153 responses to “Cuba Cricket Connection – Improving Cuba Barbados Relationship”

1. 

   balance

   March 31, 2016 at 7:14 am

   
   

   “David March 31, 2016 at 7:08 AM #

   @balance

   Sometimes you are a real JA. The thrust of this submission by BU is how can Barbados benefit from the opportunity of forging a relationship with Cuba as sanctions are lifted and you are on and on about old Cuba. Grow up for crissakes. This is not a pissing contest to determine who knows Cuban history. ”

   Maybe I am a jackass or maybe I am not but another asinine comment by you “its all about history my friend all about history”

   There is nothing that Cuba can learn us that we do not know. The benefits we can derive are grounded in sporting contacts which are already in motion.. As I mentioned earlier, if we do not manage our debt properly perhaps they will have to give our younger generation courses in cutting and contriving.
   JA

   On 31 March 2016 at 11:06, Barbados Underground

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2. 

   William Skinner

   March 31, 2016 at 7:35 am

   
   

   Compare the health services , the education system, responses to hurricanes, creativity etc of ALL the Caribbean islands with their so-called democracies with those of Cuba. Look at all the inept leaders of ANY Caribbean island and and compare them to the commitment of Comrade Fidel Castro. Look around at the garbage, the broken pipe mains, and all the other things like deteriorating infrastructure. Look at all the billions we spend and are still in debt and still cannot move forward. Look at the sacrifices the Cubans have made like sending doctors throughout the world. Bajans going there for eye surgeries etc. And I can go on and on. I am not saying that Cuba is perfect. But let us be fair, name one Caribbean leader who can walk in Comrade Fidel Castro’s shoes. Name one !

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3. 

   balance

   March 31, 2016 at 8:46 am

   
   

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   HAVANA, MARCH 31, 2016

   OFFICIAL VOICE OF THE COMMUNIST
   PARTY OF CUBA CENTRAL COMMITTEE

   UPDATED

   09:24:07

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   ARTICLE BY FIDEL

   Brother Obama

   We don’t need the empire to give us anything. Our efforts will be legal and peaceful, because our commitment is to peace and fraternity among all human beings who live on this planet.

   Author: Fidel Castro Ruz | internet@granma.cu

   march 28, 2016 12:03:14

   The kings of Spain brought us the conquistadores and masters, whose footprints remained in the circular land grants assigned to those searching for gold in the sands of rivers, an abusive and shameful form of exploitation, traces of which can be noted from the air in many places around the country.

   Tourism today, in large part, consists of viewing the delights of our landscapes and tasting exquisite delicacies from our seas, and is always shared with the private capital of large foreign corporations, whose earnings, if they don’t reach billions of dollars, are not worthy of any attention whatsoever.

   Since I find myself obliged to mention the issue, I must add – principally for the youth – that few people are aware of the importance of such a condition, in this singular moment of human history. I would not say that time has been lost, but I do not hesitate to affirm that we are not adequately informed, not you, nor us, of the knowledge and conscience that we must have to confront the realities which challenge us. The first to be taken into consideration is that our lives are but a fraction of a historical second, which must also be devoted in part to the vital necessities of every human being. One of the characteristics of this condition is the tendency to overvalue its role, in contrast, on the other hand, with the extraordinary number of persons who embody the loftiest dreams.

   Nevertheless, no one is good or bad entirely on their own. None of us is designed for the role we must assume in a revolutionary society, although Cubans had the privilege of José Martí’s example. I even ask myself if he needed to die or not in Dos Ríos, when he said, “For me, it’s time,” and charged the Spanish forces entrenched in a solid line of firepower. He did not want to return to the United States, and there was no one who could make him. Someone ripped some pages from his diary. Who bears this treacherous responsibility, undoubtedly the work of an unscrupulous conspirator? Differences between the leaders were well known, but never indiscipline. “Whoever attempts to appropriate Cuba will reap only the dust of its soil drenched in blood, if he does not perish in the struggle,” stated the glorious Black leader Antonio Maceo. Máximo Gómez is likewise recognized as the most disciplined and discreet military chief in our history.

   Looking at it from another angle, how can we not admire the indignation of Bonifacio Byrne when, from a distant boat returning him to Cuba, he saw another flag alongside that of the single star and declared, “My flag is that which has never been mercenary…” immediately adding one of the most beautiful phrases I have ever heard, “If it is torn to shreds, it will be my flag one day… our dead raising their arms will still be able to defend it!” Nor will I forget the blistering words of Camilo Cienfuegos that night, when, just some tens of meters away, bazookas and machine guns of U.S. origin in the hands of counterrevolutionaries were pointed toward that terrace on which we stood.

   Obama was born in August of 1961, as he himself explained. More than half a century has transpired since that time.

   Let us see, however, how our illustrious guest thinks today:

   “I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas. I have come here to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people,” followed by a deluge of concepts entirely novel for the majority of us:

   “We both live in a new world, colonized by Europeans,” the U.S. President continued, “Cuba, like the United States, was built in part by slaves brought here from Africa. Like the United States, the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both slaves and slave-owners.”

   The native populations don’t exist at all in Obama’s mind. Nor does he say that the Revolution swept away racial discrimination, or that pensions and salaries for all Cubans were decreed by it before Mr. Barack Obama was 10 years old. The hateful, racist bourgeois custom of hiring strongmen to expel Black citizens from recreational centers was swept away by the Cuban Revolution – that which would go down in history for the battle against apartheid that liberated Angola, putting an end to the presence of nuclear weapons on a continent of more than a billion inhabitants. This was not the objective of our solidarity, but rather to help the peoples of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and others under the fascist colonial domination of Portugal.

   In 1961, just one year and three months after the triumph of the Revolution, a mercenary force with armored artillery and infantry, backed by aircraft, trained and accompanied by U.S. warships and aircraft carriers, attacked our country by surprise. Nothing can justify that perfidious attack which cost our country hundreds of losses, including deaths and injuries

   As for the pro-yankee assault brigade, no evidence exists anywhere that it was possible to evacuate a single mercenary. Yankee combat planes were presented before the United Nations as the equipment of a Cuban uprising.

   The military experience and power of this country is very well known. In Africa, they likewise believed that revolutionary Cuba would be easily taken out of the fight. The invasion via southern Angola by racist South African motorized brigades got close to Luanda, the capital in the eastern part of the country. There a struggle began which went on for no less than 15 years. I wouldn’t even talk about this, if I didn’t have the elemental duty to respond to Obama’s speech in Havana’s Alicia Alonso Grand Theater.

