60 minutes will be airing an interview with Elian this weekend. http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/09/29/elian.gonzalez.ap/index.html .
Of course you do. He is a very smart kid. Maybe he will be the leader of Cuba one day. His father was elected to the National Assembly in 2003.
Possibly. I assume he is a popular person in Cuba. The US tried to bribe him, but he said his son would have a far healthier life in Cuba.
The council of state, including the President, is elected by the National Assembly, which in turn is elected by the people.
It says that on paper, but aside from brain dead propagandists, nobody believes it. Cuba is a dictatorship and Castro will dictate who replaces him. Like North Korea, it looks like power will stay in the family.
False. Back that up with some documentation. True, a dictatorship of the proletariat. Technology these days is amazing. How does he dictate that when he is dead? From heaven? The National Assembly elect the President. Oh sure, or like in the US, where George and Jeb and Kerry are related. They are even related to the European monarchy. Well, not very suprising considering the upper class is always in charge. North Korea has nothing to do with Cuba. If you believe that, you have no idea of the historical, economic, cultural and political differences between Cuba and North Korea. Cuba and North Korea has as much in common as China and the Vatican.
Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. That's the full name for North Korea. So that proves that North Korea is democratic? No. And neither is Cuba. Dictators don't go to heaven. But I guess your unspoken assumption is that Castro will cling to power until he drops dead, which I suppose is possible, as he sure seems to enjoy being a dictator. But I was assuming that when he becomes too old to function (hopefully not to long from now), presuming he doesn't go completely senile, he will dictate that his brother takes power. It is quite obvious that Raoul has been groomed as a replacement, like North Korea the ruling class is now a family business. The Cuban government systematically denies its citizens basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, movement, and a fair trial. It restricts nearly all avenues of political dissent, and uses police warnings, surveillance, short term-detentions, house arrests, travel restrictions, criminal prosecutions, and politically-motivated dismissals from employment as methods of enforcing political conformity. Human rights monitoring is not recognized as a legitimate activity, but rather is stigmatized as a betrayal of Cuban sovereignty. No local human rights groups enjoy legal status. Instead, human rights defenders face systematic harassment, with the government placing heavy burdens on their ability to monitor human rights conditions. Nor are international human rights groups allowed to send fact-finding missions to Cuba Political prisoners who denounce poor conditions of imprisonment or who otherwise fail to observe prison rules are frequently punished by long periods in punitive isolation cells, restrictions on visits, or denial of medical treatment. There is only one official labor union in Cuba, the Worker’s Central of Cuba. Independent labor unions are denied formal status and their members are harassed. Yay for communism! Yay for oppression!
Like I said: If you believe that, you have no idea of the historical, economic, cultural and political differences between Cuba and North Korea. Cuba and North Korea has as much in common as China and the Vatican. And neither is Cuba, what? Here again, you mix North Korea and Cuba, like they were the same. Okay, again, if you do not understand. Comparing North Korea with Cuba is like comparing England with Sudan. If you want to continue to spread bullshit around here, then be my guest, but don't expect you are going to be taken seriously. You do not seem to understand that Cuba has an electoral system where the National Assembly, elected by the people, is the highest organ in Cuban society? It elects the council of state, including the President. Everyone from 16 and upwards can take part in elections. I would like to see you behave at least a little constructive, but can you really do that? I doubt so, because you would rather use Human Rights Watch, an organization funded by the US state department and multi-billionaires involved in coups all around the world as a valid source.
Unfortunately there are no human rights groups which would consider Cuba to be a free democracy. I guess every human rights group in the world is conspiring against poor Castro, Beard for Life, peace be upon him. So we can go through them all and have you reject them one by one but it would be a waste of my time. I guess you just believe that the reason nobody forms trade unions in Cuba is because they don't want to. The reason there are no Cuban human rights groups is because nobody wants to form one. There are no organised opposition groups, opposition newspapers, opposition radio stations, demonstrations, editorials in the paper, flyers, posters, speeches, meetings, etc is because amazingly Cuba in the only country in the world where nobody, not even a small minority opposes their Beard for Life dictator, peace be upon him. Castro, peace be upon him, gets 100% of National Assembly votes, as does his brother and unofficially designated heir, Raul, peace be upon him too. Another "amazing fact" about Cuban democracy. And yes, they have sham elections with 100% of votes going to the Dear Leader in North Korea. There is no difference.
Most "human rights groups" are from the West, supporting and representing Western interests and values, at least to some degree. Why not think for yourself, trying to grasp the truth, intead of relying on everyone else? You are talking about trade unions (a subject of Cuba I do not know much of), but have you ever reacted to the fact that communists were banned from trade unions in the U.S. all the way up to until 2003? I remember reading trade unions in the US being controlled by the government. As I am not a US citizen, I cannot verify that, but you do not seem to react to these things. There are many "opposition radio stations". The Miami quislings are sending propaganda into Cuban television and radio all the time. The United States use 100 million dollars in propaganda purposes every year against Cuba. Those who are cooperating with the US can receive trouble, and for good reason: The US exploded a Cuban civilian airplane in the 1970's, have used biological weapons against Cuba, have invaded Cuba, have occupied Cuba, have tried to isolate Cuba and murder it's representatives. I have rarely hear of "100 %". However, those who are in the National Assembly are elected by the people. How many pro-capitalists do the US population consist of? 99,999999 %? How many voted outside Democrats and Republicans? Would you call their elections a scam just because capitalism is the norm in the US, just like socialism is the norm in Cuba?
Regarding the DPRK, which has nothing to do with this thread anyways, I think those elected on a local level are elected for life. For every 50,000 there is one representative elected. I still don't see why you are bringing up north korea all the time. Stick with the subject, please.
