# Castro is so bad...why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 20, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223 "2004-10-20T14:50:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/21 "2004-10-20T19:47:50Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] What has he (Castro) accomplished? He has turned Cuba into a very poor country. QUOTE] I’d much rather be in Cuba than many other places in Central America/the Carribean. Despite it all, Cuba has exellent medical care, and Castro’s literacy program was quite effective. There are far worse places to be than Cuba. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/22 "2004-10-20T19:51:21Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Trying to maintain what amounted to a holdover of colonialism, requiring an indefinite military occupation of a canal within the territory of a sovereign state entirely hostile to the occupation, would have been neither the right thing nor the practical thing. The canal was built by French and British companies, and owned by France and Britain, and I think a government should have an obligation to protect private property, not just take it because its owned by foreigners. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/23 "2004-10-20T19:56:02Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > The main problem with Fidel: > -he is a doctrinaire Marxist…his slogan ought to be “Socialism and death!”-he is quite content to see Cuba rot into nothing as long as it is communist! Really. From what little I’ve read, Castro was fairly loose about the socialism thing until it became obvious that he would need the support of the Soviet Union. He didn’t declare his revolution a socialist one until 1961, for example. Like Ho-Chi-Minh, he seems to have seized on socialism as a convineint tool to inspire nationalism and gain allies against colonalism. > [@](#): > > -the bum has a brother (Raoul) who is worse than him! How so? > [@](#): > > What has he (Castro) accomplished? He has turned Cuba into a very poor country. In the bad old days of Batista, Cuba EXPORTED food! Now the average Cuan gets along on a very limited diet. The Cuban economy has been doing relativley well in the last few years. It was hurting during most of the 90’s because it could no longer rely on Soviet subsides. Several market reforms have been instituted, and the GDP has been growing for several years. I’m not saying I’d want Castro as my leader, but I don’t see why he is worse then many other Central American leaders. In fact, I’d argue that he’s better then quite a few of the scummier S. American dictators ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/24 "2004-10-20T19:58:38Z")
Only reason I can see why no rapprochement is that “the man” considers him a bit too smug and unrepentant. May take another conservative president to make some kind of move in that direction, ala Nixon and China, to thaw things. =D BA ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/25 "2004-10-20T21:20:21Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > The canal was built by French and British companies, and owned by France and Britain, and I think a government should have an obligation to protect private property, not just take it because its owned by foreigners. Maybe so, but that doesn’t make it worth **fighting** over! And even if the Egyptian government had left ownership of the canal in foreign hands, it would have had a perfect right to exercise political control over it, e.g., closing the canal as and when the government saw fit. I mean, it’s an important strategic asset and it’s on Egyptian territory! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/26 "2004-10-20T22:36:46Z")
Cuba is far from being a democracy. Raoul Castro is poised to take over when the bearded one (Fidel) finally goes to hell. So, sans elections or any input from the people of Cuba, they get another tyrant! The second point: pre-Castro Cuba was NOT like Central America-Cuba had fine universities, and a large middle class. Castro wrecked the whole system, and forced the educated people to leave. True, Batista was corrupt, but nothing like Castro. the fact is, if you live in Cuba, you have basic medical care (of course, should you contract AIDs, you will be whisked away to a concentration camp! (American liberals don’t seem to comment upon this). You also depend upon your local CP party hack (block commander) for your ration cards…without these , you cannot legally buy food…real liberties,eh? Should you express opposition o “the willof the people” you might well be sent for “re-education”! And, you might not get your ration cards…this will force you to depend on a relative or friend. Yeah, Cuba is great (if you like being a prisoner in a minimum-security prison). The apologists for Castro and his ilk make me ill…talk to somebody whoescaped the “worker’sparadise”…aw heck…“viva la revolucion!” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/27 "2004-10-20T22:53:30Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Cuba is far from being a democracy. True. OTOH, it has a political system which would be **extremely** democratic – rather more so than anything we’ve got, outside New England – if the Communist Party were not in absolute control of every step of the process. From [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia\_761569844\_4/Cuba.html#s124:](http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569844_4/Cuba.html#s124:) > [@](#): > > The 1976 constitution instituted a concept known as the People’s Power construct, a structure designed to allow Cuban citizens greater participation in government policy-making decisions. The People’s Power consists of assemblies that administer government and pass laws. These assemblies exist at municipal, provincial, and national levels. Delegates are nominated and elected first at the municipal level. They need not be members of the PCC. However, the party must approve all candidates, and individuals may not run on a political platform. Instead, voters select their delegate from brief biographies and from personal acquaintance with the