   Nor will I attempt to give details, only emphasize that an honorable chapter in the struggle for human liberation was written there. In a certain way, I hoped Obama’s behavior would be correct. His humble origin and natural intelligence were evident. Mandela was imprisoned for life and had become a giant in the struggle for human dignity. One day, a copy of a book narrating part of Mandela’s life reached my hands, and – surprise! – the prologue was by Barack Obama. I rapidly skimmed the pages. The miniscule size of Mandela’s handwriting noting facts was incredible. Knowing men such as him was worthwhile.

   Regarding the episode in South Africa I must point out another experience. I was really interested in learning more about how the South Africans had acquired nuclear weapons. I only had very precise information that there were no more than 10 or 12 bombs. A reliable source was the professor and researcher Piero Gleijeses, who had written the text Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976, an excellent piece. I knew he was the most reliable source on what had happened and I told him so; he responded that he had not spoken more about the matter as in the text he had responded to questions from compañero Jorge Risquet, who had been Cuban ambassador and collaborator in Angola, a very good friend of his. I located Risquet; already undertaking other important tasks he was finishing a course which would last several weeks longer. That task coincided with a fairly recent visit by Piero to our country; I had warned him that Risquet was getting on and his health was not great. A few days later what I had feared occurred. Risquet deteriorated and died. When Piero arrived there was nothing to do except make promises, but I had already received information related to the weapons and the assistance that racist South Africa had received from Reagan and Israel.

   I do not know what Obama would have to say about this story now. I am unaware as to what he did or did not know, although it is very unlikely that he knew absolutely nothing. My modest suggestion is that he gives it thought and does not attempt now to elaborate theories on Cuban policy.

   There is an important issue:

   Obama made a speech in which he uses the most sweetened words to express: “It is time, now, to forget the past, leave the past behind, let us look to the future together, a future of hope. And it won’t be easy, there will be challenges and we must give it time; but my stay here gives me more hope in what we can do together as friends, as family, as neighbors, together.”

   I suppose all of us were at risk of a heart attack upon hearing these words from the President of the United States. After a ruthless blockade that has lasted almost 60 years, and what about those who have died in the mercenary attacks on Cuban ships and ports, an airliner full of passengers blown up in midair, mercenary invasions, multiple acts of violence and coercion?

   Nobody should be under the illusion that the people of this dignified and selfless country will renounce the glory, the rights, or the spiritual wealth they have gained with the development of education, science and culture.

   I also warn that we are capable of producing the food and material riches we need with the efforts and intelligence of our people. We do not need the empire to give us anything. Our efforts will be legal and peaceful, as this is our commitment to peace and fraternity among all human beings who live on this planet.

   Fidel Castro Ruz

   March 27, 2016

   10:25 p.m.

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4. 

   de pedantic Dribbler

   March 31, 2016 at 9:47 am

   
   

   @William Skinner March 31, 2016 at 7:35 AM …All that may be true re Cuba’s foundations on health care and ability to manage its basics like garbage collection. However, the Cuban revolution is no longer a lovely rhetorical dream of ‘Power to the People’. It is now a long-lived exposition of hard life-stories and governmental decisions like those positives you highlighted.

   However isn’t it ironic that Comrade Fidel speaks wistfully and longingly about the fastest growing world economy China, and he and his economic team were unable to evolve from his revolution a sturdier and more robust economic engine.

   I personally have no problems with what Fidel did to move his country out of the grip of what was a decadent capitalist society but any fair and reasonable assessment of his tenure shows that the country did not evolve as completely as it could have.

   Is the educational foundations better for the average Cuban…I presume. But the same in a general sense can be said of Barbados.

   Can the US embargo and label as country sponsor of terror be blamed for much as its predicament (akin to France’s stranglehold on Haiti post their revolution and defeat of the mighty French army)….surely.

   But Cuba unlike Haiti of that era had a great friend in USSR (and later Venezuela) so either Castro was blind to the realities that was shaping the USSR -and soon to be Russia – and the world or he was simply an old revolutionary who had lost his visionary mojo.

   I would agree with David that discussion of Cuban history and casting fingers in one direction or the other is rather self-serving in many regards… It is what it is…great positives but abysmal failures as well.

   @David, still can’t get the Bajan nexus with Cuba as this mighty new engine to Mars – so to speak. Bajans can surely get on any gravy train based on the glide-path of the shared pain of the terrorist act. Some key economic areas relate to the tech and sciences as best as I can see.

   Are Bajans continuing the links with the medical or dental schools? Are they forging links re solar technology and other areas they have some competency advantages.

   I do not foresee that the Cuban leaders who grew up on a diet of Fidel Castro will now start to engorge on a western diet and destroy all that was the revolution in 10-15 years as one blogger noted. That would be absolutely shocking.

   And frankly neither do I expect those US Cuban expats who are so apoplectic with anger to make any transition easy…law suits re lands taken and on and on.

   Interesting times ahead for that nation.

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5. 

   Sargeant

   March 31, 2016 at 10:13 am

   
   

   @DPD
   I do not foresee that the Cuban leaders who grew up on a diet of Fidel Castro will now start to engorge on a western diet and destroy all that was the revolution in 10-15 years as one blogger noted. That would be absolutely shocking
   ++++++++++++++++
   Agree, there was a purge of some young potential leaders a few years ago so the upcoming heirs to the throne have been handpicked by the old leaders. I do expect however that when the current leaders exit the stage there will be a period of “apertura” similar to “glasnost” in Russia. The Republicans will change their tune in the US (too many businessmen with ties to them want economic relations) and the aging members of the exile community in Miami are also departing the scene and the younger generation (except Rubio & Cruz) want to reset the clock.

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6. 

   David

   March 31, 2016 at 2:08 pm

   
   

   @Dee Word

   The post is meant to provoke a new narrative given Cuba’s reentry to the global market. The opportunity cricket presents should be seen as an ‘icebreaker’.

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7. 

   Colonel Buggy

   March 31, 2016 at 2:31 pm

   
   

   You mean that on the eve of Barbados becoming a republic like Cuba, that Barbados like one of the three wise men, on the rebirth of Cuba so to speak, is going to her bearing a gift, no matter how much we cherish it ourselves, which is in fact a legacy bequeathed to us by our former colonial masters?

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8. 

   Exclaimer

   March 31, 2016 at 5:18 pm

   
   

   Here is an interesting video that Hants posted a couple of years ago.

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9. 

   Alvin Cummins

   March 31, 2016 at 8:37 pm

   
   

   @David,
   So many of the writers on this blog seem to not understand the essence of this discussion, or to be able to “free their minds” from the rhetoric of the former slave holders.
   Cuba is part of the Caribbean and Cuba IS the Caribbean. Some years ago I wrote and presented a short lecture on The Post revolution changes in Health, Science and Education in Cuba. How many of the writers know what the level of ILLITERACY was in Cuba BEFORE the revolution, and what it was within a few years AFTER the revolution, and how it was achieved?
   with your indulgence I will just post a few portions of that talk, in an effort to “redress the imbalances”, words once spoken by a Barbadian politician.

