Debunking ‘Fidel Castro’s mark on the world’
No one can deny that the corrupt, undemocratic, and repressive Fulgencio Batista regime needed to be replaced by whatever means necessary, but this could never justify its replacement by an even more authoritarian communist regime in 1959.{{more}}
There is no space here for a detailed discussion of all sycophantic misconceptions and obfuscations in Mr Browneâs essay, so a point-form outline must suffice.
1. Linking the Cuban and Haitian revolutions and terming them the “two greatest revolutionary episodes in the Americasâ ignores the greatest revolution of all â the creation of the United States of America as a beacon of freedom, democracy, and justice in the world in 1783. Conversely, it is easy to show that both Cuba and Haiti â the richest countries in the Southern Hemisphere during their heydays â are worse off today, socially, politically, and economically, because of their violent revolutions that ended in 1959 and 1804, respectively, the easiest proof being their comparison to similar countries in the Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico (in the case of Cuba) and Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Saint Martin (in the case of Haiti) that continue to be voluntarily and democratically tied to their former colonial masters, yet whose people are better off in every respect to the nominally independent, but economically impoverished, and politically corrupt nations of Cuba and Haiti.
2. How can Mr Browne say that Castro, “fought for freedom, genuine independence, equality, social justiceâ when hundreds, if not thousands, of Batista supporters were lined up and shot by firing squads, often without even the benefit of a kangaroo court, when Castro quickly reneged on his promise to hold fair and free elections, when the private property of hard-working Cubans was arbitrarily seized by a rapacious state without compensation, when political parties were banned, when peaceful opposition to the regime continues to mean an often lengthy prison sentence, when there is no freedom of media expression (and where I would be imprisoned for writing this essay), when there is such a sharp contrast between the extravagant lifestyle of the party elite and the poverty of the downtrodden masses, and when gross bureaucratic mismanagement and incompetence meant that Cubaâs economy would have soon imploded without dependence on aid from and subservience to the former Soviet Union?
3. “The fact that Fidel Castro survived 50 years of assassination plots against his life, numerous attempts to overthrow his governmentâ is simply a result of the reluctance of the United States to mount a full-scale invasion and occupation of Cuba, nothing more, nothing less. If this had occurred instead of the poorly planned and clumsily orchestrated 1961 Bay of Pigs assault, the government would have fallen in less than a day or two, as was the case when the Americans liberated the people of Grenada after a Marxist power struggle saw the assassination of Maurice Bishop in 1983. In the world of realpolitik, it has simply been in Americaâs interest to keep Cuba on a short leash of heavy manners (i.e., a trade and diplomatic embargo).
4. As for the embargo itself, Mr Browne, like countless other “useful idiotsâ for the Cuban regime, carefully forgets to mention that it was a direct and legitimate reaction to the illegal and immoral seizure of lawfully obtained and owned American property on the island â a claim that Cuba has never denied â that today is valued at over $US7 billion.
5. As for helping, “to break the back of apartheid by an intervention on the African continent,â a diplomatically-illegal imperialistic act, if there ever was one, despite its altruistic motives, I note again the reluctance of the United States to physically break the back of the oppressive communist system in Cuba, a feat that would have truly liberated its people decades ago.
6. The “abolition of racismâ in Cuba is a myth that Mr Browne shamelessly repeats. Although most Cubans are mulatto or black, the ruling elite is mainly a white gerontocracy. One survey showed that white Cubans believe that blacks are “less intelligent than whitesâ (58 per cent) and “devoid of decencyâ (69 per cent). Researchers sent to Cuba by the European Union, found that racism was systemic and institutionalized. Black people are routinely excluded from positions in tourism-related jobs, where they could earn gratuities in hard currencies to supplement their meagre earnings. The EU study also found that black people receive poorer housing than non-blacks, are generally excluded from managerial or administrative positions, and are five times more likely to be imprisoned than non-blacks. Blacks also complain of suffering the longest health care waits. Carlos Moore, who has written extensively on the issue, says that “there is an unstated threat: blacks in Cuba know that whenever you raise race in Cuba, you go to jail. Therefore, the struggle in Cuba is different. There cannot be a civil rights movement. You will have instantly 10,000 black people dead.â As for women, they are barely represented in the highest ranks of government.
7. Mr Browneâs claims that, “there is no hunger, homelessness, unemployment, begging on the streets, drug addiction, drug trafficking or high crime rates in Cubaâ are also myths, as my own visit to the island some years ago substantiated. To be sure, everyone has a $US20 a month government controlled job; all non-elites share the same daily diet of beans and rice; and the common people live in old and dilapidated hovels. But on the streets of Havana, night and day, I was offered marijuana when I inquired about its availability; children begged me for candy or a pencil; and beautiful English-speaking hookers asked me if I wanted a nice time. Indeed, sex tourism â including the wicked exploitation of young children â has continued unabated, despite the revolution.
8. As for liberating, “his people from the bondage of ignorance and the scourge of diseases,â how can a people be truly free if they canât vote out a government they no longer want, canât form an opposition political party, have restricted access to the Internet, and canât freely migrate to another country? And how can people be free from the “scourge of diseasesâ when Ââ unlike the privileged facilities available to high ranking Communist Party officials, visiting Caribbean diplomats and politicians, and medical tourists from around the globe â the unsanitary public hospitals are falling apart, ambulances are in short supply, equipment is scarce or archaic, toilet facilities are in disrepair, toilet paper is nowhere to be found, complex medical treatment is given by interns, the beds have no linen, orderlies are nowhere to be seen, and visiting families, “⦠have to bring everything with them, because the hospital provides nothing. Pillows, sheets, medicine: everythingâ? (https://panampost.com/belen-marty/2015/10/06/inside-the-cuban-hospitals-that-castro-doesnt-want-tourists-to-see/).
Sounds a lot like our very own Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, which may be why Mr Browne loves Cubaâs communist system so much.
C ben-David
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