Cuba: Waiting for a Revolution

In reference to the comment sent to me that the people of Cuba will always be the true opinion of "facts" concerning Cuba (not propaganda), I partially agree. During the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, it wasn't difficult to find FEW citizens in El Salvador, Guatemala or Nicaragua to spit out the lies and propaganda that the US backed "Contras" or "Freedom Fighters" were trying to spread in order to destroy the credibility of the revolution. You can always find a worm (or two) in the woodwork :)

In response to a question I received as to why Castro doesn't like Americans (I assume you mean the United States). The U.S. government and CIA have a long history of perpetual attempts to destroy and undermine the Castro government by means of outrageous propaganda, severe economic embargos against Cuba and murder of cuban citizens. A perfect example of the "mafia tactics" used by the CIA regularly is the murder of the great humanitarian and leader of the Cuban people, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, in Bolivia (1967).

Why doesn't the castro group like americans. What's his beef?

Rubbish, Rightasra1n in right! This is unashamedly biased. You describe conditions in Cuba as a symptom of a failed state without recognising it was/is American foreign policy that has made life so hard for the Cubans.
And yet, Cuba has a Healthcare system that puts most western nations to shame, and highlights the US for its Culture of Greed and Survival of the fittest mentality.
You guys are full of it, and guess what.. in case you haven't noticed, the rest of us have copped on to you.
Hasta Siempre, Viva la Revolucion!

Worst piece of American-Cuban propaganda I have ever seen!
Hasta la victoria, siempre! :)

Poor piece of Capitalist biased journalism. Look back at the history of Cuba and why Fidel took his nation back from the U.S. for his people. It's great to see more heroes standing up for their people, like Evo Morales, Hugo Chavez and other South American leaders and take their countries back from foreign corporations and influence. I would expect to find a "journalistic" piece like this on every mainstream corporate news station, not on Current under the Vanguard series which is generally great. Better luck next time.

Do not mistake this shallow account for journalism. "I think I'll drop into Cuba to see what life is like." This is one of the most ignorant things I've seen in a while from an American on Cuba. The introduction alone, laden with cheap music and moments that have no meaning without context, guarantees a list of information without analysis or ever defining what Castro's "brand of communism" really is. His explanation of the monetary system is completely without merit, as it does absolutely nothing to explain the "why" of any of it. You can't just drop into Cuba to "see for yourself" whether "Cuba's love affair with Castro continues." Has Adrian Baschuk ever been to another third world country? Garbage.

PS (!)- George Orwell was a middle class social democrat. He was a socialist but he was an outspoken 'critic' of the USSR and a he was certainly a Trotskyist.
Yes, Orwell fought in the Spanish civil war against the Fascists as a Socialist! Did you know that? He was a SOCIALIST!
So no, Animal Farm is NOT a cricism of Socialism, its a opportunist attempt to criticise the USSR - a concrete attempt at socialism that Britain never had. Something Orwell knew nothing about and could not get off his middle England high horse to show solidarity with the Russian working class.
Those that rode this opportunist social democrat line, backed the fall of the USSR and return to Capitalism. Entirely backwards. Russia is in an absolute state now and the poor are worse off than ever.

Dont think for one second Orwell was not a Socialist - but he was part of the split in the left and of the British Opportunist Labour aristocracy - hence me recommending you read Lenin's Imperialism and the Split in Socialism

Solidarity and onwards,
ab

Okay opinionated few... I am Cuban American, no gusano in site. There is a spook in every corner. Any groups of more than 5 are scrutinized if they are not approved by the local communist committee. You can be arrested very easily and held with no explanation of your crime, oh wait, that happens here, Miranda where art thou? Regardless of the sanctions, the black market will always exist. The recent toilet paper shortage was nothing more than hoarding, a tale of two commies, lets say, How high are you in the party? The Class struggle exist in any government. It is the ingenuity of the Cuban people that has separated them from the rest of the world since their beginning. The soul. The desire to live on, this may be the same reason why communism flourishes, as conflict is avoided and their ingenuity is applied to go around the system. Right now the dollar economy in Cuba is probably about $100 million or more. This is a flawed system. Tourist continue to go to Cuba and feed that black market and more each day officials look the other way if their pockets get lined. The next revolution will be one of osmosis. Too many dollars to avoid. Remember the first independence? El grito de la Yara should not be forgotten, nor should the Platt amendment, allowing the US to bypass the Cuban Constitution in 1902 through intervention, somewhat similar to our Patriot Act. Now even with all those striking similarities, we as Americans can fight for our rights, we can change the process through litigation and effect the system. The Cubans are doing it via the underbelly. This reality may show the raw nature of every cuban and allow you to connect and feel the heart and soul of the cuban people, but it does not justify their plight. We may dance in their streets, sing a son, or drinking rum with locals, sneak back painting, and tell our friends wild stories of uninhibited nights, but when the whistle blows and we go back to our ivory towers and the poor cuban goes back to their modest house, holding their tongue and wishing for change. This is the truth. Is a McDonald's in every corner the answer, Ask China? They have a changing metabolism and increased obesity to thank us for. It is not about exporting democracy it is about going back to 1901 and hitting the reset button. Allow the Cuban's their constitution, formally repeal the Platt amendment as a show of Sovereign dignity and let the people find their voice. Guidance will be found by both the US and Cubans together learning lessons from each other. If the youth are to be the next revolution, let them read 1984. "He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.”
George Orwell
Good Luck, my Brethren!

I watched this piece expecting to see a better view or at least an accurate barometer of what social conditions were like in Cuba.

I have to say I was disgusted by the continuing insult to my intelligence that comprised the entire segment. Honestly, all I did was intentionally make myself upset. I should have shut it off, but I waited for the slant to right itself. It didn't.

I watch this Jorge Moreno, and I think to myself: "Aha! Here's a job opening. This guy is posing as a journalist". Current cannot possibly justify putting out this garbage and trotting it out as journalism." I willing to bet the other respected journalists on Vanguard probably privately feel the same way.

And I further blame Current. For whatever reason, the people who run and fund Current felt it necessary to make this intentional grab for web publicity. What other explanation is there? Is FOX putting that much pressure on you, Current TV?

There was little logical analysis or even debate on of the economic strangulation the United States has enforced onto the island. There was also little consideration as to why the Cuban Revolution was successful--the existing and oppressively class and race-based social order at that time. And many of the Miami Cubans are direct descendants of the beneficiaries of that oppressive system--that wasn't explored, but it is the truth.

I'm not apologizing for Castro's actions since the 1950's, but there should be further scrutiny of the real personal motivations behind Cuba's dissidents--that what makes real reportage.

"My Adidas", give me a fucking break, Jorge.

this is a weak and terrible piece of work
This so called 'journalist' is just a musician with VERY weak political understanding

WHY does Baschuk not talk about imperialism, class, welfare etc in any depth? Who is Baschuk the 'vanguard' of- the ruling class? What is he trying to achieve here?

This is an absolute liberal and disgusting shameful attempt to spread lies about the people of Cuba and their revolution.

You can CLEARLY see in the film MANY of the young people understand the cuban situation 100 times better that Baschuk. "Its not easy" they say- well of course its not EASY Baschuk you bloody idiot! You live in the US one of the most privileged and indeed imperialist RACIST societies in the world. Its your country and YOUR government that is starving and killing the people of Cuba!!!

A terrible attempt at understanding Cuba, socialism and capitalism and how these ideals and concepts shape our lives.

If I EVER see Baschuk in the UK I am going to protest outside his crappy concert with fellow working class people and expose him as an enemy of the working class.

Viva la revolucion!
Viva RAUL!
El Pueblo Unido Hamas Sera Vencido!!!

Thank you!

This guy (Mr. Adrian Baschuk) complains about shared cab fares and hot buses. In Dominican Republic & Peru (which I visited) that's how it is. Here in New York Mayor Bloomberg is initiating a shared cab fare program. HORRIBLE JOURNALISM to say the least. One sided & propagandish. Mr. Baschuk go back to waiting tables or get your money back from what ever journalism school you graduated from. I agree the worst I've also seen in VANGUARD.

To "Current" producers and Mr. Al Gore; dump this horrible journalist. I saw the piece on TV and then here. Mr. Adrian Baschuk is so bias it makes this piece sound more like a RIGHT-WING REPUBLICAN MIAMI CUBAN PROPAGANDA COMMERCIAL. Miami Cubans don't care about the life in the island. Bill Clinton tried to loosen the embargo during the 90's and Miami Cubans when on a rampage. I grew up in Dominican Republic and have a lot of respect and solidarity for our Cuban brothers. But we know that these exiles were the ones that lived like KINGS under Batista, and they want it back. During those days if you were black in Cuba you had no upward class mobility, because all the whites who now reside in Miami Florida owned EVERYTHING. Prostitute, servants and alike was your fate. No mention of the reason why Cuba is so dilapidated, " IT'S THE EMBARGO YOU SUPPORT IN MIAMI, STUPID " . Fidel Castro was a friend of the U.S. until we tried to kill him 63 o so times. Look up the term: ECONOMIC COLONIALISM OR ECONOMIC HITMAN; Fidel said " Go to hell ". Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, Manuel Zelaya (outsted - you know by who) said the same. This is the beginning of the renaissances of the American. " QUE VIVA FIDEL "

I agree with the other guys before me. This is the worst video I've ever watched.
It looks like a half an hour paid commercial against Cuba Government than a real journalism investigation report.
Just one little detail:
The “reporter” mention that the internet is so expensive in Cuba even for foreigners… so how is it possible that “the Cuban blogger” is able to post every single day? How she get the funds? Do the math. Even if she receives money from another country. How she can get online? And if She can do it… but how... interesting right?