   Cuba like all of the other islands has shared the experiences of colonialism, and like other Caribbean islands has been punished for escaping the shackles of colonial domination.
   Haiti’s enslaved, led by Toussaint L’Overture was punished for rebelling against France’s domination, after winning the war in 1793, it was subjected to the forced payment of costs for that war to compensate France for the loss of the territory. That resulted in a burden whose effects Haiti is still feeling up to today.

   Cuba suffered under the yoke of Spanish domination, later replaced by that of the United States after the Spanish American war.
   Following the successful over-throw of this imperialist domination in 1959, Cuba was punished by an economic and political embargo that has lasted for over fifty years.

   1959 marked the date of Cuba’s escape from slavery, illiteracy, ill health and those other legacies of colonial domination that was the fate of all the Caribbean islands and kept them in subjection.
   Jose Marti, whose battle against colonial domination and American imperialism began when he, as a nine year old, saw a slave hanging from a Cotton tree. I believe it was a Silk Cotton tree which we have around here.
   1959 marked the date of Cuba’s escape from slavery, illiteracy, ill health and those other legacies of colonial domination that was the fate of all the Caribbean islands and kept them in subjection.
   Josi Marti, whose battle against colonial domination and American imperialism began when he, as a nine year old, saw a slave hanging from a Cotton tree.
   The Cuban Revolution of 1959 was more than the armed struggle to overthrow a corrupt leadership and government. It was more than the culmination of a long period of struggle to achieve human rights and right centuries of deprivation and right wrongs. It was a revolution that succeeded in changing a mindset of an entire population .It changed their thinking about themselves.
   It released in them the knowledge that they could make possible the impossible and become whatever they wanted to be. It released their scientific and cultural consciousness, their appreciation of their culture and thus what was around them. It began an assault on all those deficiencies caused by the colonial experience; poverty, illiteracy, high infant mortality and so on.
   It rescued the Cuban people- who Miguel Barnet describes as “ people without a history” because their rich store of legends myths and refrains they created would remain anonymous, waiting on a vindicating century, a century of revolution of will and foundation , by force of testimony.
   The revolution of 1959 gave back the history ; a history of culture that was encouraged to reemerge and thrive under the new administration.
   George Lamming speaks of the miracle of education of the Cuban people after 1959 when the thrust to correct the high level of illiteracy was undertaken.
   Keith Ellis points out some of the characteristics that make Marti such a visionary-in anticipation of 1959- when he (Marti) states: “Let scientific education go, like sap in the trees, from the root to the top of public education-let elementary teaching be elementally scientific, that instead of the history of Joshua, let the formation of the earth be taught
   The Cuban Revolution of 1959 resulted in a quantum leap in social reengineering in that country.
   Through agrarian reform and land distribution, through education reform, through the strength of volunteerism, through Social reform and recognition of the role and importance of women in the society; not only in the part they played in the revolution but in their educational advancement, through scientific advancement and adherence to its culture and discipline the Cuban people have achieved.
   The role of women in the Revolution and the building of the society afterward cannot be overemphasized.
   As Leuiza Camfozano wrote, “From the earliest days the Revolution gave us roles that were unimaginable in a patriarchal society. As girls and teenagers participating in the literacy campaign, we emerged from the tutelage of fathers, brothers and boyfriends and went to live in strange households in faraway provinces To teach reading and writing. Whether single or married, old or young, we put on our militia pants and for days and months we underwent military training. She goes on to say that”…we studied so much that for three decades we have been the best educated and highest qualified sector of the population. She concludes her essay by quoting the words of Fidel Castro “The revolution within the revolution goes on”.
   Cuba and the Caribbean can never return to the arms of the colonists and imperialists, who have to understand that what one has learned cannot be unlearned and the people of Cuba and the Caribbean have learned the essence and value of freedom.
   We will all remain free forever.

   That is Post Revolution Cuba.. Not rich, not entirely free, but beautiful. Historical, and as the posting from Hants illustrates, (Thanks Hants), beautiful, with beautiful people.
   Viva Cuba. Viva Cubanos!

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10. 

    Alvin Cummins

    March 31, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    
    

    @Yatinkiteasy.
    Read Fidel Castro’s words very carefully. The cuban people have learned their lessons well; lessons we too should have learned long ago. The revolutionary resulted in LAN
    D REFORM; land redistribution, and agrarian reform, that resulted in self sufficiency, in agricultural production. It is able to feed itself, without the necessity to import its food. We could learn plenty from them in this era. I think it is a necessity. We Bajans need to be educated about Cuba, and learn a lot from the Cubans; especially in the areas of social harmony. Despite the perception from outside there is no racial discrimination there; even though many many people try to create, it where it does not exist.

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11. 

    Alvin Cummins

    March 31, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    
    

    @David,
    Further to my last contribution I commend the following to you and BU readers:

    https://theconversation.com/cubas-sustainable-agriculture-at-risk-in-u-s-thaw-56773

    It shows the forward thinking of Cuban experts, and shows why they are so far ahead of us in some things and how and why they have been able to overcome decades of economic hardship. The most important lesson was the co-operation between the PEOPLE and the leaders.

    s

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12. 

    balance

    March 31, 2016 at 11:02 pm

    
    

    you write absolute nonsense when after fifty five years of revolution basic foodstuffs are still rationed with the use of a book to record what you receive

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13. 

    Bush Tea

    March 31, 2016 at 11:34 pm

    
    

    @ balance
    So are you suggesting that a critical measure of success of a country is the availability of basic foodstuff without rationing?
    Indeed, it would be instructive to hear what your key indicators of national success would then be….

    At the personal level, for example, a fellow could well enjoy the ‘basic amenities’ of life – such as a world class mansion, a large yacht, a Lear Jet…and even have $5 million stashed away in the Central bank…
    …while another fellow may be forced to eat sodabix because he has been fighting a righteous 10 year battle against evil forces who have sought to rob him of his rights….

    In your book then, you seem to be going with the esteemed goliath as your model of success …rather than with the week David…..?

    You serious…?

