But how much GREATER would Cuba be now - without almost 50 years of relentless US opposition...???

Question

Cuba is a tiny country, but it STILL has the best Health-Care, Literacy and Education standards in the developing world - (not to mention better than many in the developed West TOO...!)

And all achieved DESPITE the USA's relentless hostility and crippling sanctions aimed at its distabilization - INCLUDING Washington's repeated attempts to assassinate Cuba's magnificent leader, the great Fidel Castro...!!!

Naturally, Cuba is materially impoverished - but in almost every way that counts it is a shining beacon to the rest of the world and a marvellous example of how to defy the USA's Evil Empire...

"crusinthru" - and others...

It never ceases to amaze me how brainwashed so many Americans are. They don't even know what trouble the US has caused Cuba. No wonder you say "I never understood why we kept sanctions against Cuba" - well, dumbkopf - it was to keep Cuba down - that's why.

Oh, and don't go running away with the idea that Cuba was hit by US sanctions ALONE - the evil of Washington is that many many other countries all over the world have also refused to deal with it because they dare not cross US opposition.

In the last 20 years the UK alone has cancelled hundreds of trade deals with Havana - JUST BECAUSE "The Land of The Free" ORDERED IT TO...!!!

Answer 1

Dropping sanctions on Castro's Cuba would say that we condone this murderous tyrant. The question is not only the biggest crock of ignorant manure I've heard yet, here, but it is 2-faced. You say that our sanctions have crippled Cuba, but want what the "Evil Empire" has to offer. The health care, literacy and educational standards suck, the poverty is abysmal, but...okay...that's not really fair; they are a shining beacon compared to Haiti. That says a lot, eh? Castro is one of the world's wealthiest men, while his people rely on care packages for basic things like aspirin, from their more fortunate relatives who made a home in the U.S..
Here's my question to the author of this maggot-infested question: "What can be so great about a country that convinces people that it would be better for them to get in an over-loaded dinghy and let the currents sweep them away to anywhere but there?"
You're not fooling anybody producing drivel like this...

Good morning, Chester...and which part, specifically, were you referring to...?

Answer 2

Humm it's interesting that you blame the United States for Cuba's economy. When they trade with quite a few other nations such as China and Russia and India. No their poverty comes from an oppressive government not from us. Communism has never worked in the long run as a form of government and never will. But I have never understood why the U.S. has kept the sanctions against them for so long. Castro is neither a hero nor great it is a fact that he has murdered many of his countrmen and kept them in poverty by poor governing. But I don't see him as a threat to us either. I have always wanted to go there and smoke a big fat cuban cigar and I have heard that they make the best brandy in the world. Maybe the next president will make it so I can do those things.

Answer 3

Having seen and experienced the darker side of Cuba, I think that "shining beacon" is at best a sputtering candle. Doctors are paid about 40 $us a month. The islands infrastructure is in ruins, especially in areas away from the tourist compounds, yet last year Castro spent several hundred thousand on a flag pole display in downtown Havanna for no other reason than to irritate the Americans. It seemed to me a childish waste of effort. The average Cuban is afraid to say the name Castro out in public, they refer to him as "the brother" or by gesturing a beard. Disrespecting Castro to the wrong person (police, security could land you in prison for 3 1/2 years. I could go on and on. I am no freind of the US, and before my "Cuban Experience" I naievly believed Cuba had been wronged and was actually a nice place to visit.

I was wrong. Illegal siezure of passports, a month of detention with out charges, extortion of funds to secure our release. All for the misfortune of being shipwrecked off the coast of of Cuba, after the Cuban authorities assured us help would come. They sat and watched on the beach as we fought for our lives in shark infested waters, and with a great amount of luck managed to get to the beach on our own. A Cuban naval base was only three miles away, and they knew of our plight for 5 hours prior to our sinking.

A shining beacon, hardly. Much more like modern pirates.

ps. I forgot to mention another Canadian who was in trouble the same time we were. His crime was bringing unauthorised medical supplies for a clinic in Havana which he was familiar with. This was a half million dollar xray unit and other basic medical supplies. This was a donation. The US embargo did not prevent this equipment from serving the Cuban people, it was Castro's gov't who did that. The material was siezed as was his yacht.

Answer 4

It is very possible you have a valid point here especially if you look back in our early years as we went to war with Natives among others. We basically have developed to where we are now by force. However, I wonder if we would be able to have this free flowing discussion if it hadn't been that way? We are a waring people. If you don't think so ask yourself why we spend so much of our country's budget on defense. But once again, I'm not sure I would want it any different. Just a thought.

Answer 5

I have then answer as to why the US have kept sanctions against Cuba for so long... Both republicans and democrats know that without the Cuban vote they can't win the state of Florida which has a lot electoral votes, that is why Cuban have so much political power, it is not the US government. Also, the Cuban government has not tried to improve relations with the US because it gives then the perfect excuse as to why their economy is a total disaster; "just blame it on the US" perfect excuse. And then they have people like you, blaming the US instead of the Cuban regime, which by the way violates every single human right known to man.
Education and Medicine in Cuba are a total myth, I studied engineering in Cuba and had to work picking up oranges and tomatoes, nobody gave anything for free I HAD TO PAY FOR IT WITH SLAVE LABOR. yes it was forced labor. If a local needs a medicine it needs to be sent to him by his relatives in Miami. On the other hand the Cuban government exports almost all medicines it produces to generate cash. And all good hospital care is for foreigners, not for locals. Locals are even forbidden to stay in hotels for foreigners. Even employees of these hotels are forbidden to establish a relationship of any kind with these tourists!
Cubans do not have any rights, they do not even have the right to travel outside their own country. And Cubans living outside Cuba need to request a Visa, to travel to their own country.
And I can go and on and on... But let me just tell you one last thing... Cubans are not brainless morons, don't wish for them what you don't wish for your own country. Don't say... those poor Cubans have education and health care, and who cares of they are not free, they would just be like any other country in Latin America... Before Castro Cuba excelled in everything among all the other countries in Latin America. Cubans are not pets that need and owner to take care of them.

Answer 6

What a fool you are! Ask any Cuban who had his or her family executed and their assets stolen by Castro and his gay lover Che, what they think about the US. I don't see boatloads of American refugees shipping off to Cuba, despite your portrayal of it as God's gift to humanity. Have you ever been there or even known any real Cubans. They call him "hurricane Castro" because of the devastation that he caused. Truly you are a fool!!!

Answer 7

How much greater would Cuba be if it's citizens weren't scared shitless by that ruthless dictator Fidel Castro?

Answer 8

Cuba used to blossom and it will again. It is a jewel in the islands of the Gulf, and as soon as The US decides to stop its insane policy towards her, with trade and tourism alone she would make a tremendous economic comeback.

Answer 9

Oh, please. That's is such a lame excuse. Don't blame Cuba's abject poverty on the US. We are the ONLY country that has imposed economic sanctions on it. It can...and does...sell to everyone else in the world! It's impoverished because it is a communist dictatorship. Nothing more and nothing less.

Answer 10

Ridge50,

I'm no lefty but i have spent time in Cuba and can tell you that although Cuba has its fair share of problems, nearly all of what you have just wrote is complete B0ll0cks!

Sorry but you need find new (or at least non-fictional) sources of information!