisBy Bukko in Australia, August 31, 2006 at 3:09 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Is drunken presidenting against the law?
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 30, 2006 at 5:13 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
“I hope to live to see the day when he’s LITERALLY incarcerated”
Bukko--Maybe he will be arrested for drunken driving!
Report thisBy Bukko in Australia, August 29, 2006 at 9:44 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
“Bukko-- If you are talking about Bush, you must mean IDIOT-LOGICALLY incarcerated.”
I hope to live to see the day when he’s LITERALLY incarcerated…
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 29, 2006 at 2:48 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
“Ideologically incarcerated”? Or maybe “id-ILLOGICAL-ly”…
Bukko-- If you are talking about Bush, you must mean IDIOT-LOGICALLY incarcerated.
If you’re talking about mainstream media, you “definitely” mean ideologically incarcerated.
Report thisBy Bukko in Australia, August 28, 2006 at 6:51 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Eleanore: what about “ideologically incarcerated”? Or maybe “id-ILLOGICAL-ly"…
Report thisBy Emily, August 27, 2006 at 7:10 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Did I forget to mention that I consider myself liberal?
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 27, 2006 at 5:22 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Honda,
I want you to put your conservative right-wing “thinking cap,” ON and try to guess what culturally incarcerated means.
Report thisBy Hondo, August 27, 2006 at 3:11 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
You can’t imagine what a breath of fresh air Emily’s comments were to me, after battling through all of the liberal “smog” on this site (especially Eleanore’s comments). Thank you Emily for attempting to bring a little reality into the lives of the liberal truth-challenged.
Report thisQuestions for Eleanore---What, pray tell, does “culturally incarcerated mean”? Just what kind of liberal gobble-de-gook is that, and what does it have to do with the fact that life for the average Cuban is so horrible that they would swim 90 miles in shark-infested water just to get to the U.S.?
By Emily, August 24, 2006 at 4:13 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Hi Bukko,
Report thisYou are right about one thing - Cubans need to find their own way towards a better life. Exiles and the US will probably not be welcome if they try to dictate what should happen. My only point was to bring a reality check to the arguments I originally listed about Healthcare and Education. I don’t want to see Cuba turned into an impoverished, ravaged island or even a pseudo state. It is it’s own country and can develop it’s own government - hopefully one that allows more freedom and voice and real services to its people. Viva Cuba Libre.
By Eleanore Kjellberg, August 23, 2006 at 5:59 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
“Cuba is a prison island not unlike Alcatraz and people risk their lives and the lives of their loved ones everyday to leave. What crime have they committed?”
If one lives in poverty; they live in prison. In the U.S. 1/4 of the population lives in poverty--this population of 40 million are culturally incarcerated.
It is even more disconcerting to see poverty in a “wealthy” nation, one that prides itself on democracy and equality.
For many citizens, the American dream is a pipedream.
Report thisBy Bukko in Australia, August 23, 2006 at 1:55 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Thanks for a Cuban perspective, Emily. I lived in Florida for 15 years from the late 80s to early 2000s and followed the situation there. I realise that Fidel is no saint, and there is lots of repression under the communists. As bad as they are, though, I fear it will be even worse if the angry exiles storm in when Castro carks it, and they’re followed by the U.S. military bringing “freedom.” You don’t want to see Cuba turned into Haiti or one of the Central American nations that are “free” but ravaged by extreme poverty (worse than Cuba’s) and death squads. Fidel has political prisons, but he doesn’t kill entire villages the way Rios Montt and other dictators did.
Report thisBy Emily, August 23, 2006 at 11:20 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Ok. As a Cuban-American I need to try to dispel some of the propaganda that American Castro supporters seem to hold up as proof that things aren’t that bad in Cuba.
Healthcare - Yes, there are many doctors in Cuba and they may be well-trained. So well trained that Castro sends the best of them to OTHER COUNTRIES like show dogs. Meanwhile, the Cubans wait weeks for medical attention, and once they get an appointment with a doctor may receive a prescription for medicine that is in such short supply they must ask their American relatives to send it and hope that it arrives before they die. I had a cousin die this way because there was no Pennicillin and what we sent arrived a couple of days too late for her. An Uncle died of a heart condition for the same reason.