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14. 

    balance

    March 31, 2016 at 11:35 pm

    
    

    “William Skinner March 31, 2016 at 7:35 AM #

    Compare the health services , the education system, responses to hurricanes, creativity etc of ALL the Caribbean islands with their so-called democracies with those of Cuba. Look at all the inept leaders of ANY Caribbean island and and compare them to the commitment of Comrade Fidel Castro. Look around at the garbage, the broken pipe mains, and all the other things like deteriorating infrastructure. Look at all the billions we spend and are still in debt and still cannot move forward. Look at the sacrifices the Cubans have made like sending doctors throughout the world. Bajans going there for eye surgeries etc. And I can go on and on. I am not saying that Cuba is perfect. But let us be fair, name one Caribbean leader who can walk in Comrade Fidel Castro’s shoes. Name one !”

    Cuba has always been in the forefront of advanced health care and medical research moreso than most countries in the world long before the tyrant Mr Castro took power and took away the rights of the people by trumpeting such issues as health care as successes of the revolution. If you say that like in most countries such as the mighty USA it wasn’t accessible to all -such as is still the case in Cuba today from my own observation- but there have been improvements in this aspect of health care delivery then we are on the same page.
    Yes they are indeed creative a value I suspect honed from hardship but their health care and education and I believe you mean tertiary is no better than ours..Their garbage situation is definitely worst than ours and littering is commonplace. Hurricanes strike Cuba regularly so their responses should obviously be better than ours because of the frequency of hurricane drills and the obligation of the populace to follow orders without question. Most of the buildings and housing stock in Havana are in a dilapidated state’ I am not familiar with the water system but it is not uncommon to visit a house and see nineteenth century electrical wiring in place. the average wage is the equivalent of $8.00 US per month and everybody works for the state in one way or another so Government overheads are quite low. Hence debt should be minimal. book ‘Animal farm’. a few living high off the hog at the expense of the rest.
    I can name several Caribbean leaders of yore who have given their countries visionary leadership but sticking closer to home and a country with little resources as well I will name two because I cannot name one without the other – Sir Grantley Adams and Errol Barrow.
    Under these two we have achieved much and freedom has remained intact.

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15. 

    balance

    April 1, 2016 at 6:04 am

    
    

    “Bush Tea March 31, 2016 at 11:34 PM #

    @ balance
    So are you suggesting that a critical measure of success of a country is the availability of basic foodstuff without rationing?
    Indeed, it would be instructive to hear what your key indicators of national success would then be….

    At the personal level, for example, a fellow could well enjoy the ‘basic amenities’ of life – such as a world class mansion, a large yacht, a Lear Jet…and even have $5 million stashed away in the Central bank…
    …while another fellow may be forced to eat sodabix because he has been fighting a righteous 10 year battle against evil forces who have sought to rob him of his rights….

    In your book then, you seem to be going with the esteemed goliath as your model of success …rather than with the week David…..?”

    are you really serious Bushie; you can do better than this. Alright then, following your simplistic line
    There could be no national success in Cuba until the animal type system of governance is abolished and the people does not fear arrest for criticising the system and a basic commodity like soap is not a luxury.

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16. 

    Bush Tea

    April 1, 2016 at 8:50 am

    
    

    Don’t be silly balance.
    There are MANY things more important than having the luxury of soap… and if WE did not fear arrest (or worse ..like loss of jobs, harassment etc) we would NOT be using pen names to tell the truth here on BU…
    Did Maria Agard not just get ‘arrested’ for criticising the damn BLP system…?

    William is right..
    The QUALITY of leadership in Cuba that could resist the might of successive dastardly USA administrations – right up until Obama admitted defeat recently – cannot be replicated ANYWHERE in this mendicant region where ‘leaders’ hurry to bow down to the warped US agendas…and thrive on bribes.

    The QUALITY of people who could thrive in such extremely difficult circumstances – to produce WORLD-class medical, sport, cultural, agricultural, military and other successes…DO NOT EXISTS in your ‘model’ societies.

    The people who can eat well and live comfortably are usually those who kowtow well; who eat crow; who bend over as instructed …. and who even pretend to like it…

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17. 

    Vincent Haynes

    April 1, 2016 at 9:21 am

    
    

    Bush Tea April 1, 2016 at 8:50 AM #

    Must agree with “Balance” you do have a rather simplistic view of world events and do not take geopolitics into consideration at all,in your quest for a male hero.

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18. 

    Bush Tea

    April 1, 2016 at 9:30 am

    
    

    @ Vincent
    What the hell are you talking about…?

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19. 

    Vincent Haynes

    April 1, 2016 at 9:40 am

    
    

    Bush Tea April 1, 2016 at 9:30 AM #

    Sorry should have said both of you….

    William is right..
    The QUALITY of leadership in Cuba that could resist the might of successive dastardly USA administrations – right up until Obama admitted defeat recently – cannot be replicated ANYWHERE in this mendicant region where ‘leaders’ hurry to bow down to the warped US agendas…and thrive on bribes.

    The QUALITY of people who could thrive in such extremely difficult circumstances – to produce WORLD-class medical, sport, cultural, agricultural, military and other successes…DO NOT EXISTS in your ‘model’ societies.

    The people who can eat well and live comfortably are usually those who kowtow well; who eat crow; who bend over as instructed …. and who even pretend to like it…

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20. 

    Bush Tea

    April 1, 2016 at 9:51 am

    
    

    OK Vincent
    Given today’s date, Bushie done wid dat!!

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21. 

    de pedantic Dribbler

    April 1, 2016 at 10:15 am

    
    

    Woooaa…hold dem there steers fellas…

    “The QUALITY of leadership in Cuba that could resist the might of successive dastardly USA administrations … cannot be replicated ANYWHERE in this mendicant region”

    Can Skinner or Bushie or you Vincent clarify for dribblers like me the existential, real or even semi-practical difference of taking scraps from a USA table….. as compared to scraps from a USSR table?

    And also clarify or define mendicant for me as an economic tool viz Cuba’s growth during the cold-war 70s compared to, for example, a mendicant Barbados!

    Why are we getting into these silly discussions on Cuba. It is what it is and has been since whenever:
    —- An awesome revolution of the people that pissed off the Western world which then did everything possible to destroy it and its leaders, leading them into the hands of the USSR who gave them a lot of fish even as they taught them how to fish in Communist seas only – it seems – even as they the USSR refined their skills to harvest fish in capitalistic-socialist waters.

    How can ANY discussion on Cuba today not address what their standard-bearer the USSR has now become as the powerful capital-generating and supposedly still ‘communist politically’ Russia.

    One simple example: There are more Russians who own soccer teams in the UK and other sports teams around the world today than ever imagined. How would Fidel Castro even respond to that fundamental capitalist construct by his principals!

    Really folks, as the blogmaster said previously let’s move beyond the old tired rhetoric, please.

    Discussing Cuba today in the optics of the 1960s seems so NONSENSICAL to me.

