Raul Castro Admits Massive Inefficiency

Wrong again.

First of all I feel the immediate need to correct you on the fact that Fidel Castro was never elected in a free multiparty election. He lied to the Cuban people in 1959 when he promised to hold elections within 6 months. He lied to the Cuban people when he promised to restore the 1940 constitution. He also lied about not having been a Communist. At first he said he was not a Communist, and only said so after he took the Cuban people's arms away after he said in a speech "Arms for what?"...

Wrong again on free speech:

There is no freedom of speech in Cuba. Freedom of speech should mean that I am able to go out into the street and say that Fidel Castro is a inept idiot who has run the country into the ground without being arrested.

Free speech should mean that I should be able to go out into the street and protest the miserable wages in Peso Nacional that I receive. It should mean that I should be able to protest the shortages of food in the markets. It should mean that I should be able to protest the fact that as a Cuban citizen I do not have the right to a passport to travel freely in and out of the country. It should mean that I am able to protest the fact that I am paid in worthless Peso Nacional when everything of value is sold in Peso Convertible which is 25 times more valuable. It should mean that I should be able to go out an protest the fact that I do not have free access to internet. It should mean that I am able to go out and protest for the right to have my own private small business. So many things...

Here in the United States, I had every right to scream that George Bush was an idiot when he was in office. I said he was an idiot, I said he was a donkey and I also said he should resign and not once was I arrested, harassed by police or thrown in jail. I am afraid I cannot say the same for Cubans, and for you to say anything otherwise is to admit ignorance of what has going on in Cuba for the past 50 years.

You know what makes this country great? The fact that I can elect a leader that can represent my interests. I was proud to vote for Barack Obama. He has represented me in his struggle to extend healthcare to all Americans.

Sadly when I was in Cuba, I had NOBODY to represent me. Because I had no right to elect the candidate of my choosing in a free election. The only "so called" elections in Cuba are elections in which there is always only a SINGLE candidate, the Communist candidate, because the Communist Party is the only party allowed to run.

And on Cuba's economic growth:

Where is Cuba's economic growth now? Estimated at a pathetic 1% with foreign investment fleeing the country. Foreign investment dropped 25% last year. I do not even want to imagine what the same numbers are today. The Cuban government is so behind on its payments that it cannot even pay foreign businesses and lenders. It doesn't help the government is an overly inflated pig that employs an excess 1 million people.

The sad fact is that a shrinking American economy will always be hundreds of times healthier than the Jurassic economy of Cuba, which if you haven't heard the news lately is in some serious, serious trouble.

And lastly. Wrong again.

You make too many assumptions. I believe the financial regulation is absolutely necessary for the health of this country's capitalistic economy. I hate Glenn Beck and I am not even Republican. I consider myself a liberal, but I cannot help but realize that too many fellow liberals make the sorry mistake of thinking that just because Chavez and Castro criticized Bush that they are necessarily good men.

The enemy of your enemy IS NOT always your friend. The left is very misguided indeed if it finds inspiration in an incompetent despot like Castro. There are many other figures more deserving of our admiration.

And Lastly:

Your comment saying that there is no free speech in this country because a person is not allowed to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater doesn't even deserve a response from me. It is a safety precaution not an assault on free speech. In fact, you can yell "Fire!" as many times as you want outside and there should be no problem, aside from the alarm of some people who might think there is an actual fire.

If you seriously thought that that was a good argument of how free speech is restricted in this country, then you are going to have to try better.

Capitalism means a free economy. Don't buy into the wishy-washy idea that a little regulation solves problems and therefore you are "liberal." YOU AREN'T. The economy has to be controlled. Speech needs to be controlled as well because these things are dangerous! The FCC limits what can be said to protect children. We have to not be shy and hand over these things to the government by electing people who know how to handle let's say the economy, healthcare, industry, speech, religion. When Cuba and Venezuela limit or regulate an area of society it is because the part was failing. Wall Street was failing so now the American government is going to regulate it more. We all march toward socialist progress (some more quickly than others).

Wrong again.

The capitalism you are referring to is laissez-faire capitalism (which I do not believe in). Have you ever heard of Keynesian economics? Most capitalistic economies are what is referred to as "mixed economies."

Just because there are market regulations does not mean that the market is not free and that there should be no private enterprise and business. This does not mean that we are in a centrally planned economy. Private actors still are the essence of our economy.