In Germany, you can be imprisoned if you question the story of the Holocaust. Germany is called a "democracy". Israel is legally defined as a "Jewish nation." As such, Jews are given special privileges for jobs, loans, and land ownership. Jews from anywhere in the world are given preference in immigration, and are extended automatic citizenship upon coming to Israel over and above longtime Arab residents. Non-Jews are restricted in terms of how much land they can own, and in which places they can own land at all, thanks to laws granting preferential treatment to Jewish residents. Still, Israel is called a "democracy". Iraq, which forbids Ba'ath parties in "any shape or form", is called a "democracy". In the United States, only the rich can get voted in. The rich control society. Still, the US is described as a nation where the people are in power. No, the rich are in power. Still, the US is called a "democracy". But this definition of "democracy" is created by the West, by those who rule, that is those who are wealthy. Of course they won't describe nations like Cuba as democratic, even if the people have more power than in the said countries.
This sweeps under the rug the broad consensus among human rights group that Cuba is a repressive dictatorship. And it is exactly the sort of thing Cuba's regime does - sneeringly putting "human rights groups" in quotes as if association with Amnesty International was something to be ashamed of. And freedom is not a western value. It is insulting that you think Cubans somehow are just "cuturally different" in that they want be ruled by a dictator. Americans are free to form trade unions, and they do so all the time. And as you note, communists are free to join trade unions. The point is that all these radio station are in Miami, not Cuba. You cannot start such a radio station in Cuba, because it is a repressive communist dictatorship where dissent is not allowed. Similarly, you need permits to buy a computer and access the internet, and you are not allowed to set up an opposition website (and even if you get the permit - and even less likely, the money - for the computer, and a permit for the internet access, the firewall blocks access to unauthorised websites. Hmmm... wonder if I can find a website opposing George Bush. . 100% is rare. You only hear of it in places like North Korea, Cuba, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Get to the point. In the US you can form whatever party you want, campaign, demonstrate, raise money, etc. There were several socialist parties on the 2004 ticket, Green parties, and independents like Nader. In Cuba, this is not allowed. In the US, capitalism is the norm because people vote for it instead of other available alternatives. In Cuba, socialism is the norm because you would be imprisoned for running against it. The subject is communist countries where "democracy" means leaders elected with 100% of the vote. That includes Cuba and North Korea. You can form parties and start newspapers opposed to the German government. That's what makes a democracy. You can form parties and start newspapers opposing the Iraqi government. The communist party, which was illegal under Saddam, was made legal under US occupation. That's because the US supports democracy. All of your examples are a joke. I dont' care if people ban specific things, or specific parties. The point is they allow a broad range of opposition movements. In Cuba, they didn't just ban an individual opposition party, they banned the very concept of opposition. There are no parties, organisation, unions, newspapers, radio stations, websites, or anything else opposed to Castro. Why do you hate Cubans so much? Why do you think that they deserve less than other people?
Of course Cuba is a dictatorship. The dictatorship of the proletariat. By the way, I don't give a whooping shit what your "human rights groups" say or do not say. They will always have a hostile view of non-capitalist nations, anwyays. We are not talking about "freedom" here. You seem confused. The Western world is not a disneyland. When I wrote "Western interests and values", I meant values by and large created by the bourgeois. By your logic, the US must be a dictatorship, and rightly so. Cuba is a dictatorship of the proletariat, while the US is a dictatorship of the upper class. Why should Cuba ever allow capitalism to enter Cuba? Cuba is against bourgeoisie influence, thus, no radio stations owned by an upper class. Can you try to be at least a little constructive? While you're at it, don't expect to not be investigated by the "feds". You know what the US did to Allende and Jacobo Arbenz? As long as the upper class is safe, you can do stuff like that, but when it is threathened, those false rights go out the window. Cuba is socialist. Green parties are protecting the status quo. They do not oppose the capitalist mode of production. There is no such thing as a communist country. Oh, so that makes democracy? A little capitalism here and there? Getting up the social ranks, going from the exploited to the exploiter? Live on a false lie that you can become a billionaire? No, fuck people's power, yay to capitalism, right? If you say certain things in Germany, you are locked up and jailed. Put on the trial. What you only care about is the so-called Western values. If the people are in control of society, is irrelevant to you. No, you can not form a ba'ath party in Iraq. You forget one thing: The CIA helped Saddam to kill the communists. In Indonesia, you helped Suharto to kill 1,3 million Indonesians, and the US even gave a list to Suharto, consisting of 5000 people they wanted to be killed. These 5000 were subsequently killed. And the communist party of Iraq is not even a communist party. They are revisionists. You talk about democracy, but you forget that the US has toppled democratically elected governments. Cubans are free to use the internet. That's it. I am not going to discuss with you anymore. You have no idea what my relations to Cubans are. You are so arrogant to come here, and you are probably from the US anways, a nation that his killed thousands of Cubans, have occupied and invaded Cuba, and killed Cuban civilians, used biological weapons against Cuba, supported the apartheid against blacks under capitalist rule, and blame people who support Cuba's struggle for independence and genuinly feel for the Cuban people, for the lack of empathy. I can promise you one thing, and that is, if these things you accuse Cuba for, and although many of those things are not true, I am very glad if people like you are supressed. Because you are one son of a arrogant bitch. We have no respect for people like you, and if you had understood our history, you would have to be a perverse person to come with such statements you just have.
The U.S. govt would be supporting Castro right now if he were doing something the U.S. govt perceived as in its own interest, much the way it supported Saddam, the Shah, Noriega, etc. It doesn't matter if they are dictators or whatever. As long as they are supporting interests of those in DC. If there was someone the govt perceived as worse than Castro in that area right now, the U.S. would support Castro. .