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22. 

    Sargeant

    April 1, 2016 at 10:31 am

    
    

    @Bush tea
    The QUALITY of leadership in Cuba that could resist the might of successive dastardly USA administrations – right up until Obama admitted defeat recently – cannot be replicated ANYWHERE in this mendicant region where ‘leaders’ hurry to bow down to the warped US agendas…and thrive on bribes
    ++++++++++++
    You are selective or simply uninformed or perhaps it just suits your narrative but if the leaders of the other countries in the region were “mendicants” relying on the US and other Colonial powers for their existence what was a repressive Cuba to Russia? Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union there was a weekly convoy of planes and boats ferrying Russian technology, technocrats, students and other economic goodies to shore up the Cuban regime. After the Soviet pipeline dried up Cuba relied on Chavez for free fuel to keep its motor running.

    Obama didn’t admit defeat on anything, he campaigned on improving relations with Cuba and there was rapprochement on both sides Cuba started to open up its market to private ownership, the US upgraded its diplomatic representation in Cuba, it also lifted its ban on remittances to Cuba, Cuba allowed some of its Sports and entertainment stars to leave so the doors were opening gradually. Obama could have done what his predecessors did and ignore Cuba except he was magnanimous in extending a hand.

    Let’s see what the future holds.

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23. 

    William Skinner

    April 1, 2016 at 10:54 am

    
    

    @ Vincent Haynes,
    Recent events in the region clearly show that without the IMF we would be in shark guts.
    @Balance,
    Yes Sir ! After Grantley and Errol , the economy is still in the hands of the few. Look around you who getting lay off? Whose businesses being shut down? Who own Barbados right now?
    @Bush Tea
    There is none so blind as he who will not see. Thanks for your support on this one. Like Maurice Bishop said: The people participate in the democracy for five minutes every five years.

    To all the anti-Castro bloggers;
    Tell me who sucking salt in Barbados? Tell me who own almost all the arable land in Barbados? Tell me who marching every day for better wages? Tell me who benefiting from all the development going on? Who getting the contracts? Answer these questions before jumping on a man and his people, who have withstood a trade embargo for almost three decades from the most powerful country in the world.

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24. 

    Vincent Haynes

    April 1, 2016 at 10:56 am

    
    

    de pedantic Dribbler April 1, 2016 at 10:15 AM #

    Not being the author or the agreer….I am unable to clarify….suffice it to say,taking it at face value,I could not agree and it would seem that BT has reconsidered his position as well.

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25. 

    Vincent Haynes

    April 1, 2016 at 11:02 am

    
    

    William Skinner April 1, 2016 at 10:54 AM #

    When last I checked the Govt of Bim was the single largest landowner.

    If Bajans were sucking salt presently,we would have seen unrest.

    My point on Cuba was ably answered by Sargeant i.e. without the backing of Russia and then Chavez,the regime would have fallen.

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26. 

    Hants

    April 1, 2016 at 11:19 am

    
    

    The Capitalism virus is spreading in Cuba.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cuba-capitalism-economy-entrepreneur-socialist-communist-1.3509852

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27. 

    Bush Tea

    April 1, 2016 at 12:06 pm

    
    

    Today is not a good day to argue with NCO’s and dribblers… Bushie is too tempted to resort to what GP likes to call Ad Hominem….

    Look people. The SIMPLE point that Bushie is making to balance is that the measure of success CANNOT be a simplistic measure of what a man has…or lacks… in basic necessities.

    The fact that Cubans use ration cards is therefore irrelevant to serious discussions on national success.
    Shiite talk about dependence on USSR as opposed to the USA is beside ANY point. EVERYONE has to depend on someone else for some shiite… and in a hemisphere where the most powerful country to EVER have existed, sought to piss on a small isolated island, only a total retard would view an alignment by such a victim with the ONLY OTHER force on earth that could resist the USA ..as anything but a SMART and tactical move…

    Obama said that every shiite that they tried over the last 60 years against Cuba failed…. and that he would not continue to do the same shiite ..and expect different results… What does that say if not ‘we give up…’?

    Steupsss
    A bushman once said ‘Blessed are the poor…’
    He did not say that because he is an idiot…. but because he UNDERSTOOD the real concept of life success.
    It is BECAUSE of the hardships imposed on Cubans that they have become so resourceful…. in making pearls out of scraps…. Olympians out of nothing, ..medical science out of bush.

    Their ‘Sports Colleges’ are basic buildings with basic facilities – and yet are attended by students from around the world – including Barbados …which have NOT A SINGLE SUCH FACILITY.
    Their doctors have responded to tragedies around the WORLD – from war and ebola in Africa to eye care in the Caribbean and South America…
    What the hell have OUR DOCTORS EVER done…?
    We cannot even help our OWN sportsmen -far less those of other less fortunate countries..

    One of the important measures of ‘success’ is the extent to which you have been able to put yourself into a position to contribute selflessly to the development of OTHERS….
    In this regard…who have bettered Cuba?
    Another is the ability to adjust to, ..and still continue, in extreme conditions…
    In the last 50 years Cuba has demonstrated this ability again and again…

    In those same 50 years, we have bent over, kowtowed, worn out our knees in begging…and where have we arrived…. with a pack of JAs in charge of an out-of-controlled country …heading for a deep cliff…
    Meanwhile..
    Where is Cuba…?
    Poised to take off into a new reality of global respect, wealth, development and growth….

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28. 

    Alvin Cummins

    April 1, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    
    

    Well said Bushie.

    One must not forget that a few years ago when Haiti had that devastating earthquake, the Cubans were the first in there. Their efficiency in setting up their hospitals and delivering aid and treatment put all the other organizations to shame. While the Americans were scrambling to get set up, Cuban doctors nurses and health teams, were already taking care of the wounded and helpless. They were a model of efficiency, and although the western press did not pay much attention in terms of advertising what the Cubans were doing, they still had to acknowledge the contributions they were making.

    The Revolution was a success, but the refusal of the Western Powers to accept them on their terms, meant that they were denied even medicines for their aid.and one important lesson it showed; actually many lessons it demonstrated, is the resilience of the people, the knowledge that there are lots of consumer goods people can do without, and that the warmth of the people, as well as their selflessness in giving aid to their fellowman.
    We in Barbados can learn a lot from them.

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29. 