I'm sorry but did you say speech has to be controlled because it is dangerous? Why is free speech dangerous? The more you open your mouth the more you show your true self. I am glad that you are at least being honest about your support for authoritarianism and censorship...

I am aware the that the FCC regulates what is said on TV. I don't agree with that either. This is why programs have ratings and parental advisories that warn parents about whether it is appropriate for children.

After you said that free speech is dangerous I hope I never see you here on Current complaining about censorship. I think that when you trade liberty for security, you deserve neither and get none. I certainly hope I never see you badmouthing the Patriot Act (not that I support it) when you yourself support trading liberty for security.

If I ever see you supporting censorship when it is done to others but cry outrage when it is done to you, I will be there to remind you that you are a hypocrite. I find it to be the worst hypocrisy when you support censorship when it is done by the left, and denounce it when it is done by the right.

You are clearly the representation of a fanatic, irrational polarizing left that was glorified in the 1960s by the “ communists” such as the Cuban revolution and now with Chavez’s “21st century socialism” it is a fanatical ideology derived from the days of the cold war where your where either with the Soviet Union and the United States where it was either one pole of the spectrum or the other, it seems that you wish to use the last fumes from the old extinct soviet red star.

The greatest event that happened to the left was the collapse of this polarized world with the end of the soviets this allowed the left to transform and develop without a bully that forces you to his interpretation of the ideology, that is what led the left to transform itself to adapt elements from both sides of the spectrum to create a state with all of the benefits of socialism and capitalism creating a state that has social programs to help the people with a strong private sector and partially state owned industries to help the state fund its projects.

You seem to talk allot that there is democracy in Cuba and Venezuela in a democracy you have the right to speak against the government if you disagree. Cuba is a repressive authoritarian state and Venezuela is on the same path I don’t know if your have seen that lately in Venezuela Chavez has closed TV channels, radio stations and arrested many people for speaking against him such as Oswaldo Alvarez Paz former governor of Zulia and Guillermo Zuluaga president of globovision for speaking against him. Your support of suppressing free speech tells me that you are an apologist for despotic dictators around the world. Next you’re going to say that North Korea is a paradise state for the prolitariat and that the Kim’s are the greatest persons on earth.

If you don’t know by now I am a socialist and Venezuelan( I was born there, I lived there and I go there frequently) unlike you I am very aware of what is happening in my country and in Cuba and I believe that the best system is a socialist democratic state with a mixed economy. You like Chavez and the Castro’s’ take the leftist ideology to the lowest possible level, you throw this great idea to the mud until it becomes a pice of shit and bully everyone with your atrocious words

you are a insult to the left!

Wrong, I am the what's Left.

"I think that when you trade liberty for security, you deserve neither and get none."?! That is the whole idea behind Keynesian. Taking away corporation's and business's freedoms to make sure the economy has security. Keynes didn't go far enough and we got stagnation. The economy has to be completely controlled or not at all. It's the same way with speech, religion, animal rights...

There should NOT be a separation of healthcare and state.
of speech and state.
of church and state.
of economy and state.
of animals and state.
of food and state.
of people and state!

And you are certainly not a Socialist and I heavily doubt a Venezuelan.

That sounds like a perfect prescription for George Orwell's "1984". Ever read it? I understand now, you are a supporter of Totalitarianism, an ideology in which even your thoughts are controlled by the state. You are no different than the people who admire Stalin.

You believe that the state should control everything. A perfect prescription for Big Brother, and the establishment of a nightmarish dystopia. Let me guess, you are an admirer of North Korea? I bet you think its a Paradise of the Proletariat...

The majority of the Left would reject your vision of what the world should be like. Tell that to everyone on this site and they will label you a madman.

The more you speak, the more extreme you sound.

It isn't extreme to support universal healthcare. Government oversight works the best. No Recession, No Poverty, No Starvation. No Sick. I am not insane, just ahead of my time.

I never said that universal healthcare was extreme, in fact if you kept up with what I said, I am a supporter of healthcare for all. But what you said later was extreme. And by that I am referring to when you said that:

"There should NOT be a separation of healthcare and state.
of speech and state.
of church and state.
of economy and state.
of animals and state.
of food and state.
of people and state!"

That is extreme, and like I already mentioned, a perfect prescription for totalitarianism. Think about what you just said and go over it. So no speech can go against the state? How is that not different than Hitler? How is that not totalitarian? How is there to be no separation of church and state? Is the state going to tell me what to believe now or burn me at the stake? How is that not oppressive? Of economy and state? Have you not seen the failure of centrally planned economies worldwide? Of animals and state? What the hell is that supposed to mean?

