Posted on 12/03/2017 3:24:29 PM PST by COBOL2Java
Justin Trudeau sure as heck stepped in it, hasn't he? Of course, the Canadian prime minister was not alone in praising Fidel Castro's "significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation." Here is a compilation of the usual suspects (CNN, MSNBC, NBC, etc.) fawning over the dead dictator's "legacy." And, since fish stinks from the head down, let's not forget President Obama's lionization of the Castro brothers' "accomplishments" when he visited Havana earlier this year.
Sure, our 44th president acknowledged that Cubans are pathetically poor and lack basic human rights, but then he took the sting out of his condemnation of the Cuban dictatorship by saying that the Cuban government "should be congratulated" for giving each child basic education and every person access to healthcare. I wonder if our president would perform a similar rhetorical summersault when talking about General Augusto Pinochet, whose economic policies have turned the once backward Chile into Latin America's richest country in one generation.
Looking on the bright side, at least nobody has claimed that Cuban education and healthcare are of world-beating quality. That Cubans should be literate is to be expected. All communist dictatorships taught their people how to read and then they gave them all the reading material that the government propaganda ministries have managed to print.
When it comes to healthcare, let's get a few things straight. All socialist regimes have had a two tier healthcare system—one for the senior communist party members (with excellent and motivated doctors, and western drugs and medical equipment) and one for the hoi polloi (with apathetic medical staff and shortages of, well, everything). I know this because I grew up under socialism and spoke to Cubans, whose stories are very similar to my own.
And to drive my point about healthcare and socialism home, here is a New York Times story about Venezuela's socialist healthcare entitled, "Dying infants and no medicine: inside Venezuela's failing hospitals."
As I keep telling my progressive friends, all you need to know about a country is whether foreigners are trying to get in (viz. USA) or natives are trying to get out (viz. Cuba). Incidentally, while Justin Trudeau's Canada is a beautiful place, stories like this one, "Canadian Politician Comes to U.S. for Heart Surgery," do not inspire much confidence in Canada's government-run healthcare system.
But let's turn back to Cuba and note the ultimate, almost comical, irony of the Castros' rule. Everything good that has happened under communism would, almost certainly, happen under a different social and economic system. While verified data are difficult come by and need to be cleared from the fog of Cuban propaganda, the U.S. Department of State tried to do just that, by comparing improvements in human wellbeing in Cuba between the 1950s (i.e., the last decade of the hated Batista regime) and 2000.
To wit, literacy rate in Cuba rose by 26 percent between 1950-1953 and 2000. It rose by 37 percent in Paraguay, which was run by fascist dictator Alfredo Stroessner between 1953 and 1989. It rose by 346 percent in Haiti, which is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
The food consumption in Cuba actually declined by 12 percent between 1954-1957 and 1995-1997. In Chile, it rose by 19 percent and in Mexico by 28 percent. Between 1954-1957 and 1995-1997, car ownership in Cuba declined at an annual rate of 0.1 percent. It increased at an annual rate of 16 percent in Brazil, 25 percent in Ecuador and 26 percent in Colombia.
Let us conclude with data from Human Progress and look at child mortality and life expectancy. Once again, Cuba underwhelms. Between 1963 (the first year for which we have data) and 2015, infant mortality in Cuba declined by 90 percent. It declined by 94 percent in Chile (damn you, Pinochet!) and 86 percent Latin America and the Caribbean (not too shabby, you random assortment of Latin American dictators!).
Between 1960 and 2015, life expectancy in Chile rose by 42 percent and in Latin America and the Caribbean by 34 percent. It rose in Cuba by 25 percent. If this is success, I wonder what failure looks like.
He had a Pedophile Island long before the Clintons went to one.
You must be a speed reader! You put in your post a mere 3 minutes after I posted this article!
On the other hand, perhaps you didn’t even bother to read it; you just went BOOM - right for the heading, eh?
I count myself proudly as one of those many FReepers who NEVER reads the article but just post right away! Seriously though, anyone with half a brain can see from this headline there is no point in reading any further into this bs.
