Editor's Note: Christopher Sabatini is editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly and senior director of policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas.
By Christopher Sabatini, Americas Quarterly
The people-power revolutions that ousted the decades-old autocratic governments of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and are rocking the rest of the Middle East have prompted Cuba watchers –yet again– to wonder when the last redoubt of Cold War dictatorship in the hemisphere is next. It isn't, and we have U.S. policy partly to blame.
For the last two decades, from Eastern Europe to Egypt, none of the countries that has experienced a people's revolution has been under a U.S. embargo. Though it is about to be the target of focused sanctions as a result of its bloody response to the protestors (and deservedly so) before the current uprising even Libya saw its sanctions ended in 2004 by the George W. Bush administration. In the case of Libya –and in the past– targeted sanctions tied to a specific act by the government can provoke a course correction or even collapse. Over the long-term, though, sanctions actually seal a country off from the rest of the world and allow a government to dig in. The inverse relationship between isolation and people's revolution is no coincidence. Contact with the outside world builds capacity and ideas insidious to even the most tyrannical regime.
Whether it was the 1989 Velvet Revolution in then-Czechoslovakia, the end of communist rule in Poland (two years after U.S. sanctions were ended after the crackdown on Solidarity) or the broad coalition that ended the 30 year-reign of Mubarak last week, the symbols, motivations and means of these peaceful transitions owe much to the sort of contacts that the 52-year U.S. embargo on Cuba has cut off. Defended as a way to deny the regime of Fidel and Raúl Castro the resources to oppress its own people, the U.S.' half century-old sanctions against Cuba have, in pursuing this noble effort, become a blunt instrument. In the name of this cause, the embargo has sealed off the Cuban people from personal interaction with average Americas and denied it the inspiration and tools for its own liberation. Communication, contact and even limited trade is not a zero sum game; sometimes, yes, the regime may benefit, but sometimes the people benefit more, especially when it helps break down the control over information that such regimes need to survive.
Make no mistake. The level and type of repression in Cuba exceeds that in Egypt under Mubarak or even Eastern Europe under communism. Fifty years of cruel, systematic repression by the Castro regime, the penetration of government spies throughout society and the suffocating control of the state over the economy have atomized civil society, closed off freedom of expression and left Cuban citizens dependent for their livelihoods on the state. As a result, many Cubans –especially the younger generation-beaten down by decades of repression, deprived of inspiring contact with the outside world and denied broad access to the tools of communication– are left waiting for the end of a gerontocracy.
A series of initiatives by the Obama administration in 2009 to allow for greater telecommunications contact with the island and for person-to-person contact for cultural or educational changes with Cuba have helped to alleviate some of the isolation. These could have gone, farther, however, in ways that would directly support broader contacts between the U.S. citizens and Cuban society and help to develop the means for Cubans to communicate among themselves. Restrictions on U.S. telecommunications investment in Cuba are more stringent than toward Syria and even Iran–a country that is now experiencing its own groundswell of support, thanks at least in part to social media. In Cuba, the effort to expand access to new media tools such as high-speed Internet, Twitter, Facebook and Google ran smack into the 1992 the Cuban Democracy Act which prohibits U.S. investment that contributes Cuba's telecommunications infrastructure. Cell phones, fiber optic cable and social media require hardware and software forbidden under the U.S. current restrictions toward Cuba. Cuba's first fiber optic cable arrived last week. Rather than coming from the U.S., though, it came courtesy of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, whose government, in December, instituted restrictions on freedom of expression on the Internet.
Would the Cuban government have allowed its citizens to purchase and use these potentially subversive tools that the U.S. companies produce and sell? We'll never know since the U.S. did it for them. Ironic that a democratic, supposedly freedom- and free-market promoting government did the dirty work for the Cuban regime. As for the recent reforms to expand people-to-people contact between the island and the U.S., even these mild measures are meeting with resistance. Two U.S. Senators are trying to cap the number of flights to Cuba. Given that the flights would shuttle cultural and educational travelers to the island, the intention is unclear. To deny Cubans access to U.S. music? Art? Education? A similar move to choke off personal contact with Eastern Europe during the Cold War (many dissidents cited the influence of rock and roll in their rebellion), or even Egypt or Tunisia, would have rightly been met with derision. The infectious effect of personal exchange, intellectual empowerment and human contact grossly outweighs any possible advantages any regime can extract from a few tourist dollars. Just as the victorious crowds in Egypt demonstrate.