And lastly of people and state? So people and state are inseparable? Is this not the elimination of individualism?

Like I said, before repeating socialist slogans like if you were a robot, think for yourself and imagine the world we would live in. It would be very similar to George Orwell's "1984." What you are calling for goes far beyond wishing everyone universal healthcare.

Universal Healthcare is just a stepping stone to a larger and grandiose ideal. Government just runs things better. Business don't. Like you said, you agree with universal healthcare. I guess Universal Healthcare is oppressive because all personal information would be held by the government?

If one should not be separated, they all should not be separated. Don't tread on me.

Okay, I respect your opinion. But I will respectfully disagree. Clearly we have very different ideas of how the world works and the role of government in our lives. The only thing I ask for is for the Cuban people to be able to express their wishes with the ballot.

If the Revolution in fact has helped so many Cubans, then the government should not be worried about elections, because it would win every time. If they truly have made people's lives better, they should have no fear of free and open democratic elections. The point is to allow the people to choose their leaders freely, just like you and I have the right to choose what we believe.

Anything else is immoral. If the Cuban government really wants to claim its legacy as the heirs of Jose Marti then they should heed his own words:

"The vote is a trust more delicate than any other, for it involves not just the interests of the voter, but his life, honor and future as well."

And yet, in Cuba, the people have no right to vote for the man they want to run their country and guide their country's future. Truly a sad state of affairs in the land of Marti.

Cuba is such a utopia that millions of Cubans have left the island. Cuba used to be a destination for migrants and had more people coming in than were leaving. That's all changed since 1959...

Some utopia...

And while I'm at it, you have the nerve to say that Cuba is a Utopia in this forum. I find it ironic that you praise the repressive Cuban system using the internet; something the vast majority of Cubans have no access to and that is heavily censored on the island.

This very website is BLOCKED in Cuba. If you love the Cuban system so much, you should stop commenting here on Current, since Cubans don't have the luxury of freely surfing the internet.

It is the worst type of hypocrisy and insult to see people like you praising the Cuban regime from the comfort of a capitalist society. Hypocrite.

The picture of the monkeys fits you perfectly. Just like the regime in Cuba, you are unwilling to see, listen, or say anything about the reality of the problems facing the country.

The eradication of poverty in Cuba? That is the best joke I have heard all day.

Its funny how the Cuban government likes to sing and praise the Workers all the time and yet it makes it illegal for workers to organize freely in any unions other than the state-controlled National Union that is controlled by the Communist Party.

Just think about how fucking insane that is.

The state is the only employer in the country, and yet the only union that workers are allowed to join is ALSO controlled by the state. How the hell is the union supposed to fight for workers rights when its controlled by their same employer? The answer is that it doesn't.

That's why Cuban workers get paid miserable wages. The best things in Cuba are sold in Convertible Peso but they are paid in the worthless Peso Nacional. If there was real freedom of unions and the unions in Cuba weren't controlled by the government, something would have been done about that A LONG TIME AGO.

But the reality is that while the government likes to repeat its propaganda about Cuba being a workers' paradise, its just a piece of shit...

Your dream about Cuba being a Utopia is a pipe dream.

http://Venezuelanalysis.com

Clearly your are a naive fanatic, you think that poverty is eradicated in Cuba and Venezuela? NO the poverty index in Venezuela is worst than its was before Hugo Chavez was elected into the presidency and don’t get me started about Cuba, you say that our capitalistic dictatorships are oppressing us I actually think that is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard, you make no sense at all.

In the path to socialism then government controls the means of production temporarily when the state becomes a true communist egalitarian society the state seizes to exist the means of production are so self sufficient that there is no need for a controlling state, but NO true communist society has existed they say they are on the path to socialism but slowly they became a state with governing corrupt elite while the rest of the people suffer under its weight. This is what you see with Cuba and Venezuela they control the means of production, the backbone industries that drive their economies, but the way they are managed by the cronies and corrupt bastards in both countries has resulted in creating a severely incapacitated or almost non- existent industries.