My wife and I visited Havana back in July. It was a shock. The infrastructure was crumbling, dumpsters in the middle of the city were overflowing, and the people were hustling to supplement their government paid $20 a month income.
We had the run of the city. We did not have a “guide.” We did not see a police or military presence, but as a colleague at work remarked, “When there’s a snitch on every corner, you don’t need a police presence.”
My take on Havana. The Mafia ran Havana better than the communists, and the people had a lot more freedom.
So, you agree with the Canadian Prime Minister and Obama that Castro has made great accomplishments in Cuba.
Ooo Kay...
In your opinion, is my post:
A. Supportive of the article.
B. Critical of the article.
C. Critical of you for posting it.
D. A comment about Castro.
Take your time. Longer than three minutes, anyway.
Kind of slow on the uptake ain’t ya? No, the premise of the article is bullshit. Communism has been a complete failure every where it has been implemented. Guess you didn’t get that from my post, huh?
Check out the web site TheRealCuba.com
They have real pictures of health care in Cuba that were smuggled off the island.
My wife and I just returned from a short cruise out of Miami that stopped in Havana for a day. She had been there last year for ten days on a “cultural exchange” visit for professional photographers and stayed with some Cuban families and in a cheap Havana hotel. While she was there, Obama visited and the Rolling Stones played a free outdoor concert. The young Cubans really loved the Stones and referred to them as “Los Rollings”. She hired an old classic car with driver and translator for four hours and they drove us around Havana and out into the suburbs to see Hemingway’s farm and the fishing village which was the setting for “Old Man and the Sea”. I’d never been there and wanted to check it out since my father used to go on gambling junkets with his Italian buddies prior to the revolution. I’ve been in more than a few third world countries and what I experienced wasn’t unexpected. It’s a physical shit hole with Havana harbor water as dirty as Yokosuka in the ‘60’s. The streets are mostly crap and the dust is overwhelming on the roads. Cuba must be saddled with an EPA because the variety of vehicles belching fumes was extraordinary. Now what I wasn’t prepared for was the friendliness of the people. What really blew my mind was how they drove with the utmost respect for pedestrians, stray dogs and other drivers. The marvel of Cuba to me is how under control the populace is. Havana street crime is supposedly little to none. The Cubans have little tolerance for homos as I’m sure some of the poofter and dyke couples on our ship found out. As for Cuban human rights, I got a sense that not many Cubans are bothered by the deficiencies.
No, you had said: "no point in reading any further into this bs"
So the article to you is "BS".
Sorry we aren't as brilliant as you, and this article doesn't meet your high expectations. Others, however, may gain some insight into the author's writings.
You, on the other hand, of course, have no need of analysis. You have it all together.
Carry on, good master.
The bs being that anyone would think there is anything good about Castro’s Cuba But thanks for conceding the argument.
They are on the automotive cutting edge. Last Thursday, my wife and I hired a taxi with driver and young female translator. The car was a 1955 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. Rare even in it’s day. The red paint was a 25 footer. The naugahide interior looked brand new as did the carpet. When the driver started the engine, I suspected that the original motor, which would have been a V-8 probably with a four barrel and duals, was no longer in the car. Later at the first stop I asked the driver what was under the hood. Imagine my surprise when he said Hyundai— the classic four 1.8 liter designed by Toyota. He told me that they have adapter plates to mate that motor to the original transmission which felt like a Powerglide. At the low speeds the Cubans drive, the ride was quite pleasant.
I think Justin Castro is always going to exaggerate the accomplishments of his father.
Before the Creepozoid Castro, the Havana Harbor and horizon was full of beautiful sailboats of every shape and size. Now, the view is beautiful, but with no boats. The not so subtle joke is that no one is permitted a boat since “they might sail too far.”
Unless you are part of the special group, every one else is limited to $20 income per month. Most people avoid the hospitals like the plague. If, God forbid you have to go into a Cuban hospital, the families must bring all the sheets, pillows, blankets, any medications. If you want any kind of decent care, you have to pay for a good doctor.
Creepozoids All.
LOL
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