This is not journalism. This is a subjective rant by a biased Cuban American. Emphasis on American. Life is hard and rough in Cuba, but Castro's reviolution isn't the sole cause. The American embargo, and a backward US foreign policy based on advancing the interests of corporate America are equally to blame for Cuba's current condition. For 50 years the US has hidden behind the fraud of advancing Cuban freedom, while hoping to regain the dominant economic stranglehold it had on Cuban society from the late 19th century until Castro's revolution. It may be hard to understand that a poor nation doesn't have all the consumerism and materialism of his American homeland, but he should visit some of the poorest parts of his own country. Or he should visit some of his big city hospitals to see Americans turned away at the doors because they can't afford health insurance.
Here's hoping Cuban life improves and these vibrant people can all enjoy some of the fruits of life, but without American meddling and influence. China is a prime example of a communist totalitarian regime supposedly improved by American capitalism. Just leave any of the big Chinese cities and visit the countryside. The improvements haven't trickled down. So now they have a totalitarian regime based on US capitalism where the idea of equality of opportunity has been replaced by the consumerism and dog eat dog mantra of the American lifestyle.
Pray to God that Cubans don't fall for this as well.

Let me give you a few examples of what a blockade means to me.

It is a system that suppresses their people from free traveling.
It is a system that suppresses their people from access to a free press.
It is a system that suppresses their people from their right to free association.
It is a system that suppresses their people from choosing freely whatever job they would like to do.
It is a system that suppresses their people from learning freely and imposes upon them “Communist Doctrines”
It is a system that suppresses their people from reading books that are not in compliance with their communist ideas.
It is a system that suppresses their people from choosing the housing of their choice.
It is a system that suppress their people from the Internet (I don’t mean Intranet).
It is a system that supports Apartheid by having one set of rules for their Citizens and none for foreigners.
It is a system with more than one set of currencies to favor foreigners and enslave their own.
it is a system that kills or throws in jail those who dare to dissent.

Music supervisor could get a little more creative. Garage Band Loops just don't cut it!

a statement made without knowledge of self.

Mean while, 2nd generation and 3rd generation Cubans and Americans are moving forward through Cuban coffee...

This read significantly more as an opinion piece more worthy of a 24 hours news network than a respectable act of journalism. In my recent trip to Cuba as an American filmmaker, granted a cultural visa I got to eat and travel as the Cuban's do. The cultural visa allows the visitor to utilize the same money, in fact it is easily exchanged at any bank or exchange. The voice in this piece resounds as limited Miami based perspective. The very notion that a revolution in Cuba allowing a person from Miami to come and buy back "their" home is absurd. The damage that would cause to the people this piece so clearly sympathizes for would be enormous. Any revolution that exchanges the current system for one favorable to the right wing critics of Cuba would be simply a new nightmare for Cuba's poor. While there I heard many voices both incredibly happy and simultaneously concerned about day to day conditions. It is certainly true that there is abundant criticism of the government. However, there is equally abundant criticism of Miami and the people they perceive as terrorists therein whom have repeatedly tried to destabilize their country. A new Cuban revolution would have to be a truly Cuban one, with their interests at heart, not Miami, Washington or anyone else.
On the subject of internet, it is important to note that they do have access, they can buy a card at a phone company office and access ir or access it at work. The issue is significantly more complex than this piece lets on. First and foremost it is important to note that without an infrastructure allowing for internet connectivity such as properly connected networks, fiber optics or satellite technology (as parts of Africa are doing to jump ahead of their infrastructure) there is limited ability to allow for the growth of the technology, especially outside of areas not supported by tourist dollars. As far as becoming a waiter, I wish for them to be able to be what they want as well, it is important to note though that a waiter in a tourist hotel in Cuba makes significantly more than a doctor in Cuba on tips alone.
There are some valid points in this, but even those seem prone to exaggeration, and there also seems to be no checking of sources or even an attempt at interviewing any other side of the issue. Seeking out people to speak against a government is not reporting it is telling a story you had already decided would exist.

I agree that this piece is completely biased and doesn't mention the real reason people are suffering in Cuba: The US Embargo. It has choked off the economy. What other Latin American country has full literacy and healthcare for all, including the United States!! And is a world leader in organic farming.

very keen observation mon-frere yes the U.S. embargo puts a choke hold on cuba and its ability to develope as a nation.
I'm glad there are others who acknowledge the truth about history.

Chance of the travel ban to Cuba being lifted? We shall see....it's still possible --

http://bit.ly/2HE8WM

Liv11, I'm not saying it isnt that bad, only the locals can decide that as they experience it and I am not Cuban. I was making a point that peoples suggestions that Cuba under Batista was a good time for all the people vs the Revolution is highly questionable. What people dont often address is the US's connection to the problems in Latin America.

However, not everyone today wishes to leave. Yes people should have the freedom to ask questions and express their views. Yes Cuba needs to address it's human rights records, Amnesty International has drawn attention to that. But the US with its Guantamo's and Iraq's also needs to do the same.

In the UK police keep records of people who protest peacefully and have been found by the media to bundle peaceful protesters into paddy-wagons with no reason nor rights to do so. We often live under the perception of freedoms, so long as we dont rock the boat and go to work. But if we dare question our governments' actions by protest, we often find those liberties aren't quite so welcome.

I invite you to research a little to see the history of the US, of the World Bank, and the IMF, and their approach to Latin America and the developing world. There is a seeming empirical objective that has been explored by the US over the years to maintain its economic position and power. The capitalist system protects its own, (to some extent only though - as there is much poverty in the US also), but does so at the expense of other countries.

Why do people leave their homes in South America and Africa? Largely for money, to make a better life etc. Why are their countries poor? That is a bigger question and you will find the US and other powerful nations are key figures in this equation.

Capitalism doesnt allow freedom, a truer form of democracy than we know it could allow freedom but certainly not capitalism. That is the propaganda of US corporations and investors. Capitalism often results in fewer jobs in the US, underpaid workers in Latin America, over-consumption in the US and exploitation of the environment. Foreign owned mines in Peru for instance have permitted human rights abuses, violence, (at times the death and rape of protesters), against workers protesting of below bread-line wages, dangerous conditions, and excessive working hours and weeks. There are so many examples of this type of situation unfortunately.

The US and UK offered financial and military assistance to Suharto in Indonesia, supporting his regime, a regime that killed millions, (often with British equipment), that amounted to a genocide in East Timor, over 300,000 deaths there alone. CIA reports show that Kennedy agreed to 'liquidate' the elected president of Indonesia Sukarno. Initially much of the US press feared to speak honestly of these atrocities. And who was there in 1967 to take the spoils from the coup? All the big corporate players including Rockefeller, General Motors, American Express, Siemens, Goodyear, US Steel and more. They practically told the new illegal government what they wanted and how they wanted it. 'I've never heard of a situation like this where global capital sits down with the respresentatives of a supposedly sovereign state and hammers out the condtions of their own entry into that country.' Professor Jeffrey Winters of University of Chicago.

In Chile, there was an American run coup which rid of Allende. 'The CIA forged a document purporting to reveal a leftist plot to murder Chilean military leaders'. Ralph McGehee, senior CIA operations officer in 60's.

In many ways the US was supporting the regime of Batista and hence provoked a revolution. It was no rose-tinted paradise. The US is now involved in an embargo on Cuba. Everything is connected, and hence the US cannot call itself a free country until it allows other countries their freedoms and their self determination. Capitalism does not allow foreign countries and their workers such, we see this time and again.

Wow, how many Cubans a year place themselves into makeshift rafts in the ocean and risk their lives to escape? How many people a year put themselves in imminent danger to flee the United States? If our system is so terrible and capitalistic and greedy how come so many people from so many countries risk their lives or lose their lives every year to try and get here? You don't realize how much freedom is worth until you don't have it anymore. Cuba is a beautiful country full of amazing people but it is an insult to to them and to the many that have lost their lives trying to escape insisting that it isn't "that bad" and that America isn't so much better, parsing the "pros and cons" is ridiculous. Sure free education and free healthcare sound good but that isn't the benevolence of the government; that is another game it plays to keep the levels of discontent just barely manageable and to make it seem "not that bad" to the outside. America sure isn't perfect, and capitalism isn't perfect but it's a system that allows everyone to voice their discontent and that allows it's citizens to leave if they may wish. In the words of Patrick Henry, "Give me Liberty or give me Death".

For a price, Batista handed contracts to dozens of U.S. corporations for massive construction projects, such as the Havana-Varadero highway, the Rancho Boyeros airport, train lines, the power company and a strange plan to dig a canal across Cuba.