Under current U.S. law Cuba will never have a Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who has become a hero in Egypt for defending freedom of expression and communication among activists in Egypt. Nor are we likely to see one rise anytime soon. International contact, investment, access to communication inspired and sparked the mass rallies that contributed to the end of 30 years of Mubarak's rule. In the case of Cuba, for the Castro brothers, it's been over 50 years. Under the current sanctions, we're going to be waiting for some time unfortunately.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of Christopher Sabatini. For more analysis on Latin America, visit the America's Quarterly blog.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Another thing Barack Obama did wrong since he became President. Back in 2009, Raul Castro offered to make a prisoner exchange to Obama of 219 Cuban political prisoners for 5 Cuban nationals who may or may not be guilty of what they were charged with. Like any other "politically correct" idiot, the nitwit simply ignored the offer. Moreover, our current policiy toward Cuba is one of complete idiocy and needs to change as soon as possible!!!
So, you think we should have taken in 219 Cuban dissidents off Castro's hands and released 5 criminals whom we convicted of crimes in our own courts? Instead of taking in another 219 Cubans, maybe we should just allow another 219 Mexicans to enter the country illegally. Equally stupid - either way it's just another 219 mouths to feed. Plus, if they stay in Cuba they can cause trouble for Castro. And exactly how would anything in this deal benefit us in ANY way? I think we can all be thankful that the Obama administration isn't a bunch of pinheads like you who don't think things through.
Can we send Castro Husein Baracl Obama? That would collapse their country and restore our country! Viva la revolucion! Down with BamBam. Up yours!
Do you have a source for your allegations?
Besides, if it is true (conservatives lie too easily) he had accepted the deal, I'm sure you wouldn't like that either. Haters hate, no surprise.
As they way on Fox... We report, you decide. It's up to you to decide if what we say is true or not. (Conservatives just make stuff up. But what the hey... who needs truth when you really, really believe in something!)
I guess none read the article..
The point is by having an embargo for 50 years it only helped the castro brothers consolidate power, in the case of the midle east, social media, Internet, google, etc helped the poeple to understand there was a better way.
Or just like Sylvia most of you fail to understand the concept. Some like Sylvia has psoted a stupid coment.
Cuba is geographically isolated, not only from its neighbours, but als from the outside world. It has its rhythm and culture. It was only through Fidel Castro's periodic bouts that we in the overseas realise that Cuba still exists.
By isolated, you mean it's an island...right?
Nice propaganda piece. No mention of the US backed dictator Batista that forced Castro to overthrow the original government. No mention of how Castro is a reluctant dictator, staying on only because of the constant threat that America would swoop right back in and put another in place. Say what you want about Castro, but he has been able to maintain an island economy under that embargo better than any American leader has maintained Americas economy without an embargo.
Castro was and is a monster that destroyed families. Take it from someone whom has experienced it first hand. Castro is no-one's friend. He is Cuba's version of Stalin.
Castro has killed millions of people? Massacred his entire military leadership? Know your history before you make comparisons that make you look foolish. And if you were personally affected by Castro, then your family must have been collaborators with Batista.
What economy are you talking about?? Cuban pesos cannot by what the government sells on their stores… only “chavitos” (Fidel’s own currency). Do you know what the exchange rate is right now?! 20 pesos to a “chavito”… Do you know how much a university professor (with 20 year tenure) makes?! 400 pesos a month (max)… what economy were you talking about again? Please!
Is that the fault of Castro, or the fault of the United States artificially subduing the islands economy?
Propaganda to you? Your nuts. We have the sickest foreign policy. Invade first, let american soldiers die needlessly and then we ask questions? BamBam is the third Bush presidency. And we're afraid of a sickly 80 year old cuban guy? YOu sound racist! Cut these embargoes and wars and our economy improves overnight!
You are so right chica! Obama = Bush. No change – more liberal bs. So sad. Ay caramba!
