Castro has quit!
He is no longer in power.
This is MAJOR news, and GREAT news.
The Russian puppet is gone, and the world is better off.
Castro has been a thorn in the lives of millions over the last fifty or so years.
Cuba now has a better future, and its people must be in a party mood.
I am.
I never thought I would see this day.
Good things come to those who wait, but we sure waited a long time for this!
The world just got a little better!
George Vreeland Hill
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Comments: 71
Unfortunately, the U.S. created the monster in Cuba, simply because the government formed there didn't meet U.S. approval. We were the first country to recognize Castro's government...until we learned that he wasn't going to play by our rules.
Obviously, I don't agree with Castro's way of running a government, however the U.S. should accept some responsibility for the adversarial relationship we have with Cuba. We shouldn't be celebrating anything. The fact that Castro ruled so successfully for so many years is a testament to the absolute failure of our country to effectively deal with our neighbors.
There will be some upheaval when he does die, and Raul won't be in the picture any more either, but the military will.
Then in the next say twenty or so year all will be changed in Cuba.
I guess you were happy when Sadam was caught, will you feel the same when Kim Jong-il dies or gives up his thrown in N. Korea?
I don't like what these people do to there people but we have one too and he leaves on Jan 20 2009 and I can't wait, then I will be dancing, because HE has done something personal to me, not these other leaders.
Hope you all have a great day!
but who will take over after such a long time,
this is what we all wonder.
I for one hope that the adjustment toward capitialism will benifit the people of an Island nation that has been in the gun site of American interest for more than a century. Consider the U.S. engagement with Lt. Col. Teddy Roosevelt and his rough riders leading the charge at San Juan Hill on the backs of the fellow black soliders during the Spanish-American War of 1898 along with his personal press corp and later with Kennedy's covert operation during the Bay of Pigs failure. A mafia pay off if there ever was one, and we all know what happens when you don't pay the family.
Keeping out the mafia and the rest of the capitlist whores has been a feather in Castro cap for a long time but as a puppet of Russian intrigue who else was he suppose to turn too. Don't belive me watch "The Godfather part II"
Now what will become of the Cuban people as they continue to suffer under an American economic blockade and wait for the U.S. congress come to terms with a change in leadership will be interesting, no doubt greed will be in the forefront. So will all the Cubans in Mami return back to their Island paradise, I wonder will they be treated like Mexicans and Hatians if they do.
I hope it will be a peaceful transition and that those programs exsit under the socialist state provided to the people will remain in place and continue, such as free medical care and education.
Had not this rebel, Fedel Castro been there to change history, would the people now be any better off with capitalism, founded on a repressive religion with mafia money and a military dictatorship really any better, I think not.
Julie: Your comment doesn't make it obvious that you don't agree with Castro's policies at all.
Richard: American Imperialism? So far as I know The United States consists of 50 states and a few territories. We don't claim Iraq, Afghanistan, or Cuba as United States property. Perhaps you should choose a better term if you want your views to be taken seriously.
The man, Che and that small band of courageous individuals overthrew one of the nastiest regimes in history. What Cuba has become has been caused by the US embargoes and even despite that it has achieved many great things. Remember Cuba offering the US doctors after Hurricane Katrina?
Read your history books if you think that Fidel is the cruel dictator. Read about Batista, Cuba as the playground for the Mafia, a den of vice if ever there was one. Exploitation was the order of the day.
If that is the glory of Capitalism I would prefer to be "persecuted" under Fidel's system.
Fidel, a man undefeated to the end, a real legend in his own lifetime.
BTW Lavonne your concept of imperialism seems to be stuck pre 20th century. The cultural imperialism of the United States is stamped across the globe, for better and for worse.
a) who said I live in the US?
b) who said the US was evil?
c) what gives you the impression that everyone thinks like you and the anti-Cubans in the US? There are many Americans and most of the rest of the world who would hold the US responsible for all of Cuba's ills
I didn't realise that people sympathetic to dictators like Batista still existed Dan. Do you also support Musharraf because George tells you to?
American is a capitalist country of which to exist must make a profit by any means necessary. The engine is greed. To that end capital provides a higher standard of living within a class base society having a market place protected by soldiers who provide protection and collect taxes as payment.
This arrangment allows you to do business freely unless you are in debt. Debt is a restriction of freedom by any other name.
With few at the top, living off those on the bottom, called natural selection. Strenght makes right. Spread out in the middle are those who keep the top and bottom together to function as a whole. Any one part of the trinity that is not under control will destroy itself, there by killing the host. As time drifts by, what was on the bottom rises to the top and process starts all over again.
Holding water in your hands is hard to do for a long time, sooner rather later, your hands will become dry, then you will notice you have been living in a desert. So why did not drink the water I gave to you?
