Ghoulish Cuban Fascists in Miami Await a "Free" Cuba

[Zomby Woof]

CNN showed the exiles in Miami dancing and celebrating over the news of Fidel Castro's declining health. Very typical of right-wing ghouls to be gleeful about death. The 'reporter' was beaming, unable to conceal her smirk. The 'liberal media' at its finest.

One of the sorry losers, while temporarily removing his lips from our taxpayers' teats (and basking in the benevolent immigration laws concerning Cubans), stated that he can't wait until Cuba is "free".

The problem with that statement is, I fear that his and the other exiles' definitions of "freedom" are similar to Bush's.

He assumes too much. The fate of Cuba without Castro is unknown, and although I for one would be glad to deport these sorry sonsofbitches back to SOMEWHERE, I am not exactly eager for them to return to Cuba, so that they can attempt whatever power, resource, and land grab for which they surely feel an exaggerated sense of entitlement (America is a good place to learn a disproportionate sense of entitlement).

Cuban exile definitions of "freedom" include, but are not limited to:

The freedom to exploit others, especially the poor. Or to push others living within their means into poverty.

The freedom to turn your country into a playground for multinationals. After all, the New Cuba will need someone to work the farms, factories, warehouses, refineries, and casinos. The middle class and poor will become a permanent underclass.

The freedom to privatize the hell out of everything to the point that the rewards will go to the exiles and their cronies. This is the freedom to create a Halliburton-style economy, which would no doubt be financed by the U.S taxpayers.

The freedom to destroy their healthcare and educational systems, so it will place profits before people.

The freedom to alter the infrastructure to ignore housing needs, but build plenty of casinos and resorts.

The freedom to indulge in unlimited corruption, including the payoffs to local judges, the press, and government representatives.


Hell, considering those definitions, why not just stay in America?

The exiles are one export Cuba will not need, as it faces a new era, whether under Raul Castro, or otherwise. Their celebrating is not only ghoulish, but possibly very premature. Instead of celebrating, they should consider the very real consequences of trying to remake Cuba in the image of Little Havana, Florida. But like the Americans they have become, they have deluded themselves into thinking consequences are for other people. So dance on, fuckers. You will get yours someday too. I will refrain from dancing however, when you do... I wish to retain my humanity, thank you.

[LoZoccolo]

1. They should interview people who moved from here to Cuba.

If they can find any.

[Skidmore]

2. Wonder how many of them will try to go back to reclaim

lands lost when Batistans were kicked out.

[atreides1]

18. That would depend

The lands that were owned by foreign interests would have to be dealt with first. Of course the legitimacy of the reports, one by Antonio Jimenez the other by the Cuban Chamber of Commerce
would have to be rectified.


According to Antonio Núñez Jiménez, a military commander and minister under Castro at the time that Batista was deposed, 75% of Cuba's prime farm land was owned by foreign individuals or foreign (mostly U.S.) companies. This data differs substantially from the one reported in 1958 for the Latin American Annual Yearbook by the Cuban Chamber of Commerce showing a significant increase in the ownership of lands and industries by Cuban nationals as a result of Batista's economic policies during his years in power.

[underpants]

26. More than the number who will ever see that property again

There is no way they are getting any of that land back. Sorry to tell them that but I can't possibly be the first.

No WAY they get any of it back.

[jonnyblitz]

3. a post worthy of recommending. nt

[meldroc]

4. That's my fear too...

That once Castro dies, there will be a revolution, blood in the streets, etc., and because of the oil & big business pushing, the end result will be replacing one asshole dictator with another...

[robcon]

5. I am awaiting a Free Cuba, as well

I'm not a fascist, I'm a Democrat and a democrat.

I think free elections are essential for the legitimacy of a Cuban government. That means someone who wants to run against Castro (Fidel or Raul) will not be arrested.

[atreides1]

15. Then why

Do so many Cubans think of this man as a hero, considering that he was a dictator.


General Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar(January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the de facto military leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1940 and the de jure President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944. He then became the country's leader, after staging a coup, from 1952 to 1959. His authoritarian government generated opposition, notably from Fidel Castro's guerrilla movement by which Batista was ousted, in what is known as the Cuban Revolution.

He was never actually elected to office, he was appointed 3 months before elections were scheduled to take place.


Advocates of liberal democracy also viewed Batista's presidency as unconstitutional and unacceptable because he was not elected. (He later held an election and won unopposed. This was to legitimize his status with America, but some reports say as many as 75% of voters in Havana -- and even more in Sanitago -- simply refused to cast votes.). Cross-class urban resistance grew despite high casualties and the country folk (guajiros) increasingly turned to armed resistance. The overtly communist party, Partido Socialista Popular, supported Batista until about the middle of 1958.