You are right on that one girl..
The embargo must be lifted and then Cubans could be in a better position to rid of the castro Brothers..
We still have Batista sympathizers in our government today (Diaz-Balart brothers who are nephew to Fidels first wife) that will not rest until they see a Cuban government full of Americans raping their beautiful island and taking advantage of the people once again. Do you see Cuba sending their people to their deaths to fight a war that is useless? Mind your business US and let other countries and their peoples live how they want. You dont see Cubans in major debt just for an education or due to medical bills, do you? Lift the embargo so that Cuba can trade with anyone BUT the US. VIVA LA REVOLUCION!
Finally! A voice of reason. If the US stepped foot in Cuba, it would make it like itself.
Cuba is awesome, and don't none of you worry, us Canadians are taking good care of keeping them up to date with the outside world.
"a reluctant dictator" you are an idiot!
I agree with you Christian. This CNN position is nothing more than propaganda with no knowledge of truly what goes down in Cuba. They need to visit and talk to the people directly and they will see they people have no fear is speaking their mind as reported.
That is total crap that you have posted here. Have YOU ever been to Cuba? I have, 13 times and I KNOW that the majority of the Cubans whom I lived and spoke with DETEST the Casro's but are unwilling to die for a better life. They have NO weapons to start a revolution. I do think though that a revolution might be possible because their army will NOT kill its own citizens. It just takes a few brave Cubans to start it. Cuba wants to be part of the world. They see how other people live in the world. They know that they deserve better. And as far as the U.S. wanting to put another dictator into power....is that what you have learned from our history? When in modern times have we actively supported replacing a bad government with one equally as bad? Name them.
What Embargo, have u even been in Cuba. Do u know that Cuba imports foods and materials from other countries, even from Spain. The Cuba system uner socialism is pure "mierda" the people are oppressed. The fault of CUBAS economy is not an American trouble, but a Cubas guilt, a leadership that can't see over the nose and accepts no change. So dont blame the fault of the economy on Cuba but on the Castros that haved ruined the country. Batista is long gone and im shure that if there are BATISTA supportres they are less than 2%. For the most part Cubans are tired of THE REVOLUTION and want a major change on the goverment.
Castro is a great man for ending the crony-capitalism in Cuba in 1959 and free and provide the basic necessity for the Cuban. What he should do now is to follow the example of China to make use of free enterprise and individual incentives and open up Cuba for economic development. Furthermore he should learn from the China experience and do it in an orderly fashion to retain the relatively selfless and good nature of the Cuban people.
Bet you're a Hitler lover too! Go to Iran and live there, you wacko!
Why do these liberal leftists love dictators so much. Its never their fault. Boo hoo. Maybe they like dictators – could explain the Dems dumping Hillary and picking the Moslem guy from Kenya/Malaysia/Hawaii ! His mother most have been some piece of work going man to man country to country. Explains a lot.
Wow looks like Simone got her barin eaten by that Ammeba..
you are clueless as to how the Cuban people live. You're the wacko for comparing this mentality to Hitler.
Cuban government controls everything in that Island and have thousand of informants. I have known people been punished (with prison) because they just have "too much" compared to others. The government does not know how much items or stuff you have until someone "informs" them. So people are afraid to start something and end up in prison because someone spoke. If living outside of jail is hard imagine inside.
Plus while you are in prison they make your family's life a living hell..Cuban people know war is the last resource because they will loose it. No one has access to weapons..and the Castros are ready for any confrontation (local or from another country) That government uses "morality" as a weapon too. Somehow they make you feel ashamed of what you have done and make you look like the bad guy. People are confused and just existing..Maybe they need some kind of intervention?
Because they are in America's back yard and overthrowing the country would be too close to home for the US.. No way America could not get involved.
... Simply, the citizens from Tunisia, nor Egypt or any country in the middle-east or northern Africa don't have the same benefits/opportunities than Cuban People have , coming to the U.S.A. and become a Resident Alien, take advantage of food stamps, medicare/medicaid, education, etc..... so why bother to start a civil uprising in the Isalnd when risking the life by crossing the ocean it's all you need to live a nice and decent life.
