Prospects for Change in Cuba
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-03-28/prospects-change-cuba
An antique car passes by the Virgin of Charity of Cobre church in El Cobre, near Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Sunday March 25, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI flies to Santiago de Cuba to mark the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Cuba's patron.
(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
Pope Benedict XVI is conducting mass today Havana. Yesterday he met with Cuba’s president, Raul Castro. Today he’s scheduled to meet with his brother, Fidel. The Pope’s three day visit comes at time when Cuban leaders seem to be signaling change: for the first time since the communist revolution private property can be bought and sold legally and 130 prisoners were recently released, but earlier this week, in response to the Pope’s call for a “better society”, Cuba’s economic minister said, "in Cuba, there will be no political reform". Please join us for a discussion in Cuba today and prospects for change.
Guests
Michael Reid
editor of the Americas section of "The Economist"
Mauricio Claver-Carone
executive director, Cuba Democracy Public Advocacy
Wayne Smith
senior fellow, Center for International Policy
and former chief of the US Interests Section in Havana
(1979-82)
Nik Steinberg
researcher, Human Rights watch
Comments
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While the mainstream US media tends to focus on a few issues, it should also recognize Cuba's strong achievements as an example of humanitarian socialism of which they're rightfully proud.
With all the criticism, maybe some humility is due, since the "Land of the Free" U.S. jails more people than any other nation, 1 of 100 adults, more than Stalin.
The US embargo against Cuba (which most US citizens want lifted) is itself a violation of the human rights of all her people, and a shame on the U.S. government and Israel (the only two countries in the UN voting to keep it, with 178 countries against and 2 abstaining).
For a small developing country under crippling sanctions, Cuba has been very generous with foreign aid. Like arguably making the strongest effort of all nations in rebuilding Haiti's entire health service - giving 152 times per capita that of the US pledge, more than the entire G7 without the US, 35% more than World Bank. Cubans all have food, work, university, and among the best health care in the world - things not even the 'richest' nation can claim.
It will be interesting seeing how their model and economic reforms evolve. In Marxist theory, despots were only considered a possible means to an end, and Trotsky proposed an incentive system.
US should really engage. people are...
Believe me, I know all the issues with Cuba, and how the former landlords on our shores (as well as the refugee) have made the right wing here take a blood oath on trade with Cuba. But, enough of this stuff. During hurricanes, those people are taken care of communistically - grateful for it; medically, if only we had such world class medical care where doctors listen, think and take steps - always in right direction, without the side effect of American fru fru; and as to the Church, well they were just another colonizer, aligned to the powers that were, and now own Miami. Shush. They just want the fru fru back and then they will return, and buy up Cuba from the true owners, not the slave holders in many cases. Cuban and Mafia Virginia Gentlemen. To the tea baggers, it ain't community if you don't take commune with them. If it is for everyone, and not 'just us and our fellow communicants', why it is of the devil, socialist communist, "And we will have none of that. We are Offended, as Always. It is their Creed. The Newtiy is Toot Toot Tootin' the Tune of the Papal Hegemony, and their minions in Miami. Hoodies Up, Cubans. Sic Semper Tyranius, Commonwealth of Virgiinia.
Seems like Cuba has a choice of remaining with one discredited economic, social, and political system, and moving to another economic, social, and political system which seems to be going downhill as well. Good Luck to them; they are really going to need it.
Americans want their cars so they can make big bucks restoring them, when if there was open trade, the people could do it themselves, and it would be wonderful for the tourist trade. And yes, tea bagger, they know how to retrofit anything. Quit insulting the people of the rest of the world and suggesting they 'need you and Newt." Yeah, you want to be the "hotel to the stars' and do the Island resort fru fru, and bring your own Bravo Channel exploits to an Island that the rest of the World respects, admires, and in no way wants to dimininsh the people and their ways with "New World Colonialism' of Neocons and Home Schooling Missionaries. They know their math and physics, and they know the ways of Virginians. Cuba Libre! Sic Semper Tyranus. No Regency of Virginia in Cuba.
I would be interested in knowing which of your guests have been to Cuba recently and whether their opinions are based directly on conversations with people on the street. Specifically, I wonder if Mr. Claver-Carone has been to Cuba. Though I do not take issue with all he is saying, there is a limit to how much statistics and second-hand accounts can tell the true story of what is happening on the ground--economically, socially, and politically-- today in Cuba.