...the timing of the Communist influence didn't start with Castro but actually in 1907 with the Independent Party of Color, when socialists banded together to try to relieve themselves from the oppression they felt from U.S. occupation after the Spanish-American War.

On March 10, 1952 - three months before the elections and almost twenty years after the ‘Revolt of the Sergeants’ - the former president, with army backing, staged a coup and seized power. Batista ousted outgoing President Carlos Prío Socarrás, cancelled the elections and assumed government as "provisional president."

Shortly after taking power by force the United States government recognized his regime.

Batista's return to power did not herald a return to progressivism. He became obsessed with gaining the acceptance of Cuba's upper classes, who had earlier denied him membership (as a mulatto) into their exclusive social clubs.

An American journalist David Detzer, who visited Havana in the 1950's, described the scene thus: “Brothels flourished. A major industry grew up around them: Government officials received bribes, policemen collected protection money. One report estimated that 11,500 of them worked their trade in Havana. Beyond the outskirts of the capital, beyond the slot machines, was one of the poorest, and most beautiful countries in the Western world.

Up until spring of 1958, the United States had supplied Batista with planes, ships, and tanks, along with the latest technology such as napalm in his battle against the insurgency. However, by March 1958, the atrocities carried out by Batista’s forces led the United States to announce it would stop selling arms to the Cuban government.

Land owners and others who benefited from the regime continued to support Batista, but his government would soon be overthrown.

Cuba is now selling off high-end property: so that man in the spot can now buy his 'dream-home'. Capitalism has hit Cuba... Fidel & Raul seem to have literally sold out. I'm not sure where their principles have gone? The end of the revolution has already happened by the looks of things. Personally I share some of their original ideals: I believe in equality for all: free education, health-care. People should now have the freedom to decide their own destiny, but should be well informed to do so... the American way of life, i.e. capitalism, I fear, will only benefit the very few, (many foreigners), while the majority of Cubans will become enslaved to this new system. Profits from their resources will go off-shore and they will become a cheap resource for labour and an opportunity for exports.

News Article NY:

Two hours from Havana, the neatly manicured Varadero tourist resort welcomes a million visitors a year. The complex hosts five-star hotels, shopping malls and even a golf course (and yes, golf is reconcilable with the revolution – a photo of a club-wielding Che is on display at the course shop). On the edge of Varadero, a 170-hectare plot will soon become the site of the Carbonera Club, a joint venture between the Cuban authorities and a British developer, Esencia. The scheme will consist of some 800 apartments and villas, priced at up to £1.15m, and marketed exclusively to foreigners. There will be a yacht marina, facilities for scuba diving and tennis, a spa and a gym.

That’s all lovely, of course, but it hardly distinguishes the place from playgrounds of the rich around the world. The Carbonera Club’s unique appeal lies elsewhere.

In 1959 Fidel Castro nationalised Cuban land and property. Since then no private homes have been built, sold or bought. But that will change, at least for foreigners, when Carbonera goes on sale in July. Esencia expects most buyers this year to be from Canada, Spain and the UK – the nations that supply the majority of tourists to Cuba. But the company’s long-term goal is to attract US buyers.

Batista opened the way for large-scale gambling in Havana, and he reorganized the Cuban state so that he and his political appointees could harvest the nation's riches. He announced that his government would match, dollar for dollar, any hotel investment over $1 million, which would include a casino license, and Lansky became the center of the entire Cuban gambling operation.

Under Batista, Cuba became profitable for American business and organized crime. Havana became the "Latin Las Vegas," a playground of choice for wealthy gamblers, and very little was said about democracy, or the rights of the average Cuban. Opposition was swiftly and violently crushed, and many began to fear the new government.

"I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country’s policies during the Batista regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further: to some extent it is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear."
– U.S. President John F. Kennedy, interview with Jean Daniel, October 24, 1963 [18]

I think it's important to remember the history behind the Cuban Revolution before glamorizing the situation pre-Fidel. Wealth pre-revolution was not shared with the everyday man, the farmers, but amongst a small select community many of whom supported a violent regime.

Yes, todays government should be judged on it's own merits but if one had to choose between Batista's violent, criminal and elitist regime and the present which provides education and health care... I know which I would choose. You will also note, that the US's role in supporting regimes including Batista's is well documented. The US has blood on its hands and should not be presented as the Measuring Stick of good governing. In fact the US helped fuel the Revolutionary support through its actions and in actions. In the words of America's own:

"The corruption of the Government, the brutality of the police, the regime's indifference to the needs of the people for education, medical care, housing, for social justice and economic justice ... is an open invitation to revolution."
– Arthur Schlesinger, when asked by the U.S. government to analyze then President Batista's Cuba [14]
ent John F. Kennedy, interview with Jean Daniel, October 24, 1963 [18]

He is a teacher.

Don't support Communist Teachers!

I am a teacher and this is so biased that i can't show it to my history class.
You even managed to make anti castro organizational leaders sound less biased then you... amazing I hope you guys revisit this story though at least for the other perspective .... all these resources and this is the best you can do?

come on, I mean the guy that dreams about buying his grandfathers house, what? so cuba has to return to capitalism, so you can privatize land, so someone rich can buy any house they want... great create poverty so you can have a house on the beach WTF....

28 October 2009

Ambassador Rice’s Remarks on U.N. Resolution on Cuba
Rice says U.N. resolution does not reflect current realities in Cuba
(begin transcript)

USUN PRESS RELEASE
October 28, 2009

AS DELIVERED

Explanation of Vote by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on the Cuba Resolution, in the General Assembly Hall, October 28, 2009

http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/October/20091029103753eaifas0.5...

COMENTARIOS,,,,,

It will take a few years to change the mentality created by the Marxist regime in which they have inoculated so much hate, distrust and lack of self steem but it could be achieved with our help, we need to reinforce the values that made us such a great nation like hard work, entrepreneourship, loyalty, faith in God, etc..
It is achievable.

I tell you folks the task ahead of these Cubans is monumental. It is going to take years but is going to get done.

Finally.....

Let me give you a few examples of what a blockade means to me.

It is a system that suppresses their people from free traveling.
It is a system that suppresses their people from access to a free press.
It is a system that suppresses their people from their right to free association.
It is a system that suppresses their people from choosing freely whatever job they would like to do.
It is a system that suppresses their people from learning freely and imposes upon them “Communist Doctrines”
It is a system that suppresses their people from reading books that are not in compliance with their communist ideas.
It is a system that suppresses their people from choosing the housing of their choice.
It is a system that suppress their people from the Internet (I don’t mean Intranet).
It is a system that supports Apartheid by having one set of rules for their Citizens and none for foreigners.
It is a system with more than one set of currencies to favor foreigners and enslave their own.
it is a system that kills or throws in jail those who dare to dissent.

Cuba Economy

Abstract:

The article below describes the Cuba economy now and its various facets. The government's role in the economy has been included. It is seen that even though Peso is the original currency of the country, people seemed to have a fascination for the dollar. This is evident from the fact that people possessing that green banknote enjoyed more preference than the rest of the population.

Role of the government in Cuba economy:

The government conducts all production means and exercises control over employment issues. The government allows very cautiously controlled scrutinized foreign investments pertaining to joint ventures in the country. The government has made a rule that a foreign company can hire workers only via the recognized agencies of the state. The state agencies receive some money but at the time of payment to the workers, they give a very meager amount of it and in worthless cuban pesos.

Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act

As per Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act, export and import between Cuba and US reached a new level in 2000 when US permitted export of medical and agricultural products. In 2004 aggregate value of agricultural goods exported from US to Cuba went up to $392 million from $1 million. This accounted for 42 percent of aggregate market activity in Cuba. In 2008 this figure went up to $718 million.

Remittances as source of dollars:

The economy of Cuba gets its dollars from remittances, which are sent by the families dwelling in the United States Of America. As per US law, remittances can be sent to Cuba. Studies suggest that Cuba receives remittances, approximately ranging between USD$800 million and USD$1 billion. As a result of the remittances, about 60 percent of the population in Cuba get accessibility to dollars. In order to get hold of the dollars, the government urges consumers to buy goods from "dollar shops". People who have access to dollars have been maintaining a standard of living, which is much higher (within poor cuban standards) than the ones who do not have access to the same.

Cuba is required to pay quite high a price for the purpose of foreign financing. In the year 1986, Cuba economy was unable to pay its international debts. As a result, most of the lending financial institutions like World Bank refused to extend assistance to the Cuba economy. Due to this, the Cuban government had to bank on loans for a short period in order to make payments for its imports.

With regard to the foreign investments, in the year 1995, a model was formulated, which stated that in a joint venture the government in Cuba is entitled to own 50 percent of the equity. The communist rulers govern issues related to property expropriation.

Tourist Apartheid:

Tourism occupies the center stage and caters to the growth of the Cuba economy. The concept of "Tourist Apartheid" is widely prevalent in Cuba. Due to this, the Cubans, who play host render more preference to the tourists (foreign), who paid in hard currency. Most benefits are extended to the foreigners much above what is extended to the local Cubans. For decades and until very recently, Cubans were prohibited to enter their own hotels and restaurants (not even invited by a foreigner). This ban was recently lifted but the daily cost of the average hotel room in Cuba is the equivalent of six or seven months of salary for the Cubans.