person. The 169 municipal assemblies allocate funds for maintenance of municipal facilities and hear cases involving household disputes and petty crime. Smaller communities with populations of 30,000 or more elect delegates to people’s councils. Members of the municipal assemblies and the people’s councils elect representatives to their provincial assemblies from their membership. > > Each of Cuba’s 14 provinces has its own assembly. Provincial assemblies oversee transportation and communication systems throughout the island and recommend legislation regarding interstate crime and allocations of resources for development. From their own membership, provincial delegates nominate and elect representatives to the 601-member National Assembly of People’s Power. In 1992 the public approved a referendum calling for assembly members to be elected directly by the people. Only candidates belonging to the PCC are allowed to run. > > The National Assembly votes on legislation presented by the PCC, and every four years it elects the president of the country. It occasionally debates the wisdom of legislation, but it has never failed to approve the central government’s proposals. When the National Assembly is in recess, which is most of the year, the Council of State has legislative powers. > > Legislation can originate in various governmental branches. The president may decree laws that are in effect until they are accepted or rejected by the National Assembly. The Politburo and Central Committee can write legislation that is submitted to the National Assembly. And the courts can suggest legal reforms and interpretations to be enacted by the assembly. As for socialism – it’s hard to know what the Cuban people are really thinking, obviously. But from what I’ve read, I think if the CP falls from power in Cuba, the results will be nothing like what happened in Eastern Europe. The people are still going to want socialism in some form, and certainly in a more democratized form. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/28 "2004-10-20T23:35:53Z")
Saying ‘Batista was corrupt’ is like saying ‘Osama is a noisy millitant’. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/29 "2004-10-21T00:20:09Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The only reason that the embargo continues is that Cuban Americans are a significant voting block in Florida. It’s going to suck to be the president who has to explain that, no, the fact that Fidel and Raul have gone to hell doesn’t mean that you get to go back and take over the country. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/30 "2004-10-21T01:09:20Z")
I read an article long ago in _The Progressive_ (of all places!) that Cuba’s record on gay rights was pretty shitty-something about camps for those accused of homosexuality? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/31 "2004-10-21T01:18:47Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > It’s going to suck to be the president who has to explain that, no, the fact that Fidel and Raul have gone to hell doesn’t mean that you get to go back and take over the country. For some inexplicable reason, many of them still believe this. They don’t seem to realize the the Cubans who have been _in Cuba_ for the last 40 years will expect to have something to say about it. Well, maybe Castro will live long enough that the only Cubans left in the States won’t want to leave. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/32 "2004-10-21T01:33:50Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > It’s going to suck to be the president who has to explain that, no, the fact that Fidel and Raul have gone to hell doesn’t mean that you get to go back and take over the country. Also, to explain to them that they’re probably not going to get back any of the property Castro expropriated from them or from their parents or grandparents. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/33 "2004-10-21T03:37:14Z")
Cuba’s just a lovely place, isn’t it? Castro’s really a great guy. Well, let’s set the record straight. [ul] [li]There is no freedom of expression, association, or assembly in Cuba. To this day, people who peacefully express disagreement with the government can find themselves fined, imprisoned, or subjected to internal exile. The following are crimes in Cuba: “contempt” (desacato), “unlawful association,” “clandestine possession of printed matter,” “posing a danger,” “rebellion,” and “acts against state security.” [/li][li]There is no freedom of the press. All media is operated or controlled by the state. Alexis Castañeda Pérez de Alejo, a journalist for the newspapers Vanguardia and Huella, was sentenced to five years in prison for having made statements described as “enemy propaganda.” [/li][li]The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has found that there is no due process or justice in the Cuban legal system. People are routinely arrested and jailed without trial, or if a trial takes place it is often a formality or show trial. [/li][li]There have been numerous extra-judicial killings of dissidents in Cuba.[/li][li]Cuban prisons are among the worst hell-holes on the planet, with routine torture, mutilation, and other atrocities carried out on the inmates. Inmates are often placed in cold, dark, damp cells and left to rot on meagre food rations. The state of Cuban prisons has been decried by human rights groups throughout the world. Inmates suffer from malnutrition, and routine outbreaks of hepatitis and tuberculosis. So if the beatings don’t kill you, disease might. Oh, and they might work you to death - prison work camps are a popular source of cheap labor in Cuba.