What do you think of Castro?

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

I'm only asking this because I have seen a few posts that seem favorable to him, or that minimize his evil deeds. I frankly find it troubling that anyone would defend this thug, but what do you say?

[blm]

1. I say that sounds like a Frank Luntz question to a focus group.

I also notice alot of folks are trying to elicit far left expressions from DU while we're only a month and a half from the most important election of our lives.

Newsmax headline: Democrat supporters of John Kerry embrace Castro as hero.

The truth: Most here believe that he's not a good man, he's oppressive, but he's not all evil like the far right wants us to believe. He's had some positive results from his regime, like the fact that Cuba has a 98% literacy rate. The majority of his policies sucks.

[mitchum]

4. As always, you are very perceptive, ma'am

that's exactly what it seems like

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

11. First off,

I was just asking a question. I'm not trying to out anyone as a Castro-supporter. I've seen about six or seven posts that seems to be soft on Castro. That's seven too many. I'm no Freeper. I'm just trying to understand.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

56. You just seem to ask a lot of those...

kind of questions, Lib. :shrug:

[morgan2]

2. better than bush..

most of his countries problems stem from the us embargo.. Not the perfect leader by far, but better than a lot of people out there.

[Fovea]

3. On a scale of 0 to 10

of Dictatorial benevolence.
with 0 being Pol Pot, 1 being Hitler, 5 being Franco,
and 10 being the Dalai Lama. I rate Castro about a 4.5.

Of course, I rate Bush a 6.25, because he has not been competent enough to turn the trifecta into the fourth Reich. Better luck next term.

[Warpy]

5. I think that Castro has ruled with an unnecessarily iron fist

and I also think Cuba has been lucky to have him. Life for the average Cuban has improved greatly over the Batista years. Literacy and general health are nearly equal to those in much of the US, and they've managed it despite a 45 year embargo. However, Castro is a dictator, and has behaved like one.

What will tell us just how good he's been for that island in the long run is what happens after his death. If they're lucky, they'll get someone who will relinquish the ironfisted control of the media and move toward a more mixed economy. If they're unlucky, they'll go toward Stalinism. It all depends on how he's set up the succession, or if he's set up the succession, or if the succession is weak enough to be overthrown by the Batista Cubans in Miami.

Castro is a mixed bag. You can neither give him unqualified approval nor condemn him completely.

[randr]

6. He, for all his faults, will be a hero of western culture

in that he will be seen as the savior of the only society that held on to its' roots and was not "americanized".

[camby]

7. Castro: egomaniacal, long-winded, has-been

Yesterday's news. Tomorrow's footnote. Cuba's burden. *yawn*

[radwriter0555]

8. what evil deeds? protecting his country from corporate capitalist pigs?

oh the horror. poor things!

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

14. I was thinking more along the lines of

authoritarian rule, political repression, insane economic policies, murder, the usual dictatorial stuff, etc. Gosh, what have I gotten myself into now?

[leesa]

20. You mean like we have , fake "christian" a**hole?

[radwriter0555]

29. gosh what you describe sounds like the bush regime.. but without the

health care, education and tropical breezes.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

32. Let's say your right.

Why replace one extreme for the other?

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

40. full literacy

great live bands on every corner, mojitos flowing freely, the best ganja outside of Jamaica, free apartments for everyone...

What a hellhole.

Of course one would actually have to GO to Cuba to see what it's like. Journalists in the thirties described Stalin's USSR as an earthly paradise.

Or are you confusing Castro with Hugo Chavez, or pretty much anyone else who begs to differ from the Bushnazi/WASP mafia/world bank vision of global profits through global impoverishment?

[TrustingDog]

35. that's really the gist of his 'evildoerness' I am beginning to believe.

just cus AdminMurka hates him, makes me think he's not quite the monsterdevilsuccubus as he's been painted.

[johnfunk]

9. She makes a great convertible sofa.

Oh... hold it... you mean Fidel, not Bernadette...

[murray hill farm]

10. I think Castro is Castro

and that he is a leader of a country that is not ours to judge. I believe it is time to allow other countries to evolve as they see fit...and to end this intitlement that the usa believes it has to meddle in social and cultural and political evolution of other countries. Ours just might not be the only workable model..of how it should be..and come to think of it, ours isnt turning out to be all that workable either.

[Jokinomx]

12. Tommy Castro is one of my FAVs...

His music is AWESOME... gotta luv the blues...:-)

[pretzel4gore]

13. Cuba needed liberation....

i recall when guys (merchant sailors) buy young preteen girls for half bar soap in havana; that was in batista time, pre castro. today, cuba supplies doctors to other poor countries.
> i read a book once about 3 deputy sheriffs from florida who plotted overthrow of gov. of haiti (papa doc duvalier) with some dissident haitian soldiers... just prior to the attempt, the cubans began broadcasting news etc on local frequencies and the haitian ss tracked the signal to...the presidential palace! lol! the cubans hid the transmitter on the roof or something hahaha. btw the attempted coup failed....

