Is Cuba a Jolly Green Giant?

Cuba also sends gays & lesbians to hard labor camps, HIV/AIDS victims to "sanatoriums" where they'll be sequestered from the general public, the average Cuban is strictly prohibited from even entering the tourist resorts, prostitution has once again become state sponsored entity. Commie heaven!
As for being green, well, that ain't a hard act to accomplish considering there is minimal, if any, industrial facilities except for defunct mining & petroleum facilities away from Havana. They are ruly living the Luddite fantasy.
It is a beautiful place w/ beautiful people, but they are an oppressed people living under the threat of a crackdown for the God-awful act of critiquing their government, just ask the Mujeres en Blanco about that, but you'd better do it in private because the walls constantly have ears.
Yeah, I think we should borrow their instruction manual. Just think, no on prop 8 supporters & those seeking gay marriage would be jailed, whoever questions the Bush administration will be jailed as well & if there's any children, we'll sell them off into prostituion rings to work out of resorts along our coast.
Meanwhile, the average, pesky Santa Barbaran won't be allowed on the same beaches, restaurants or hotels as the tourists.
There's a reason why brave men who faced Che Guevarra's firing squads @ the Cabana prison yelled "VIVA CUBA LIBRE!" before they were mowed down by bullets. Someday their dream will come true.
Where is that instruction manual? :) henry

AShaw, I ain't EVEN got started yet about the Cuban "revolution's" failures!
I would just LOVE to see any of these Castro/Che loving hippycrits have to live for 1 year under the SAME conditions as the average Cuban citizen.
Once they couldn't get their soy latte or log on to a wifi network to blog, the fit would seriously hit the shan. I'd them a month or 2 before they come running home w/ their tails tucked between their legs.
The only success of the so-called revolution is the decimation of human rights & the destruction of the general beauty of that Island. If that was the goal, bravo tavarish, job done!
By the way, how do you spell thieving, lying coward?
(Here's a clue: He told his captors he was worth more to them alive than dead after promising "the people" he'd fight the capitalists until his last bullet &/or drop of blood.)
CHE :) henry

Here's what I always get a kick out of: Cuba's plight is a direct result of the U.S. Embargo. HAHAHAHA! Best joke I've EVER heard!
Fact: Cuba's plight started long before the embargo took effect, compliments of communism's entralized structure.
Fact: During the Cuban/Soviet era (1960-1989), Cuba received BILLIONS of rubles, a tradeable, acceptable currency unit. What happened to all that dough?
Fact: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the European community came in & invested MILLIONS of francs, marks, pounds, lira, then after the formation of the European Union euros in Cuba. What happened to all that dough?
Fact: Cuba's politics (socialist/communism) decry the American dollar as the root of all the world's evil. If the dollar is all that evil, why does Castro & his minions want it? By said belief, the embargo should have ZERO effect on Cuba.
It is always funny how the Castro government hates the "yankis" yet wants the "dolares" even though the dolares are a capitalistic tool, contrary to their utopian socialist dream.
Sounds like some folks want to line their pockets in the "name of the revolution" because I guess keeping a people down is hard work & needs to be properly compensated.
When my mom & me left that Island in 1967 they called us "gusanos" (worms, a derogatory term). Later, as time passed, when my mom returned to help out my grandparents & would bring medicine & dollars, the same 1's who called us gusanos now called her "una angel" (an angel). Funny how the tune changed over the yrs. :) henry

Yep. Capitalism here is working great. YEE HAW! You guys are just more spend and borrow conservatives. Or is it, we're capitalists in good times, but socialist during downturns? Let's hear it for bailing out yet another billion dollar bank.

Hey, maybe you should ask Castro for a loan from those Swiss bank accounts that converted the rubles & euros to dollars.
Look @ it this way: As it stands, here in the U.S. @ least a bailout can be provided.
Can the Cuban economy do the same? No.
Of course, when you force your countrymen to live like peasants n& have no viable industry, other than meager attempts @ agrarian "reform" (collectivization) you may not need a dollar bailout, bananas or coconuts will do just fine.
The truth to the matter is, even in our worst days, we're still a lot better off than the average Cuban.
By the way, not a conservative here, just staunchly anti-Castro from the experience, & that experience is a HELL OF A LOT MORE than any Castro-loving Americans will EVER have to endure :) henry

So my offer stands: Anyone tired of this oppressive capitalist system, please feel free to go live in Cuba for a year under the SAME conditions as the average Cuban. Any takers? Anyone? Anyone? That's what I thought :) henry

GET A ROOM ALREADY, you two!

Obviously your related yet irrelevant tangents are cause for concern, but the article does not praise the communist regime for its civil rights. It makes no reference whatsoever to following Cuba's lead in the many horrifically oppressive government installation.