Some will ask who is that face on your T-shirt? And the story of Che will live on forever and you ask me who are the imperlist, while babies die of hunger in the world.
And I bet you didn't know that, Polar bears got no more ice, Honey bees don't make honey, and India has no more Bengal tigers.
And there is a debt-not-paid my fellow Americans.
I know my American history, pre and post our own independence. Through the colonial to the industrial, to the modern... I have read about this countries existence from conception, to birth, to freedom for some, to freedom in name only and finally to freedom for all. In all the things I have read, thank god no communist has ever made the history pages in this country nor will they ever.
Capitalism is the only system of governance that allows men to improve their own lives through hard work. Fat lazy people bitch and complain and then believe they have the answers, though they have never experienced anything in their lives on their own. People like that gotta be lead even in their own lives, because they don't have the strength of personal conviction or character to understand what it means to be alive and to live, let alone what it means to be free... All the while riding on the backs of others who have bleed for them in battle, while telling the world how bad America is even though they haven't a clue what the rest of the world is really like.
At least that's what Halliburton told me to say as we roast babies to turn them into oil so Bush could finance his illegal wars
I couldn't resist. That's how he views capitalism and his country anyways... Might as well give him something to bitch about in the open! I mean America is sucking down all the honey, eating all the ice, while chewing on Bengal tiger jerky!
Seriously though Richard P, you're a freaken nut case... I love it! Seriously, this Bengal jerky is good!
Charles Marcello
After Che, the KBG, and the USSR changed his mind, he nationalized everything, supported communist insurgencies throughout Latin America and Africa; and his problem with the US began...
from the net (wik)-
" During this period Castro repeatedly denied being a communist. For example in New York on April 25 (1959) he said, communist "influence is nothing. I don't agree with communism. We are democracy. We are against all kinds of dictators.... That is why we oppose communism."
As to the contents of this article above.....How deluded can anyone be? Nothing has changed.....Fidel has not been in power for a year and half.....Raul is worse than his brother as far as being a communist and he is a known assassin....he and el Che (who so many people think was such a glorious hero) were two people most responsible for sending people "to the wall" to be shot.
It amazes me how so many people in the US and most of the world have no real clue about Cuba...before or after Castro. "Castro liberated Cuba from the evil regime of Batista"......COME ON!!!!
Batista was thug...I agree. But Castro and his cronies became BIGGER THUGS or rather, a bunch of assassins who made a once prosperous country slide into a Third World Power possition......
I lived there through Batista and I lived there through the Castro takeover before I left my home country.....Don't tell me that Fidel was better than Batista.....if he was, how come so many people die in the process of fleeing on anything that halfway floats to come to the US???? Even some of the members of his the "elite" class have left....trhough Canada, through Spain....however they can get away to defect and where ever they can ask assylum....including some of the athletes, musicians and ballerinas, who are considered "National Treasures" and paraded as such.
I was never a supporter of Batista...and like many, thought Fidel was a hero in the befinning..... well, guess what? The common people - the largest population in Cuba at the time - was the middle class - and we lived much better BC than AC (for those who might not get it, it means Before Castro and After Castro)
As to Cuba having such great health care.....Sicko has done a number on brainwashing your minds....There is BARELY any health care for the Cubans....the tourists who flock there are the ones benefitting of the so called wonderful health care in Cuba...
As to Castro offering to send doctors to New Orleans after Katrina......The US offered to send help, food, doctors and medicine to Cuba after Hurricane Dennis.....Castro was just making an empty statement. Doctors in Cuba make the equivalent of between $30-50 a MONTH.....and still have to serve their time cutting sugar cane when the time comes!
We who live in the United States have it so easy compared to the Cubans.... YOU have no idea what it is to wonder where your next meal is coming from and how you are going to get it.
To get a little better education on Cuba read this:
Today's Gather Poll
Don't get me started.............
However, if Cuba is to progresses smoothly towards an open society it has my full support and this can happen faster if the U.S. drops its embargo. If we can trade with China and take fuel from Venezuela, then surely we can have a dialouge with Cuba that will help in a peaceful transition.
So while we stand alone in the world of other nations that have already shared much with Cuba we can only throw rocks at an old man who is not the future of Cuba/U.S. relationship. What a waste of time when trade and business is one way to make inroads to spread democracy and ideas of freedom.
Your above statement is articulate and I even agree with it. Yet, this is not even close to what you wrote above. What you wrote above sounded like a socialist blaming America for everything. And that last sentence was nutty. No more ice for Polar Bears etc...? Not only is that a horrible damn lie about the polar bears, any one who knows what's going on up would now think of you as a drive-by citizen. You hear something, spread it as you move on, and never learn if its true or not.