There are many good examples of failure in Venezuela : PDVSA the national oil company once one of the most respected oil companies in the world is now a piece of shit to a point where the only product we can get out of the oil in Venezuela is heating fuel( something we don’t need) because of the lack of professional s there are only 2 refineries working in the country, the gas for the cars in Venezuela is actually supplied from brazil. other major industries that s are now depleted are the metal industries SIDOR, CVG Venalum, CVG Alcasa, the power companies Edelca( which handles the Guri dam) Corpoelec and Electricidad de Caracas all of them responsible for the energy crisis in Venezuela. And there are many other examples in raw materials for construction, agriculture and beef, poultry and lactic industries.

This has consequence on the living standards in Venezuela which has on of the highest inflation rates in the region( last year it was 25%) and I think one of the highest in the world for the poor is harder to afford food in their budget and because of the inefficiency of the social programs which the majority of them are seizing to work the only solution is to let that insult to the left that is the government of o Chavez and Castro fail

The data that you get from the cooperatives us false, in fact out of those 228,004 cooperatives 95% of them have failed, Why? Because in order for a cooperative to thrive there needs to be proper management and a goal, something this regime refuses to do. The cooperatives that have worked in Venezuela were created by the previous governments before Chavez took office yet he takes credits for their success. And lastly if you are going to provide examples get them from a reliable non-biased source that website Venezuelanalysis.com is sponsored by the government and pro Chavez organizations such as APORREA among others.

The black market is the only thing that keeps Cubans going. The state markets are empty and have few goods to sell.

The Cuban government is in deep trouble. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. The sad thing is that they are willing to bring down the entire country with them for the purpose of sticking with an ideology that has failed to feed its own people.

And please do not blame the embargo. The United States is the island's single biggest source of food imports. The embargo does not include food or medicine since 2000.

Raul already recognized that the state is headed into disaster if they cannot reign in spending and costs and stop inefficiency. At the same time they are in big trouble if millions of Cubans go into unemployment.

The regime is in a bind...

Honestly do you really think that Cuba is a place where there is equality? In every society there is inequality.
communism as Marx wrote it was a egalitarian society were every member will be equal, the "socialism" that these regime practices is very far away from equality because there is an elite group of people that run the country and live the good life the capitalist life while the rest of the society is equally miserable in the dirt yes the poor are being taken care through welfare but to really minimum humane standards and because of the failure of the economy many of the programs cannot work.
I do agree with that capitalism is not a perfect system there are injustices and it is driven by short term speculation which leads to periods of recession but is not a disease neither is socialism, but no this so called Cuban interpretation, this system is an insult to the left.

The Cuban economy is a total failure too much ideology and almost no logic. look at the sugar production industry before the Castro's regime Cuba was one of the worlds leading sugar producers and now look at it, a disaster what is keeping the Cuban state alive is the black market and the friendship with Venezuela the future of these regime is based on the future of the other and both seem to be failing.

So I guess you are for letting these people starve to death or work for .20 cents on the hour then letting their government help them out of poverty?! Nice.

Good job on the simplification idiot. Maybe If it wasn't for the government's prohibition on private business and almost all private activity and its stranglehold on the economy, these people would have an alternative to the state monopoly on employment...

I never said anything of the sort. The point of the article was to point out how the CUban government has dug itself into a very dangerous hole that it will find itself hard to get out of...

Like I said before, its damned if it does and damned if it doesn't. And to add salt to the wounds, its a situation of its own making.

If it wasn't for that state monopoly people would be without free universal healthcare.

Who says I criticize that? I think that's one of the few things I'd keep from the Revolution. Even then there are shortages of medicine and adequate equipment.

The topic is the government's excess 1 million jobs and the problem of the massive debt on the government's ability to pay foreign investors, who are leaving by the dozens because they are not being payed on time, if at all. What is the government going to do?

Like I said before, its a problem if its own making. Trying to get the state involved in everything is inefficient, no socialist centrally planned economy has ever succeeded.

If a state monopoly on healthcare is for the best then logically if every industry is under a state monopoly people would never get sick, never go hungry, never go unemployed. Why don't you get that?

Others seem to:
0 UrbanGypsy
I am and always will remain a supporter of Capitalism even though I believe in regulation, social programs, and welfare programs, universal healthcare, etc...

In that sense I'm what in Europe they would call a Social Democrat.

17 HOURS AGO

+2 spanishinquistion
UrbanGypsy:
If you support capitalism you are a true disgrace to the Left.

I have +2 and you have 0.

Wrong again.

There are plenty of people on the left who do not reject the free markets. They simply believe that there should be market oversight, regulations, and standards. My belief in social programs for the poor, healthcare, and welfare does not conflict with my support with free market.