The fact is that the article brings attention to an aspect of Cuban government and culture that we can learn from, and one that I would have known nothing about otherwise.

So stop your self-righteous, electronic masturbation and leave some room for legitimate comments. And leave the eco-freaks out of it. Being an environmentalist does not make you a communist hippie.
-Objective d:)

My God, help this Michael Marzolla understand what's green about a tyranical country with a crazed old man at the helm and his little evil brother crowned as ruler without elections!
And if he so much likes it, what the heck is he doing in Evil Kalifornia???
Green, yes, very green. There's no toilet paper, so butt-wiping duties are performed with recycled newspapers. If they have the face of Che and Fidel printed in butt-friendly inks, much better, since they are the architects of the misery of the Cuban people.
There's no electricity. And still, this thick skulled doofus do not ask himself where are the wind turbines in a country with a regime of winds that is more than favorable for energy production.
Very green, indeed. Ask the fishermen, whose catch was depleted by the construction of the roads that go to the tourist resorts in the keys, making the sea waters stagnant and red with deadly algae. Not only killing the fish but making the surviving marine life unfit for consumption.
Also very green is the slime in the water pipes of the public water supply. Green is also the uniform of the tyrant, the army dressed in green has taken down trees all over the place and agriculture is dead all around the country, so.... Cuba is importing SUGAR and RICE from the United States -traditionally it exported it.
In other words, the cities are in ruins, there's no public transportation, there are no sustainably-built homes, and there's nothing but poverty and misery for the population of Cuba. And green Grinch Michael still comes around and steals their Christmas with this article full of contempt, racism, arrogance, and "higher-than-thou" attitude.
Did he take a bath with water pilfered from rusty water tanks? Did he warm his water over a "green" (in paint only) kerosene stove? Did he sleep in a mattress that is 50 years old? Did he try to survive with the rationing card?
Oh, Michael, don't you realize that unreconstructed commie lickers -and likers- like yourself are the ones who sustain the legend of the AMERICANO FEO in Cuba?
I would just tell you one thing: try to meet a real Cuban, in Cuba, not an apparatchnik from the government. And also, meet his relatives here in the States. They can teach you something about been green.
It's not easy being green, specially with guys like you giving environmentalism a bad name.
I am on my way to getting my LEED certification, and you, Michael, know nothing about the people of Cuba, for whom you only are capable of showing contempt.
IDIOT.

OBJECTIVE:"GET A ROOM ALREADY, you two!"
Sorry dude, I don't run that kind of operation, happily married to a wonderful woman. Besides, prop 8 passed & that's a blow against gay rights, you know? :) henry

Michael Marzolla goes also to that so very common place of repeating the regime's parlance on "universal healthcare" and "education". Those are myths, since in Cuba, the practitioners for the program of "el medico de la familia" (or government mandated family doctors) do not even have the most common medications and remedies (Michael, don't even invoke the embargo here: Cuba trades openly with the United States and food and medicine have never been part of that so called embargo that is not) and most doctors are sent to "misiones internacionalistas" abroad, depriving the Cuban population of their services. These doctors are paid a nominal salary that they generally use to buy consumer goods for their families, the Cuban government pockets the difference (example, a Cuban doctor in Venezuela receives 50 dollars a month to survive on, and the Cuban government keeps their passport and pockets 4000 dollars a month per doctor)
The so called "education" is just a program of indoctrination, and parents do not have the most minimal saying on what the school "teaches" or "does" in the children's leisure time. But somehow the Cuban people should be content with what Mr. Mazolla would not accept for five minutes in the United States. That without discussing the quality of the education, which has become lower and lower over the years, since teachers do not want to be subject to the political pressure of their jobs, and prefer "greener" occupations, such as planting tomatoes and selling them illegally, driving gypsy cabs, or working as waiters and maids in hotels for a "green tip" in dollars.

Cuba is as green as Haiti, and Cuba only bests Haiti in economic and social indexes in the Americas. Thanks to the green dictatorship of the Castro's -are you there Michael Mazolla?- the country went from being the fourth economy of the Americas to being the penultimate economy of the continent in fifty years.
If one equates poverty and destruction with greenness, well maybe. Poor people consume less, in goods and energy, and of course their carbon foot print is neglectable. He should investigate about pesticides in Cuba. He should ask about pollution -did he see the black soot cloud over the eastern portion of Havana? and he should have taken a sample of the waters of the Almendares River or the Havana Bay. There's virtually no life in those bodies of water.
The dessecation of the Zapata swamps is just an example of the "greenness" of the grand plans penned by Castro -fortunately it failed. Another failed example was the "desbroce" or plainly put in English, the destruction of the forests -done with tanks and other heavy military equipment- in order to plant exotic species to feed the cattle, another failed experiment, since the genetic hodgepodge "engeneered" by Castro never succeeded.
Very green too was the destruction of the sugar cane industry, due to unsustainable practices implemented by the Castro regime.
Mr Mazolla has to take off those pink tinted eyeglasses and take a look to the harsh reality of Cuba. But since his trip was probably paid by his Communist host he probably didn't want to look unmannered to the tormentors of the Cuban people.
He should ask Raul Castro if they are using biodegradable bullets for those firing squad executions. I mean, if he had the balls for it.

