One thing most people don't realize, and for very good reason, is that when Fidel LIBERATED Cuba, he was NOT a Communist. Our schools don't teach the truth about Fidel, plain and simple. Pre-Fidel Cuba was ruled by Batista, who was a son-of-a-bitch. But as with so many other dictators over the years, he was our SOB: He was corrupt and pro robber baron business. The masses were uneducated; health care sucked; infant mortality was high; poverty was rampant; Things were much like a Refuckyoucan wet dream: The vast majority of wealth concentrated in the hands of a few and the rest be damned.
Castro's revolution was probably one of the most pure revolutions in world history. He literally came out of the hills, with virtually total support of the masses/peasants. Once his new government was installed, he set about in search of aid to finance his dreams of modernization. Now remember, the old guy was our guy, so the new guy, no matter how popular, was a bad guy by default. He got squat from us. Well what are you gonna do?
You go to the other guys: the Rooskies, the Commies. And I think from there, we know the story. Or rather the propaganda. We couldn't blame the missile crisis on out own actions, or lack thereof. The Bay of Pigs... the senseless and totally ineffective embargo... multiple botched assassination attempts...
As I said, our high schools don't teach the truth. Another thing people tend to not realize: Text book authors are still authors. They make their money from selling books. If truth doesn't sell, leave it out. Tell some lies. Say what you need to say to sell. It ain't rocket science. Anyway...
I didn't learn the basics of the truth about Castro, till I got to college in my thirties. I don't remember learning much about his youth; Ho Chi Minh was educated in France, but I don't know about Fidel. So...
Cloud up and rain all over me if you want, I really don't give a fuck. Hopefully, if Barack gets elected he'll finally take the sensible steps to end the silliness that has been our Cuba policy for the past 50 years. McCain..? Keep on doing the same shit. We're Republicans; failure is our trademark. Hillary's apparently still waiting for her pollsters to get back to her, surprise surprise. With Barack, maybe we'll get some good rum and cigars.
Is Fidel's Cuba perfect? Fuck no. The Neo-Cons probably learned a lot from looking at Fidel's prisons. On the other hand, they could learn a lot from looking at his schools and health care system. Yo Fido...
Enjoy. I hope you're healthy enough to enjoy your last few years, fishing, hunting, watching beisbol. Come to Seattle; the beer's on me.
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4 comments:
At the time of Castro's revolution, Cuban fishermen were not allowed any access to the sea because everything was being bought up for the tourist trade. Which sounds like so much of what is going on in the Caribbean again today. Hello, Jamaica.
Cuba is yielding some really interesting results in organic farming and sustainability, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The only good thing about keeping our mitts off of Cuba for another ten years or so would be that we could see what life would be like without the interference of big ag and big pharma. An interesting lab experiment.
jason... STFU. Please.
Jess... nice hearing from you. I have to agree: Cuba is a fascinating lab rat of a country, when you consider the only reason the Soviets bankrolled them in any fashion was so they could plant missiles. The Cubans have still had to do much on their own.
When you read Greg Palast (sp), you learn how destructive are the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Cuba's been spared.
Who knows... Maybe a continuation of the embargo would be the best thing for Cuba.
Best post I've read all week on this subject- which is kind of sad, when you think about what some of those "journalists" get paid. Or maybe I should say, what they're getting paid to do.
I'm guessing the Cubans would be lucky if the embargo stayed in place.
Hello SC. Thanks for stopping in.
Thinking about your last comment, at least with the embargo in place, we haven't gone in and fucked them up like we have with most of South America, not to mention Iraq. Dubya's warning:
Play nice, or we'll liberate your country too.
Welcome to the blog roll, Ma'am? Sir?
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