Communist Cuba says US "economic war" hurting

[Eugene]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050927/wl_nm/cuba_usa_dc

Communist Cuba says US "economic war" hurting


By Anthony Boadle 42 minutes ago

HAVANA (Reuters) - The intensified U.S. "economic war" on Cuba has
meant more fines for Americans visiting the Communist-run island and
foreign firms doing business there, a Cuban government report said
on Tuesday.

Sanctions adopted by the Bush administration since June 2005 to speed
change in Cuba by denying it funds included a ban on the purchase of
Cuban cigars and rum by U.S. citizens, even in third countries, the
report to the United Nations said.

<snip>

"The blockade on Cuba is an act of economic war," the report said.
Washington has enforced a trade embargo against Cuba since 1962,
seeking to undermine the left-wing government of Fidel Castro,
in power since a 1959 revolution.

Critics of the embargo say it has failed to bring change to Cuba and
allows Castro to blame Cuba's economic woes on the United States.
American farmers succeeded in amending it in 2000 to allow food sales,
now averaging $400 million a year.

<snip>

full article

[Say_What]

1. Article fails to mention that island tourism surpassed expectations...

The USSA might have f*ck'd over Cuban-Americans and US citizens, but tourism on the island has surpassed expectations.

Ricardo Alarcón, president of the Cuban National Assembly, in an interview recently said the following about Washington's hostility and Bush 'family values'.

..."It is stupid. They presented the restrictions affecting Americans and Cuban-Americans as a decisive blow to our economy," he said about the prohibition against visiting Cuba more than once every three years, the redefinition of family that excludes aunts, uncles and cousins, etc.

"Those measures had an effect only on that segment," he said. "But tourism from other parts of the world surpassed expectations last year and new flights - like one from Monterrey, Mexico - have been added."


http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/349446p-298172c.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. It's an embarrassing attempt to cram all the propaganda into one article

they can possible arrange, using the ubiquitous "communist Cuba," (although other sources sometimes use "socialist Cuba," (why don't they ever use "capitalistic United States")), the pretense Fidel Castro runs the island, claiming they're not going to wait until he dies to take control of Cuba, etc., etc.

They are overlooking the 11,000,000 people who live in Cuba. Jeezus. How can media outlets be so slimey? Probably because they are pressured to do it by right-wing interests in government.

This was probably written to get out a message ahead of the upcoming vote in the U.N. General Assembly in a couple of weeks, on the deadly U.S. embargo on Cuba. Every year, it's the same. Israel, and possibly the Marshall Islands side with the U.S., supporting this crippling embargo on Cuba: to top it off, Israel is even a trade partner, having diplomatic relations with Cuba. Go figure, as Freecancat used to say here. All the OTHER countries either vote against the embargo (pre-Bolton!) or abstain altogether.

This is undoubtedly a fluff-_Bush piece, to emphasize his ability to threaten Cuba, and to reinforce all the propaganda laid down already, for those who might have drifted away, forgetting to stay afraid of Cuba.




~Santiago de Cuba~

[Say_What]

3. You are right on the money about the upcoming UN vote

This year will be the 14th year in a row that the planet overwhelmingly votes for an end to the United States' 40-year-old economic embargo against Cuba. So the USSA is diseminating all the anti-Cuba propaganda it can between now and then to deflect attention away from the truth.

Viva Cuba!!

[Mika]

4. "to speed change in Cuba" - ha ha ha

Since the early to mid 70's Cuba has moved at light speed in terms of self sufficiency, human rights, labor rights, education standards, health care, and on and on. All while the US is moving backwards at an ever accelerating pace.


For the US government (especially _{G W Bush} ) to push "to speed change in Cuba" is more than a fucking joke, its a fucking sick joke.
:puke:

[Say_What]

5. Herald Poll: Chavez and Castro more popular than Bush :-)))

DU mentioned on Radio Progreso's website. They're wondering why Ditzy-Balistic isn't mentioned on The Top 10 Conservative Idiots.

<clips>

Blockade Cuba!

The strange world of Lincoln Diaz-Balart

Even in the mad, mad world of today’s radical Republican politicos, his words and ideas stand out for their sheer daffiness.

His name is Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and his is quite an accomplishment amidst Pat Robertson’s fatwa against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Barbara Bush’s comments that New Orleans residents, being poor, did quite well by being evacuated to the Houston Astrodome, and other delusions of the raving right. Could there be anything crazier than Senator Rick Santorum’s thesis, stated in his recent book, that many women work outside the home because of radical feminist brainwashing? Indeed, in the category of the demented and the demagogic, the competition within the right is fierce. Consider what Bill O’Reilly, host of his own show on Fox News, the “fair and balanced” network, said recently:

Bush to address the U.N. says we must be steadfast in battling terrorism. I'm sure all the U.N. people fell asleep. They don't really care about anything over there at all. I just wish Katrina had only hit the United Nations building, nothing else, just had flooded them out. And I wouldn't have rescued them.