Cuba provides:
free health care,
free education,
rationed food,
censored libraries,
restrictions on travel,
highly limited civil rights,
monitored communications,
neighborhood watch groups,
files documenting everyone’s good (or bad) behavior, and
wages of fifty cents a day.
BUT SO DOES EVERY FEDERAL PRISON IN THE USA!

I read this article yesterday with a feeling of disbelief, and came back to it today for another incredulous read. Apparently Mr. Marzolla has not spoken with any exiled Cubans about the truths behind his apparently well-managed visit to the island. Of course the Cuban government will take visitors to see the model communities along the scenic river and the sustainable farming communities so that you will go home and write glowing articles like this one, extolling the virtues of the Cuban system. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Sure, Cuba has a fascinating culture that endures despite the political situation, but let's at least try to present a balanced view of matters in this "news"paper.

The so-called universal health care system in Cuba is a well-known canard. People going into surgery have to supply their own sheets and a light bulb for the doctor to see by. Probably missed that on the tour, no? Oh, and all Cuban boys are conscripted into the army at age 13 and can't leave the island until they are old men. Girls are placed into a life of prostitution so their families can have money to buy basic necessities. For years, families have sacrificed EVERYTHING to escape Fidel's Cuba.

Try watching Andy Garcia's "The Lost City" for an exile's perspective on the Cuban Revolution. It will open your eyes to the profound social disaster that communism brought to the country.

It's fascinating how easily Mr. Marzolla and the Indy have become unwitting propagandists for the Cuban system.

Your editors are still on vacation, right???

Man, & I thought I was the only staunch anti-Che/Castroist in Santa Barbara! The wonders NEVER cease! :) henry

Hank, what makes you think "a bailout can be provided" here in the U.S. ?? We don't have any money, we have a $60 trillion debt at the government level, and individual debt is at an all time high. All the government can do is print money out of thin air, which just causes inflation and increases prices. In other words, it's only going to make things worse for people.

Colonialism generally goes in to take the land from others to extract resources. This puts people in more densely populated areas with little to survive on. A natural reaction to this process, over time, is to have a revolution in order to spread the wealth that is being created by the land that was once theirs. I'm not an advocate of socialism, I am an advocate of freedom and soveirgnty, which would give the land back to the people of each country so they would essentially be able to profit from the resources their country has. Anywho, the point is socialism is just a natural reaction to tyranny and oppression which is still practiced by U.S. and many other global corporations today.

I just had an epiphany: The reason the author of the article is so enaomred w/ Castro Cuba is simple: He gets to come back to the U.S. w/ all it's capitalistic trappings. Unlike the Cuban people, caught in the hell that only communism can inflict, he gets to come back to a decent paying job, abundant medical treatment, abundant quantity & variety of food, purchaseable items, no shortage of basic necessities & the list goes on.
Count your blessings Senor Marzolla, something the Cubans have been trying to do since that fateful day in December of 1959.
My dearly departed mom used to have a term for the communism in Cuba; "Black fascism" (no reference to race or ethnicity). What she simply meant was it was fascism w/ even less of a soul than Hitler's brand. She wasn't far off mark.
Many of you Castro-loving Americans won't understand the way exiled Cubans feel because you've had it good all your lives.
Even a homeless person in this country has it better than an upstanding, hard working citizen in Cuba.
My lovely wife, a smart & compassionate woman (yes, of liberal beliefs) could never understand my sheer hatred of the commie scum that rules that beautiful island country.
When she asked me if I would ever go back to Cuba my reply was this: "Not until that commie SOB is dead & Cuba belongs to her people. I refuse to put 1 red American penny in that dictator's pocket. The ONLY metal he'll ever get from me is from a .50 caliber Barrett w/ a Leupold scope @ 1500 or 2000 meters. Believe me, if given the opportunity, I'd take the shot!"
She could never understand my hate, until she read "Waiting for snow in Havana" & it all became clear. We went to see "The Lost City" & she noticed a tear runing down my cheek during the reading of Jose Marti's poem set to Guantanamera. Only then did she understand that something had been taken from many by a few malcontents.
Sure, Batista was a tyrant, but during his reign people still had food, basic necessities & the freedom to come or go as they pleased.
His MAIN mistake was abolishing the Cuban Constitution of 1940, only the MOST eloquently written charter in the Americas that guaranteed universal rights for all Cubans & proper treatment to Cuba's guests.
Castro, being the filthy liar that he's always been, promised to re-instate this constitution. We saw what happened next.
Then there's the communist way of perverting poet/laurate Jose Marti's writings to support the so-called "revolution" & I'm sure he is sickened in his grave by this act.
Like my mom used to say (which is what got us kicked out of Cuba): "Esto noe es una revolucion! Esto es una MIERDA!"
God rest her soul, I'll forever owe it to her for getting us out of that hell hole so many clueless Americans think is a "perfect model of socialism." :) henry