[robcon]

Referring to Batista discloses the emptiness of your argument

We can argue whether Batista the dictator or Castro the dictator is better or worse for Cuba. Kind of an academic argument that gets us no where. The choice is not between Castro and Batista, but between despotism and democracy.

I believe it is not arguable that democracy will be better for Cuba, and free speech, free press and free association will be better for Cubans.

[RagingInMiami]

70. Especially considering that Batista died in 1973

It's not like he's waiting in exile for his chance to take over Cuba. It's not like he would still be in power if Castro had never come along.

[underpants]

28. Oh, of course, I would hope everyone wants a Free Cuba

but as noted above the Cubans in Miami aren't going to get their land back. They were sold a bill of goods that can never be delivered.

[Zomby Woof]

30. My point was how "free" is defined

My definition differs from the exiles' and Castro's... but my point was to dwell on those in Miami harboring romantic fantasies of Batista-era Cuba. Like American conservatives, they too, pine for the 1950's in the worst ways.

[KyuzoGator]

75. Castro has decimated my mother's country, so I'll celebrate too.

I don't cheer the man's death, but I'll certainly cheer the end of his fraudulent regime.

[wakeme2008]

6. They are crazy...

Only a handful very rich will go back assuming the country changes their way... Most Cuban-Americans and their kids do not want to leave the land of the big malls.

[liberalmuse]

7. The Batistas are just hideous.

I guess I have an issue with people who come to one country to live, and then corrupt and fuck with that country's political system so they can carry out their sole agenda of regaining power in their former country.

[Jara sang]

33. Fuck those infiltrators. They should be jailed.

[maveric]

46. Batista was a corrupt butcher.

In bed with the mafia too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista

[RethugAssKicker]

8. They're also fucking terrorists too !

[HEyHEY]

9. I love how for a nation of people who don't go to Cuba

Americans know sooo much about what it's like there.

[jonnyblitz]

10. plenty of people go to Cuba, what are you talking about? nt

[HEyHEY]

12. Not that many Americans do

[Recursion]

40. Been there

It struck me as better than the anti-Castro crowd says and worse than the Castro apologists said. I didn't see a populace living in terror, but I also didn't see a populace that could freely assemble, petition the government for grievances, or speak their mind. All in all I'd like to see Castro go. I don't think our reaction towards him has been constructive, but I don't think he's been good for Cuba either.

[Benhurst]

14. You don't understand because you are a Canadian and can visit

any country you like.

Here in "the Land of the Free," we can only visit those countries approved by our government or risk severe punishment. We have to "wing it" when it comes to evaluating countries on the proscribed list -- right-wing it, that is.

[Zomby Woof]

25. Besides that...

I was reflecting more upon on how the Cuban exiles have corrupted their own corner of the U.S., and will likely seek to duplicate that effort if they ever reclaim control of Cuba. I am neither defending or condemning Castro or what he has done in Cuba all these years - but I can look at what Batista did, and what his heirs intend. Odds are good they will not bring improvement to Cuba. They will improve their own bottom lines, but not much else. Cuba's fate is wide open. Considering the trends in Latin America as of late (a region of which I am well acquainted personally), there is room to ponder a Cuba that goes neither the route of Castro or the exiles.

[Benhurst]

31. I hope they will be allowed to take the third route. But I don't think

BushAmerica will allow the Cuban people to do so. Wasn't an American law passed years ago mandating that the property of the wealthy Cuban exiles be returned to them?

[Scurrilous]

11. It's currently 92 degrees here in Miami...

...those gusanos won't be dancing for long.

[RebelOne]

19. But it is usually 92 degrees in Miami.

Believe me, I know. I lived there most of my life until I wised up and moved to North Georgia.

[porphyrian]

13. Cubanos Batistas.

Without them, JEB! would have no Hispanic votes.

[deaniac21]

16. Kind of reminds me of here when Ronald Reagan croaked.

:evilgrin:

[Ohio Joe]

38. I thought the same thing

Way too many people turn pretty foul when someone they hate gets ill or dies. I find it distasteful regardless of who does it.

[RDU Socialist]

65. i'm glad someone said it

whenever anything bad happens to a republican, there are numerous posts gleeful about it.

that being said, i do not feel any sympathy towards castro just like i didn't for reagan when things took a turn for the worse.

[Dorian Gray]

17. Their lives were upturned

by Castro's dictatorship. What is good for some may not be good for others. They are happy that there is a chance that their homeland will be a place where they can co-exist with the new leadership. I can not blame them for that hope, particularly when we here on this board have at times shown glee when a Right Winger who has caused much to destroy what we believe in has met his demise.

[RebelOne]

20. But I can guarantee that not many of them will return to Cuba.

Why should they? They have it made here. Miami have been taken over by them.

[Dorian Gray]

77. Well, you are right that many of them might not move to Cuba.

They've established lives and success here, in the USA.

