Cubans anxious for change?

[Kitty Herder]

No News is Big News
Cuba Sans Fidel

By STEVE ECKARDT

It's big news in the U.S. that Fidel Castro has declined to accept election when Cuba's Parliament meets this Sunday to select the country's Ministers--it's the headline story in every form of media, along with more than the usual background and opinion pieces.

But it's the media brouhaha itself that's the real big news, for the actual top story is that there's almost no news here at all.

Look: despite half a century of U.S. portraying Fidel as the Western Hemisphere's Stalin ­and the Cuban people as both suffering and ready to explosively grasp freedom the moment his totalitarian grip slips­ there are no demonstrations, let alone riots, in Cuba today.

Nor are there any prospects of them.

Nor was there any form of unrest or disruptions of daily life when Fidel first handed over his posts to a team of seven leaders after falling ill at the end of July 2006.

Indeed Cuba just completed an immense and thorough-going Parliamentary election process where some 96% of the electorate (voting age begins at 16) cast secret ballots--and 92% of them chose the united slate put together by union, women's, youth, small farmers' and other popular organizations (the Communist Party cannot field candidates).

This puts the percentage opposing what Washington calls the 'Castro regime' ­read the Cuban Revolution­ at 10% under the most liberal possible interpretation.

Read the rest at : http://counterpunch.org/eckardt02202008.html

[gateley]

1. K&R - I'm interested in the future of Cuba - and our relationship to her. nt

[Diclotican]

2. Herdin_Cats

Herdin_Cats

I just hope that Cuba itself would do the change itself. To a more liberal, democratic plurality country where the democracy is the most important thing... And I do hope that US this time around let Cuba decide their future for them self.. Cuba, as many country in the Carib ian have been victim of US "Intervention" so long and it have never been to the Caribbeans best interest..

So the best US could do now. Is to sit back, and let the cubans itself decide their future.. And stop this childlike Embargo of Cuba.. This is the one of the things that have made Castro the man he is today. In ordinary Cubans aye he is still the hero who are giving the middle finger to the great american nabour. And US have not acted as that great democracy they claim to be, when it come to Cuba either... How many american attack have it been on Castro's person.. Castro itself claim more than 100, all failed... CIA would not say how many... So maybe Castro have it right then...

If Cuba was to given a fair Chance to rebuild itself as a democracy, the US might get a stable country on their border.. Not as Haiti or other places where war and revolution are almost daily life.. They may even se that Cuba have not been that a horrible place to live... With Castro or without Castro

But the "glory good old days" wen 2/3 of Cubans was living as extremely poor stricken and un-educated people is just out of the case here.. Cuba have a pretty good educated people now.. Illiterate are less than in the US... And they have used the small amount they have on money, to make a health care US would admire if they just was to know what Cuba have managed to do, with small ressourses...

I am not saying that Cuba are a Paradise in the sun... But it is far better than everyone in Little Havana Miami would admit to be truth... Not many starving cubans are there?... Even that cubans are poor, they are not starving..

But as long as Castro are the big evil in many american's aye, and the revolution in 1959 as a catastrophe the fact would be a no Problems.. Many of the cubans who was leaving Cuba in the 1960s, really believe they can just go home and get what they was loosing when the communist was coming to cuba.. That would possible not be the case... And if it happened it would take decades to solve the problems out.. As in the Eastern Europe after the wall.. Hound res of people get claim to lost property in many country there.. For the most part the original paper was lost in the chaos of the end of the war.. And even there where the original paper was to be find, the paper trial was so difficult that it was almost impossible to find who owned what, of where the property was now... And for the most part, the current owner of the property was not exactly happy about the fact that they may lost the property they have been using both money and time to fix up... And the same is the case in Cuba.. It have been going more than 50 year.. To late to let claim of property they lost then..

Diclotican

Sorry my bad English, not my native language

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Most of the people who were really anti-Castro have left

Those who remain are poor in many ways, but better off than the people of some alleged "democracies."

A few years ago, The Economist had an article in which the author expressed the opinion that the Cuban people were so well educated and talented that it was a shame that they couldn't achieve prosperity by "being part of the global economy."

The following week, a letter writer quoted that opinion and asked, "Do you mean like Haiti and Jamaica?"

[bemildred]

4. "Do you mean like Haiti and Jamaica?"

Exactly. That is what Castro accomplished, Cuba is at least run for the benefit of the Cubans. Castro has no large Swiss bank accounts, Cuba has a better infant mortality rate that the USA, nobody starves, nobody sleeps in the street, nobody goes without medical care, nobody has to eat mud, everybody gets all the free education they can handle, their entertainment is not a cornucopia of ignorant bullshit.

[wpelb]

7. Cuban infant mortality

Do those figures include mortality of babies born that weigh less than 1 kg? According to Overpopulation.com, in the U.S., doctors try to save kids of low birth weight, though many of them die and are then included in the infant mortality rates. In most other places, including Cuba, they are considered stillborn or whatever and don't get into the infant mortality figures.

[bemildred]

8. Here:

http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/mortality/mort2.htm

[bpeale]

5. let's send them Obama then! way to go!

[Joe Chi Minh]

6. Don't spoil their dreams. They can't handle reality. In their tiny minds, they're

the ones who are supposed to make it - not any steenkin' voters!