Happy Semicentennial, Cuba. 50 years ago tomorrow...

[Dennis Donovan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_revolution#Mid-1958_to_January_1959

<snip>
The next day (December 31, 1958), in a scene of great confusion, the city of Santa Clara was captured by the combined forces of Che Guevara, Cienfuegos, Revolutionary Directorate(RD) rebels led by Comandantes Rolando Cubela, Juan ("El Mejicano") Abrahantes , and William Alexander Morgan. News of these defeats caused Batista to panic. He fled Cuba for the Dominican Republic just hours later on January 1, 1959. Comandante William Alexander Morgan, for his part and leading RD rebel forces, continued fighting and captured the city of Cienfuegos on January 1 and 2, during, and in, the wake of Batista's departure. Castro learned of Batista's flight in the morning and immediately started negotiations to take over Santiago de Cuba. On January 2nd, the military commander in the city, Colonel Rubido, ordered his soldiers not to fight and Castro's forces took over the city. The forces of Guevara and Cienfuegos entered Havana at about the same time. They had met no opposition on their journey from Santa Clara to Cuba's capital. Castro himself arrived in Havana on January 8th after a long victory march, his choice of President, Manuel Urrutia Lleó taking up office on the 3rd.

[malaise]

1. And 50 years later

they have the best health care and education systems in the hemisphere; the most doctors per capita and they provide the most assistance to sister territories. Viva Fidel and Cuba. Thanks for standing up to the bullies.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. It's well past time for the US to drop the embargo...

I hope Obama has the courage to do so.:thumbsup:

[a la izquierda]

4. You and me both...I don't want to have to beg

the State Department to go visit. And I don't want to sneak around.
I have two British friends who just returned from there and the pictures...amazing.

[roody]

13. Don't beg. Just go.

Go quietly on your own, or join with Pastors for Peace this summer. www.ifconews.org

[ThomWV]

3. You're kidding, right?

The nation is, and has been, in abject poverty since it quit receiving aid from the old Soviet Union. The glowing illusion you picture is just that, an illusion.

[Dennis Donovan]

6. They may be poor, but they're not starving or suffering...

Not everyone needs a 58" TV and an SUV to be happy.;)

If the US would lift this insane embargo, it would help Cuba dramatically.

[ThomWV]

8. Dear god, you folks are delusional

They're poor but they aren't starving or suffering - just what does it mean to be poor, that there are no golden pennys in your happy pockets? By definiton poor means you don't have jack shit and if there is a nation somewhere that doesn't have the ability to provide basic services to its people but has a world-class health care system (implied by the originial OP) you'd just have to think that something was horribly amiss with prioritization. Oh, and as an alternative to SUVs they are trying to keep 1952 Buicks running - you think that is a good thing?

[Dennis Donovan]

10. No, I believe you are short-sighted and stuck in 1962...

The only reason they have to keep their 1952 Buicks running is because of the embargo placed on them almost 50 years ago by rabid-right wingers and greedy capitalists here in the US.

As I said downthread, if the Cuban people were truly disenchanted with their government, they would've overthrown it long ago. Revolution is in their history, yet the present government has enjoyed the longest reign of any Cuban government.

[lynne]

21. The US certainly isn't the only car manufacturing nation in the world -

- what's stopping them from importing cars from other nations?

[roody]

14. Have you been there?

[Medusa]

17. DU remains in great denial about what cuba is really like

for the average citizen.

[cali]

9. yes, they're just all shiny happy people in Cuba

Cuba is as fucked up as most states. Some good things, and some not very good things. I don't understand the Candide attitude toward any nation.

[roody]

15. Have you been there?

[Rhiannon12866]

12. If life is so great there, then why are they so desperate that they're willing

to do anything, often putting their lives at risk in handmade boats, rafts, floating cars, stowing away, to land in the U.S. :shrug:

[Selatius]

18. Canada has Cuba beat in terms of health care according to the World Health Organization.

They use single-payer health insurance. The only problem with the Canadian system is chronic underfunding by conservative governments. Cuba is ranked behind the United States, coincidentally. The US is ranked 37th. Cuba is ranked at 39th according to the WHO's last study done on worldwide rankings.

[robcon]

5. 50th anniversary of the misery of Castro.

I hope the embargo is over soon - that's the only way to get a revolutionary fervor among Cubans - to understand the freedoms that other peoples have, that have been denied to them.

[Dennis Donovan]

7. One man's freedom is another man's slavery...

It's all perspective, you know.

If the Cuban people were unhappy with their present government, they would've overthrown it long ago. Cuba has a long history of revolution, yet the current government has enjoyed an extended reign - longer than any previous government. Why do you think that is?:shrug:

[Medusa]

19. And if they are caught even thinking about it

they'll be either killed or thrown in jail for the rest of their lives. You think they have the freedom to speak out about how unhappy they are?

[Selatius]

20. One could say the same of the Chinese communist dictatorship. Or even North Korea's dictatorship.

Overthrowing a powerful tyranny is a lot easier said than done.

[Dennis Donovan]

11. kick

[roody]

16. Let's go see for ourselves. How about a DU meetup

in the last two weeks of June---starts in Habana.