Don't the people of Cuba have cell phones?
Unless the Cuban government restricts electronic communication, I'm surprised there's not more discontent and discourse about reforming this restricrtive and failed government.
If they do have free cell phone access, it could be just a matter of time.
Viva people of Cuba.
They are still driving 56 Buick's, hell no they don't have cell phones, get a grip.
Before you assume that Cuban's don't have cell phones you should ask either someone that lives there or someone that has just visited there. Cuban's do have cell phones. Cuban's do use cell phones. The cable as the Cuban's call it will open up Cuba to some outside information. All in coming information will still be closely monitored by the regime however.
Ask the rest of the world that is allowed to travel to Cuba the question. Americans don't know anything about Cuba
Yes they do have cellphones. Some of the posters on this site talk through their as$
Hey Castros (Fidel and Rau),
Let the people of Cuba be free!
Haven't you caused them enough suffering?
Don't let your pride and egos cause these people to suffer any longer.
History will already remember you Fidel as an evil dictator; and, you, Rau, history will judge you too.
Good leaders serve and take care of their people. Evil leaders take care of themselves and their friends, and they do so at the expense of their people and they let the people suffer.
I say send them Frosted Flakes, KFC, Starbucks, and Twinkies. Theyll all be dead of heart disease in a year or so!
Such is to be expected from someone like you with your obvious limitations here. I see that the right-wing fanatics in Washington have taken you in too. They're quite good at brainwashing people like you to their narrow beliefs as they operate like a cult and only too successful at it!!!
As I recall the last time Castro sent over some "Political Prisoners", the majority were seriously mentally ill or violet criminals.
Plain and simple: The embargo should be lifted. It was not meant to last this long and has hurt Cubans more than it has hurt Castro. I have been to Cuba many times, have relatives there. Lift the embargo and expose Castro for what he really is...
Something tells me that Gitmo is more assured to stay a U.S. base if we keep the embargo in place.
The only ones that have access to good food and good health are the elite, meaning the 2% that belong to the top of the communist party. The rest of the cubans are slaves to the Castro brothers. They make $5 dollars a month or less if they have a job and they live a life similar to the one in Haiti. Raul Castro spends millions in guerrillas in Latin America and investing in Europe to buy real estate for his children. They will never pay for the harm they have inflicted to their own people.
sounds like you've never been there
"Why Cuba won't follow the revolutions rocking the Middle East and North Africa"
Umm...because Cuba is an island (much easier to keep out undesirables and keep in the population), the Castros control the entire military, and the U.S. isn't selling weapons to dissidents.
Cuba has free trade with lots of western governments including Canada. Just because these countries see no harm in propping up a communist dictator, doesn't mean the U.S. should.
doesnt surprise me that the american spin and propoganda machine CNN would print an all out lie to try to justify america's illegal bombing of Libya with negative lies on Cuba. and it doesnt surprise me that the american public (whites) will make a sick attempt to try to debate the lies and propoganda that CNN has printed also.
the reason that the people of Cuba have not revolted is because they support their govt for starters. secondly,there are no AL-QAEDA TERRORIST trying to take over the country there as is happening in north africa. the american govt knows as I do that those so called rebels are in fact AL-QAEDA TERRORIST!
for you fools and bigots in america who claim that I am lying or do not know what I am talking about,just google "Ibarhim Bin Qumu" or "Abdel Hakim Al-Hisadi" and see for yourselves who our lying and imperialist govt is defending. Mr.Qumu did six years at GITMO! I guess you can associate that with Cuba!
Mr.Qumu was also the personal driver for (not making this up) OSAMA BIN LADIN when they were both living in exile in Sudan. Mr.Qumu ws also the director of a charity that was ran and funded by OSAMA BIN LADIN also.
and immediately after 9-11,guess who personally escorted the wives and children of OSAMA BIN LADIN safely out of afghanistan and into Iran? you guessed it IBRAHIM BIN QUMU DID! Mr. Al-Hisadi has already confessed to being a full fledged card carrying memeber of AL-QAEDA!