[RagingInMiami]

21. Hell, I'm still waiting for a "free" Miami

One where the First Amendment is never questioned.

One where liberal-minded Cubans can vote for democrats without having to lie about it, as many of them do.

One where people can travel to and from Cuba without having to go through a third country, then get harassed and threatened by U.S. Customs.

The truth is, when Castro dies, most of these Cubans dancing in the streets will not return to Cuba in any other method than a vacation. The minority of Cubans that carry political clout and who will try to use it in Cuba will be met with serious resistance from the Cubans who never left the island.

After 47 years of free healthcare and education, the Cubans are not going to let that go without a fight.

[DoYouEverWonder]

27. Let the anti-Castro Cubans

got back. Miami will be a lot nicer without them.

It will sure cut down on the weapons caches in those Broward Co. condos.

[Zomby Woof]

29. I was looking forward to your input

Due to your personal experience and proximity to ground zero, your opinions on Cuba and Miami are highly credible, and have my utmost respect. :thumbsup:

[RagingInMiami]

35. Thanks, man

We're in for some interesting times. Part of me is thinking that Castro is bluffing about the seriousness of his condition in order to see how Cubans will accept Raul as their leader.

But when Castro dies, there will most likely be a huge power struggle within Cuba. Even if the transition to Raul is smooth, he has nowhere near the charisma of his older brother, which is essentially what kept him in power so long.

It was Castro's charisma and gift of the gab that enabled him to endure many trying periods over the last 47 years, especially during what they call the "special period" in the early 1990s after the USSR collapsed. Times were so hard that many Cubans were eating cats in order to survive. That was when Castro opened up his country to tourism.

Where before, gays and lesbians had very little rights, he gave them just a tad bit more freedom in the mid-1990s, making them think that things are becoming progessive in the country, even though people were starving.

The man is a political genius and I believe that once he dies, many Cubans are going to see communism for what it is; a repressive political idealogy. I know I will get flamed for this, but what it does is that it elimates all economic classes, forcing everybody to live in poverty as opposed to just a certain segment of a population.

As it is now, they call their current political system "Fidelismo". And it will most likely die with Fidel.

[Zomby Woof]

45. Fidel froze the country in time

No doubt he will not be missed by many when that time comes. But I think of how many eastern bloc countries had no decent blueprint for a transition in place, and how mafia-type syndicates filled the void, as well as civil tensions. I feel that the Miami cartel will swoop right in, and hard times even worse than the early 90's will come to pass as the society experiences lurching growing pains to join the 21st century. And when you consider our petulant embargo and policy toward their government compared to China (who finances so much of our debt that any type of retribution is out of the question or insane), the U.S has exacerbated a situation already delicate and perilous.

The salivating of the Miami Cubans seems to go beyond just longing for their homeland. Their celebrations will be muted quickly when the reality of settling the Cuban question comes due.

[RagingInMiami]

54. I think that many in Cuba have studied what happened in the

Eastern Bloc countries in order to prevent going through the same mistakes. The other thing is that Cuba has Hugo Chavez and Venezuela's oil wealth on its side.

In the case of Eastern Europe, it was former KGB members that made up much of the Russian Mafia. The "Miami Mafia" may talk big, but they have nothing on the Russian Mafia.

And like you said, Castro froze time. And that is not more evident than in the minds of the Miami Cubans who would like to see Cuba revert back to the 1950s. Not because they intentionally want to repress people. Many of them actually fought against Batista and supported Castro in the beginning.

It's because they have a romanticized view of what Cuba was really like. I guess that is just human nature. We tend to block out certain realities of our past and exaggerate other aspects in order to make them more positive than they really were.

I have no doubt that the Miami Cubans are going to try and swoop in, and I know their money will be welcomed, but I think they will be met with great resistance if they try to take over politically.

[scarletwoman]

47. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around this particular statement:

...many Cubans are going to see communism for what it is; a repressive political idealogy. I know I will get flamed for this, but what it does is that it elimates all economic classes, forcing everybody to live in poverty as opposed to just a certain segment of a population.

I'm not trying to pick a fight with you -- I appreciate your analyses in general, and much of what you write is a genuine pleasure to read.

It's just that I found the idea of weighing the relative merits of "everybody" living in poverty "as opposed to" apparently just SOME people living in poverty (presumeably not you or I) really quite jarring.

If there are not enough resources available to preclude proverty, why shouldn't the poverty be shared? What makes it okay for some people to suffer but not others? I truly don't understand it.

I've lived in relatively primitive conditions (relative for the U.S., I hasten to say); I've lived without electricity, without plumbing or running water, with wood heat and wood cookstove, grown, gathered and fished my own food supply, conducted ecomonic transactions through barter -- a diehard old hippie living on the fringes of "America(tm)".