Import situation in Cuba

As per latest news on Cuba import sector there is an emergency requirement to bring down all levels of import in that country.

Perspectives
Cuba Before Fidel
Following World War II, Cuba's investment climate was one of the most favorable in Latin America, the author points out.

A detailed look at Cuba's economy before Fidel Castro. An economy that was semi-industrialized and showing robust growth.

BY ERIC N. BAKLANOFF

In 1958, on the eve of the Cuban Revolution, the United States was purchasing two-thirds of the island’s exports and was supplying 70 percent of its imports. Next to Brazil, Cuba was the most important Latin American source of agricultural imports of the United States. During the five-year period, 1954-1958, the United States purchased three-fourths of Cuba's tobacco and 60 percent of its sugar.

About 80 percent of the Cuban land mass was under cultivation or used for grazing in the 1950s. The top soil is exceedingly fertile, deep, rich and well-watered, and the topography favorable to widespread use of farm machinery. An absence of climatic variation, however, limits the island to the cultivation of tropical and semi-tropical crops and to livestock raising. Domestic production supplied about 80 percent of Cuba’s food consumption. (...)

Cuba was one the most capitalized nations in Latin America. The World Bank Mission observed that:

In the 161 sugar centrales, in the excellent central highway, in the extensive system of public and private railroads, in the harbor installations, in the cities, and their utilities, Cuba has the basis of exceptionally fine equipment for modern economic activity and further development.

An extensive, well-integrated system of highways provided the basis for rapid postwar advance in the island's motorized transport industry. In 1957, Cuba’s real income per capita (national income divided by population) was $378, or fourth, in Latin America. Only Venezuela, Argentina, and Uruguay ranked above Cuba and even Spain ($324) and Portugal ($212), failed to reach Cuba’s level. Except for Venezuela, Cuba probably enjoyed the highest per capita income among all countries in the wet tropical zone, extending from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn.

Other measures provide a better approximation of the degree to which real income was shared among the population. Cuba ranked third in Latin America on a per capita basis in daily calorie consumption, steel consumption, paper consumption and radios per 1,000 persons. In 1959, Cuba had one million radios and the highest ratio of television sets per 1,000 inhabitants. (...)

The level of wages in Cuban manufacturing contributed significantly to the nation’s relatively high living standards. In 1957, wages averaged $6 for an eight-hour day in manufacturing as a whole and ranged from over $4 for unskilled workers to $11 for skilled employees in Cuba's sugar mills. Real wages in Cuba were higher than any country in the Western Hemisphere, excepting the United States and Canada.

Between 1949-58, the average annual share of national income paid in workers’ remuneration (wages, fringe benefits, pensions) was 65 percent, and it showed a noticeable tendency to rise. Surprisingly by 1958, as [Carmelo Mesa-Lago notes in Revolutionary Change in Cuba, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1971], Cuba’s percentage was surpassed by only three developed Western countries: Great Britain, the United States, and Canada.

ROBUST ECONOMY

On the eve of the Cuban Revolution, the island had an essentially semi-industrialized market economy with strong orientation toward the United States— its predominant trading partner and external source of direct investment. Cuba’s relatively small population (6.5 million in 1958), its location on the threshold of the United States, the largest “common market” in the world with which it had concluded preferential agreements; its tropical climate; and specialized resource endowment—these and other factors conditioned the island’s commercial and financial ties with the United States.

Postor, it's good to hear your personal experiences. But what do you see as the solution? My concern for Cuba's fate is one that we might see in other Latin American Countries, where opening up to the US often leads to exploitation by large US and Euro corporations and at times the erosion of local cultural identity in favour of an Americanized version of. This was one of my main criticisms of this piece of journalism in that he presents i-phones and adidas as the holy grail.

It would be good to hear what you would see as the ideal?

I had strong comments against this piece, but!!!! It has stimulated the BEST comments I have EVER seen on any forum! It was still sh*tty, but... it apparently was more provocative than I expected. I still don't congratulate the maker (sorry), but the COMMENTERs kick mad a$$!

Lea aqui (haga click arriba) un interesante fragmento de este ultimo libro "EL REGRESO DEL IDIOTA"

"Proviene de Marx y de Lenin la identificación de tales culpables, pero de Freud la necesidad psicológica de descargar en otro o en otros sus amargas frustraciones"

MANUAL DEL PERFECTO IDIOTA LATINOAMERICANO

El manual del perfecto idiota latinoamericano escrito por Mario Vargas Llosa, Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, Carlos Alberto Montaner y Álvaro Vargas Llosa es un libro de estilo irónico y fuerte (como su nombre lo describe) que con base en datos y conocimientos empíricos muestra la forma de ser realmente de los latinoamericanos, somos un sinónimo de marxismo o izquierdistas, pero con unas características y particularidades propias de un “idiota”:

CARACTERISTICAS

Proviene de una familia de clase media o baja y por ende es acomplejado y
resentido

Su origen aproximadamente es de los años posteriores a la independencia de nuestro continente, con una figura de “analista político” (antiimperialista).

Recibió una educación o formación marxista.

Interpreta los acontecimientos de acuerdo a su ideología (marxista).

A medida que avanza en edad considera conveniente entonces integrarse al régimen que impera en ese momento, formando parte del poder público y sin ver contradiccion alguna con su ideologia.

Habla con otros idiotas, que son sus amigos de la actualidad (política, economía…), de nuestra pobreza por que “los países ricos nos roban”.

Pertenece a la postura “Antiyanqui” que es el odio hacia Estados Unidos

Tiene una estupida visión nacionalista o marxista de las relaciones comerciales y financieras y las entiende solo como una simple lucha entre “el imperio” y las “colonias”.

Psicológico: Producto de una malsana mezcla de admiración y rencor que hunde sus raíces en la envidia.

Es tanto el odio del idiota hacia Estados Unidos que piensa que son neuróticos, ladrones de cerebros ajenos y explotadores; aunque no es que ellos nos roben todo lo que se produce, sino que se embolsillaron los recursos esenciales y luego construyen sobre ellos su riqueza propia.

Es una persona que vive quejandose y criticando su trabajo, su gobierno (que nos da “remedios” para hundirnos cada vez más) y a su país, el cual cree que es pobre por culpa de los ricos “la pobreza de América Latina es directamente proporcional a, y causada por, la riqueza norteamericana o europea”, ideología que el Venezolano Carlos Rangel bautizó como “Tercermundismo”. Su objetivo es acusar (y si fuera posible) destruir las sociedades desarrolladas y no desarrollar las atrasadas.

Estan tan empeñados en culpar a alguien que no se preocupan por ellos mismos y por salir adelante como lo ha hecho Chile, que aplicó un modelo de liberalismo económico y la privatización de las empresas.

NOTA: Lea a continuacion (abajo) un interesante fragmento del nuevo libro "EL REGRESO DEL IDIOTA"

Bueno planteare una visión de un latinoamericano sobre la revolución cubana, primero comparto los comentarios sobre que esta es una crónica de características patéticas y cuasi panfletarias sobre la revolucion cubana, no compara cuba con países convertidos en casas de putas para los turistas del primer mundo como república dominicana. La revolución cubana significo y significa para una gran cantidad de latinoamericanos todavía algo, con los errores y horrores, algo que ustedes gringos no entienden. La dignidad. Significo para nuestros padres en los 60 y 70 un una idea por la cual luchar, significo una idea por la cual morir, fue la expresión y el espejo de países como la argentina o chile, donde esos movimientos e ideas fueran cortados de cuajo a través del horror y la muerte, promovidos pos ustedes amigos norteamericanos. En resumen su visión paternalista y bastante desenfocada sobre nuestra realidad latinoamericana es propia de su ignorancia, me imagino que para ustedes el 11 de septiembre tan solo es de los EEUU, revisen el de 1973 en Chile, las similitudes son grotescas.

There have been already good criticisms of this report. What a complete biased report. Even worse was the attitude of the reporter whom acted like he had some kind of certain superior knowledge, I would say he looked like a naïve reporter which is trying to prove the ideas that were inflicted on him throughout his life. Either he follows some of his Vanguard colleague’s approach and be neutral and just honestly wanting to find out the truth of how things are happening or he goes into some intensive studying of history and philosophy before making a opinion-based documentary.

Copied

Thanks!!!

I would question the legitimacy of newsmax, considering their history, their relations and conservative-corporate interests.

Many media organizations have interests in painting a certain picture of other countries. You only need see how the US & even UK media portrayed their attempted CIA backed coup in Venezuela.

Again, Im not saying Fidel is a saint, but I don't buy all the propaganda that comes from the US media either, media attached to vested corporate interests. Which is why it is important that media such as current, (Vanguard), remain non-biased, objective, and illustrate the full context.

What is the solution? American and EU corporate investments? You only need see other Latin American countries that chose that path, where the people work for no pay, have little to no union protection, and the profits go back to a handful of shareholders in the west and the odd government official.

Great Decisions: Critical Foreign Policy Issues
Foreign Policy Association

Cuba After Castro

Watch Video Here:
http://fora.tv/2009/02/01/Cuba_After_Castro

Castro's True Wealth.