Mr. Al-Hisadi has also stated on the record that as late as february of this year he and Mr.Qumu were in afghanistan fighting against and KILLING AMERICAN AND NATO SOLDIERS! and now folks those two are leaders in the Lybian rebel TNC!
It has just been revealed and confirmed that it was Mr.Qumu's rebels who killed the now late former rebel military leader fattah Younes just last month. Mr.Qumu's freedom fighting democracy loving rebels arrested Mr.Younes,then on the same day, burned him alive,slit his throat,cut out his left eye,and riddled his body with over one hundred bullet wounds!
the AMERICAN BACKED TNC AL-QAEDA REBELS then lied to the world and claimed that gadaffi's men had abducted and killed Younes BEFORE the body was even found! they were only forced to admit the truth after the supporters of Younes identified his killers as members of the TNC!
the TNC then told another lie and claimed that another islamist group with ties to al-qaeda WHO ARE FIGHTING WITH THE SO CALLED REBELS had in fact killed Mr.Younes.
and these are the people that nato and obama are supporting? are you bigots here in america crazy? no wonder the people of Cuba love Castro. they know that he is correct when he calls americans bigots and imperialist! with friends like america(who only have interest in the resources that they can steal) who needs enemies?
If you think our government is so bad, then GET THE HELL OUT! We don't need traitors or Idiots like you here. Go live with Hugo Chavez or with the FARC, or go to Cuba and see the misery and poverty and fear your pal Castro has caused firsthand. THEN open your yap.
if I am such an idiot as you claim? then refute me and prove me wrong? you cant because you are simply the white bigot and liar that america is comprised of! only a white supremacist would call someone who has given IRREFUTABLE statements that have already been proven 100% correct an idiot!
it is AMERICA AND ENGLAND who is the problem with society the world over. those two countries think that they have the sovereign right to steal the resources of the planet to keep our economies rich at the expense of the weaker nations that they steal them from.
if you have a problem with the truth,then stay off the site you moron,and habitual liar and bigot that you are!
go and ask the people of Libya how great america is?
This is the only way that Cuba will ever see a change! The isolation of the island helped to maintain Castro's power till today. Don't make mistakes! Lots of people have died trying to scape from the island . Lots of lives have been lost at sea, which is the only way to get out. Cubans can't travel just like we can here in U.S.A.! Nobody is allow to leave, you can't just buy a ticket for a cruisse or a plain ticket to anywere in the world! That just doesn't exist in Cuba.
Im very happy that cubans will see and interact with real Americans so that they can understand the truth.
Sabatini...you're an idiot, or at the very least a 'gusano'-sympathizer. Have you been to Cuba? Have you spoken to enough people to draw such ridiculous conclusions like "The level and type of repression in Cuba exceeds that in Egypt under Mubarak or even Eastern Europe under communism. Fifty years of cruel, systematic repression by the Castro regime, the penetration of government spies throughout society and the suffocating control of the state over the economy have atomized civil society, closed off freedom of expression and left Cuban citizens dependent for their livelihoods on the state. As a result, many Cubans –especially the younger generation-beaten down by decades of repression, deprived of inspiring contact with the outside world and denied broad access to the tools of communication– are left waiting for the end of a gerontocracy." Do the world a favor and educate yourself before making such an asinine comment. You owe yourself that much I hope.
dude,I am sorry to say,that it is you who needs to get educated! you seem to forget as all americans do when they tell one lie after another that it was AMERICA THAT PROPPED MUBAREK UP FOR THIRTY TWO YEARS!
It was america that has made Egypt the strongest military force on the continent of africa after PROPPING MUBAREK UP FOR THIRTY TWO YEARS! it was america that NEVER QUESTIONED MUBAREK ABOUT SO CALLED WHITE WESTERN DEMOCRACY (THAT IS A SHAM) FOR THIRTY TWO YEARS!
and now that it has come back to bite the hypocites from america in the butt,they want to pretend that they have sided with the people of Egypt over Mubarek,when in truth the last group that america wants to see in power in Egypt is the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD,WHO ARE SWORN ENEMIES OF ISRAEL!
and now,thanks to america the now MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD CONTROLLED GOVT OF EGYPT now has the capabilities to attack Israel and succeed and america knows that! barack has been LYING to you fools all along! but simply because the people claimed that they wanted democracy,america had no choice but to pretend that they sided with the revolters in egypt who are extremist.
