Look at the outcry (by liberals) over foreign funding of RW politics in the US.

[Billy Burnett]

Meanwhile, the US funding of RW politics in Cuba has been increased --> and there are still apologists on DU supporting US funded fake "dissidents" who's platform is as RW as the Tea Party(GOP) - privatization, integrating religion and government, anti choice, etc.


Strange hypocrisy for "dems" on a democratic forum.


What say you?

:hi:

[Mika]

1. Bingo.

The revulsion felt here (by pro sovereignty lefties) is the same revulsion felt by the vast majority of Cubans toward US paid "dissidents".

That is why they don't get elected to any position in government. Cubans seem to know better than to support anti government candidates as their government representatives.

I hope that the fake dissident supporters here gain some insight relating to this issue from the US Chamber's secretive and anti sovereign activities.



:hi:

---

[flamingdem]

2. There is very little to cite in terms of the "dissidents" that is factual

.. if there are some good articles from mainstream sources that would help combat the right wing memes about Cuba and the dissidents. Especially the trial itself, I can't find much from either side though there is a documentary floating around in Europe.

[EFerrari]

6. I used to have a link to an article where the real Ladies In White

disowned the charlatans but I don't keep bookmarks here any more.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Funny you should mention that subject

Just back from 3 weeks there. What a beautiful and friendly country.

Apparently The Ladies in White may be a good example of that subject. Regarded by some as a simple money earning device with appropriately timed occasional demonstrations to keep their Miami masters happy.

My understanding is that the movement started when some of their sons were arrested following the kidnap of passengers on an Havana ferry boat with the intention to using the boat to reach Miami.
Old link here : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2910833.stm

[flamingdem]

7. Tell us more about Cuba!

Sounds like you had a great time. I'm curious if you had to purchase health insurance at the airport, supposedly that is a requirement now. Also, did you get a sense of how people are adjusting to the changes in employment?

[dipsydoodle]

8. There is a requirement for health insurance

on entry for tourists but they didn't check anyone which I found a bit odd really. Mine was bundled in with the holiday package. I was fortunate enough just to need advice from the local Pharmacy for a nasty mixture of insect bites whatever some of which blistered.

The changes in employment from 100 % toward small private enterprises are given some mention here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11625472
At present most pay no taxes as such. I'm confident you won't fall into the trap of comparing the tax figures mentioned with rates in other countries aside from which there are no other countries of which I'm aware that have dual currency systems such as the Cuba's Peso and Convertible Peso.

I now grasp the significance of the Convertible and why the population are paid in ordinary Pesos - it protects Cuba's reserves and in a manner of speaking differs little from the UK as recently as the late sixties when we couldn't take more than £50 out of the country and even that was entered in our passports. The tax rates mentioned are on their own Pesos so I'm not sure what will happen about any Convertibles they acquire.

:hi:

[flamingdem]

10. Thanks for the news, did you catch much music? Other things to report?

First hand news is the best!

[dipsydoodle]

11. Music ?

Loads of it but I don't want hear Guantanamera again for at least another 20 years or so. I still didn't learn to salsa but having figured the footwork and use of the music just by watching I did manage to muddle along a few times.

Highest on the list of tourists by country is Canada followed by the UK. Its also growing rapidly in popularity in Holland and other European countries too. The Dutch seem to fly in via Mexico whereas we fly direct.

For me the most interesting event was a visit to the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba where on 26 July 1953, Fidel Castro led an ill-fated assault. Its now a museum / school. The bullet holes in the wall have been left for posterity. I also hadn't known that Batista was best man at Fidel Castro's first marriage.

Other things will come with time but in the meanwhile dwell on the fact that Che Guevara was correct in hindsight - Fidel Castro should've dealt with China in the first place : not the USSR.

[Chulanowa]

4. Hypocrisy? on MY DU?

It's more common than you might think!

[EFerrari]

5. I brought this up a couple of weeks ago and was told by DU experts

that I was changing the subject.

[dipsydoodle]

9. Then presumably you will now have grasped

that some DU experts actually know sweet fuck all.

:hi:

[Judi Lynn]

12. Sleazy, treacherous, dishonest funding right-wingers in other countries.

You remember the uproar caused when Al Gore attended some luncheon and was given some campaign contribution by Bhuddist nuns, right?

You would have thought it was the end of the world with the right-wingers. It looked like they'd never shut the #### up. Really chewed the scenery.

We're also paying taxpayers' hard-earned money to the Venezuelan opposition as they conspire daily to overthrow their leftist President.

The financial support of these "dissenters" in Cuba is such an insult to everyone. It's all out of the bag now, however. Cubans have known who they are and for whom they work for a long time. They are greedy, backstabbing bastards with total ties to the terrorists in Cuba who have preyed upon their fellow Cubans for sport, and revenge. They are traitors, and we pay them, with OUR taxes to betray their countrymen/women.

[EFerrari]

13. U.S. Should Disclose its Funding of Opposition Groups in Bolivia and Other Latin American Countries

U.S. Should Disclose its Funding of Opposition Groups in Bolivia and Other Latin American Countries
For Immediate Release: September 12, 2008
Contact: Dan Beeton

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) called on the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other agencies to release information detailing whom they are funding in Bolivia -- where violent right-wing opposition groups have wreaked havoc this week in a series of shootings, beatings, ransacking of offices, and sabotage of a natural gas pipeline -- as well as in other Latin American countries including Venezuela. Recent events suggest there may be evidence for Bolivian president Evo Morales’ assertions that the U.S. Embassy is supporting groups promoting violence and seeking “autonomy” from Bolivia, and the Center called on USAID and other U.S. agencies to “come clean” in order to demonstrate the U.S. government’s good faith.

“Washington has decided to keep its ties to Bolivia’s opposition shrouded in secrecy, and that’s not conducive to trust between the U.S. and Bolivian governments,” said Mark Weisbrot, CEPR Co-Director. “If Washington has nothing to hide in terms of whom it is funding and working with in Bolivia, then it should reveal which groups those are.”

In the midst of the violence and property destruction, Bolivian president Evo Morales declared U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg “persona non grata” and asked him to be expelled, suggesting he is aiding organizations behind the violence and sabotage. Despite numerous requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. has not turned over all the names of recipient organizations of USAID funds. Bolivia is a major recipient of USAID money, with millions of dollars sent to groups there. The U.S. also funds groups in Bolivia through the National Endowment for Democracy and related organizations.

“USAID is not supposed to be a clandestine organization, but nevertheless the U.S. government refuses to divulge which groups in Bolivia are supported with U.S. tax dollars,” Weisbrot said. “By providing clandestine aid to groups that are almost certainly in the opposition, it gives the impression that the U.S. is contributing to efforts to destabilize the Bolivian government.”

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/press-releases/press-releases/us-should-disclose-its-funding-of-opposition-groups-in-bolivia-and-other-latin-american-countries/

[Billy Burnett]

14. You're right. My focus on Cuba is way too narrow. The US is F-ing w/many S. of the border.

Thanks for including the info.

:hi: