[Luis Gonzalez]

The issues were political in nature Willia.

They did it by using the same tactic that your hero Karl Marx used...they lied.

They promised to overthrow Batista, restore the constitution, and set up free elections.

It had nothing to do with the economy.

Once they seized power, they grabbed all the guns, "nationalized" industry, then outlawed private property, private enterprise, and religion.

Just like your hero Karl Marx would have wanted them to.

Willie, Marx said our system would lead to our eventual downfall, and the our take over by his superior system.

Where is Marx's communist Utopia now Willie?

[Willie Green]

The issues were political in nature Willia.
They promised to overthrow Batista, restore the constitution, and set up free elections.

Why would the Cuban peasants consider these to be important issues if they weren't already severely discontent with their economic situation?

"In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens and to give it to the other."

-- Voltaire - "Philosophical Dictionary" (1764)

[CobaltBlue]

Roger that about Batista. Cuba, like many another Latin American country, has lurched from "strong man" to "strong man." None of whom delivered on his promises.

I find it incomprehensible. I love the relatively neat and orderly processes of law and constitutions.

Maybe it has something to do with literacy? If you can't read, you get taken advantage of? But I think Cuba's literacy rate is not low, so maybe that's not it.

It's been rather a long time since I interacted with Latin American students but my recollection was that they tended to believe a lot of myths about capitalism. We have a lot of the tin-foil, black helicopter types here in the US as well, but when I was in college it seemed to me that this was more pronounced in Latin Americans. Then again, I've discovered that Russians and Eastern Europeans find Larouche fascinating, they think maybe finally they are hearing the truth about Americans.