america has also propped up Saleh in Yemen for the past SEVENTEEEN YEARS! where is the call from america for Saleh to step down? there is NONE because the people there have made it clear to the world that they want AL-QAEDA to run their country! al-qaeda are taking over entire villages and towns in Yemen with the HELP of the military and police there.
as you can see with your own eyes,america has no problems with dictators that allow them to steal their countries resources of that are friendly with Israel,or in the case of yemen who's govt allowed america to kill its own citizens then lied to them and claim that it was the yemeni govt who was killing the al-qaeda rebels in that country.
your not half as smart as you think you are! and your not half as smart as Sabatini! grow a brain!
Educate em because they've been brainwashed!
Actually, don't...I take that back, the more asleep they are, the more I can make money on gold.
Wow. You are dead wrong! Cuba does not have worse repression than anyone. If anything they do more for it's people.
If you think about it, every govt represses their people in some form, look at the U.S. for example, if things continue the way they are going, corporations will be people at the expense of the middle class. There won't no longer be a middle class here in the U.S., but haves and have nots.
How many people in Cuba are hungry and live under a bridge? {zero} Medical care in Cuba is available to all. Senior citizens dont have to rob a bank so they may go to jail to cover health care costs. Cuba supplies doctors to many nations. A lot can be said for Cuba standing up to America for so many years. Take a closer look at the past and present Cuba. Much better today than under the Bastia and the mafia.
C'mon Robert, enough is enough. Not even strong-bodied thugs can Rob a bank, there is no money there, it's useless. This is all propaganda, man, the government is using the embargo as the excuse of the problems, and the people, well they blame the government and the exiles end up footing the bill. Again, cunning bunch! Laughing all the way to the carnival! Don't get me wrong guys, it's the most exciting nation in the world, but not thanks to the government. Another rum, please!
Cubans are winning this battle. They've managed to sucker the governmnt to do everything for them, they get the medical care they need and live a very basic semi stress-free life, 10-hour work weeks, beautiful weather, rich culture, a family-centered existence, and party like rumba stars almost everyday. You either bow to the Castros or the Dollar. Go there and see everyone wearing nothing but name brand clothing, glasses, etc. Cunning bunch! Laughing all the way to the bar.
People like you never cease to amaze me. Are you a moron or are you faking it?
People like you never cease to amuse me... :^) so jumpy. This is not just an opinion, it's an observation: i was there this past February, I attended a Book Fair and them kids were gobbling down Che Guevara's and Fidel's books. Gimme your best shot You better be smart, and by the way fast forward to 2011, enough non-sense abuot your family riches confiscated by the revolution. Time does go by you know. Cuba for the cubans. Truth is an elusive subject.
Tunisia broke free on its own. If Egypt becomes a free country, it will be based on its own efforts. US contact is not necessary nor sufficient nor particularly important. Cuba has a great deal of contact with free countries other than the Untied States. A more open relationship will not bring change to Cuba.
Very true. If CUbans want freedom so bad, they have the necesary means to achieve that. It's up to them. Courage is needed. Fidel started the Revolution with 12 men in the rugged mountains, I think cubans today have better odds than that.
I spent a month per year between 1989 and 1995 in the Soviet Union, which turned into Russia. It was obvious from the beginning that Russians were extremely curious about the west. They sought interaction with westerners at every discrete chance. The one question constantly on their minds was "if communism is so superior, why don't we have the things that they do?". These things were simple items, like hand held calculators, coffee, chewing or bubble gum, shoes that actually fit your feet, and feminine napkins. The knowledge that we took these items for granted and they didn't have them was insidiously destructive to their confidence in communism as a superior way of life. Contact with western tourists did more to destroy the USSR than any U.S. Sanction ever could have. Cubans should have had the same opportunities to see what Russians saw. The time is now to end these ridiculous sanctions and embargoes.