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

16. Batista was a dictator. Castro is a dictator.

Show me the improvement. Seems like the new boss turned out to be just like the old boss.

[Warpy]

18. if you're a newspaperman, I'm sure you'd think that way

However, if you're a sugar cane cutter, you'd feel very differently. The truth is that he's got tremendous support among the ordinary working people in that country, and with good reason. You need to consider it from their viewpoint.

You seem awfully determined to turn him into Satan. He's neither an angel nor a devil, and what people think of him is based entirely upon their own life experience under Batista and then under Castro.

Like I said, a mixed bag.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

25. I'll admit, I'm no expert on these matters,

but it seems to me that being a dictator kind of cancels everything else out. That's just my view, but like I said, I'm no expert.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

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[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

27. For God's sake he's not a dictator.Bush is President of the United States,

elected or not. He is bound by the rule of law, whether he likes it or not.Despite his best efforts to make a havoc of the Constitution, we still have democratic recourse here. It's called the Constitution,a nd the elctoral process. Have more faith in your country, friend.

[bloom]

47. Actually Bush seems to be operating outside the law and I don't see anyone

taking him to court or holding him or his associates accountable.

On Cuba - an interesting bit in the book "American Dynasty" - showed how Bush*s uncle had been a director of several Sugar Companies prior to Castro coming to power. Rather suggested that the Bushes may have had a hand in keeping up the revenge against Castro with the embargo and all. Wasn't there some attempt during Clinton's term to lessen the embargo and that went by the wayside with Bush.

[Zorra]

52. Bu$h is a dictator. He stole an election, and the idea that we still have

democratic recourse in this country is highly debatable. Bu$h is not bound by rule of law, and he knows damn well that he is not bound by rule of law.

If Bu$h gets re-selected in November, he will turn the US into a fascist nightmare that will make Cuba look like a democratic paradise.

I no longer have any faith whatsoever in my country or its "government".

My "political" faith lies only in the people that recognize the grave threat we face from Bu$h and the neo-cons, and who will fight to keep these bloodthirsty fascist monsters from destroying the last shreds of American freedom and democracy.

They are not exactly "nazis", but they are very similar, and at least as, if not more, dangerous to the world.

[pretzel4gore]

24. difference is your kid's maybe a doctor

instead of a penny whore...
no-one says cuba's best it could be: hell the USA sent man to the moon 35 years ago, and we basically at war with cuba since overthrow of batista. do you think you could do better job then fidel?

[coalition_unwilling]

59. Unless you're an infant

Child mortality rates under Castro, even facing dire U.S. sanctions, have dramatically improved over those under Batista. Can't find a link to the stats at hand, but am sure research in the WHO will document it.

Come to think of it, illiteracy has drastically diminished under Castro compared to Batista. And, from what I've heard, racism is non-existent nowadays in Cuba.

Does that make me a Castro defender?

[CityZen-X]

15. Saddam Vs. Castro?

Why has this so called administration attacked Cuba and their evil dictator Castro!?
Inquiring minds would like to know.

[murray hill farm]

22. Is this our mission now...to overthrow govts because they have a different

political or economic philosohpy than our own? The USA has become the Giant Head..of what is ok to believe and not ok to believe. Show me somewhere...anywhere in the constitution or the preamble to the constitution or amendments to the constitution...where we have declared that to be our right or our mission. Just who in the hell do we think we are anyway..or a better question might be..just what have we become?

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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[Cheswick2.0]

31. World Class Health System?

Hardly. They have Universal healthcare which is a good thing. but as poor as they are I doubt it's world class.

[rhite5]

54. Yes, they do have a world class health system.....

and an excellent Medical School.

Many Cuban trained doctors serve poor countries in Africa and in South America. Chavez (Venezuela) recently expressed his gratitued for the Cuban doctors that have done so much to improve the health in rural areas of Venezuela. They came when Chavez became the leader of Venezuela.

Castro has even offered free medical education to any American who will agree to serve in a poor, underserved area in the U.S. for a period of years. It is the same offer he makes to other countries.

Cuba also has an excellent education system, with a literacy rate higher than ours. In the past we have had high school student groups exchange trips with Cuban student groups. I am not sure how long they stay, from two weeks to a month. It has been a real eye-opener for the U.S. students. The Cuban students have spoken to community groups here -- those who attended were impressed. We also got good coverage in our local newspapers.

I have not personally been to Cuba, but I have friends who have gone there to visit when it was allowed.