Education: Yes. I do not dispute that literacy rate is high. I am suspicious of the Govt’s 100% claim because but will grant that it is probably higher than the US literacy rate. But what good is literacy if all you are allowed to read is propaganda lies? What good is an education that does not acknowledge the existence or influence of a super power to the north (albeit in enemy in their minds) even in GEOGRAPHY class?
What good is any of this if there is no food to be had and the ration restrictions turn all citizens into criminals dealing in the black market? If it is illegal and punishable to move from one building to the next, from one province to another without the govt’s permission, which is not easy to get. Just think if you wanted to move, to live in the city instead of the country or vice versa and you had to request permission from the govt to do it. It would be akin to the US being run by the dept of motor vehicles. Wait in line for hours only to find you are in the wrong line, came on the wrong day or the person you need to speak to is out because he is in line for his monthly ration of coffee somewhere else on the island. And if you think I’m exagerating come have dinner with my dad; he’s old enough to remember Old Cuba (corrupt, yes but Free) and has been to Castro’s new Cuba. You want to argue the other side? Fine -Live in Cuba AS A CUBAN for a year then tell me how great it was. If you’re lucky you’ll catch something and then you can tell me how great the healthcare was too.
And answer me this - how does it feel to come last after all the tourists get the best food, accommodations etc. How does it feel when you are kicked off the beach because it is a tourist only beach? Or out of a restaurant or hotel? or Cab? Castro has sold out his people and is wearing an Adidas warm-up suit in his convalescence. What sense does that make?
Every country has problems but Cubans have no avenue to address their politicians. Speaking Castro’s name is dangerous and speaking against Castro can land you in jail. Cuba is a prison island not unlike Alcatraz and people risk their lives and the lives of their loved ones everyday to leave. What crime have they committed?
Read - This is Cuba by Ben Corbett.
Report thisBy Alex, August 23, 2006 at 8:57 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
“First of all, poor as their nation may be, Cubans actually live quite well compared with neighboring capitalist countries in the Caribbean or Central America.” what type of bullshit quote is this: Obviously, the only cuba you were seeing was the tourist side..
http://ihatecastro.blogspot.com/
Report thisBy Hondo, August 15, 2006 at 5:06 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Do you see how far afield we have roamed with these posts. I disputed the original thought expressed in the article that life is better in Cuba than it is in the U.S. I used facts to dispute that obvious lie (Cubans swim 90 miles across the ocean in shark-infested waters to get out of Cuba and into the U.S.). Case closed, I thought. But no, Eleanore, and her new best friend Bukko ignore the very obvious lie that started this whole discussion, and they try to change the subject--Bush is evil, conservatives hate poor people, it’s impossible for a poor person to move up the economic ladder without government assistance, etc. Typical liberal strategy--original liberal lie is exposed so change the subject. Throw everything but the kitchen sink at the conservative in hopes that he will become as confused as you. The key to a discussion like this is to stay focused on the central point that started all of this. Liberals love the murderous Fidel Castro, and they believe that life in Cuba is better than life in the U.S. Conservatives say that if life was so good in Cuba, the good people of Cuba wouldn’t swim with the sharks to get to the U.S. Seems simple to me! Here endeth the lesson.
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 15, 2006 at 3:27 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
“When did my world turn into a bad imitation of a Tom Clancy novel?”
Bukko, you heard the expression—truth is stranger than fiction; Bush’s international machinations does not resemble a Clancy novel, it’s more like a tragic comedy or international “slapstick,” no publisher selling a suspense novel would touch it, unless of course, the genre was changed to humor—a very dark comedy, at that.
A recent poll was taken, and it was found that more people can name the Three Stooges than can name the three branches of government, and more people know the names of the Seven Dwarfs, but can’t name one Supreme Court Justice.
Let’s thank 24 hours of Fox News Broadcasts. It’s not at all surprising that Bush & Co. can get away with all their antics, juxtaposed against ignorance and apathy.
U.S. news is controlled by media conglomerates. The six current media conglomerates are Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, News Corp. Bertelsmann and General Electric—they own more than 90% of the media market.
By the way, I think Hirsh’s comments ring true—there is absolutely NO way that Israel would have attacked Lebanon, unless they were told to by the U.S.
Perhaps, Lebanon is being used as a testing ground for a subsequent attack on Iran. I thought the “bunker buster” bombs were tested, and ready to go—-nuclear warfare seems awfully Messy.