When Forbes magazine named him among the world's richest heads of state in 2005, a furious Fidel Castro denounced it as "infamy!" "Do they think I'm some kind of Mobutu?" he raged. At the time, Forbes estimated his fortune at $550 million.

Castro can dispose of every business on his captive island in any manner he chooses. He can do the same with every one of his Cuban captives. He can just as easily rent them out as slave labor, as sell them for ransom, as jail them, as shoot them. Forbes lists only the tiny tip of the Castro-wealth iceberg.

Read "Castro's True Wealth" Here:

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/5/17/183910.shtml

US IS CUBA'S TOP FOOD SUPPLIER

Associated Press

Havana - Since 2003, one country has been the main supplier of food to Fidel Castro's Cuba: the United States.

Surprised? You have good company.

Many Americans have been brainwashed by Castro's effective propaganda machine and think their government's 45-year-old embargo blocks all trade with the communist government, but the United States is the top supplier of food and agricultural products to Cuba. In fact, many Cubans depend on rations grown in Arkansas and North Dakota for their rice and beans.

Since December 1999, governors, senators and congressmen from at least 28 U.S. states have visited Cuba, most to talk trade. They keep coming: Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman flew in Sunday with a farm delegation. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter of Idaho plans a visit next month.

Cash-only sales

Washington's sanctions choke off most trade with Cuba, but a law passed by Congress in 2000 authorized cash-only purchases of U.S. food and agricultural products and was cheered by major U.S. farm firms like Archer Daniels Midland Co. interested in the untapped Cuban market.

Cuba refused to import one grain of rice for more than a year because of a dispute over financing, but finally agreed to take advantage of the law after Hurricane Michelle in November 2001 cut into its food stocks.

Since then, Cuba has paid more than $1.5 billion for American food and agricultural products, said John Kavulich, senior policy adviser at the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council of New York.

The $340 million in exports in 2006 represented a drop of about 3 percent from 2005, which was down from nearly $392 million in 2004. Kavulich said the decline was caused mostly by generous subsidies and credits from Venezuela and China.

Also sending cows

But the U.S. remains on top. Its main exports to Cuba include chicken, wheat, corn, rice and soybeans - much of it doled out to Cubans on the government ration. The United States also sends Cuba brand-name cola, mayonnaise, hot sauce and candy bars, as well as dairy cows.

Kirby Jones, founder of the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association in Washington, said Cuba's food import company Alimport has an entire department dedicated to American purchases.

Jones was in Cuba this month with Arkansas chicken exporters, Nebraska bean growers and officials from the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas.

"Hundreds and hundreds of American executives have come down here," he said. "(Cuban officials) know how to talk to us."

An assistant to Pedro Alvarez, Alimport's chairman, said the company could not comment without authorization from Cuban press officials.

CUBA FACTS

The Castros don't pay their bills. Give them credit, and they will get billions of dollars, while the US taxpayers will get stuck with the bill.

I. CUBA: HARD CURRENCY DEBT, 2008
Creditors (Country) Debt (in US$)

Venezuela (1) $11.367 billion
Spain (2) $3.200 billion
China (3) $3.170 billion
Japan (4) $2.775 billion
Argentina (5) $1.967 billion
France (6) $1.856 billion
Romania (7) $1.236 billion
Russia (post-Soviet) (8) $1.149 billion
Iran (9) $656 million
Panama (10) $425 million
Germany (11) $411 million
Mexico (12) $400 million
Italy (13) $371 million
Brazil (14) $350 million
United Kingdom (15) $342 million
Czech Republic (17) $278 million
Belgium (18) $231 million
Netherlands (19) $149 million
Austria (20) $95 million
Canada (21) $94 million
Trinidad & Tobago (22) $30 million
Uruguay (23) $30 million
Sweden (24) $26 million
Denmark (25) $14 million
Portugal (26) $8 million
Switzerland (27) $3 million
Total $31.681 billion

II. CUBA: NON-CONVERTIBLE DEBT (2008 Est.)

Creditors (Country) Debt (in Transferable Rubles)
Russia (Soviet-era) (29) 20.848 billion
Hungary (30) 200 million
Poland (31) 70 million
Total 21.118 billion

With the cold war and the wonderful tactics it has provided, this is the horrible effects of an embargo. I'm sure the film maker was bias but he still brought the problem to light. No matter what side your on, you see the effects of ignorance. Now it's time for most of us to stop complaining and start acting. Not turn our backs, such as an embargo does.

Lord!...Pardon me Sir...but to mention FOOD...is tipical consumerism!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yoani-sanchez/two-years-in-prison-for-a_b_260558.h...

I've got to say that this is heavily subjective and neither thorough nor thoughtful journalism. Clearly the journalist has a strong position and aims to convince us to share his emotions. It may contain some truths but is missing the real truths.

If you question freedom of speech you need only look at home: in the US and UK to see how much value our freedoms are worth. You will also see how eager our so called 'democratic' governments are to suppress nations who don't play ball on the terms the US and UK dictates to them. You will also find that education and health systems fail many in our countries in very undemocratic and pro-corporate ways.

If you research even a little, by simply scratching the surface, you will see that the US has suppressed the economies and rights of people all over the world: restricting trade globally with Cuba, and through the World Banks and other agencies indebted others, forcing countries like Jamaica to accept products from the US which killed off their local industries. Look at Nicaragua and Chile and you will see the continuation of suppression by the US, of violence and the support of harsh regimes to ensure the capital interests of Americas big corporations. America supports regimes that suit its interests.

And how is it that a shot of 'adidas' is combined with the voice over of 'where the basics are affordable'? Since when is a pair of adidas an essential? *(adidas is a company linked by Oxfam to human rights violations). This is typical of someone who has had their mind fed with the idea that consumerism equates with democracy. That 'buying a dream home' is the ultimate in freedom. You know, I am happy to buy vegetables which are limited to what is available in season in the UK... I don't need to have every possible vegetable available to me at any given moment, flown over to me from all over the world, farmed by underpaid workers in Latin America, and profited by multi-nationals. I do not wish to see Cuba become a little America. Ultimately it is the Cuban people who should decide, but decide in a way that protects their rights, their trade, and their unique identity.

Fidel might not be a saint, but he is prepared to question the falsity of US diplomacy and democracy, (the economic and often military dictatorship of the US, (and UK)), and I invite you to investigate the rafter in the West's' eye before pulling the straw from Cuba's.

J

FOX NEWS

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_X6SfstKQluk/Sju4V5AMpHI/AAAAAAAAAy0/t42e9LqM4ew/s1600-...

This is not bad journalism. FOX NEWS is bad journalism!

Kennedy Talked, Khrushchev Triumphed

Kennedy embarked on a summit meeting with Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna in June 1961, a move that would be recorded as one of the more self-destructive American actions of the cold war, and one that contributed to the most dangerous crisis of the nuclear age.

For two days he was pummeled by the Soviet leader. Despite his eloquence, Kennedy was no match as a sparring partner, and offered only token resistance as Khrushchev lectured him on the hypocrisy of American foreign policy, cautioned America against supporting “old, moribund, reactionary regimes” and asserted that the United States, which had valiantly risen against the British, now stood “against other peoples following its suit.” Khrushchev used the opportunity of a face-to-face meeting to warn Kennedy that his country could not be intimidated and that it was “very unwise” for the United States to surround the Soviet Union with military bases.

American diplomats in attendance, including the ambassador to the Soviet Union, later said they were shocked that Kennedy had taken so much abuse. Paul Nitze, the assistant secretary of defense, said the meeting was “just a disaster.” Khrushchev’s aide, after the first day, said the American president seemed “very inexperienced, even immature.” Khrushchev agreed, noting that the youthful Kennedy was “too intelligent and too weak.” The Soviet leader left Vienna elated — and with a very low opinion of the leader of the free world.

Kennedy’s assessment of his own performance was no less severe. Only a few minutes after parting with Khrushchev, Kennedy, a World War II veteran, told James Reston of The New York Times that the summit meeting had been the “roughest thing in my life.” Kennedy went on: “He just beat the hell out of me. I’ve got a terrible problem if he thinks I’m inexperienced and have no guts. Until we remove those ideas we won’t get anywhere with him.”

A little more than two months later, Khrushchev gave the go-ahead to begin erecting what would become the Berlin Wall. Kennedy had resigned himself to it, telling his aides in private that “a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.” The following spring, Khrushchev made plans to “throw a hedgehog at Uncle Sam’s pants”: nuclear missiles in Cuba. And while there were many factors that led to the missile crisis, it is no exaggeration to say that the impression Khrushchev formed after the "Bay of Pigs" fiasco and later at Vienna — of Kennedy as ineffective — was among them.

If Barack Obama wants to follow in Kennedy’s footsteps, he should heed the lesson that Kennedy learned in his first year in office:

For all you Castro-loving uber-liberals, here is a lesson in history which you all seem to have forgotten, or more probably, never even been aware of. Read this if you are able to...

"Weakness on the part of the American leadership, or perception of weakness by enemies of this country, usually encourages those enemies to take daring and reckless actions. The single most important event encouraging and accelerating Soviet involvement in Cuba was the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961. The U.S. failure to act decisively against Castro gave the Soviets illusions about U.S. determination and interest in the island. The Kremlin leaders now perceived that further economic and even military involvement in Cuba would not entail any danger to the Soviet Union itself and would not seriously jeopardize U.S.-Soviet relations. This view was further reinforced by President Kennedy’s apologetic attitude concerning the Bay of Pigs invasion and his generally weak performance during his summit meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna in June of 1961.

