tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post7197683600490062542..comments2024-02-26T00:59:26.907-08:00Comments on Ana the Imp: Castro’s CroonersAnastasia F-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-78678007764681367562010-11-30T15:44:02.374-08:002010-11-30T15:44:02.374-08:00Retarius, it's a bit of a game; I'm just b...Retarius, it's a bit of a game; I'm just being provocative!Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-50839635071840555192010-11-30T02:01:57.817-08:002010-11-30T02:01:57.817-08:00I'm not sure what my hand is in this discourse...I'm not sure what my hand is in this discourse but I was attempting irony with regard to Mexico. (I'm sure there isn't any communism there!) A Google of topics such as "Poverty in Latin America" would provide plenty of material about the circumstances of Central and South American workers. Yes they're obviously looking for improvement in migrating to the US; Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich, gives a good idea of how much of it they will find.<br /><br />I don't doubt the degree of folly or cruelty demonstrated by the Castro regime and it seems highly likely to collapse during the next decade. My observation was intended to be that the subsequent fate of Cubanos at the hands of the IMF and World Bank (always merciful, always compassionate) will be heinous indeed. If you think tossing 500,000 on the scrap heap is harsh, wait till those boys get going.Retariushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09165689727557860449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-41241297855241864232010-11-29T15:40:06.540-08:002010-11-29T15:40:06.540-08:00Ah, Retarius, my dear friend, it’s not like you to...Ah, Retarius, my dear friend, it’s not like you to reveal your hand so openly!<br /><br />OK, first, let’s get the issue of the embargo out of the way. I’m opposed to this, but not for the reasons that you may suppose. It’s a huge political error on the part of the US because it has helped to sustain a siege mentality which has helped keep the Castro regime in place for sixty years. <br /><br />Yes, there are economic difficulties and one obvious way of overcoming these was to release the productive and creative potential of the people, as China has done, as Vietnam has done, places where ideology now takes second place. But not only has the Cuban government ruined a flourishing domestic agriculture sector (the country now has to import food because it cannot meet domestic demand) it also effectively destroyed its own limited initiatives in private enterprise. A failing economy, a failing ideological experiment, in other words, was propped up by doles of Venezuelan oil.<br /><br />Now half a million state employees are to be laid of <i>by April</i>. The private sector has to take up the slack. So, after months of considering the problem, the government has agreed that it will; it will do what exactly? Why, as I have said it will allow people to become self-employed dancers, clowns and button sewers. Is it a joke? Yes, on the people of Cuba. <br /><br />I’ve been there; I have contacts; I know about the frustrated lives and the ruined ambitions. <i>Socilismo o Muerte</i> - socialism or death, the slogan goes. A friend of mine, twenty-five years old, said that she would rather have death. Will the removal of the Castros bring a change for the better? Yes, I can believe it. <br /><br />As for the other places you mention –always setting Haiti to one side, a failed state before people knew what a failed state was – I can only speak anecdotally, only on the basis of my limited experience. If there is communism in Mexico, and if communism is about creating prosperity, it seems to be working there. Mexico City, Puebla and the other places I went to all seemed vibrant and reasonably wealthy. Yes, the US attracts many who want to improve their lives still further, but such is the nature of free enterprise and freedom.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-40851818156674760332010-11-29T02:21:55.550-08:002010-11-29T02:21:55.550-08:00Yes, if this keeps up, Cuba will be as badly off a...Yes, if this keeps up, Cuba will be as badly off as...where? I've never left this island so I can only guess by what others report, but I've been wondering if Mexico is better off than Cuba. If a mass exodus of citizens is proof that a place is stuffed and that Communism has failed there, does this mean that Communism has failed in Mexico? Or in Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador or any other place from which people are trying to escape to the US for the privilege of drudging for $3.00 an hour? <br /><br />Cuba is a Caribbean island nation with a narrowly-based economy. Without Soviet subsidies it is utterly at the mercy of the US trade embargo. I wonder what would happen to any other state in that region if the US decided to starve it to death. And what will happen if the Commies admit defeat and relinquish power? A change for the better? Can you believe it?Retariushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09165689727557860449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-41981429823021150652010-11-28T16:43:49.424-08:002010-11-28T16:43:49.424-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-27423117535383788692010-11-28T16:41:54.857-08:002010-11-28T16:41:54.857-08:00I've been three times and I honestly can't...I've been three times and I honestly can't remember seeing any Eastern European cars. I suppose they are just not very memorable. The American cars were all there at the time of the Castro takeover in 1959, so, yes, they are from pre-revolutionary times. I imagine the bodywork is the only original thing left. Some of them are really decrepit. It's amazing that they keep going.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-54978889878783169002010-11-28T16:34:46.710-08:002010-11-28T16:34:46.710-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-68276297568600379072010-11-28T16:33:36.006-08:002010-11-28T16:33:36.006-08:00I think they took a good bit of the sugar crop. M...I think they took a good bit of the sugar crop. Most of the cars I saw were old American classics.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-15292484555722118762010-11-28T15:50:44.915-08:002010-11-28T15:50:44.915-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.com