Iran’s nuclear facilities are scattered throughout the entire country. To launch an aerial attack, you would need many more fighter jets than were used in Iraq. How many civilians would be annihilated by missiles that don’t always have that “pin-point” accuracy to reach just the right target, and what further insurgencies will an attack like that incite.
In addition, if these nuclear facilities were attacked, military strategists say that steps would need to be taken in order to prevent large-scale nuclear contamination from the resulting damage done to the reactors.
I would say that the protagonist in this plot is Dr. Strangelove, and not Jack Ryan.
Report thisBy Bukko in Australia, August 15, 2006 at 7:14 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Oh yeah, Eleanore, I remember reading that one online. We used to subscribe to the New Yorker whilst living in San Francisco (the mag actually has more readers in California than New York!) and I miss not having it in my hands here. The article to which you refer made me optimistic for a perverse reason. I was HOPING that military men with enough sense would mutiny, refuse to obey orders when directed to launch U.S. weapons of mass murder onto Iran. Sick world that we live in, where the best hope for peace is a U.S. military rebellion!
But Hersh has another article, linked on this Truthdig site, about how the Israel-Hezbollah stoush (Aussie slang for “fight") is being used as a testing ground for strategies to attack Iran. Now that Israel and the U.S. have found that conventional bombs can’t get to missiles in relatively shallow Iranian-engineered caves in Lebanon, it will give more impetus to the madmen who say “We’ve gotta nuke ‘em!” I see the drumbeat of anti-Iran stories every day, ginning up a propaganda campaign just as they did before Iraq II. And the haters on the right wing are salivating over that.
On second thought, maybe it will be a good thing if Castro dies and the U.S. invades that poor nation. Maybe it will get so bloodied and bogged down in unlucky Cuba that the U.S. military will lose its stomach for a fourth front in the global war against everyone. Then again, when that happens President Cheney will need a nuclear war to distract attention from his latest failure…
When did my world turn into a bad imitation of a Tom Clancy novel?
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 14, 2006 at 4:25 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Bukko,
“The war machine that’s going to launch a regicidal nuclear attack on Iran. I’m also afraid the U.S. is going to re-invade Cuba after it is driven from the rest of the world stage due to the economic collapse that its nuclear war will cause”
Your analysis is correct—we acted as a proxy in the attack on Lebanon—the peace resolution will undoubtedly fail; the next step will be Iran.
Right now, we are too involved in the Middle East, to seriously think about Cuba—but as you accurately stated, military interventions tend to be capricious, and based on the avarice of U.S. companies—they must protect their interests at any cost.
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060417f a_fact
“There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged the reality of the Holocaust and said that Israel must be “wiped off the map.” Bush and others in the White House view him as a potential Adolf Hitler, a former senior intelligence official said. “That’s the name they’re using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another world war?”
Report thisBy Bukko in Australia, August 14, 2006 at 8:10 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Eleanore: You waste your time trying to argue with Hondo. His mind is closed. I’ve read his posts on other threads and they repeat the same mantra: “I have proven this to you with facts!” “Now we have a teachable moment!” “Liberals are the apotheosis of evil.” (Actually, he doesn’t say “apotheosis.” That word is above his pay grade.)
He labels himself a Christian, but slings unforgiving insults at strangers. It must be a different Christ that he worships—maybe the Old Testament one. If you want to get a better idea of what makes him tick, you can read his personal blog at ChristianConservatives.blogspot.com I warn you, though—it’s boring.
I apologise for him, as I apologise for the errors of many of my former countrymen. As you’re no doubt aware, there’s a strain of Americans who are filled with naive, nativist chauvanism, who think that the rest of the world should bow down to them. Kinda like the Quebecois, eh? They are a minority in America. Unfortunately, the Cheney administration is playing only to their crowd. The views of the reality-based community do not count for much to officialdom in the U.S., only the misguided mindsets of people like Hondo. That is why they are such a danger to the world.
I enjoyed reading your posts about Cuba and Canada. I knew a bit about Batista, but I learned more from you. Ditto about Canadian immigration. I knew Canada had lots of newcomers, but not as many as Australia, where more than 20% of the population is foreign-born. I’m an American who moved to Oz last year because my conscience would not allow me to be a tax-paying part of the war machine that’s going to launch a megacidal nuclear attack on Iran. I’m also afraid the U.S. is going to re-invade Cuba after it is driven from the rest of the world stage due to the economic collapse that its nuclear war will cause.