[/li][/ul] Here you can read the [Human Rights Watch](http://www.hrw.org/worldreport99/americas/cuba.html) on Cuba. The internal exile thing could use extra mention, too. It’s a very common form of punishment in any communist country. When the government runs the businesss and stores, it has the power to destroy the lives of people simply by revoking work permits. This happens in Cuba, of course. Undesirables can find that they can’t get work, lose their dwellings, etc. Such people wind up living with relatives or in neighborhoods of undesirables, where they make meagre livings on the black markets or from charity. Now, as for Cuba’s “Excellent Health Care” - from [this link:](http://www.canfnet.org/Issues/medicalapartheid.htm) [ul] [li]The Cuban Government currently devotes a smaller percentage of its budget for health care than such regional countries as Jamaica, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. [/li][li]Cuba has a two-tiered health care system - one system for apparachiks of the communist party and celebrities, and another for the general population. The first one is pretty good. The second, _terrible_.[/li][/ul] It’s interesting that if you search around the internet, you find just tons of cites extolling the virtues of Cuba’s health care system - usually ‘progressive’ cites, of course. Of course, when leftists from the U.S. go on ‘fact finding’ missions to the socialist worker’s paradise to see the remarkable health care system, guess which one they get shown? The nice shiny one for the powerful. They don’t see the impoverished system chronically short of medicines, supplies, and even blankets. But a while back, 18 doctors managed to get out of Cuba, and here’s what they had to say: > [@](#): > > DEFECTING CUBAN DOCTORS BLAME CASTRO FOR CUBAN HEALTH CRISIS > > Condem campaign to blame US embargo > > April, 1997 > > [A group of 18 recently exiled Cuban doctors, some of whom arrived in the U.S. within the last six months, released a statement this week condemning recent efforts to hold the U.S. embargo of Cuba responsible for reportedly declining Cuban health standards.] > > We, the undersigned, all medical doctors recently exiled from Cuba, are compelled to speak out against the current campaign in the American press to blame the U.S. embargo for the reported decline of the Cuban health care system. The most recent reports being a study by he American Association for World Health and a column in the Washington Post by Mr. Stephen Rosenfeld. > > We remain mystified as to why people of ordinarily good will and faith would seek to find fault with the United States for the disastrous situation inside Cuba, while failing to direct the blame squarely where it belongs - at the feet of Fidel Castro, who continues to rule our country with an iron fist after 38 years in power. We hope that with this statement we can in some small way educate American public opinion on the issue of Cuban health care and who and what are to blame for its decline. > > We, who have only recently emerged from the belly of the beast, can categorically and authoritatively state that our people’s poor health care situation results from a dysfunctional and inhumane economic and political system, exacerbated by the willingness of the regime to divert scarce health resources to meet the needs of the regime’s elite and foreign patients who bring hard currency. > > Indeed, our collective witness to the mismanagement of resources, the inefficient distribution of medicines, the politicization of our profession, theft, absenteeism, lack of motivation by healthcare workers, blackmarketeering, graft, the rise in health problems such as alcoholism and suicides - all characteristics and by-products of a suffocating state control of Cuban society, not any foreign embargo - would fill a volume one hundred times the size of our American colleagues’ recent report. > > To our perhaps well-meaning but naïve American medical colleagues who travel to Cuba, we can only say you do not see the real Cuba, only a carefully constructed Potemkin Village used by the Castro regime to propagate its political gospel. It causes us no satisfaction to say that by misinforming the American public as to the causes of our people’s travails you share a measure of responsibility with the Castro regime in perpetuating their suffering. > > We wish that any one of us could provide tours to foreign visitors of the hospitals Cira Garcia, Frank Pais, CIMEQ, and Hermanos Ameijeiras, in order to point out the medicines and equipment, even the bedsheets and blankets, reserved for regime elites or dollar-bearing foreigners, to the detriment of our people, who must bring their own bedsheets, to say nothing of the availability of medicines. > > We would also like to show them the centers of pharmaceutical investigation that produce specialized medicines and vaccines for export - which have absolutely no benefit to the Cuban people but are operated solely to raise hard currency to keep the regime in power. Yes, in some pharmacies our people may find a needed medicine, but they can only be purchased with American dollars, to which the great majority of the Cuban people do not have access. In these stores, the national currency, the Cuban peso, is not welcomed. > > It is with great sadness that we say we expect the health of our people to continue to decline, because, as despicable as it may sound, Fidel Castro finds great political utility in our people’s suffering. As long as foreign observers blame outside forces - specifically the United States - and not him, it gives sustenance to his drive for international legitimacy and justification for his stranglehold on the fate of our people. Such is the true nature of his lust for power. > > Acceding to Castro’s demands for food and medicine is even more of a moral travesty, since it only serves to help prolong the Castro nightmare by absolving the dictator of one more of his failures. It is like meeting the demands of a hostage-taker and the victims still not be freed. > > To American public opinion, we say please do not be confused about who is to blame for the state of affairs in our suffering homeland. Yes, the situation in Cuba does demand moral outrage, but it must be focused where it belongs. He has only one name: Fidel Castro. He is the one responsible for creating the deficiencies, the shortages, the suffering. We must not allow him or his propagandists to distort the truth, projecting an image of a health care paradise that is now in jeopardy due to the embargo. Nothing could be further from the truth, and as medical professionals fully acquainted with Cuba’s health care system, we believe it is our duty to denounce the Castro dictatorship as the culprit for the terrible consequences suffered by our people. > > Dr. Nuri Matos > Dr. Maria E. Rodríguez > Dr. Margarita Delgado > Dr. Ignacio Pérez > Dr. Leonardo Machado > Dr. Alejandro Vázquez > Dr. Maritza Olivera > Dr. Carlos Bolivas > Dr. Ana T. Acebo > Dr. Amado Nuñez > Dr. Osvaldo Ricardo > Dr. Rafael González > Dr. Fidel Costa > Dr. Juan C. Milian > Dr. José Ponce de Leon > Dr. Fidel Roman > Dr. Idania Pico > Dr. Bernalda R. Cabrera It strikes me as outrageous that the same people who post constant messages decrying the evil that is democratic Israel can, with a straight face, post messages saying that Fidel Castro is a pretty good guy, and Cuba a pretty good place. Perhaps Castro is lacking that one prime characteristic required for lefty hatred on the SDMB: He isn’t a Jew. