What with the Elian Gonzalez case being in the news and all it led me to wondering…is Castro really all that bad, as far as dictators go? I realize that Cuba may not be the most liberated place to live but I can’t really say that I’ve heard Castro’s name mentioned in the same breath as Amin, Duvalier or Mobuto. Comments?
“My hovercraft is full of eels.”
hes a bit of both… hes a Ineffectual Monster 
I’ve only talked to a couple of Cuban expats, but it seems that most of Cubas problems stem from the US’s embargo. Life there appearantly wasn’t so bad before the break-up of the USSR.
Peace,
mangeorge
I only know two things;
I know what I need to know
And
I know what I want to know
Mangeorge, 2000
Anyone see the Michael Moore piece on health care…he compared the Canadian system, the US System and Cuba. I think Cuba compared favorably to the US, but I saw it a long time ago and could be wrong (it happened once before).
Of course, Michael Moore is a flaming liberal - maybe a little to the left of Castro himself.
Actually Dangerosa he very probably was right. I’m not sure of the criteria that Michael Moore was using, but there are more doctors per capita in Cuba than in the US(and considering that Cuba falls into a slightly more “leftist” catagory, I would expect that they would be more available than in the US(ie, everyone could afford a doctor).
In any case, Michael Moore is a liberal-but he’s not that much of a leftist radical. Don’t be fooled by his anti-corporation talk, thats a sign of his humanistic approach, not a strictly marxist/etc approach. (In his book he strictly advocates Democracy as practiced in the US for example)
Actually one thing that always irritates me when Cuba is discussed is that it is always compared to the US. While that generally acheives the purposes(ie making Cuba look bad, (unless the topic of doctors or literacy is raised)) it isn’t a very fair comparison. Cuba is a very small, third world country. When Castro took over it was essentially a whole bunch of clubs for rich americans, and fruit fields. Now it’s spent the last 30 odd years under economic sanctions from its closest neighbor, which also happens to be one of the biggest economies in the world.
Essentially what I’m saying is that comparing Cuba to the US isn’t a very fair comparison. A better comparison might be to Brazil(you know, the "economic miracle). When compared countries that share similar characteristics(or started at similar places) then a very different and much more positive image of Cuba appears.
Profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate mother-fucker.
I worked with someone who’s husband is one of the Doctors Without Borders people. At the Christmas party he was telling us about the state of Cuban health care. As he described it, it’s practically nonexistant. They’re either short of, or out of, almost everything. He said the antibiotics they receive from former soviet states are usually expired, and the only pain medication they usually have is aspirin. He saw syringes being re-used. The doctors would use their own cars to drive patients to other facilities in order to get an x-ray because they can’t get repair parts for the machines in their own clinics.
He said it’s better in Havana, though. Evidently, higher ranking government officials have “private” medical facilities they can go to.
Hearsay, yes, but it makes me wonder if Cuba is on a par with Somalia, much less Brazil.
The best way I can think of to respond to this is by analogy(since I honestly don’t know enough about Cuban medical status). I’ll quote my friend on the topic of education(which I think is a fair comparison)
Essentially what I’m saying is, sure, they may not have the best medical care. But unlike many other countries they do have it, and what they have is for everyone, not just those rich enough to pay for it.
Profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate mother-fucker.
Yeah sure…
I’m sure Castro uses the same facilities as the common man there.
The reality is that all of these “people’s states” have one system for the powerful, and another one for the rest of the country.
Ok, sure. They do, the point though was that the system for the rest of the country was something other than “screw you.”
(And what, this is only true of “people’s states”?)
Profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate mother-fucker.
America is the first state(that i know of) to really screw the rich. the closest comparison i can think of is julius caesar.
I think you should run that statement through snopes.
Peace,
mangeorge
Ah, yes. The empty promise of the socialist state.
:
I’m willing to bet that the lousiest, most run-down free clinic in the United States is much better than what the ‘people’ in Cuba have access to.
Cuba had one of the worst records for things like prison torture and other human rights abuses.
I’ll take $5 on that bet. Send my winnings to “Amnesty International”
Peace,
mangeorge
Freedom;
Hey, the bet was limited to medical clinics. :). Just trying to glom a few bucks for a good organization.
I’m aware of the 1st case you mentioned, and several others. Castro is not my friend.
I understand from a few who have been there that many Cubans like America. Or Americans, anyway.
Dump the embargo, wait for Castro to go away (by whatever means), and see what happens.
Peace,
mangeorge
Whats snopes?
It’s an urban legend page, Asmodean. I was just picking on you. http://www.snopes.com/
Peace,
mangeorge
Cuba’s human rights record is apalling - even among tinpot dictator countries.
However… The embargo should be lifted. The best way to convert that country to capitalism is to give them a taste for it. Castro isn’t going anywhere, so you might as well.
I might believe that the U.S. is maintaining the embargo on purely moral grounds, but that’s pretty tough to swallow when China has most-favored nation status.
I have spent time in both China and Cuba and they are very different.
China is fast moving forward, with a rapidly growing economy. If things work out well, after a decade or two of capitalist transformation, political liberties will be inevitable. (If the geriatric leaders decide to start a war over Taiwan, things will not go so well)
Cuba is another story. It is going nowhere fast and there is no good solution in sight. The system is broke and cannot be fixed. To blame it on the embargo is nonsense. If Cuba produced anything they could sell there are plenty of countries willing to trade. They have nothing to sell and they live of charity of other countries that send help which may be well meaning but just perpetuates the system.
The Cuban communist economy has never been able to maintain itself. During the war it was propped by the USSR and then went into freefall. Any one with anything good to say about the Cuban system has obviously not spent any time there. Poverty is rampant, health care is nonexistent (cubans will beg you to send them medicines from abroad) and Cuba has become the whorehouse of Europe. To top it off there is no freedom, political or otherwise.
The only real economy is with the dollars the tourists bring in. US currency is the real currency in Cuba as the Cuban currency is worthless even there.
A Cuban friend of mine just recently managed to escape. I am so happy for him.
I really have little patience for people who try to tell me about the “positive” aspects of the Cuban system. They have obviously never spent any time there.
When cornered they end up saying things like “well, at least they have their pride”. Pride? They are miserable and they know it. What is the pride in having to sell your underage daughter to foreign tourists as they are forced to do to eat? I have seen that and it breaks your heart.
Sadly, there is no way out of this situation. The system is incapable of evolving and there is to much hate between the pro and anti communists.
It is sad because it is a lovely country full of warm people.