I second your observations on socialised (as it’s spelt here) medicine. It works quite well in Australia, perhaps even better than Canada. (Certainly better than in Cuba, where people are equal, but that means equally poor.) I’m a registered nurse, and after examining the medical systems in the English-speaking world, Australia pipped Canada. But either system is far better than America’s medical set-up.
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 13, 2006 at 5:42 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
“The bottom line is this---tens of thousands of people from other countries (not just Cuba) risk life and limb to come to America every year. There is not one other country in the world that faces the same situation.”
Honda—wrong again, in 2001, 250,640 people immigrated to Canada a country with a population of 30,007,094. Immigration represented 0.834% population growth that year. On a compounded basis, that immigration rate represents 8.7% population growth over 10 years, or 23.1% over 25 years (or 6.9 million people). Since the 2001, immigration has ranged between 221,352 and 262,236 immigrants per year. Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world the three main official reasons given for this are:
A. The social component – Canada facilitates family reunification.
B. The humanitarian component – Relating to refugees.
C. The economic component – Attracting immigrants who will contribute economically and fill labor market needs.
And Honda, they have socialized medicine in Canada—so you see, you don’t have to swim with the sharks to obtain healthcare.
France is the country which had the highest number of requests for immigration in 2004—they also have an excellent"socialized" healthcare system.
“In America, a poor person doesn’t have to stay poor. They can go back to school, get more education, get an entry-level job, work hard, gain skills enabling them to move up the ladder, and, over time, own a piece of the American Dream. It happens a thousand times a day all over this great country”
And of course, Honda, would mention the traditional, hackneyed, conservative ideology regarding the poor--if you are poor it is your own fault, because in a land of opportunity, you must be indolent and stupid not to succeed.
Conservatives never consider the sociological conditions that create an under-class, perpetuate poverty, and hinder the poor from ever realizing the “Horatio Alger fable.”
Report thisBy Hondo, August 13, 2006 at 3:29 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Eleanore engages in typical liberal razzle-dazzle in her latest post. She knows that she can’t possible respond to the very simple, bottom-line question that I posed, “If things are so great in Cuba, why have tens of thousands tried to swim to Miami?”. If she did respond directly to my question, she would have to face the reality that life really sucks when you live under the rule of a murderous dictator. A liberal couldn’t possibly face reality, so Eleanore attempts to confuse the issue by changing the subject. She gives me a history lesson about the last 50 years of politics in Cuba. I can’t tell you how fascinating I found your history lesson to be, but you still haven’t directly responded to my question. The bottom line is this---tens of thousands of people from other countries (not just Cuba) risk life and limb to come to America every year. There is not one other country in the world that faces the same situation. There has to be a reason for that! Oh, and by the way, save the tears you have spilled over America’s poor. You said there were 50 million, I showed that number to be a lie, and you accused me of hating poor people because I exposed your lie. Another typical liberal strategy. Then you stated that I said America’s poor were lucky to be poor. Another lie. I never said any such thing. What is it with liberals? Is your DNA put together in such a way that you are physically incapable of telling the truth? I said that America’s poor were lucky to be living in America, and that is a very different thing from what you accused me of saying. In America, a poor person doesn’t have to stay poor. They can go back to school, get more education, get an entry-level job, work hard, gain skills enabling them to move up the ladder, and, over time, own a piece of the American Dream. It happens a thousand times a day all over this great country. And that, Miss Eleanore, is why thousands upon thousands of Cubans have attempted the swim to Miami. Open your eyes and say hello to reality!
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 13, 2006 at 7:17 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
The 50 million people in poverty in the U.S. (the real number is 35 million) could move to Cuba if they wanted to. You say they don’t have the money to do that? How about if they swim?”
Honda,
That was a dramatic, emotional and typically simplistic conservative response—“Castro’s Army shoots you in the head and dumps your dead body in the ocean. But, hey, that’s OK; at least you would have great health insurance.”
Honda, if you recall, historically there was a reason for the overthrow of Batista--US gangsters had used Cuba as a base and a resort since the 1930s when things got too hot for them in the United States. Cuba was known for its violence, Batista suspended the constitution; replaced Congress with an 80-man consultative council; and dissolved all political parties. He pampered the army and the police, understanding that they would be critical to saying in power. He used Urgency Courts to expedite the trials of those who opposed him.