I agree that embargoes have had a place in why Cuba will not overthrow it's government, however in saying that, the main reason why the Cubans won't overthrow their government is because the biggest example of the failures of demoracy is directly to their north. Does America have the most effective healthcare system on the planet? No, Does Cuba? Yes. Does America have the most effective education system in the world? No. Does Cuba? Yes. What the Cubans lack in liberties they make up for in services to their people. Who the hell would want to be in America suffering and struggling to make ends meet when you could get a PHD in whatever you like at university, without paying for it in Cuba? I would rather break my leg on holiday in Cuba, and getting it fixed for free, then having to pay thousands in medical bills for it in America.
MFM ,our failures in democracy are the worst in the world except for everybody else. We do have the most effective health care in the world. Even people in prison get free health care here. Immigrants get free health care. Any immigrant, even from Cuba becomes elegible for Medicare after 5 years of residency here, whether they worked a day here or not. Cubas healthcare is missing the needed latest technology medications, which cubans cant afford. Even viagra is covered here under Medicare. One viagra pill costs the equivalent of several months pay of a cuban doctor. Many cuban doctors in cuba have to drive taxis so they can buy essentials for living. You go on and get a PHD in Cuba and the government makes you so valuable you cant move. They wont let you out of the country because the government owns you. You break a leg in prison and its fixed for free. Cuba is a prison. If you don't believe me, go there as a regular Cuban, and for beginners do your first posting of your feelings, like you did here. You might end up in the missing persons because in cuba there are no individual rights.
Cubans may not have all the materialistic things United Statesmen have, but they are big on family, community, etc. Here in the U.S. people spent thousands on pills to help them sleep, to help them be happy, to help with stress for over working or lack of jobs, etc. They might not have all the material choices we have here in the U.S., but they have the basics, plus great education and health care. This is a fact. We may not agree or are use to their way of thinking, but if you think about it, no one has a perfect system.
Well, how bout we lift the Embargo. And.....that's just bout it.
I cannot get over just how many of these uneducated lemmings here keep coming out of the woodwork just to bash the Castro brothers! The only thing these idiots are proving here is just how stupid they are just by posting their ignorance on this web page! In fact, if stupidity were to be a virtue, these people would be living saints!!!
the reason why there won't be a revolution in cuba is because the people don't want one. some greedy cuban's who want to take their FREE college education and come to the US and make money with it, or the former weathy bourgeoise are the only one's who want their country to be capitalist, of course they love socialism enough to get Their FREE education and FREE healthcare for all. But they don't want to give back. these people are a small minority. every country has people of different ideologies, Cuba is no different, but the MAJORITY of Cubans like their country just the way it is. If our so called FREE country ALLOWED us to go there, you would see for yourself.
Cubans may not have all the materialistic things United Statesmen have, but they are big on family, community, etc. Here in the U.S. people spent thousands on pills to help them sleep, to help them be happy, to help with stress for over working or lack of jobs, etc. They might not have all the material choices we have here in the U.S., but they have the basics, plus great education and health care. This is a fact. We may not agree or are use to their way of thinking, no one has a perfect system, but if you think about it they are a little closer to a perfect system.
I agree the US Embargo has only given the Castro’s a tool to keep oppressing their people. I guess all of those who defend the so called “Revolution” have never experience the real Cuba the way we Cubans do it. I believe they were never threaten to be spelled from work or school if they didn’t participate in the marching protests; how about working in the fields mandatory... yeah we had many stories and we made the best of it but the point is you didn’t have a choice. How about the doctors, professors, scientists who remain prisoners of the system, how about the fear of being frame as a “GUSANO” and lose everything and I am not talking about losing any material/property gibberish nonsense.
Medicine free? Please don’t insult our intelligence. Education free? Are you kidding? Its not free, it’s never been; Cuban professional are own by the government. Cuban doctors are sent to remote places once the graduate to pay up for the supposedly free education. Finally, how about the restrictions and the fact that someone is constantly watching all your moves?
I suggest you watch the movie “The Life of Others” and get a sense of how the real Cuba works.