    Alvin Cummins

    April 1, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    
    

    @Bushie,
    Further “discussion” with people like balance, sergeant, vincent and those who are ignorant of (not knowing, or wanting to know) the history of Cuba; not written by Pro Americans, but written by Cubans themselves, is a waste of time. Cuba before 1959, was known as the “whorehouse of America. The rates of illiteracy was in the vicinity of over 80%. the heqaqlth care system for the ordinary Cubans was non existent, infant mortality was one of the highest in the Western hemisphere, and poverty was rampant. The Revolution changed all of that.Health care in Cuba is free. Education at ALL levels is free, the older buildings appear dilapidated; and to some extent are; but that is because the Cubans today pay more attention to preserving their heritage, and endeavour to maintain these old structures in their original, rather than tearing down and rebuilding tasteless monstrosities.
    If only we were as disciplined as the Cubans, we would be far far ahead. The behaviour of the ZR drivers and conductors is but one example. I have seen two young people manning an ice Cream : hot dogs and soft drinks also being sold there; about sixty people lined up and patiently waiting their turn to be served, and no pushing, shoving, sucking of teeth, or arguing. All at peace. Try that a kadooment day at spring garden.

    Bushy, I am with you all the way.

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30. 

    Alvin Cummins

    April 1, 2016 at 1:24 pm

    
    

    @Balance;
    Did you see the video posted by Hants? What are you talking about? The people of Cuba are self sufficient in foodstuff. I posted an article on the strides made by Cuba in reaching this state. Wish some of the same measures could be taken in Barbados; land redistribution and compulsory production of food products, as well as producing sugar for export. The white people have sabotaged the BARBADIAN ECONOMY, AND EXPECT TO BE REWARDED FOR THAT?
    CUBA HAD TO TURN TO USSR BECAUSE THE EMBARGO, BY THE U.S. WHICH DENIED THEM ACCESS TO SPARE PARTS, OR ANYTHING TO ALLOW THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE Maintained meant that they had to get Russian machinery, parts, equipment and spare parts. Their entire economy had to be restructured. Can you imagine what it was to have to run a country under those conditions? It was the will of the Cuban people in general, that enabled them to survive, despite the hopes, dreams, expectations and attempts by Western powers to destabilize the Revolutionary government, and cause the collapse of the revolution.
    They failed. Cuba still stands proud and respected by the rest of the world.
    As for being supported by Russia and Venezuela, what are friends for?
    Are we not “friends of all”? Shouldn’t our friends come to our aid, if aid is needed? You people are so small minded!!

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31. 

    de pedantic Dribbler

    April 1, 2016 at 2:01 pm

    
    

    @Bushie, at times your argumentation is so absolutely silly that I try to refrain from responding…but…

    You are the flip-side of the Donald Trumps shtick: either attack the speaker relentlessly or pander with sweet words when it’s deemed beneath you to engage sensibly.

    So, after agreeing first with the point about our regional beggars and how mendicant they were to the US you then proceeded to thrash the point that Cuba also had a similar mendicancy to USSR. …”Shiite talk about dependence on USSR as opposed to the USA is beside ANY point”. Of course!

    In your Trumpian attack posture it’s logical and practical that : “… the measure of success CANNOT be a simplistic measure of what a man has…or lacks… in basic necessities…The fact that Cubans use ration cards is therefore irrelevant to serious discussions on national success.” REALLY!

    We all sorta understood that the success of the average individual and a nation was always built on fulfilling the basics first and foremost….akin to Maslow’s hierarchy starting at food and shelter.

    So when @Sargeant and others made the simple point that the revolution for all its merits can be considered as fundamentally flawed if still to this day many of the basics may yet be lacking and you can dismiss that as irrelevant it’s earth shattering news! Stop the Presses!

    @Alvin, as usual you are caught up on your perspective that no one else knows, far less understands, the history as you do…we are all ignoramuses.

    I suggest as I did earlier that if you attempt to seriously discuss Cuba today in the optics of the 1960s and not explore how USSR has evolved to Russia and into an engine of the same capitalist ‘hegemony’ which was the seminal fight from which the Cuban revolution developed; where Venezuela has also evolved but not Cuba then you are being NONSENSICAL.

    A discussion such as this that you and a man who claims he was a teacher devolves to puerile ad hominem attacks is embarrassing in my view.

    That the Cuban revolution was a success in certain areas is unimpeachable. It has also failed in many others…that too is unimpeachable. There is much room left for development.

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32. 

    William Skinner

    April 1, 2016 at 2:02 pm

    
    

    When the Barbados government (Tom Adams) was in cahoots with the Dominica government (Eugenia Charles) was singing for its supper, by backing the USA (Ronald Regan), the people of Cuba (Fidel Castro) were defending the dignity of Grenada and the Caribbean people. In the short life of the Grenada Revolution; the Cuban government built a brand new airport for the people of Grenada. No strings attached !
    In our country Errol Barrow passed a Public Order Act(1974) to suppress the right of local Black nationalists to speak out against the white corporate elites.

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33. 

    Bush Tea

    April 1, 2016 at 2:10 pm

    
    

    Lord have mercy!!
    Looka what Dribbler, Sargeant and balance gone and do on All fools Day….
    Created an Alvin-Bushie alliance on Cuba (ABC)….

    @ Alvin
    None of those fellows probably ever visited Cuba …and experienced the community spirit, the ingenuity of the people. the community cultural life; the pride in education and scholarship…
    LOL …they are all probably going by what CNN and CBC (Canada) says…

    No one is perfect… They have the Revolution ….and we have political yardfowls…

    Anyhow Alvin…. don’t let this ABC thing get to your Cawmere head…
    On Cuba … up and on…. but any time you come back with your DLP shiite you know that the whacker is waiting …. so try and stick with the first three letters of the alphabet… 🙂

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34. 

    de pedantic Dribbler

    April 1, 2016 at 2:25 pm

    
    

    I also wonder which of the eloquent speakers here (well Alvin, of course) would have fully embraced and supported Comrade Errol when he decreed a DLP one party state back in ’86.

    Not sure if Comrade Erskine would have led us forward after ’87 but certainly with a blank easel sans disruptions of that stupid thing called elections it’s fair to say that the country might be better positioned…yes…no!

    Well in fact we would be better off if Comrade Errol had established the one party structure since 1966 after Independence. Then he would have been able to move forward earnestly knowing that he was in place until death.

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35. 

    Bush Tea

    April 1, 2016 at 2:35 pm

    
    

    @ Dribbly
    Boss… you are nothing short of an ad-hominem-magnet… but out of respect of the the April 1st date, Bushie will try to be restrained…

    It must be hard for someone whose idea of ‘success’ is to relocate to the land of the Albinos and kowtow to their ways, to grasp this…. but there actually exists some people whose commitment to PRINCIPLE out weights any other consideration – INCLUDING access to the basic necessities of life….
    Such persons have been known to give up liberty, soap, comfort, family …even LIFE ITSELF on matters of principle…

    At the other end of the scale, are those who will sell their very soul for their next meal… or for an easy life… some of these even come to LOVE and defend being exploited so much that they are able to sing the praises of their oppressors – A Stockholm Syndrome thing….