JSawyer, I'd like to see your proof of this statement: "Cuba has been very generous with foreign aid. Like arguably making the strongest effort of all nations in rebuilding Haiti's entire health service - giving 152 times per capita that of the US pledge, more than the entire G7 without the US, 35% more than World Bank. Cubans all have food, work, university, and among the best health care in the world - things not even the 'richest' nation can claim." Proof would mean FACTS, of course, not socialist propaganda. You might read Yoani Sánchez´s blog , Generación Y. But, you probably don´t read Spanish.
Cathy, I took the data on Haiti from here as they seemed well-sourced, not because they're propaganda ;)
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/63886
The generous foreign aid are generally known.
I do know some Spanish and have read on internet forums visited by current Cuban residents.
and I should add that I don't take Cuba as a fully developed Marx socialism; it seems there are still notable differences e.g. in democracy and ownership.
I could not help but take note of the irony when one of your panelists said, ". . .today we estimate there are [fewer] than 100 political prisoners in Cuba." I assume he was not counting the political prisoners that the United States houses at Guantanamo. I have always had trouble understanding that on one hand the U.S. refuses to resume relations with Cuba but that the island-nation is "good enough" for us to use as storage for our political prisoners.
I belive a major point has not been discussed.
Embargo good or bad, it doesn't matter when considering ending the Embargo.
The US will never end the embargo until the nearly 2 billion dollars of US property is returned or paid for. I believe this was part of the inital Cuba Embargo law passed by Congress - if I am correct, any US President does not have the authority to halt the Embargo... Joel in Berlin
I was in Cuba two months ago and the people of Cuba said their system is not perfect but they don't need other countries to sort out their problems. They recognize the US embargo their main problem. They are very proud of their system. They also said those who complain do so because they want everything for free. And no! I did not ask, I am Hispanic and had no idea who I was...they were not prompted either. I made friend for life in Cuba....
Also...Cuban doctors cured the cataracts of the killer of Che Guevara....I would like to see American doctors operating to save Osama Bin Laden....instead, he was beaten and then killed without a trial....in front of his daughter and wife.
Next time maybe we can talk about the role of the beneficiaries of the Batista regime+organized crime state in Cuba.
In the late 1990s I met Wayne Smith at a Latin American Studies conference and asked him about the prospect of conducting dissertation research in Cuba. He spoke with me briefly, and encouraged me to pursue my research project. In 1997 and 1998 I spent almost ten months on the island researching health and health care. At the end of this time, the overwhelming conclusion I reached is that there is no one more pompously ill informed about the reality of political repression and human rights abuses in Cuba than Wayne Smith. I'm astonished he continues to appear on national media so often. During my time on the island I was caught up in an epidemic of dengue fever that the Cuban government did NOT want to be known internationally. I was kept in a locked, guarded hospital ward with hundreds of other patients, given no real medical care and lied to about my condition and diagnosis. After speaking with the other patients, I came to the astonishing realization that this was considered relatively normal for most Cubans: political repression, medical malpractice, clandestine epidemics, and the danger of prison for anyone who complained. While I agree things have changed in recent years, the repressive apparatus of the state is still in place. It is just less active than in years past. Ordinary Cubans know this, and will continue to be reluctant to criticize the system until there are more reforms in place.
Joel: Hmm, the Foreign Minister of Cuba stated that the US President does have the authority to end the Embargo. but that's interesting to know.
KatherineH, thanks for telling of your experience, good information can be hard to find...
I am appalled by the seeming apologistic stance taken by some of the panel and callers for one of the last communist regimes on earth. They tout the supremacy of Cuba's health care and education systems, yet conveniently ignore the suppression of fundamental human liberty that has kept the Cuban people from truly flourishing. What explains the kind of sophistry that seeks to paint the U.S. system as somehow no better - or even worse - than the despostic rule exercised by the Castros? Do they truly view Cuba's model as one to be emulated? If so, how about North Korea's regime? I hear they offer free health care and education there, as well -- that is, unless you are among those wallowing in a gulag.