The most important lesson is that there are anti-American leaders in the world willing to risk the destruction of their countries to fulfill their political ambitions. Castro and Khrushchev belonged to this group--the former because of his Anti-American hatred and his ambition to play a power role beyond the capabilities of his small island, and the latter because of his desire to overcome the U.S. strategic advantage and change the balance of power in the world. Both were willing to take actions that endangered their people as well as the world.

Dangerous and daring leaders, enemies of the United States, remain today in and out of power in many countries. The actions of Castro and Khrushchev in 1962 should give us pause, but little comfort. Not only are nuclear weapons still around, but more ominous chemical and biological weapons have been developed since the missile crisis. The lessons of that crisis and the danger of a difficult world are still with us."

it's always the same bias story, I really expected more from Vanguard. A spoiled little brat flashing his nike shoes and iphones, what do you have to say about environmental issues, use of resources in such a small island, are they polluting the world as much as the United States or China? If for any reason there is lack of food in Cuba is perhaps because the cities are overpopulated, or there is lack of ingenuity to exploit existing renewable resources (issues not related to a specific political agenda). I was somewhat convinced with the segment about freedom of speech, but how do you expect to find change in the Cuban government/Police if the US continues to sell such cheap anti-revolutionary propaganda.

"Adidas" is NOT EQUAL to basic life necessities, try food, health care and education instead.

This video does a good summing up of different aspects of life on the island. I visited some months ago for the first time in the decade since I left and I wish I could have taken a video like this one.

Good piece of reality.

List of Prisons in Cuba.

Click on the province of your choice below to see the list for that province. (INCLUDING THE REAL "GUANTANAMO")

http://www.cubaverdad.net/list_prisons_in_cuba.htm

NOTE: According to an article in the Miami Herald in September 2003 Cuba's jails may hold over 100,000 inmates. The same article puts the last visit of any international organization to Cuba's prisons in 1989 (International Red Cross). The UN estimated the number of prisoners in Cuba between 100,000 and 200,000 in its 1995 UNHCR Special Rapporteur's report. A figure of 100,000 or more makes Cuba the country with the most prisoners per capita in the world.

FINAL RESULTS OF OUR "CUBA EXPERTS" CONTEST

Winner of this Forum...

GRAND PRIZE:
"2 years stay in Havana" "living like a Cuban".
Special Bonus:( Let's make it -5- years.)

AND THE WINNER IS!!!

Sphr

(see WINNER'S two Posts (above)

Note: Final decision is irrevocable. Prize is not transferable to avoid harm to innocent and unsuspecting persons.

Hahaha!

Yeah, that's it... delete your comments... best thing to do.

Last post. I just want to say once again that I'm not pro-Castro. I obviously do think political oppression is real. And there is alot of other problems there. But I do know that some people are afraid of that system because it managed to did some good things we never even tried to do. And they're communists... they're bad guys. And not everything is bad in there. And it was worst before the revolution. And it's much worst in some other countries that theorically have US's support.

Cubans want freedom. Most of them want the end of the system. But overall, they don't want to become the new state of the US. Not again. Let's stop looking at the world through Conle Sam's lens. That was all my point. Being weighted.

Peace.

A list of prisons... great. So what? What are you tryin to prove with that?

Where is your analyse of those numbers? What does it mean? What's a "good" number of prisoners per capita? Non sense.

A good question is: what's the situation in the US? Totally great, non problem, yeah, right... We do have plenty of time to burn Castro about that...

Still I note that you carefully chose the topics you wanna answer to... Kinda ready with your lists coming from a site called "cubaverdad" probably pretending it's a completely netral source... Man, you're played!

Nowadays, it's not even enough to come up with numbers taken from the website of an international organisation. Some european already proved some of those where false. But if I don't trust what an "international well known organisation" tells, I can understand that you don't believe to what another serious source says. Still, some serious guys see things from another angle than you and their point of view is solid.

One could die from a simple flu in the US without help and it happens. Human rights violations happen every week in police stations in Switzerland, some cases of torture are anually reported from the prisons in Spain, etc... But you won't talk about that.

You probably won't say either that we're talking about the only country in the world with that human development index (not that far from the US one, btw) that is not pollutant. But I guess that as a good western dude, you don't care.

I guess you only see the bad in the other without seeing the bad in yourself. Keep livin like that. Much easier.

Dr.Oscar Elias Biscet- (English) -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cztdN7eELw&feature=player_embedded#

Making fun of the people how disagree with you will not turn you into the white knight of truth.

You just see what you want to see. Obviously there's alot of things going bad there. People want change and they're right. But the only thing that is sure is that they overall don't want to find themselve in the same political and social situation than us. I'd rather be poor in Cuba than in the USA. And you too. That's for sure.

Talking about prison, let's quote Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib... Dude, are u serious? Look around your little belly button, we're not doing well enough to give that many advices.

The Cuban People's View of Havana
a prison's view...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HKGbCMyB6Nw/SuUBSXm5pDI/AAAAAAAAAnI/O6QI1NYQPCM/s1600-...

As I said before.....ignorant "experts" ...but with a few "nutcases" appearing. (see above).

We should make a contest in this forum. Grand Prize
will be "1 year stay in Havana" "living like a Cuban"...I'll give my vote to one of them.

Special Bonus:( Let's make it -2- years.)

Just a precision about "americain business" that Castro closed when he took power... It was mostly casinos, brothels and so on...

Having talked with old cuban folks, they pactically all agree that Batista's government was a shame to the cuban culture. Even those how hate Castro (and yes, there's a bunch of them) hated Batista even more.

Example, that dude planed to destroy Habana Vieja (which is the old district of La Habana) to build... casinos. I guess it wasn't for the Cubans to be able to spend money there. Thanks God, Vegas saved your holidays...

Habana Vieja is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage and everyone who's been there once knows why. It sort of worth givin it a good look.

Yeah, Castro is definetly not a perfect guy, but you just cannot look at the world through your own lens and be like "that is shit" without trying to understand that other people might not be down with you on everything. And old Cuban told me that the freedom the US or anybody else could offer to him didn't worth what they obviously wanted to take from him. I wasn't that convinced but I had to respect that and I did.

That regime is just another way to look at the world and it's definetly not mine. But I can't help myself thinking of what could happen if those guys hadn't the whole world against them exept Chavez. Cuba is not a physical threat anymore... Let them do their thing without blocus and shit. Unless Castro's system is an other kind of threat...

Finaly, I'd just like to say that from what I've heard from Cuba's Cubans, the popular opinion is much more weigthed than that video is. Some have a deep hate for the revolution, some trully love it. Come on, you don't have to watch that video to know that there are problems in Cuba. There are problems in every where. I think it's time to stop pointing at other's difficulties to avoid facing our own situation. It's the world that is sick. Not only Cuba. We can discuss about the press liberty in Cuba or we can discuss about the right of a human being to refuse to have a freakin trader shittin on his face over and over again. The crisis might be on its way to finish, but they are actually planing the next one by acting the really same way they have been during the last two decades. And that's not Castro's buisiness. And yeah, it is linked.

That really was a bad piece of info. I'm disappointed.

Peace.

These young Cuban outcasts discuss what they feel is wrong with their country. Will they spark or become the next revolution in Cuba?

http://www.movieweb.com/video/HUl2uqlqRfrgoo

Chairman Anita....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xYL6Nvl3jI

A Liberal Family Saga

http://diversitylane.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/diversitylane_anita_for-blog.jp...

That will never happen here!!!!

http://scottthong.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/reverend-jeremiah-wright-obamas-racis...

A Japanese, an American and Cuban are walking on a beach and discover a majic lamp with a genie inside. When summoned, the genie grants each one a wish.

The Japanese asks to own the largest car factory in the world.

The American asks to own the largest cattle ranch in the world.

.......................The Cuban asks for everything to be taken from the other two.

The sad reality of Cuba is that people get the government they deserve. When you have a sizeable part of the miserable population supporting a despotic dictator, how can you expect anything but chaos?

Generation Y is a Blog inspired by people like me, with names that start with or contain a "Y". Born in Cuba in the '70s and '80s, marked by schools in the countryside, Russian cartoons, illegal emigration and frustration. So I invite, especially, Yanisleidi, Yoandri, Yusimí, Yuniesky and others who carry their "Y's" to read me and to write to me.

Yoani Sánchez

Graduate in Philology. Lives in Havana and combines her passion for information science with her work on the Portal Desde Cuba.

yoani.sanchez@gmail.com

Speaking my mind

http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/?p=1058

I didnt like this one.

Looked like propaganda :S

Cuba won't let blogger Yoani Sanchez leave

The story

A Cuban blogger who has criticized her government has been denied permission to travel to New York to pick up a prestigious journalism award Wednesday.

Yoani Sanchez writes a blog that gets more than 1 million hits from around the globe every month, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world last year.