Opposition to Batista came from a variety of sources. Old line politicians wanted him out so they could return to power. Prío Socarrás financed guns, bribes, and anti-Batista propaganda. Students and other young people demonstrated against him and plotted his overthrow. Students rioted frequently and political leaders issued manifestos.
You mentioned that only 35 million people in the U.S. live in poverty and not 50 million—I guess in your mind it’s okay if it is only 35 million—the entire population of Greece, Belgium and Cuba is less than 35 million, so I would say that to ask 35 million to jump into the Atlantic Ocean and swim to Cuba in order cleanse the U.S. of poverty, is a peculiar conservative methodology.
You say “liberalism is a disease of the heart, mind, and soul, that renders the victim unable to differentiate between right and wrong” perhaps, conservatism is the true disease, manifested in a sociopath mentality that arrogantly views others as being stupid, naïve and weak if they see the complexity of issues, rather than accepting insipid old slogans, like either LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT—-how often have we heard that.
Black and white scenarios, saying that the poor should consider themselves lucky to be living in poverty, as long as they are living in the U.S., is not only ludicrous it is insulting!
Report thisBy Hondo, August 12, 2006 at 10:23 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Eleanore, you have provided us with a teachable moment. I have always contended that liberalism is a disease of the heart, mind, and soul that renders the victim unable to differentiate between right and wrong, fact and fiction, or good and evil. Thank you for being Exhibit A!
Report thisYou say that people always flee a country if they are politically repressed or living in poverty, and then you say that we have 50 million such people here in the U.S. As is typical of liberals, you are wrong. Let’s try a few facts, shall we?
Did you know that tens of thousands of Cubans took to the ocean in rafts, inner tubes, converted cars, and the like during the 1980’s and 1990’s alone? They were willing to chance a 90 mile voyage in shark infested waters on a tire just to get to the U.S.! Does that fact spark any kind of intelligent thought in your little liberal brain?
The 50 million people in poverty in the U.S. (the real number is 35 million) could move to Cuba if they wanted to. You say they don’t have the money to do that? How about if they swim? That would be free. That’s what Cubans do just for a chance to get to the U.S. Do you understand my point? Are you beginning to see the ignorance of your position? If you think it’s so great in Cuba, why don’t you move there. Of course, if you try to complain about the government down there, they have a different response. Castro’s Army shoots you in the head and dumps your dead body in the ocean. But, hey, that’s OK, at least you would have great health insurance! Good grief! Are there any limits to the ignorance of a liberal?
By Eleanore Kjellberg, August 11, 2006 at 5:48 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Honda!
Why do they flee Cuba-- is the favorite empirical question asked by those who despise Castro Well, naturally people flee a country if they are politically repressed or living in poverty. Why would anyone risk drowning if they were happy?
But there are probably 50 million people living in poverty in the U.S., that wouldn’t care if Castro was running the country. Millions of Americans earn minimum wage, have no healthcare and are living an existence worse than most Cubans—to them Cuba might be “paradise.”
Thousands of people were so poor in New Orleans that they couldn’t even flee a deadly hurricane. So, even if the indigent wanted to flee our country, where would they go?
The U.S. Economic system supplies a very thin social safety net for the poor, and a flimsy safety net for the middle-class. Anyone, at anytime—accept of course, the super-rich, can fall right through this fragile net and land on their arrogant “Right-Wing ass.”
Report thisBy Hondo, August 11, 2006 at 4:32 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Eleanore, that was a fascinating article you provided a link to. It did an excellent job of describing the distorted worldview of liberals; a worldview that allows liberals to fall in love with murderous dictators. What the article didn’t do was to answer the fundamental question I have now posed twice on this site. What is it about the disease of liberalism that renders the victim unable to see reality or answer a direct question.
Report thisI will pose the question one last time. If Cuba is truly the “heaven on earth” that liberals say it is, why do thousands of Cubans try to swim to the U.S. each year? I think that’s a simple question, although I’m sensing a reluctance on the part of all of you communist-loving liberals to answer it.
By JayN, August 11, 2006 at 9:44 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Right wing this...left wing that...conservatives...liberals...BLAH!
Castro’s legacy will forever be viewed under the good/bad dichotomy.