Remember, Castro led a revolution nearly 50 years ago that overthrew a terrible dictator who was in bed with American corporate interests. Our country retaliated economically with blockades and sanctions and subsidies for American sugar (to keep the world price depressed) that continue today. Cuba's economy then was almost totally dependent on sugar. What Castro accomplished then and the fact that Cuba still survives now is nothing short of a miracle.

Our government wants us to hate Castro and Socialism. Think about it.

[geek tragedy]

21. He and his regime have outlived their usefulness.

Undoubtedly has helped in social areas, but the time for authoritarianism is over.

Castro and US policy are both anachronisms.

[bluestateguy]

23. A dictator, but harmless to the United States

We should lift the outdated embargo, but continue to press for reforms and democratic elections in the country. If the CANF wants to overthrow him, they can raise a militia of Cubans to do the job. Not one drop of American blood should be shed to foment a war in Cuba.

[Cat Atomic]

26. I *don't* think of Castro. Ever wonder why the government does?

Cuba isn't a threat to the US. But Cuba is a relatively successful Latin American country that completely bucks the US "free market" system. So it's a potential ideological threat to some very wealthy interests here in the states.

It's also another potential cheap labor pool for our oh-so-patriotic manufacturers.

And that is why our government has wanted to wreck Cuba for so long.

[TX-RAT]

43. But Cuba is a relatively successful Latin American country ?

Successful at what?

[gospelized]

28. the way is see it

the time for barbarism is over. americans have seen enough blood shed this generation to last us for quite a while.

i would like to see america reach out to cuba. offer to lift the sanctions and see what he will do in return.

but any kind of american military action in cuba is not an option in my opinion.

[Malva Zebrina]

30. been there for forty years and a lot people want to go there for vacation

no threat to the US at all. It is a non issue as far as I am concerned. I have read that the literacy rate in Cuba is something like 99 percent. Huh? How could that be that Cubs has a higher literacy rate than the mighty USA?

In any event, Castro is not any threat whatsoever to me or, as far as I am concerned, to the US of American. All that we read about his "evilness" is a result of politics by disgruntled expatriot Cubans who supported someone else and to whom our flabby mouthed politicans, cater.

It has been forty years, for crying out loud--and the people, in spite of sanctions, do not have it bad at all from what I read.

Many US citizens, and businesses want to travel to Cuba, but are not allowed to do so, because in this "democracy" they are penalized if they leave this country to visit that country. Huh? When was the last time we saw citizens being denied the right to leave their country to visit another country? Sounds like Stalinist Russia to me.

All that is propaganda against Cuba seems to me to be sour grapes from those who fled who were those who had some sort of wealth taken from them by the Cuban revolution. Obviously, there is no angst in Cuba at this time. I have also read some positive things about Cuba and it's development of organic farming methods, the best in the world, and also a health care issue that does take care of it's citizens with doctors who are well trained and who do go to other places that are in need to provide their service . Maybe they are not real, real rich,doctors, and so that service is being ignored.

I do not find Cuba a real threat, or
Castro or it's system. I simply cannot find one thing about it that is threat to our country.

[HopeIsNowHere]

33. Locking up those that speak against the government is wrong

That makes Castro wrong and an evil dictator. Screw him.

[carpetbagger]

34. He's not as bad as Pinochet, or the Chinese, or the Saudis.

I find the near-state of war we've had with Castro over the last 40 years disproportionate to how we treated similar dictators in Indonesia, the Philippines, Honduras, and Egypt.

Except for the possibility of Cuba as a Soviet base of operations, which was a very real and severe threat, one we succeeded in removing, I smell a rat in our treatment of Castro. That rat is what Castro's tried to do to eliminate the banana republic economy that did no service to the people of Cuba under Bautista. It's not a bad thing to try to take back the resources of the land for the people on the land. And it's economics, not the dictatorship, not the oppression, that drives our policies.

[Hanover_Fist]

36. Cool beard.....

[Mika]

37. Castro this Castro that

Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro Castro


(((*Yawn*)))


FYI, there is more than one Cuban in Cuba.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

38. Asshole.

Thats the impression I get from what ive read.

his brother is the real deal, though.

[MsTryska]

39. I can't believe he's still alive. (nt)

[noonwitch]

41. A revolutionary who became a corrupt dictator.

As many communist revolutionaries have done, he found power too addictive once he achieved it, and abused it.

The main problem with communism is that once the revolution is over and the people have to get back to making their country work, the utopian philosophy that fired the revolutionary fever doesn't hold up to the realities of trying to run a free and equal country. When the economic theories of communism fail, the people start to get antsy. Then the newly appointed/elected leaders crack down on freedoms to keep the people in line, and you end up with a regime that locks up dissidents, stops it's citizens from travel and guns them down when they gather to protest.