    From your albino-centric perspective, Bushie’s logic would NEVER make sense… How could you EVER understand the PRINCIPLE of self-respect that would drive Castro to spurn the materialistic hegemony of the USA ….when you moved to Canada PRECISELY to subject yourself to this very thing..?
    Shiite man …. from your perspective you have it made – just knowing where your next meal is coming from.

    Just try to understand that there are some of us who WILL NOT BOW DOWN TO THE IMAGE… and WILL NOT BE ENTICED with food to betray our self-respect.

    Castro was just as flawed as all the rest of us…. but like Mandela, Gandhi, MLK and Dipper, he was driven MUCH more by PRINCIPLE …rather than hunger….

    You think Fidel could ever move to Toronto to live…?
    …and drink that shiite water? 🙂

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36. 

    David

    April 1, 2016 at 3:47 pm

    
    

    @Alvin and Bush Tea

    Onside with your views, enlightening actually.

    @Dee Word

    It is Friday if you have to imbibe leave the kool-aid because there is Mount Gay.

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37. 

    Alvin Cummins

    April 1, 2016 at 7:29 pm

    
    

    @David,
    Thanks, but facts are facts and it is amazing how some people cannot accept facts. It hurts me
    that we have a monument to the downing of the Cubana Airline off Ppaynes Bay, the ; or at least one of the perpetrators has been identified, and is still enjoying comfort in Miami; courtesy the U.S. government, and American leaders are still trying to vilify the Cuban government, aided and abetted by people like Dribbly, Sergeant, Vincent and balance.

    Bushy, you might be surprised at how much we see eye to eye. Same gardener. same fertilizer and same care; even Bowen.

    By the way David (Weeks) I spoke with Michelle this morning, she is waiting to hear from you

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38. 

    de pedantic Dribbler

    April 1, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    
    

    David, a debate on such a very well documented subject is surely not about drinking any kool-aid but I will take your advice on the Mount Gay though.

    Additionally, when you guys switch editorial chairs at the BU control desk you really should review earlier remarks so that you don’t contradict yourself… You earlier considered the palaver of Cuba’s communist history as old foggy, old-school rhetoric…amusing therefore that you now commend the same rhetoric from Alvin & Bush Tea! LOLL.

    @Alvin, amazing that YOU should speak about facts. The fact is that one side of the debate clearly states “That the Cuban revolution was a success in certain areas is unimpeachable. It has also failed in many others…that too is unimpeachable.”

    You obviously read only what you want to…

    It is absolutely ridiculous to hail Fidel Castro as a paragon of virtue across the entire length of his political leadership.

    He did awesome things for his country particularly against the backdrop of multiple US assassination attempts and the various sanctions on his country. Compared to what Papa Doc did for example he is a veritable colossus…compared to Lee Kuan Yew he is merely another politician!

    I will not continue this asinine discourse with you as you have no interest in reality..merely blowing Castro’s pipe….as you do the DLP’s despite their glaring missteps.

    So lets agree Fidel did well. Let’s disagree that he also failed to move forward with the times as his benefactor Russia did. That is a fact TOO.

    And its beyond asinine to consider that the US giving comfort to the Cuba plane terrorists invalidates their ability to criticize Cuba and in some way compares to any critique I made of Fidel. That’s just ridiculous. I will always offer great praise to Errol Barrow and yet criticize him soundly at times.

    You are being very simplistic for someone who purports to be so wise!

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39. 

    TheGazer

    April 1, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    
    

    I see that Bushie should be sent to Cuba to show them how to play cricket. Excellent batting against the BU spin team.

    One of the things I remember about the Grenadian revolution was that Maurice Bishop placed great emphasis on educating his people. This was surprising to me, for a part of the story was that the communists/socialists like to keep the masses uneducated; and here was Maurice going against common knowledge.

    Forgive me for not taking the time to learn the difference between a communist and a socialist.

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40. 

    David

    April 1, 2016 at 8:25 pm

    
    

    @Dee Word

    Au contraire my dear man. Alvin and Bush Tea’s content was more centered on extolling the brilliance/quality of the Cuban people achievements in adverse circumstances. Dee what are going to do with you man, perhaps rename you?

    >

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41. 

    de pedantic Dribbler

    April 1, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    
    

    @David at 8:25 PM ..really. You could have fooled me. I missed that line of argumentation because no one – certainly not me – ever disputed that.

    The issue at heart was that there were still glaring basic deficiencies despite the great stride in health care and other areas because no one can ever take away from Cuba how the fundamentals in the country were transformed …but it becomes abjectly biased to not recognize the stagnation which also seemingly left the country in a time warp after one assumes the Russian ruble dried up.

    And leave off the sanction issue – we have covered that.

    Bush Tea re at 2:35 PM,one day you must explain to me how earning a living in Barbados makes you so different to any of us earning a living in Canada or US or UK.

    And while you at it …do you ” kowtow to their ways” in BIM with an abbreviated curtsy, a slight bend at the upper back or is the Bajan way a deep bend at the waist…backside out!

    Because were I from Azerbaijan and knew of Barbados only from reading the trending BU documents then this Barbados looks like it controlled by a coterie of connected ‘albinos’…who screwing you over royally.

    … That the government kowtows to them and tries desperately to be like them (that ‘Oreo’ effect) even as they avariciously accept their gratuities and special commissions.

    …. and that the electorate are easily led along the garden path with sweet talk and sweeping promises…never to be fulfilled…but being royally shafted.

    So as a dribbler from Azerbaijan who really don’t know that you are just another sweet talker…this place called Barbados don’t sound nah different than many other places I know closer to home where I earning my living!

    Help me here, bro!

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42. 

    David

    April 1, 2016 at 9:00 pm

    
    

    @Dee Word

    Will leave you to Bush Tea and or GP,,,lol.

    Tell us how many millions in food stamps are issued by the US government annually?

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43. 

    balance

    April 2, 2016 at 6:05 am

    
    

    ‘William Skinner April 1, 2016 at 2:02 PM #

    When the Barbados government (Tom Adams) was in cahoots with the Dominica government (Eugenia Charles) was singing for its supper, by backing the USA (Ronald Regan), the people of Cuba (Fidel Castro) were defending the dignity of Grenada and the Caribbean people. In the short life of the Grenada Revolution; the Cuban government built a brand new airport for the people of Grenada. No strings attached !
    In our country Errol Barrow passed a Public Order Act(1974) to suppress the right of local Black nationalists to speak out against the white corporate elites”

    Skins the bottom line is about freedom. People in Grenada and Barbados are free to come and go as the please . The people in Cuba cannot leave as they like and those granted permission to travel can actually have their citizenship revoked if they return within the stipulated time.