NOTHING is ever that black and white. Look at Oliver Stone...he LOVES
Fidel...and he LOVES capitalism. Keep it in the gray!
http://freshnotes.com/StaticSite/Subjects/10312/11721/ index.html
Report thisBy redjade, August 11, 2006 at 5:24 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
from Indymedia Ireland:
Cuba: what will happen when Fidel is gone?
- Some thoughts on Cuba.
‘...Fidel has in some ways fucked it up for the communists. He has built himself into an immense icon. Everywhere you go there are posters of him and Che together, coming down from the mountains. His books are on sale on every street corner. There are countless photos of him in the museums, and he appears on state TV regularly to extoll the virtues of the society he has created. He is the revolution personified and near-immortalised. Its like living in a bad dream where tiny dogmatic leninist parties slogans and ideas are the norm. When he dies, the place he occupied will leave an enormous vacuum....‘
http://indymedia.ie/article/77672
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 10, 2006 at 7:12 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Honda,
I thought you might enjoy this article-- http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_2547.shtml
Report thisBy Hondo, August 10, 2006 at 4:25 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Well, I’ve been waiting patiently for one of you loyal liberals to answer the question I posed in Comment #17317, but so far nobody has. Is there something about the disease of liberalism that makes a person unable to directly answer a simple question? Is it just a situation where answering that question would force you to confront reality, and you have an aversion to reality? Conservative Lesson #2--liberals will never answer a direct question because doing so would force them to abandon their liberal fantasies.
Report thisBy Holub, August 9, 2006 at 1:43 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Would any of you want to lead a nation?
Report thisIf your answer is yes, I’m sorry, you are not the one.
By saul2006, August 9, 2006 at 10:45 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Hey Honda
You forgot what brought Castro into power was that a right wing dictator and his rich elite who ran Cuba for the Limbaughs who wanted kid prostitutes.
Report thisIn case you didn’t notice when the kid that a lot of fuss was made over got here the first thing they did was try to indoctrinate him with Catholic doctrine which is at least as evil as Castro
By Doola, August 9, 2006 at 8:19 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
I have a love/hate relationship with Cuba. While it’s culture is incredibly “in your face” with it’s vibrancy, the people there are great at putting on appearnces. While it is true that there is universal free health care have you ever seen a Cuban hospital? There are very few diagnostic or monitoring equipment. There are cracks in the walls and floors/ Patients get free health care but it stops there, they must rely on family for meals and linen service. I find some of the things Cuban doctors have said very questionable medicly.
There are beggars in Cuba. Once I got fed up with the many panhandlers and told one man to go “ask Fidel for his money.” My wife, a Cuban, walked away then asked me what I said to him. She warned me not to say anything about Castro in public,if I got arrested whe didn’t know me! It seems everyone on the island has a scam, from the jineteras to the overpriced mercados. There are con men, thieves, burglars, and rapists though you will never hear them mentioned in the Cuban media. In private most Cubans will express a frustration with their government as well as incredulity about the Bush regime.
With all this said I have made some wonderful friendships ther. I have been welcomed into peoples homes and made to feel like family. I have danced half the night in the street.
My great hope for Cuba is that when the Castro era ends as it must someday they will be able to find their own way. To keep the parts of their system that work and take from the US what is supposed to be working here.
Report thisBy Mad as Hell, August 9, 2006 at 8:14 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
I don’t know a lot about the Cuban regime. For a Marxist state that’s been embargoed for decades it’s surprisingly successful.
As anti-thetical as Castro’s Cuba is to us, I’ve never understood why we don’t understand, that to most Cubans, Castro’s dictatorshop has ALWAYS been better than the Battista dictatorship. Battista was our SOB in Cuba, like the Somozas in Nicaragua, Torilljos in Panama, Noriega in Panama (till his drug dealing got out of hand), Pinochet in Chile, etc. They were all monsters and, in comparison, Castro’s Cuba is better. Better than the US? Canada? Western Europe? I doubt it! But better than what their other “options” were.
The biggest mistake we made was listening to the Cuban ex-pats and maintaining an embargo. The BEST way to have opened up Cuba is what we did with China and Russia: Trade, lots and lots of trade. Get Walkmans and Ipods and Nike shoes and PCs and the Internet and cars made after 1959!
Instead, the embargo made Cubans tougher and stronger. It has been a failed policy for, well, for 40+ years.
Mad King George is barely qualified to decide what to eat for dinner, much less how to engage in nation building. He’s shown that again and again. I’m sure the Cubans are not interested in HIS help!