Tough as it is to top the deranged rants and fantastic theories of conservative icons such as Robertson, Bush mère, Santorum, and O’Reilly, one man managed to do it last week: Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

Reacting to an incident in which officers of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security apprehended ten Cubans attempting to reach Florida on a makeshift boat, the Republican representative from Miami did not limit himself to raving against the “wet foot/dry foot policy.” Instead, he suggested that the United States should engage in an act of war as a substitute to its current Cuban immigration policy.

In the past, Diaz-Balart has said many crazy things, and he has been especially militant in his opposition to “wet foot/dry foot.” He even got himself arrested while protesting the policy outside the White House. But that was during the Clinton administration, when Diaz-Balart could use the issue to club the President and the Democrats. The Congressman has been much quieter since there has been a Republican in the White House implementing exactly the same policy.

http://www.progresoweekly.com/index.php?progreso=Max_Castro&otherweek=1127970000

[NNguyenMD]

6. I've always been impressed with Cuba's educational and healthcare systems

but am unfamiliar with its record on human rights and free speech. Is political dissent possible in Cuba? Should Cuba engage in policies unpopular with the people, would the Cindy Sheehans or John Stewarts of Cuba be allowed to speak out against the government?

I think Castro's intentions are good, education and healthcare are the foundations of what makes a thriving society, but I feel that it is also a matter of luck that Cuba is led by a man who realizes that, had Cuba been ruled under the same government by an Aristide, Kim Il Jong, or a Bush even, things would be far different. I think that the heart is there to do better for the people, but the conditions for all out corruption once Castro dies could lead to disaster.

I can understand Castro's insistence on keeping the lid on dissent, if that is in fact the case, he's built a society leaps and bounds ahead of developed countries, under extreme economic embargos with far less resources. He has a reason to want to protect this society he's built. At the same time, he is going to realize that had it been anyone else but him, none of this would be possible. When it comes time that its no longer him, the only people he should trust to carry on his legacy is a democratic Cuba where the people hold government accountable, not the other way around.

Again I'm unfamiliar with hte political landscape of Cuba, but I strongly feel that eventually Cuba will have to transition to a Social Democracy in the mold of France if it is to continue on without Castro.

[Mika]

7. True. You are unfamiliar with the political landscape of Cuba.

Cuba is not run by Castro. It is run by the people of Cuba, via their democratic processes.

Dissent is commonplace in Cuba, but legitimate problems are resolved with dialog, debate and elections with biannual recall/accountability votes. Just like the USA, the only "dissidents" that are not tolerated are those that aid and abet and are in the employ of the avowed enemy state that threatens, harbors terrorists that have waged terror bombings in Cuba, and has attacked Cuba - the USA.



Here are some of the major parties in Cuba. The union parties hold the majority of seats in the Assembly.

http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/cu.html

* Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) {Communist Party of Cuba}
* Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Cuba (PDC) {Christian Democratic Party of Cuba} - Oswaldo Paya's Catholic party
* Partido Solidaridad Democrática (PSD) {Democratic Solidarity Party}
* Partido Social Revolucionario Democrático Cubano {Cuban Social Revolutionary Democratic Party}
* Coordinadora Social Demócrata de Cuba (CSDC) {Social Democratic Coordination of Cuba}
* Unión Liberal Cubana {Cuban Liberal Union}

Plenty of info on this long thread,
http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=6300&forum=DCForumID70


http://www.poptel.org.uk/cuba-solidarity/democracy.htm

This system in Cuba is based upon universal adult suffrage for all those aged 16 and over. Nobody is excluded from voting, except convicted criminals or those who have left the country. Voter turnouts have usually been in the region of 95% of those eligible .

There are direct elections to municipal, provincial and national assemblies, the latter represent Cuba's parliament.

Electoral candidates are not chosen by small committees of political parties. No political party, including the Communist Party, is permitted to nominate or campaign for any given candidates.

--

Representative Fidel Castro was elected to the National Assembly as a representative of District #7 Santiago de Cuba.
He is one of the elected 607 representatives in the Cuban National Assembly. It is from that body that the head of state is nominated and then elected. Raul Castro, Carlos Large, and Ricardo Alarcon and others were among the nominated last year. President Castro has been elected to that position since 1976.

http://www.bartleby.com/65/do/Dorticos.html

Dorticós Torrado, Osvaldo

1919–83, president of Cuba (1959–76). A prosperous lawyer, he participated in Fidel Castro’s revolutionary movement and was imprisoned (1958). He escaped and fled to Mexico, returning to Cuba after Castro’s triumph (1959). As minister of laws (1959) he helped to formulate Cuban policies. He was appointed president in 1959. Intelligent and competent, he wielded considerable influence. In 1976 the Cuban government was reorganized, and Castro assumed the title of president; Dorticós was named a member of the council of state.

The Cuban government was reorganized (approved by popular vote) into a variant parliamentary system in 1976.

You can read a short version of the Cuban system here,
http://members.allstream.net/~dchris/CubaFAQDemocracy.html

Or a long and detailed version here,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0968508405/qid=1053879619/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-8821757-1670550?v=glance&s=books