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They were miracle workers we've been trained to revile.
It is difficult to look at human rights in Cuba without looking at the context. When Castro took power, it was after 40,000 people had been killed by the Batista dictatorship, when Castro came into power. Civil and political human rights were limited and are limited in Cuba. Social, cultural and economic rights are very good. In Latin American terms, or developing world terms, Cuba has basically got a good record.I've heard too many supposed lefties trying to find some middle ground to make themselves heard in the general din of spin we're trained to believe, and even if this asshole is calling Ohitlist's initiative "wonderful" at least he's beginning to get at something closer to actual.
If you look at Mexico, for instance, it is far worse. In Mexico, according to Amnesty International, there are 27,000 people who are missing, 103 journalists have been killed, murdered, in the last 15 years and 25 disappeared. Cuba, according to Amnesty, has got 60 political prisoners. So, it is bad, but it is far less than many countries where we are not shining the spotlight.
And of course, 90 miles away from Cuba is the self-declared enemy. Despite Obama’s wonderful initiative, it is important to bear in mind that 10 American presidents vowed to bring about regime change in Cuba. One fact, which isn’t widely known, is that 3,400 Cubans were killed by acts of terrorism in the country, terrorism stemming from southern Florida. To this day, hundreds of thousands of dollars are being funnelled by various branches of the U.S. government to opposition groups to again bring about regime change. So it is difficult to have wide open liberal democracy precisely when you have this track record.
It is not good but in the circumstances, given the fact that the world’s only superpower is only 90 miles away and given the fact that Donald Trump is about to take over, at least it’s comprehensible if not defensible.
you can still pipe up any time....
