Reply #90: OK, I am new to this board. But I am guessing responding to one-liners is pointless?

[Ash_F]

The Jewish groups already have internet btw. He was probably planing to give it to someone within the group without their sanction.

I think if someone cared enough about big issues like this, they should take the time study the history of the region past to present as well the current political system/climate. So that they may have a serious discussion about what is happening. I doubt Castro has had anything to do with this case. There is more to Cuban politics than that.

I am against political systems that are dominated by one party(even two), but I recognize why Cuba came to that. The communist party became so big because of the overwhelming popular disdain for Batista regime. Which was a true minority group that only held onto power through force of arms. If you think it was the other way around you need to do some reading.

Cuban was essentially owned economically, politically and militarily by a combination of American and Cuban elites, ever since the US won the territory from Spain in the Spanish-American war. As the FDR era came to maturity, Americans were experiencing upward economic and social mobility through the 40s and early 50s. The Cubans looked to this and sought to emulate(as did most of the world). They started to unionize and liberalize, and demand fair representation. This threatened the wealth and land that the Cuban/American elites had held for the 50 years after the war. So they responded with violence, killing striking laborers, students, community organizers and rival political leaders. All people who were not even communist yet. With weapons made in America. With American money to keep soldiers loyal to them. With such blatant inhumanity that even the priests united with the communists, who were vocally anti-religion, for a time. And so the revoltion kicked off. The Communist party came to power and the Cuban government took more the form of the Soviet-Marxist model than that of the American-FDR model(which was what it was originally trending toward). The Average American did not know what was going on in Cuba back then, the wealthy were making the decisions. The Average American does not know this history either. But average Cubans do and there is a lot bitterness, resentment and anger towards the US about it.

That anger is why Gross is getting the book thrown at him. It does not have anything to do with Castro or his "blueprint". Maybe if the US took the right side back then, things would be different. I am sure things would be better if they take the right steps. But it will not happen if the American public is going to sit on the sidelines while rich people with money involved in the situation make all of the decisions. That is way it has been for the past 100 years between the US and Cuba. Political parties and named-ideologies have come and gone but the rich/poor dynamic has always been there. I do not condone what is happening to Mr. Gross or the tight control of internet access, I can not denounce that enough. But I understand why things are this way. America has not done enough to differentiate itself from the Batistas and denounce its past actions. Its politicians certainly have not. Most citizens have not. Even half the posters on this Democratic board have not. Not because they are bad people or do not care about others plight, but because they do not know and are not involved. People need to get involved to fix things.


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There will always be rich and poor but what is important is that people have representation. This was/is just too much^^^