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 8, 2006 at 5:38 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Hey Honda!
Liberal lesson #1--Conservative
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 8, 2006 at 5:38 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Hey Honda!
Liberal lesson #1--Conservatives have a psychotic obsession with maintaining power and wealth, by colonizing and controlling governments throughout world; little regard or concerned is given to collateral damage. Conservatives have a sense of entitlement that all the world’s resources belong to them and it is their Manifest Destiny to seize them, as a result, drilling for oil in Iraq, takes precedence over the 100,000 civilians killed in an unnecessary war.
Report thisBy Hondo, August 8, 2006 at 7:09 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
After reading all of the liberal blather on this page about how great everything is in Cuba, and how much the people there love their lives, and what a wonderful man Castro is, I started making plans to move to Cuba. Then I remembered something that brought me back to my senses. Every day for the last 40 years, citizens in the great country of Cuba take to the ocean in every manner of makeshift watercraft and risk their lives trying to get to the United States. One very simple question--Why do they do that if everything is so fantastic in Cuba? Conservative Lesson #1--Liberalism is a disease that renders its victim unable to see reality.
Report thisBy Eleanore Kjellberg, August 7, 2006 at 3:38 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
“Cuban doctors have helped earthquake and other disaster victims in Honduras and Pakistan. Cuba has more doctors abroad than the World Health Organization. Its own doctor-patient ratio is similar to that of Beverly Hills.”
What does privatization really mean--it means paying exorbitant fees for healthcare and pharmaceuticals; it means globalizing the workforce so that there is no job security nor pension plan; it means paying high taxes, while CEOS who make millions get tax cuts; it means never increasing the minimum wage while the price of goods and services increase by 25 percent and it most importantly it means, that privatization provides socialism for the wealthy and Darwinian capitalism for the poor.
Report thisBy Julie, August 7, 2006 at 1:51 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
So how do American citizens get to Cuba to visit? Sneak in from South America?
Report thisBy Shelley, August 6, 2006 at 12:03 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
What Fidel Castro has done with/to Cuba is nothing short of heroic. The “test” of this will be what happens in Cuba after the deaths of the Castros. I would like it--if North Americans had such a life as Cubans enjoy. There are no homeless, hungry, sick citizens of Cuba. The USA’s meddling in their affairs proves to me, as if I didn’t already know, the “evil empire” is the USA government, which is not of the people, by the people, nor for the people of this country. Evil is not even a close enough description, I don’t know that ugly of a word to use to describe my ideas and feelings on this issue. GOD help us all, we are in the power of the “beast”.
Report thisBy Erik, August 6, 2006 at 8:10 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
In 1945, after 5 years in exile, the Dutch government returned to Holland, only to find, in that short span of time, that they had become woefully out of touch with the actual population, particularly on the issue of maintaining forcible control over the colonies. This illustrates the virtual truism that anyone who is not on the ground on a regular basis will utterly fall out of touch with ordinary aspirations and attitudes. The idea that Cuban ex-pats in the US have any real idea of what Cubans want and will tolerate is farcical.
Report thisBy jkoch, August 6, 2006 at 7:31 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Normalization of ties with the US would entail an immigration crisis neither side wants to face. Cuba would lose healthcare workers to the US, and Miami would face a million visa applications from Eliáns it suddenly no longer wants. But money talks. Watch a clique of “freedom loving” expatriates cut a deal whereby they get preference on tourism investments in exchange for graduated trade normalization. The political transition, meanwhile, will resemble Russia’s: insiders will carve out lucrative franchises and leave behind a heap of the “pobretones cojudos.” Fair-minded libertarians and communists should be equally wary about the use of state power to favor a few. In any case, by 2015 Cuba is likely to be the Gold Coast of boomer retirement community development.
Report thisBy Bukko in Australia, August 6, 2006 at 3:57 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Oh My Gawd! That plan for Cuba sounds EXACTLY like what L. Paul Bremer set up for Iraq. Privatise everything, allow corporations to control the entire economy. And we see what a disaster that turned out to be in Iraq.
I fear that Miami exiles will go back to “reclaim” what was stolen from their grandparents. And some are going to get chopped with machetes. When they do, that will be the pretext for the U.S. to intervene to “restore democracy and freedom” or “liberate Cuba from the oppressive nepotistic tyranny of the Castros.” OK, they won’t use the word “nepotistic.” That’s too complex for the mouth-breathers who watch Fox. But I can see anarchy and death coming to Cuba. That’s all the U.S. does these days.