So when Columbia University said it would award her the Maria Moors Cabot Prize special citation, Sanchez asked the Cuban government for permission to travel to New York this week. The government said no.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhv3rsAaTVc&feature=player_embedded

Walk in Cuba: Race & Rap

Art takes a look behind the mysterious curtain that shrouds the island nation of Cuba. This piece focuses on Racism and how Cubans use Rap to speak out about it in the communist nation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip4CC-2CfLg&feature=player_embedded

DECADENCIA (Decay) with English Subtitles/Captions/Translation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSNbNZtaOX0&feature=player_embedded

A REQUEST FOR SOLIDARITY FROM YUSNAIMI JORGE SOCA, THE WIFE OF DR. DARSI FERRER

"I am a young Cuban woman, mother of an 8 year old child who every day cries in my arms due to the absence of his father, Dr. Darsi Ferrer, my husband.

My husband is an Afro-Cuban who today is languishing in a Cuban jail, trying to survive under infrahuman conditions and suffering cruel and degrading treatment, for dedicating his efforts to fight for the civil rights of our compatriots.

Dr. Darsi Ferrer is a professional, not a criminal as he is described by the Cuban regime, he is a medical graduate, sensitive to the suffering of others and whose only crime has been that, inspired by the example of great men like Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, he has employed non-violent methods of civil disobedience to wake up the conscience of the Cuban people and to demand the respect of the fundamental freedoms and rights for all citizens of Cuba.

The racist regime that has tormented our people for the last 50 years doesn't accept the fact that he is black and that he has been leading an anti-apartheid campaign, put an end to the immoral and illegal discrimination that all Cubans are suffering in their own country, for no other reason than having been born here.

In this XXI Century, foreigners and the elite cast who are in power enjoy all the privileges, while the rest of the Cuban people are prohibited from doing things that would be considered normal in any other country, such as:

- Visiting certain tourist centers; to receive medical attention in exclusive clinics that have adequate resources available; to be free to go in and out of your country; to have free movement anywhere within Cuba; to have your own businesses to help take care of your family; to choose the type of education that we want for our children; to be able to sell what supposedly are our own properties; to have access to the Internet; to have freedom of speech; to be able to meet with friends and associates depending on our own particular interests.

On top of everything else, the State pays its workers pathetic salaries using the national currency and then sells the majority of the products in hard currency, at prices that are completely out of reach of local citizens, adding to the many other manifestations of discrimination and racism.

The Cuban government is trying to silence Darsi and stopping him from trying to help fellow Cubans, and is using its brutal force to accomplish that.

In the last few years we have been harassed, threatened, beaten by mobs under the direct control of Cuba's State Security, kidnapped and arbitrarily arrested.

Darsi was fired from the hospital where he was working as a doctor and now has been in jail since July 21, 2009.

Also, because of our work in favor of fellow Cubans, I have been beaten, arrested, suffered "actos de repudio" where dozens of aggressive individuals have terrorized us in our own home, without any concern for the trauma that they could cause our small son, a boy who was only 5 years old when his life was first threatened.

I am not asking that people ask for the liberation of my husband, we assume all the sacrifices demanded by this fight to make sure that our people can enjoy freedom, justice and democracy.

What I am asking is for all civil rights organizations to support the worthy cause that is being promoted by Dr. Darsi Ferrer, that they extend their hands to the Cuban people and that with their support and solidarity fortify our hopes for a free and democratic Cuba.

Yusnaimi Jorge Soca

Havana, Cuba

October 21, 2009

To the list of left-wing "Fellow Travelers", "Useful Idiots", and "Ignorant Experts", I will have to add, "Nutcases" and "Loonies". (see opinion above)

being in Cuba today sux, i don't think anyone can argue that. how is this "revolution" being started by today's youth in Cuba? i dodn't capture that from the video... and get a new reporter. I don't care about Jorge Moreno's family's property, i care about Cuba.

Oscar's Cuba

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrtr7gqSnPY&feature=player_embedded

Amnesty International Awesome Commercial

Watch it Here.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVtAbYpBbQ8&feature=player_embedded

Here is a good example of the distortions of the ignorant
"experts".
Cuban youth is challenging the Castro totalitarian regime with the full power of Cuba's musical cultural tradition and a brave underground music movement.

It's normal for young people to ptotest against their governments all over the world....but not in Cuba, according to the ignorant "experts".

In Cuba, ignorant expert "jpfil", wants you to beleive, young people are happy and they dance and sing, only because of, and as a result of the Castro"s communist paradise.
He gives you a very nice musical clip (without translation of the lyrics of course).

Unreal!

Read Here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorki_%C3%81guila

Take a look at a real translation of brave Cuban street undeground youth muiscians:
Watch Video and Translation Here.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sXb1Qsl0Tk&feature=player_embedded#

GORKI ARRESTED AGAIN!

Watch News Story Video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XefKIkonR6A&feature=related

CUBAN PUNK ROCKER GORKI AGUILA ON MUSIC, LIFE AND GETTING LED ZEPPELIN RECORDS IN CUBA.

Gorki Águila is blunt in his assessment of Fidel Castro's half century of revolution: "Communism is a failure. A total failure. Please, leftists of the world-improve your capitalism! Don't choose communism!" Águila, a Havana resident, wears homemade anti-government t-shirts, frequently denounces the Castro brothers as geriatric tyrants, and heads up perhaps Cuba's only explicitly political punk band, Porno Para Ricardo. And because of his stubborn belief in free speech, he is routinely arrested on charges of "social dangerousness." Tired of his anti-regime music, Cuban authorities made the rare decision to grant Águila a visa to travel abroad, perhaps hoping that he wouldn't return.

In September, Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan caught up with Águila on the Washington, D.C. leg of his American promotional tour to talk about his music, the origins of Porno Para Ricardo, and how long it takes to get Led Zeppelin records in a totalitarian society.

Watch Video Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYJzfuwjQwM&feature=player_embedded#

I have been to Cuba and felt like this was an accurate dipiction of the current state of the country and the poeple. Baised? towards who... ? It is pretty clear what the problem is, i don't really understand why people are so angry with this piece.... GOOD WORK

At the risk of his life, this young man went inside Castro's Cuba unafraid to look for the truth and is prepared to endure the scorn of miguided and ignorant "experts" whose misconceptions and ignorance are challenged by his work and would be exposed by his revelations.

Recomended reading for all misguided and ignorant "experts"...

Cuba 1952-1959: The True Story of Castro's Rise to Power

Search inside this book...

http://current.com/1u1oi4c

If you want to see what the youth are doing in Cuba, the cultural richness and the degree of freedom they enjoy check out this documentary:

http://www.havanabuzz.com

The Cuban culture on the island is very rich. Cubans have a strong sense of identity, they are nationalists, and Miami is not their focus. I'm sad that this Miami Cuban doesn't take any responsibility for the embargo that has been perpetuated by Cuban American politicians. The embargo has dramatically hurt the Cuban people, and enriched many in Miami.

To those of you that think the video was "biased", I like to think that journalism aspires to tell the truth. As a native born Cuban with family still living there, I can attest that everything in the video was absolutely true. The producer did not give a politically correct presentation- he simply told it as it is

If the truth offends your idealistic fantasy of what communist Cuba really is, then I am glad that you are reading this. You need a cold dose of reality.

Here's my take on it:
http://www.youthradio.org/news/cuba-waiting-a-revolution

What would be next?...the firing wall?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO6aH4EiQ_Q&feature=related

I felt as if I was watching the Fox network. I have removed my bookmarks for Current and Vanguard and will never visit this web site. Sorry that you have chosen the path of propaganda versus journalism.

Consumerism does not equal freedom. The journalist for this piece was extremely biased and bent on proving his point of view on how Cuba is not free because they do not have access to material possessions as "freely" as the United States. Surely, having necessities out of stock in one store in Cuba does not guarantee that every store has run out of toothbrushes. "La vida es no es facil" life is not easy for anybody anywhere. As for the young people, they are expressing themselves like every youth; they are coming into a world where yes ideas are alive and vibrant but yet the whole world is coming at them saying that capitalism, consumerism and material possessions are what equates freedom. Counter-revolution is not a revolution but a regression. One other comment the journalist said that for one younger person, "growing up was tough, so he resorted to hitting the books." He RESORTED to hitting the books, as if studying was equal to resorting to hitting up a liquor store. WTF? Liquor is cheap in the U.S. also...have you ever heard of mickeys? yeah man. look it up.

postor1,

It`s interesting that you quote postor1 Dr King in arguing against those who question the bias clearly revealed in the vanguard article.

Those of us who were critical of the article never unilaterally supported Cuba, only suggested that Cuba was responding to a situation where they were being economically exploited by the US, and that since they have rebelled it is the US that is also having a huge affect on their growth. Dr King would not have agreed with everything in Cuba but he certainly did not equate capitalism with freedom.

Quoting King`--
.And one day we must ask the question, "Why are there forty million poor people in America?" And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society...

What I'm saying to you this morning is that communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.

Ive read many of the comments and commend you all on continuing this discussion.
Some of you think that the piece was biased and I accept that but please use common sense when pondering if the US is to blame for todays Cuba.

