The man who we know would be president, dictator, saviour, commandant, nationalist, communist, hero, demagogue of Cuba stood in the dock before Batista’s court after the attack on the Moncada Barracks and in a characteristic four hour speech he justifying his actions thus “History Will Absolve Me.” My history teacher was telling us about communism when we were going to study Stalin “real communism” juxtaposing this with Cuban communism or “beach communism.” In the pseudo obituaries of the past few days as Fidel steps down you will read of the great healthcare system Cuba has, remarkable for a third world country, now officially a higher life expectancy in Cuba than in the United States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy.
But Americans can still say “yeah well you don’t see people trying to float on doors to Cuba” You do however see people coming from all over the world to come to Cuba’s healthcare system http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-3085--6-6--.html. One of the very few exports allowed to the United States was the meningitis b vaccine which you probably have had, which was developed in Cuba http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/406780.stm. Cuba sends aid to over 80 countries particulaly helping in illiminating illiteracy and in free healthcare.
Cuba also has a very respectable education system, Cuba is still poor, it can still take two days to earn enough money to buy a toothbrush, once more you can never leave the island, you’re not even allowed an internet connection, unless through a controlled filter.
Not all Human rights abuses in Cuba happen at Guantanamo Bay either Amnesty international writes on the darker side of beach communism, writing: http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/americas/caribbean/cuba .
“Freedom of expression, association and movement continued to be severely restricted. At least 69 prisoners of conscience remained imprisoned for their political opinions. Political dissidents, independent journalists and human rights activists continued to be harassed, intimidated and detained, some without charge or trial. Cubans continued to feel the negative impact of the US embargo.”
And points to
“Prisoner of conscience Oscar Mariano González Pérez, an independent journalist who was arrested in July 2005 as he was about to take part in a demonstration in front of the French embassy, remained in detention without charge or trial.”
Cuba has however put a moratorium on the death penalty.
As for democracy – surprise, surprise the congress of people’s deputies (incidentally who aren’t allowed to campaign) voted unanimously to make Raul Castro as the new president of Cuba... What many on the cli-che – t-shirt left won’t acknowledge is that human rights abuses repression of democracy and free expression are the same whether it’s Pinochet or Castro doing them. Amnesty international has absolved neither and as for history Castro nearly ended it. Castro has always said that if he had been in control of the nuclear weapons in 1962, he would have used them had Cuba been attacked. http://www.lacan.com/zizdidnot.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3U3ATRiboI – Robert McNamara reaction on meeting Castro and asking him what he would have done.
There is no doubt what the USA would have done if the Soviet Union had invaded the USA as the US invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs but this is not an excuse to cause Armageddon. Noam Chomsky points out who saved the world that day, and has suggested he get 1000 Nobel peace prizes.
“the world was saved from nuclear devastation by one Russian submarine captain, Vasily Arkhipov, who blocked an order to fire nuclear missiles when Russian submarines were attacked by US destroyers near Kennedy’s “quarantine” line. Had Arkhipov agreed, the nuclear launch would have almost certainly set off an interchange that could have “destroyed the Northern hemisphere,” as Eisenhower had warned.”
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