I haven't read anything about the honey bee's lately, last I heard it was fungus... But, perhaps capitalist pigs on their way up with sand in their pockets did it.
I hope you understand this point and the point I tried to make last time.
Charles Marcello
You would have to be on drugs not to understand WHY Cuba is in some respects stuck in the 1950s. The US influence on western nations is the cause. The old imperialist states now toe the line of the new leading imperialist nation. The US defines who barters with whom to a huge extent.
It is the United States government which should hang it's head in shame at the problems which Cuba DOES have, not Fidel. Like all revolutionaries, just as Lenin had to, they imposed restrictions on various freedoms to defend the revolution and by doing so defend decent standards of living and basic human rights; housing, education and health for their societies.
I do not see anything terribly wrong or evil but doing that. Compare that to the hungry and homeless in our "free and democratic" western societies.
You are deluded if you really believe you are free and live in a democratic society.
Castro uses doctors from Spain. Yeah, I'm sure his people envy him too!
The old imperialist states now toe the line of the new leading imperialist nation. The US defines who barters with whom to a huge extent.
What absolute nonsense. We would like to have that power, but we don't! Like the way you think though.
It is the United States government which should hang it's head in shame at the problems which Cuba DOES have, not Fidel.
REALLY! Last I looked we only stopped trading with them, Castro runs the country.
Like all revolutionaries, just as Lenin had to, they imposed restrictions on various freedoms to defend the revolution and by doing so defend decent standards of living and basic human rights; housing, education and health for their societies.
Yeah, decent standards. Disobey and we will kill you and your entire family. Castor did that… Or, how about imprison and get beat daily… Cuba still does that…
Seriously, I've never heard of American's desperately trying to get to the good ol' Cuba on rubber tube rafts, or a boat made out of pallets. How Castro/Cuba has kept American's at bay with all the respect he shows them with his wonder education and healthcare system is beyond me. Why haven't you rafted across their Brain?
I do not see anything terribly wrong or evil but doing that. Compare that to the hungry and homeless in our "free and democratic" western societies.
It is impossible to go hungry in this country. IMPOSSIBLE! There are hundred of ways to make sure you never go hungry. But then again that's a misnomer, ON PURPOSE, by commies like you Brain. I've gone to bed hungry when I was child even as an adult, but I was never near starvation, ever! That still happens in Cuba, and in China... But not here! Hmm, wonder why!?
You are deluded if you really believe you are free and live in a democratic society.
You can type this nonsense and not fear death. Hmm, that's pretty dang free! You can walk the streets and demand this President step down. No death, that's free! Castro has killed thousands to retain power... FACT! His people are afraid to speak out about his past brutality, not to mention don't speak ill of Castro or to prison you will go. You're the one who is deluded.
--CM
All your responses are they typical tired responses we heard during the Cold War. The reality of "freedom and democracy" and they US system of justice has been exposed for what it really is. If you are white and born in the US you probably have a fighting chance of having a modicum of your fantastical idea of freedom an democracy, anyone else, the odds are stacked against them.
As far as Fidel is concern he is a straw man that the U.S. government could not assassinate. The U.S. has and does make deals with the devil all over the world, think Reagan+Hussin = gas the Kurds. The list is to long to write but to think that Fidel is the worst dictator in the western hemisphere I beg to differ, a dictator yes and his enemies are legion. But under Batista, the mob and oppressive Catholic church, the Cuban would be told to suffer and pray while living in abject proverty, then again the Jesuit would have supported the revoulution of Castro.
And for you or anyone else to be in denial about the enviromental changes are blind and concern only for their own self interest. Human have promp and circumstance but nature will break the will of all human endevarors. LOL and spit into the wind if you wish, but nature is talking and we should all listen. That said, as a species if we are to survive, coperation across nations is imperative, even Halliburtion agrees that we should open up to Cuba.
Keep on 'working for that Yankeee Dollar...'
his cake and eat it too, that is we wishes to oversee the
opening up of Cuba and do it his way.
It's not right to squash Cuba like we do, especially when
many countries in Latin America are not semi-socialist,
progresssive, and are making a lot of headway towards
helping their people - about time.
By letting fear of these countries and their leaders rule
us for the last 50 years we have gotten ourselves into
a real fix here in the US. We have squandered our money
and system to bring cheap labor and cheap profits to a
few and sacrificed our ability to help the world.
Those of you who think things in Cuba are so great need to go over there and see for yourselves....better yet, I can give you the name of a young woman who went there with stars in her eyes thinking she was going to live the socialist dream and came back completely dissolutioned... Please, do me a favor and save face...when you don't know what you are talking about FROM EXPERIENCE don't spout propaganda.
Nuff said!
Have you seen beautiful buildings falling down due to neglect?
