Quote:
Originally posted by Timber Loftis:
While I don't agree with arresting or sanctioning travellers to Cuba, I certainly agree that the end of this dictator's reign is long overdue. He lied to the Cuban people about everything and then enslaved them. A lawyer, doctor, construction worker, or shop owner can't make a living, but the street sluts and cabies make a comparable fortune catering to foreign travellers -- often, a whore makes in one night what a doctor/lawyer makes in a week in Cuba.
|
That has more to do with the economy than Castro - in order to pay doctors high salaries, the state has to earn hard cash. It's impossible for Cuba to earn large amounts of money when its nearest neighbour blocks all economically useful imports and exports and leans heavily on everyone else in the neighbourhood to do the same.
Quote:
Originally posted by Timber Loftis:
As well, I am certain I know more Cuban exiles than any of IWF's other 13,000 members, and will say without a doubt that things need to change there. Cuba was a haven -- a wonderful tropical paradise with a good economy and a lot of natural beauty. Castro ruined that.
|
Yes, you're right - it was a haven: for the
mafia
"Batista established lasting relationships with organized crime, and under his guardianship Havana became known as "the Latin Las Vegas." Meyer Lansky and other prominent gangsters were heavily invested in Havana, and politicians from Batista on down took their cut.
Through Lansky, the mafia knew they had a friend in Cuba. A summit at Havana's Hotel Nacional, with mobsters such as Frank Costello, Vito Genovese, Santo Trafficante Jr., Moe Dalitz and others, confirmed Luciano's authority over the U.S. mob, and coincided with Frank Sinatra's 1946 singing debut in Havana. It was here that Lansky gave permission to kill Bugsy Siegel.
Many of Batista's enemies faced the same fate as the ambitious Siegel. Nobody seemed to mention the many brutal human rights abuses that were a regular feature of Batista's private police force. Nobody, that is, except the many in Cuba who opposed the U.S.-friendly dictator."
And of course, the fact that literacy rates are now higher than the US and infant mortality is now lower than the US are not *facts* that we should forget. Should we Chastise Castro for:
Education and health care were made available to all, even those living in the remotest corners of the island. UNESCO statistics confirm that Cuba's rate of basic literacy is now among the highest in Latin America...
Few Cuban children live on the streets - unlike in many neighbouring countries. Infant mortality rates are the lowest in the region (and slightly lower that those in the United States), health care is excellent and all receive free milk until the age of six. Besides entertainment, Cuban television broadcasts college-level courses for the adult population.
The Cuban media often highlight the contrast between contented Cuban children and their counterparts in Bogotà, Los Angeles or Buenos Aires - dealing in drugs, dragged into prostitution or living in shanty towns.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro
Castro is certainly no angel - but he is in comparison to Batista. Cuba's
democratic system may not be perfect - but it does garner enough support amongst the populace to
refute the charge that it is a full blown dictatorship.
However, perhaps it is time for Cuba to amend its
Constitution to limit the term of office of President to a fixed number of years, and to remove articles 5 and 6.
Castro is old and will die soon enough - change will come when he has gone - but a stable and peaceful society that is pro-American is unlikely to appear with US meddling of this nature...