I’m no fan of Fidel, and Raul is a second-rate version of him. But hell’s bells, better to be poor under a peaceful communist dictatorship than bleeding under a death-squad disequilibrium. It’s going to be just like Central America in the 1980s!
On the plus side, that just might get U.S. troops out of Iraq. They’ll be needed for “peacekeeping” in Cuba. And to threaten Venezuela for supporting the terrorists. What terrorists? Oh, we’ll make some up…
Report thisBy Dean Pettit, August 5, 2006 at 5:44 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Beware of Rice’s promises of love and democracy. Those same promises from the Bush administration has brought death and misery to countless thousands in Iraq.
Report thisBy Henry Gomez, August 5, 2006 at 4:40 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
How do you presume to know what Cubans want? Do you have the results of a Gallup poll that nobody else is privy to? 47 years without a free multiparty election and you know for sure that the majority of Cubans are against democracy. What a joke.
Report thisBy Manny, August 5, 2006 at 4:02 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
If you think American Cubans are going to allow
Cuba to find their own destiny without Castro then you don’t undersand these Latino necons.
if Cuba is not strong enough to withstand what
Report thisAmericans have in store for them then history will repeat it self.
By Pat, August 5, 2006 at 3:55 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
To Fidel’s credit, Cuba has almost 100% literacy, doctors for everyone and education for a nation comprised of warm, enthusistic and fun-loving people. I was amazed by the spirit of the Cuban people. I just wish more people in the US could experience it and know this amazing country. We’re a “free” country and can’t visit this beautiful island!
Report thisBy Fred Slocombe, August 5, 2006 at 1:36 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
There is a difference between the Communism of Bolshevik Soviet Commumism (The kind we have been misled to generalize from Stalinism), and the Communism of Cuba (which is closer to Marxist Socialism). It actually works. Well, Well, Well. Too bad our “Democracy” experiment is in worse shape. We’re not even really a democracy, but an oligarchy.
Report thisBy Spinoza, August 5, 2006 at 11:52 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Oh, Mr. Collin
VIVA CASTRO
Report thisBy janinsanfran, August 5, 2006 at 11:47 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
I just hope the eventual transition shakes loose some creativity such as Saul describes. Indeed the Cubans who live in Cuba do need to drive their own destiny.
Shared a personal experience with Cuba here:
Report thishttp://happening-here.blogspot.com/2006/08/future-horr ors.html
By harald hardrada, August 5, 2006 at 6:56 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
some similarities:
cuba’s leader’s physically incapable: ours is mentally incapable
cuba’s stuck with its leader till he dies: we’re stuck with ours till his term ends unless he stages another 9/11
cuba’s leader’s a freak of ideology: ours is a freak of religiosity
cuba’s leader’s setting things up so that his brother succeeds him: ours is trying to do the same
Report thisBy joe in oklahoma, August 5, 2006 at 5:46 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
i have admired what Castro has tried to accomplish, in spite of disagreeing with his coercive and undemocratic methods.
Report thistheir health care program is arguably the best in the western hemisphere.
Cuba needs an infusion of grassroots socialist democracy.
i shudder to think what the Bushites and the wealthy Miami Cubans might do.
By Amber, August 4, 2006 at 9:48 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
I have been an admirer of Fidel since 1956 when he came to Boston (I was a Freshman at Boston University) to speak. I wholly supported his “Revolucion”, being quite aware of the US-backed Batista dictatorship. Cuba was the playground for rich American capitalists. Amazingly, Fidel has managed to avoid CIA assasination attempts and find ways to counter the Embargo for over 40 years. I have friends who have travelled to the Island and awaited their return eagerly to hear of their first-hand experiences, which are very similar to yours, Mr. Landau. It would be tragic if the Bush Administration destroys Cuba as it has with Haiti and Iraq in the name of “freedom” (read American Capitalism).
Report thisBy Spinoza, August 4, 2006 at 8:45 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Everyoneevery society needs a political, economic and social revolution.
DO NOT CONFORM
Report thisBy Collin, August 4, 2006 at 6:02 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
No matter what, they certainly don’t want Communism. And hopefully the US Left/Libs don’t, either.
Collin
http://www.evangelicalperspective.blogspot.com
Report this