Alot of people want to bunch Cuba in with Latin America saying "Look at Honduras etc..."
Cuba never was like some Latin American countries whom have always struggled with a history of few natural resources, lack of education and mass poverty.
Cuba had a wealth of natural resources and economically was very much up to par with the US until Castro took over.
And yes the US is has tried assasinations and embargos etc.. but that is because Castro will not come to the table on free elections, human rights and a very large list of basic rights..
So...let's think about this.... If Castro took the island by force, took all american businesses, joined our enemy at the time, almost scared the US into a Nuclear war, does not give his people freedom of expression will not go for free elections and basically just does whatever he wants at the cost of his people because he personally is not living without toothpaste.
Then why the "F" should the US be called a bully or bad guy for not giving in?
I don't understand how people don't see the the basics. Some people love Fidel for giving the US the middle finger for so many years and yes I have to admit he's got some balls but when you are playing with peoples lives it turns from balls to just evil pride.

You see I have 2 kids and if I was in a situation where I had to feed my children or get them the proper basics for hygene etc.. And the big bad wolf was telling me I had to play ball by his rules.. Guess what? My kids go first! I would find a way to play ball with out loosing my own.
Castro has 11 million kids and his attitude for last 50 years has been... let them scrape by with the money their family in the US sending them.
Castro never starved and wants it his way or the Highway... so this is where we are at..

Get it?

CUBA FACTS

The Castros don't pay their bills. They will get billions of dollars, and the US taxpayers will get stuck with the bill.
I. CUBA: HARD CURRENCY DEBT, 2008
Creditors (Country) Debt (in US$)

Venezuela (1) $11.367 billion
Spain (2) $3.200 billion
China (3) $3.170 billion
Japan (4) $2.775 billion
Argentina (5) $1.967 billion
France (6) $1.856 billion
Romania (7) $1.236 billion
Russia (post-Soviet) (8) $1.149 billion
Iran (9) $656 million
Panama (10) $425 million
Germany (11) $411 million
Mexico (12) $400 million
Italy (13) $371 million
Brazil (14) $350 million
United Kingdom (15) $342 million
Czech Republic (17) $278 million
Belgium (18) $231 million
Netherlands (19) $149 million
Austria (20) $95 million
Canada (21) $94 million
Trinidad & Tobago (22) $30 million
Uruguay (23) $30 million
Sweden (24) $26 million
Denmark (25) $14 million
Portugal (26) $8 million
Switzerland (27) $3 million
Total $31.681 billion

II. CUBA: NON-CONVERTIBLE DEBT (2008 Est.)

Creditors (Country) Debt (in Transferable Rubles)
Russia (Soviet-era) (29) 20.848 billion
Hungary (30) 200 million
Poland (31) 70 million
Total 21.118 billion

Useful Idiots?

In political jargon, the term useful idiot was used by Vladmir Lenin to describe Soviet sympathizers in western countries (America) and the attitude of the Soviet government towards them. The implication was that though the person in question naïvely thought themselves an ally of the Soviets or other Communists, they were actually held in contempt by them, and being cynically used.

The 'useful idiots' who support Fidel Castro and his deep hate for America are a greater threat than real american communists. These idiots have no sense of loyalty to their country or fellow Americans.

Had the USA put this monster out of business, like we should have 50 years ago, we wouldn't be having this conversation now.

Cuba's, Bailout !

Fidel Castro confiscated all American properties and businesses. He executed and jailed Americans and didn't want us there. During the October Missile Crisis of 1962, he wrote a personal letter to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushev, begging him to "nuke" us. Castro supported all anti-American efforts in Latin America: Tupamaros, Montoneros, FMLN guerrillas; and now is the adviser of Hugo Chavez and other anti- American crusaders. This paranoic dictator wants the U.S. taxpayers to finance his failed totalitarian regime.

The Castro brothers will pocket 5 billion dollars, if insensitive Americans go there for a good brainwash. Many will go to enjoy cuban cigars, cuban rum and to engage in the horrors of child prostitution (jineteras) promoted by the authorities. The extreme left, to reaffirm their ideological convictions and to bring back home new and fresh anti- American slogans from "el Comandante". After 50 years of communism, Cubans see the United States as a model for their future. The consequenses of this mistaken policy will destroy our image and stature. The Cubans need freedom .....not abusive tropical adventurers, communist fellow travelers or Castro siypathizers. I think it would be extremely wise if all this money, now destined for Castro, stay home to help aliviate our awful economic situation.

Cuba Missile Crisis
Khrushchev / Castro letters

http://www.cubanet.org/ref/dis/10110201.htm

I think the biggest problem is that the piece is only a half hour long. Clearly they needed more time. They mention the prior revolution often yet I still don't know the details of it. They don't say why America has a embargo on Cuba, of how that has effected it. Every two seconds I see a picture or liking of Che Guevara but no information is given to why he is such a popular figure and part of Cuban history.

I feel that all this piece did was state the obvious.
An under developed country looks like an under developed country. Yeah, I got that.
Now
Why is it under developed?
How can that be changed?
What "wrong turn" in their histroy is responsible for their current state?
Is America the reason why they are under developed?
Is it a political issues?
Social issue?
Both?
etc.

All questions that should have been asked and could have been answerd. But there was not enough time.

Like how the "Taxes" episode of Penn&Teller Bull Shit should have been, with a topic like that an hour long instead of their usual half hour.

As an informative, current events, politicaly aware, journalism show you must realize when you come across a story or issue that may take an hour or more to fully report on.

Some issues are small and can be told in the usual half hour but some can't.

If you have to make an 1-2 hour show then do it.
Because when you don't you leave your viewers, the people to whom you are suppose to be informing and educating not so informed, not so educated.

Free healthcare?

http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm

Free education?

http://www.therealcuba.com/FreeEducation.htm

Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) Speaks on Cuba on the Senate Floor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vbpJ6Ishbg&feature=player_embedded

From his grave, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. answers.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 and cannot comment directly about those who lick the bloodied boots of a dictator that has enslaved 11 million Cubans for 50 years.

But we can quote the leader of the American Civil Rights movement to show what he would have told those who proclaim to follow his principles, while doing completely the opposite of what he preached.

Here is a famous quote by Dr. King, that applies perfectly to those who support an evil dictator:

"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. ... So in order to be true to one's conscience and true to God, a righteous man has no alternative but to refuse to cooperate with an evil system." From Dr King's book "Stride Toward Freedom," Page 51.

I thought investigative journalism was about reporting an issue and fairly presenting arguements from both sides, not just to reply 'yeh, right' when someone disagrees with what you are stating.

I'm not saying I think the situation in Cuba is a good one but I can't understand why when the Cubans interviewed say they love their country its made out they are being forced to say this or it cannot be so because their country is in economic turmoil. I'm British and I don't agree with all my government's policies but I am still proud to British.

Its good to see Adrian's argument presented but I think this programming is extremely bias, totally unlike what I expect from Vanguard.

It would be interesting to hear from anybody who disagrees with the posts so far

I am also in agreement with earlier statements.

Their is no mention of why Cuba is dillapitated. Half their economy used to invovle trade with the Soviet Union, but when it fell, the US pressured now Russia to cut off trade with Cuba, causing the economy to be cut in half. Prior to the collapse of the soviet union, and since the recovery from that the Cuban economy actually has grown quite quickly. The scale of economic collapse cannont be underemphasized.

Their is two societies in Cuba, but this is a result of much pained decisions by the government to delve into tourism to save economic collapse. This has caused a huge amount of frustration even among cubans, but any comparison must be made with other countries at a similiar place in development, during this period of time. Why not compare it to other latin American countries who have pursued US policies for development?

Finally by US special relations with China it becomes obvious what the US cares about is not democracy, or human rights, but capitalism. This is not to suggest Cuba's socialism doesn't need to evolve, with more cooperative decision making in the workforce, and more market orientation rather than state planning. However if we compare the incredibly unequal Cuba before the revolution to Cuba today their has been substantial revolutionary change for the majority of people.

This was not journalism but propaganda with no reference to history or reality.

I totally agree with rightasra1n, this felt so biased, really bad journalism.

Disappointed.

Easily the worst piece of journalism that I've ever seen on Vanguard.

Please, let's look at why so many things are so scarce and/or expensive in Cuba. The embargo keeps Cuba from getting many, many essential items. Cuba isn't a producer of most things and therefor must import them. The U.S. embargo whose whole mission is to strangle Cuba makes it so that Cuba is unable to import many basic necessities.

As a journalist, why would you not ask that question? Why would you show how bad you think Cubans have it, and not ask why?

Cuba is still an underdeveloped country. You can't compare it to the U.S. or other developed nations who simply don't have the same resources, money, and power. You compare Cuba and other countries of its type. Compare it to Latin American countries, compare it to African countries, that's the only way one can understand what Cuba has and what it doesn't. This is how you understand what are its strengths and weaknesses. This is how you understand what it does well as a nation as well as what needs work. You cannot compare Honduras to the U.K., nor can you compare Tanzania to France and expect them to look anything but bad. In this same manner you cannot compare Cuba to the U.S..

The film marker (as a Cuban American) clearly went in to this film with the objective of showing a very biased view of Cuba. I really wish Adam, Laura, Mariana, or Kaj would've done this piece. Very disappointed, Vanguard.