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44. 

    balance

    April 2, 2016 at 6:18 am

    
    

    To all the anti-Castro bloggers;
    Tell me who sucking salt in Barbados? Tell me who own almost all the arable land in Barbados? Tell me who marching every day for better wages? Tell me who benefiting from all the development going on? Who getting the contracts? Answer these questions before jumping on a man and his people, who have withstood a trade embargo for almost three decades from the most powerful country in the world.

    
    To the anti-Barbados bloggers as bad as it is-
    To all the anti-Castro bloggers;
    Tell me who sucking salt in Cuba? Tell me who own almost all the arable land in Cuba ? Tell me who cannot dare march every day for better wages and working conditions? Tell me who benefiting from what little development going on in Cuba? Who getting the contracts to operate the hotel franchises? Answer these questions before jumping on former leaders and a manipulative system which they have managed to a reasonable advantage of country and people without the resources of the mighty revolutionary Cuba whose people are way better off than the people in Cuba.

    Remember all the sins prevalent in Cuba are prevalent in Cuba too and prostitution in Barbados have not yet reached the level of prostitution in Cuba. Viva la Revolucion.

    
    Like

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45. 

    balance

    April 2, 2016 at 6:32 am

    
    

    “One of the things I remember about the Grenadian revolution was that Maurice Bishop placed great emphasis on educating his people. This was surprising to me, for a part of the story was that the communists/socialists like to keep the masses uneducated; and here was Maurice going against common knowledge.”

    He should have started with the buffoon General Hudson Austin and he might be alive today. One of the standard operating practices of communist cum socialist countries is to put ignoramuses who cannot think and only obey orders in control of stare agencies. That is why Cuba is in such a bad state agriculturally and otherwise and Barbados has nothing to fear. Its strength lies in the fact that cost of living is relatively cheap for foreigners quality of service still leaves much to be desired. A good pair of fitted spectacles there would only cost me as a foreigner about $75.US. 95 of the eleven million Cuban people cannot purchase such.

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46. 

    balance

    April 2, 2016 at 6:35 am

    
    

    Alvin Cummins April 1, 2016 at 7:29 PM #

    @David,
    Thanks, but facts are facts and it is amazing how some people cannot accept facts. It hurts me

    It is you aided and abetted by your new found albeit misguided alliance w3ith Bushie Lord have mercy that is choosing to ignore the facts but facts are facts.

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47. 

    balance

    April 2, 2016 at 6:41 am

    
    

    “I have seen two young people manning an ice Cream : hot dogs and soft drinks also being sold there; about sixty people lined up and patiently waiting their turn to be served, and no pushing, shoving, sucking of teeth, or arguing. All at peace”

    Indoctrination dear Alvin indoctrination. who in hell would want to stand up in a line for over two hours for a hotdog and an ice cream on a Saturday afternoon or wee hours in the morning. when I watch them I find it amazing but I wouldn’t trade my system for that. Tell us about the general level of transport too .

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48. 

    David

    April 2, 2016 at 6:49 am

    
    

    The following extracted from the linked article in the first paragraph of the blog.

    True, Cubans don’t have democracy. Then again, at the national level, neither do Puerto Ricans: Despite being U.S. citizens, they can’t vote for president or in Congress, which these days mostly ignores them. Cubans may face the threat of arbitrary detention and abuse. But they’re much less likely than Puerto Ricans to be shot dead on the street, or to be victimized by drug traffickers or other criminals.

    In fact, by many other yardsticks, you’re better off being born in Cuba than Puerto Rico. Don’t take my word for it. Look at the World Factbook put out by those raving socialists at the Central Intelligence Agency. Lower infant mortality? Check! Same with lower unemployment, higher literacy, and a lower overall death rate.

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49. 

    David

    April 2, 2016 at 6:52 am

    
    

    Once Cuba gained its independence from U.S. control in 1902, it became theoretically free to make its own mistakes, notwithstanding the colossus to the north looking over its shoulder. And Lord knows Cuba made plenty of them, even before its current detour through socialist privation and repression. Over the years, Cuba has nonetheless delighted in tweaking Uncle Sam in the United Nations over Puerto Rico’s “colonial” status, and is doubtless enjoying some quiet schadenfreude over its neighbor’s troubles.

    Yet these two islands can lift each other up. In addition to their shared history and culture, they face some similar demographic and economic challenges, and have some complementary strengths — Puerto Rico’s pharmaceutical industry and Cuba’s nascent biotechnology sector, for instance. An unlikely partnership, perhaps. But as President Obama has noted about Cuban policy, we know what hasn’t worked. Maybe it’s time to try something different for Puerto Rico too.

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50. 

    pieceuhderockyeahright

    April 2, 2016 at 7:34 am

    
    

    @ Balance

    Quo Vadis?

    Many who post here would be afraid to state that they have been to Cuba because the fear what it means to their invaluable US visa.

    Cuba is one of the most beautiful places in the world and the video above does not do justice to that beauty, you have to see it and you seem to have done so.

    You have to live in the street of Cuba to get a real view of their lives, the poverty, the face of what persists in Havana behind its UNESCO designation as a World Heritage site

    Very few people see that or allowed to see that, or are ballsy enough to dare to see that, either in the day and certainly not in the night.

    You can die there in the night in the real Cuba and never be found as a gringo who is on the dark side in the rampant unemployment and poverty.

    The thing about war and generals like Castro is that some of us, rather them, are born only for war, and can never know or recede to peace, as in the Ares gene.

    The point that you and others here are making is that the revolution, with its dependencies, gave us the sterling example of Fidel Castro who incredibly withstood the might and murderous intent of 4-5 Presidents who sought his life and hopefully he will die in bed taken by the gentle Hand of My GOD

    But, after such noble struggle, much like we have experienced under Errol Barrow, where is the vision, who takes the mantle, and brings a represses population where 90% of its Darkside population CANNOT PARTICIPATE in the glitter that is the Cuba that we see.

    Many live in huts and life is well very rough bordering on subsistence levels even worse than what we, rather some of us, experience here in Bim, certainly not the poverty of Africa’s poorest but hunger, enforced prostitution, and compulsory crime, a strange term to be sure, knows little difference when you say the hut that the perpetrators live in has a shingle roof as opposed to it being galvanize or thatched straw.

    Don’t get tied up is all de ole man will say to many of the idyllic promoters of La Havana, it is quite a different storyline on the other side of the purposed construct of tourism

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