Communist leaders then end up being as bad as the facist leaders that they overthrew.

[sweetheart]

42. cuba will survive him

The opportunity cost of not having castro, could have cuba as like
haiti, jamaica or puerto rico, where american economics are rife and
america's monroe doctrine to destroy opposition and wealth creation
anywhere but in a place where voters pay their bribes.

Cuba has first rate medical treatment for all its citizens. When
the US achieves this, it might have earned some right to criticize.

THe US imprisons millions who disagree about its drugs policies.
Cuba imprisons thousands who disagree politically with castro.

It strikes me that the log is in thine own eye.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

44. Compared to what? Not to us, I hope. If so we lose.

The usual "dictator" "evil" tirade. Compared to what? Castro has his faults. But, he has managed to hold his country together against the overwhelming power of the American Capitalists and their surrogates.

You rightly (or, perhaps righteously) decry Castro for his dictatorial regime that oppresses the political opposition. As if the pure and democratic United States has never done so. There is a long list of incidents when this country has used methods to crush our own internal opposition with force that would make Castro's methods seem enlightened. All the way back to Shay's rebellion in the 1780's to as recently as the mass arrests in N.Y. "Castro uses torture". Uh-huh. Of course, we never, ever, would do that. Abu-Ghraib and Guantanamo ring any bells? The School for the Americas?

Murder, assasination? How may attempts have our thugs in the CIA made on Castro's life? How many times did "evil" Castro try to invade the USA? How many times did we attempt to invade Cuba?

Beyond that, comparing a 3rd world country to the USA is naive, at best. Try comparing Cuba to the countries in the Caribbean around it. How does it compare to Haiti? The Dominican Republic? Honduras? Guatamala? The places where the wonders of capitalism have reduced the population to starvation and are controlled by death squads funded by the rich.

What do I think of Castro? A dictator no doubt. But, a dictator who is concerned about the people of his country and has taken measures to protect them from a bullying, rapacious neighbor.

[found object]

45. a hero to many people

Castro is a true lib4life.

[JVS]

46. Best Cuban ruler ever.

But is that really saying much?

[blindpig]

48. evil deeds, thug

please consider the sources of your information before you mouth propaganda. People in Cuba do not seem to hate or fear him. Why do you?

[nlik]

50. I know what you mean.

It is a great testament to the love of Castro that all those missionaries (refugees) piled onto make-shift rafts floating through shark infested waters trying to get to Florida just to spread the good news (or "the Gospel") of Castro's cuba. That's dedication!

[blindpig]

57. apparently you don't

Listen, Cuba is a poor country to a large degree because of US policy which greatly restricts it's trade options.
I suppose that the millions of Latinos from south of the border that come to the US are similar missionaries come to preach to us the wonders of democracy and free markets in such utopias as Honduras, Guatemala and Peru.
Get a grip and see the forest for the trees.
Cuba is not paradise and Castro may not be Father Christmas but I'd bet he's a better man than the worthless sack of shit squatting in the Oval Office.

[Zorra]

49. An egotistical totalitarian dictator who has put his ego above the needs

of the people he rules.

Cuba is not a "social democracy" in any way shape or form. It is a "personality cult" dictatorship.

Anyone who thinks Castro is a swell fella should spend some extended time with the regular folks in Cuba, not with Communist Party favorites.

There is a distinct hopelessness among the Cuban people, a melancholy, which has become almost intrinsic, because the average Cuban has no possibility of improving her/his lot in life. When someone has the slightest possibility of change, some hope, it is said that lose their "gorrion" which literally means "sparrow", but culturally may be described as "melancholy".

To be fair, Cubans are in general very well educated and they have a great health care system.

As a democratic Democrat/Green, the only thing I detest more than "communism" is fascism. Bu$h and Castro are exactly the same: Both are totalitarian dictators. Bu$h is a fascist dictator, and Castro is a "communist" dictator.

Bu$h will slam his fascist Hitleresque police/war state lid down on the people of the US if he is re-selected to the dictatorship in November. Within 4-8 years, the people of the US will be worse off than the people of Cuba.

[Democracy Died 2004]

51. I think of Cuba as I would

any other sovereign country. What business is it of ours? Hint Hint

[Minstrel Boy]

53. America has to recover from this unhealthy obsession.

Set aside for a sec the harm done Cuba by American policy. Think of how the Cuban question has helped twist the last 40 years of American history. Start with the role anti-Castro Cubans played in the murder of John Kennedy.

Get over it already and join the world. It'll do you good.

[porphyrian]

55. Nothing, usually. - n/t

[SSFFMMM]

58. I agree with you.

Especially with his Secret Police and all.