Much has been said in these comments but if a picture is worth a thousand words then I have here a novel ~ take a Glimpse of the Cubans as they are today...
http://roylleraphotographers.com/2008/11/15/glimpse-of-cuba-photography-of-the-cuban-spirit/
Share this with those you know that have a passion for freedom ~ just maybe it will tip the balance ~
Cuba is nothing lke Egypt. Egypt was a colonial vestige where a plutocracy got rich by creating mass poverty and suffering. Cuba takes care of its poor and downtrodden, and has no wealthy plutocracy stealing from the people.
Acutally it's a whole lot simpler than all this. It's SIMPLY because the Cuban peple cannot get weapons and they know Castrated will fire on his own people.
Wait, are we still pretending it was facebook, twitter, and google and not the people of those countries that overthrew their corrupt rulers?
How would you even know what Cuba is like when you can't even travel there as a US citizen? You talk about freedom when you are restricted in your own freedom from even travelling?
Been there several times, and I would say the people there are fairing better than those of Mexico and other south American countries.
When all else fails(which it has) it's time to KILL them with kindness. The best way to extinguish the Castro flame is to smother it.Let's send them everything thats good with us and show the citizens of Cuba what there missing. Castro's demise would be quick.
testing
Interesting. My comment has not been shown though the system gives me the message "You already said that" when I try to re-send it. The site is not supposed to have pre-screening, and besides there is nothing objectionable in my post. If I would be posting from Cuba I would blame the government firewalls but that is not the case. A little mistery....
The article core thesis than contact and communication are better than isolation it is obviously correct.
Embargo (actually a total economic war against Cuba, see *) could be justified if government of Cuba would be threatening neighbor countries or shooting against large crowds of its own citizens. Though it is far from being a paradise of free speech and democracy none of the above mentioned situations are happening in the island, and that is probably the main reason that all countries represented in the UN (except the USA, Israel and a couple of tiny islands) have voted against the American embargo policies once a year for about two decades.
So why is so difficult to change policies that are obviously wrong and that have been widely criticized by the international community?
The answer is that the Cuban question is not a matter of foreign policy in the US, but a matter of internal politics.
The Cuban right wing politicians are very powerful in the State of Florida, which holds a quite significant number of electoral votes in presidential elections and can be a decisive factor in the making or breaking of a presidential candidate.
These politicians have made their fortunes (political fortunes most of the time but sometimes even their financial as well) by being 'tough' hardliners unwilling to accept any change in the traditional approach of the US towards Cuba. For an American politician leave the Cuban issue the way it is is a very small price to pay in a race for the White House or to obtain support to pass some legislation. If you put this together with the usual reluctance of the establishments of great powers to recognize mistakes you end up with the situation we have today.
For the Cuban government all this has been very convenient. The economic war against Cuba waged by the USA provides the Cuban government with a very convenient explanation for the deep economic crisis in which the island has been since 1990. It gives them all the material necessary to create the "image of the enemy" necessary to keep the status quo in the island.
So in short is the history of the opposites that end up reinforcing each other. These kind of situations tend to be very stable and therefore difficult to change. Perspectives are not good.
* The Embargo policies are actually a total economic war against the island. The most important thing that Cuba is deprived -besides the intense interchange of people and goods with the USA – is access to credit. Since 1991, when Cuba main creditor, the Soviet Union, disappeared the Island have seen all the attempts to obtain credits to finance its economy , torpedoed by the USA. Cuba has not access to the World Bank or the IMF, the natural sources for financing national economic projects. International banks are closely monitored by the USA in their transactions with Cuba. Recently the Swiss bank UBS was fined around 250 million dollars for having certain transactions with Cuba using American dollars. Other big banks have been fined as well. It has been said that around 60% of the personnel of the OFAC are devoted to monitor Cuba's economic operations (instead of monitoring the operations of terrorist supporters for instance). All this atmosphere scare away the possible creditors and Cuba have been forced to have deals with the international equivalents of "loan sharks" to try to finance its economy. It is no wonder the desperate situation in which it is.
sounds like this article was written by Fidel himself. If it's you, Fidel, get out of Cuba, let the cuban people choose between different political parties in elections. Let them travel within the Island. Let them have freedom of speech, let them see the news from different points of view. You can do it, Fidel. If someone wants to be a communist, let him be, but if someone doesnt like communism, let that person be, too. And if you can't do it, then let your little brother Raul, do it.