Thousands of times. Just drive through Camden, NJ or parts of Philadelphia.
Do you have to share housing with 3 or 4 generations of your family because you can't find a place to live in?
Well, I DON'T. But I know people who do because they can't afford to find a place.
In the US, do you need government permission to move from one house to another?
Of course not, unless you count the building inspector's fee, the housing permit, and the other fees I had to pay to my local township when I bought the house.
Do you need government permission to open a business?
Yes, you have to adhere to zoning laws, and pay the appropriate fees and get the right permits and meet the fine million regulatory requirements.
If you stand in a corner in the US and scream Down with Bush do you go to prison?
If you get accused of disturbing the peace you can. Noise ordinances and all.
America is the land of the free, so long as you have the money to pay. Yes, I much prefer living in the U.S. than elsewhere, but I am not delusional to think that our culture is this flawless utopia others seem to believe.
No, I don't think the US is Utopia.....but it certainly is not the hellhole the majority of Cubans are living in and unless you see it as a Cuban whose patrimony has been stolen, you will never see it.
Somebody please tell me........if Cuba is so wonderful....why, oh why so many die trying to reach our shores in anything that will float?.....is it because they believe our streets are paved with gold? NO. It is because their lives are hopeless and they would rather brave and porbably die in the treacherous waters of the Florida Straights than stay there where there is no hope for them.
Please, LIVE THE LIFE before you can speak with any authority.
Noone tells them that is the promised land, but the power of the media, movies and satellite tv paint an image of a golden land, the image projected for over a century and a half.
No doubt you have a decent standard of living, maybe your health insurance pays those bills. What about those who can't access that lifestyle that many, but FAR from all enjoy in the US? Do you think about them or do you believe everyone lives the dream life they risk their lives expecting to reach when they get to the US?
Cuba is FAR from perfect, but ask yourself why and the answer in large part is due to the United States. What they couldn't achieve militarily, just like the USSR, they hope to one day achieve by bleeding the life-force out of that small island. TheUS will claim that as a victory, but it will be a victory achieved by restricting human rights by proxy.
As I have said before UNTIL YOU HAVE LIVED THE LIFE DOWN THERE YOU CANNOT CONCEIVE OF HOW THESE PEOPLE LIVE.
They are looking for the freedom to live as they see fit or can
They are looking for the freedom to speak their minds
They are looking for a chance to be who they can be without ration cards and without being afraid to speak their minds because the neighbor might report what they say against the government to the "block informer"
Live in your dream world......but please have the decency to acknowledge that others might know just a little bit more than you about a situation you seem to know nothing about....
"Colorin colorao este cuento se ha acabao....." Adios
Are you Cuban?
Do you have relatives or friends living in Cuba?
Do you know first hand what has been happening there all these years?
Truly know...not just political spoutings?
I AM a born Cuban but AM an American citizen
I HAVE family and friends living there
I KNOW first hand what has been happening there all these years
I KNOW the US government left Cuban exiles up the creek at Bay of Pigs.
I KNOW the US has not treated the whole situation fairly....BUT I ALSO KNOW that I am very grateful to live here and would much rather live here than there and so would many of the people who cannot get out of Cuba. In spite of any thing you can say....I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN which is more than you are showing.
I'm through with you
FYI: Nobody is going to ship you out of the country for NOT singing the praises of America. Those of us who truely care about this country feel obligated to point out its glaring flaws. You have completely dismissed everything that has been said, and justify it with your "DO YOU KNOW ANYONE THERE?" mantra. You may be aware of the day to day life of Cuba, but you seem to have completely shut out the REASONS why that current day to day life came into existence. You, with your relatives in Cuba, are too focused on the end result to clearly understand what caused that end result. And what some people are trying to point out, is that the U.S. created the situation with Castro in the first place by playing hardcore rules with him all those decades ago. Perhaps if the U.S. had tried a more diplomatic approach, you wouldn't be hearing such horror stories from your relatives now.
1- Through my mother's family, we have been in the United States for 14 or 15 generations - both Northern Yankees and Southern Rebels.... so I'm not worried about being shipped out any time soon....
2- I do understand that actions by the US government has led to much of the situation in Cuba....see, I know the history of both countries and have followed the time-line. I KNOW the fiasco at Bay of Pigs was caused by the US dropping the ball after it had trained and sponsored the invasion by Cuban exiles.....but there is a lot that many of you don't know - things that unfolded between Russia and the US due to Cuba....
For a better understanding of what has cause the situation, please read the following....and do it carefully and read it all, as long as it is. It will help some of you understand the Cuban exiled position.
All of you who really don't know what led to certain events and would like facts....please read this carefully and stay with it:
/a>
and also to those who still believe in The Myth of Cuba's Health Care System
Thank you
Gracias
Mahalo