" We should all voluntarily give everything we own to the govt. . Oh nevermind , Obama I am sure will just take it " I remember no such protestation from the rightwingnuts as wealth redistribution was being engineered through tax cuts favoring the top 1 % . No such protestation heard when their handpicked V.P.s colleagues moved Halliburton H.Q . to Dubai to avoid paying taxes here while milking our treasury for $ 30 billion in no bid fleece jobbing in Iraq . Worried about your taxes ? Look in the mirror and remember who you voted for .

Loonpt:"Anywho, the point is socialism is just a natural reaction to tyranny and oppression"
I agree, but in the case of Cuba it was actually a "revolution" of malcontent intellectuals that ruined the place.
All this talk about a "worker's revololution" is what my mom referred to the "revolution" as: MIERDA!
Remember, there were 2 movements against Batista's rule: The true patriots & Castro/Che.
The true patriot movement got annihilated when they attacked the presidential palace. What a shame. These were TRUE Cuban patriots, who coincidentally wanted to reinstate the Constitution of 1940.
Castro & his goon squad let these brave men become cannon fodder so that he could ride into Havana on a tank.
Come to think of it, this is the same strategy the Russians used against the Polish underground fighters in Poland during WWII in the Katyn Forest.
"O.k. You guys attack the nazis, we'll be right behind you!" Yeah, they were right behind the Polish fighters, after they inflicted casualties on the nazis & got wiped out in the process.
As you can see, Castro is a very well-learned man is Stalinist strategy :) henry

I started reading this in amusement, awaiting the punchline to his "joke" but then I realized this buffoon is seriously believes that what he saw in Cuba is the reality of the day to day lives of the people of the island.

What he did was go to my country, enjoy a few days in the sun having fun in a select number of areas reserved for tourists and the small group of people that help Castro maintain the reign of terror that has plagued the island for 50 years and he comes back to the US to tell us how great things are in Cuba?

Give me a break; I'll tell Mr. Marzolla something, I can give him my uncle's address in Matanzas, he will gladly put him up for a year at no charge, that way he can see the reality of the Cuban "revolution" The only thing I ask in return is that he leaves his dollars at home and only take one or two changes of clothes, after all that's pretty much what Cubans own. I have to warn him, he'll go hungry, water and electricity will be scarce and he will pretty much be living in under third world country conditions.

Oh and a memo to Mr. Marzolla, the great education system in Cuba is no longer, people don't want to become teachers, they make more money driving taxi cabs collecting tips. I went to school there in the 60's, back then it was good; when I visited in 2003 I saw a lot of classrooms where kids were being taught by a television while an aide oversaw the class. Look at his pictures of the Cuban classroom, one outdated computer for all the kids? Don't forget that Cuba had the highest standard of living of all the countries in the Caribbean and of a lot of other Latin American countries before Castro and 50 years later the country is in shambles (well, not according to Mr. Marzolla.

The health system is also great, but only for tourists and the small class of privileged Cubans, the rest of the population's care is dismal, pretty much worse than that of Haiti.

I think Mr. Marzolla should definitely go back to Cuba to see how the other 98% lives.

Respectfully,

Miguel.

OK, my post has come in almost two months after the article was printed, nontheless...

A woman with whom I am casually aquainted went to Cuba about a year ago, and the thing that is significant is that she is quite left-wing in her view of life. She is, by her own description, a "tree hugger", who is pro-gay rights, pro Obama, and so forth. She is also one of the few White people I know who can actually speak Spanish. (As opposed to those who say they can but can't actually hold a conversation) In short, she won't be confused with Rush Limbaugh anytime soon.

After she came back from Cuba, she was *very* disappointed. As she put it, the people have enought to eat and they have basic needs met, but there is no freedom. She pointed out that it's a police state where government agents are everywhere looking for anyone they can find that they can turn into the authorities.

Unless this woman is a carefully contrived government plant, (and likewise, if Elvis is hanging around the local 7/11 stores) I think her experience is quite interesting.