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/34 "2004-10-21T03:52:53Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > It strikes me as outrageous that the same people who post constant messages decrying the evil that is democratic Israel can, with a straight face, post messages saying that Fidel Castro is a pretty good guy, and Cuba a pretty good place. Perhaps Castro is lacking that one prime characteristic required for lefty hatred on the SDMB: He isn’t a Jew. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > Castro is no great humanitarian, but certainly better than many despots that have American support. > [@](#): > > He’s certainly no angel, and Cubans have to some degree or another, suffered under him, but they’ve also built a pretty decent medical system. He’s no Stalin or Hitler or Pol Pot, either. > [@](#): > > I’d much rather be in Cuba than many other places in Central America/the Carribean. > [@](#): > > I’m not saying I’d want Castro as my leader, but I don’t see why he is worse then many other Central American leaders. In fact, I’d argue that he’s better then quite a few of the scummier S. American dictators Those are the most positive things anyone’s said about Castro in this thread. Do you really think that comparing favourably to guys like Somoza or Pinochet (not to mention the triumvirate of Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot) counts as being “a pretty good guy”? On what planet? Do you dispute that Castro isn’t as repressive as several other Central and South American dictators, not a few of whom have been supported by the US? That’s all I’ve seen anyone here say. Well, that and that the embargo policy seems out of line with the reality of the situation. But that seems a perfectly legitimate thing to say as well. After all, China’s got a much worse record than Castro, and they weren’t under any embargo last I checked. Real classy with the anti-semitism smear there, too. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/35 "2004-10-21T03:59:05Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Perhaps Castro is lacking that one prime characteristic required for lefty hatred on the SDMB: He isn’t a Jew. You’re all class, **Sam**. Seriously, you cannot be trying to legitimately make the argument (a darling of the right wing, yet) that opposition to Israel’s policies re: the Palestinians is necessarily and intrinsically equivalent to antisemitism. You’re not, right? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/36 "2004-10-21T04:06:38Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You’re all class, **Sam**. > > Seriously, you cannot be trying to legitimately make the argument (a darling of the right wing, yet) that opposition to Israel’s policies re: the Palestinians is necessarily and intrinsically equivalent to antisemitism. You’re not, right? Seriously? Make that anti-Jewish. The Palestinians are a Semitic people. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/37 "2004-10-21T04:15:01Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > Make that anti-Jewish. The Palestinians are a Semitic people. Semantic nitpick. “Antisemitic” means “against Jews”, not “against Semites”. Do we need to start breaking every English word down into its component parts and scanning it for precise semantic meaning, or can we just keep speaking the language? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/38 "2004-10-21T04:16:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Seriously, you cannot be trying to legitimately make the argument (a darling of the right wing, yet) that opposition to Israel’s policies re: the Palestinians is necessarily and intrinsically equivalent to antisemitism. You’re not, right? Seriously? No, I’m not. But some of the anti-Israel rhetoric on this board has gotten extremely more radical than that. For example, “Fuck Israel”. In context of a discussion about Israel being under threat from Iranian nukes. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/39 "2004-10-21T04:22:28Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > No, I’m not. But some of the anti-Israel rhetoric on this board has gotten extremely more radical than that. For example, “Fuck Israel”. In context of a discussion about Israel being under threat from Iranian nukes. And you’re generalizing a particular nutjob data point into “the Left” why, again? And don’t deny that that’s what you did. I quote: > [@Sam Stone](#): > > Perhaps Castro is lacking that one prime characteristic required **for lefty hatred on the SDMB** : He isn’t a Jew. Bolding mine. Even with the limiting phrase “on the SDMB”, that’s not even close to being anything other than a broadbrush shot below the belt. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223/40 "2004-10-21T04:22:34Z")
We have a total embargo on Cuba supposedly in place to punish Castro’s regime for throwing journalists and dissidents in jail, and yet the same politicians who uphold said embargo would gladly have open trade relations with China, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Myammar, and other such places. Too bad we don’t have any Miami Nigerians. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-is-so-bad-why/270223.md?page=3)