It is incredible to me that we (as the United States) can justify our blockade with Cuba, while openly trading with Viet Nam, a country who's communist government killed tens of thousands of US servicemen and women. I have traveled with my family to both Cuba and Viet Nam, and it is very apparent that the US has as much propaganda against the Castro regime as the Cuban government has against the US. This propaganda is especially promulgated by the Republican party and Cuban Americans...
Fiddler:
Perhaps they take a nuanced appraisal.. and I thought the apologistic stances were regarding the embargo. The Cuban government says it costs them $685 million annually. Chamber of Commerce says it costs U.S. $1.2B.
By several firsthand accounts, North Korea and Cuba have nothing in common.
Many people do go hungry, without work, and without medical care in the U.S.
I think it would be interesting to know if relations were normalized- how many Cubans would endanger the rest of their fundamental rights for ..well, McDonald's is the common expression, but I'd hope for the regime to feel less threatened and lighten up on the repression.
JSawyer: I can appreciate taking a nuanced view, and perhaps our embargo policy should be reversed. But, I consistently see a romanticization of the Cuban system and a decidedly un-nuanced condemnation of America that is simply warped. Our many problems notwithstanding, America is a free society; Cuba is not. It's the same kind of romanticization and topsy-turvy moral relativism that painted Gorbachev as a champion of peace for deciding not to send in the tanks to crush Russia's democracy revolution, yet condemned Reagan for speaking the truth about what communism has wrought in the 20th Century. Cuba, and regimes like North Korea, represent the excreable remnants of a fundamentally anti-human ideology. Both sides in the Cuba debate should be able to agree on that. Yet, resorts to absurd celebrations of Cuba's health and education (indoctrination) systems betray some peculiar love affair many appear to have with Fidel Castro, who has stomped dissent, imprisoned opponents, and murdered anyone who dared question the system he has imposed on his people, the standard MO of communist regimes.
To JSawyer and others who think highly of Castrolandia: Cuba has no freedom of speech, no freedom of the press, no freedom of assembly, no labor unions, forced labor during summer for all schoolchildren, an abysmally poor health care system, and is run by a gang of generals who control absolutely everything. Some utopia. Twenty percent of its population lives in exile, and in the past 53 years it has had zero immigration. If it is so wonderful, why don't more people move there, including those who like to sing its praises? Why is it that Mexicans, Haitians, and Central Americans don't flock there? Maybe they know better. Also: could there be a racist subtext in all the praise? Is it possible that those who defend this repressive regime consider it good because those involved are dark-skinned Cubans, who are viewed as noble savages? If you love the place, and what it has accomplished, please move there and join in the struggle. Or are you too good for that?
OK, point taken on the "foreign aid" to Haiti. Now, how about this part of your statement (which was really what I wanted to ask you about, but copied and pasted too much!): "Cubans all have food, work, university, and among the best health care in the world - things not even the 'richest' nation can claim." So, what about freedom of speech? http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/cuban-authorities-pre... the best health care?: http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm, http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA557_Cuban_Health_Care.html; http://freebeacon.com/fidels-favorite-anchor/ (a somewhat ambiguous report); enough food?: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/cuba/110208/bread-rations-flour-price... http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=44351; http://www.havana-guide.com/ration-book.html; http://www.havana-guide.com/ration-book.html; work for everyone?: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/03/9911431-bright-future-ah....
I don't think so.
"gary k wrote:
Seems like Cuba has a choice of remaining with one discredited economic, social, and political system, and moving to another economic, social, and political system which seems to be going downhill as well. Good Luck to them; they are really going to need it.
March 28, 2012 - 10:15 am"
Yeah, the triumph of Capitalism!!!
Less than one Generation after the Soviet Union and Communism collapsed, the World Economies in ruins, hunger stalking much of Humanity, Race and Religious division growing every day.
You can say what you want about the Commies, they kept us (somewhat) honest.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
"gary k wrote:
Seems like Cuba has a choice of remaining with one discredited economic, social, and political system, and moving to another economic, social, and political system which seems to be going downhill as well. Good Luck to them; they are really going to need it.
March 28, 2012 - 10:15 am"
Yeah, the triumph of Capitalism!!!
Less than one Generation after the Soviet Union and Communism collapsed, the World Economies in ruins, hunger stalking much of Humanity, Race and Religious division growing every day.
You can say what you want about the Commies, they kept us (somewhat) honest.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com