While I'm relatively comfortable now -- I have electricy (and a computer!), a working car, a decent job, and propane heat (no running water as yet) -- if I ended up having to revert to a more intensive survival mode, I know I could deal with it.

I guess I've always considered it a virtue to consume the minimum necessary, to make a clear distinction between "needs" and "wants", in order to minimize my contribution to the machinery of predatory capitalism that devours the earth and bombs babies.

So call me a "commie" or whatever, I would gladly share poverty with "everybody" if it meant the end of a world order wherein it is apparently okay that some people live poverty, as long as it's somebody else.

sw

[RagingInMiami]

52. I'd rather live in a society that tries its best to eliminate poverty

altogether.

I believe we can do that in this country without having to resort to communism. Instead, we've been doing the complete opposite by allowing a greater concentration of wealth for the top one percent.

In 1976, the wealthiest one percent owned 19 percent of private wealth in the U.S.while the bottom 90 percent owned 51 percent of private wealth.

In 1996, the wealthiest one percent owned 40 percent of private wealth in the U.S. while the bottom 90 percent owned 29 percent of private wealth.

http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Anthropology/21A-230JSpring2004/1BC08344-DB39-4EBE-AA5B-FB4E9E6A6222/0/econoissues4.pdf

I believe we can find a happy medium where people are allowed to accumulate wealth and status without having to repress a certain segment of the population.

[scarletwoman]

55. I understand. But I'm not just thinking of the U.S., I'm thinking globally

The U.S. lifestyle has come at a heavy price to much of the rest of the world. That's the "everybody" I'm thinking about.

As for "accumulate(ing) wealth and status", those are not central values to me. I think I just see things from a different angle than you -- no biggy.

Thank you for replying.

sw

[RagingInMiami]

57. It's not what you personally think or what I personally think

It's human nature in general that doesn't conform well to uniformity.

I personally value personal satisfaction over "wealth and status", but I also won't get much personal satisfaction knowing I am being forced into uniformity by my government.

I am also thinking globally. I would like to see the US play a strong role in lifting the world out of poverty instead of forcing it into poverty.

But as I said in my original post, I don't think forcing everybody into poverty is the real solution.

[scarletwoman]

58. Where did "uniformity" come from?

Okay, maybe here's where we are out of synch. My initial post was not in defense of communism or "Fidelism" or whatever -- and certainly not "enforced poverty".

My apologies for not making myself clearer -- I was just riffing on the idea of "shared poverty" in a general philosophical sense. Like, if there are finite resources available for people's survival, isn't it preferable to share these resources as equally as possible, rather than have a system wherein some people assume a right to more than an equal share thereby causing others to have less?

I'm not a communist, just anti-hierarchy.

sw

[RagingInMiami]

59. "i'm not a communist, just anti-hierachy"

Me too. Perhaps you misunderstood my original post. I think we can give people basic health, education and housing without forcing everybody into poverty. It's done in Europe and in Canada.

[eridani]

61. A poverty in which health care and education are free--

--beats the bejeezus out of a poverty at the same income level where those things are available only to a tiny minority with the requisite funds.

[RagingInMiami]

63. Yes, a poverty where a college professor has to beg strangers for

spare change. That's reality in Cuba.

[eridani]

64. Ask the professor if he would prefer Guatemala or the Honduras n/t

[RagingInMiami]

66. I asked that professor what she would prefer

She said a livable wage.

[eridani]

67. She thinks she'd have one if only Castro were more like Somoza? n/t

[RagingInMiami]

69. I guess your mind cannot fathom the possibility

That perhaps there can be a middle-ground. Something we call democracy. Sad.

[eridani]

71. Sure I can--Kerala, India is probably the best example

Of course Communists there could not impose a one-party state, because there are two major Communist parties, neither of which would embrace its own oblivion. And if that hadn't been enough, the larger state of which Kerala is a subset would not have permitted it.

http://www.kucinich.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=8932

Of course it's a big help that the US can't do squat in the line of attacking this society, unlike states unfortunate enough to share our hemisphere. May have something to do with why Kerala has no Castro types.

[truebrit71]

22. As long as they all fuck off back to Cuba when he dies, and quit living...

...off the US teat that's fine by me...

[Jim Warren]

23. Gambling, prostitution, money laundering, hey

what's not to like?

(insert sarcasm icon)

[GirlinContempt]

24. I agree with you on this

[Virginia Dare]

32. I saw a quick shot this a.m. of the dancing in the streets in Miami..

one thing that struck me was, I wonder just how many of those people actually lived under the Castro regime. Most of them looked pretty young to me, none of them could have been around to remember when Castro came to power. Do many of them really even know what Cuba is like first hand? :shrug:

[Scurrilous]

34. There have been different waves of Cuban migration...

...some left when Castro came to power, some came over on the airlift in the 60's, the Marielitos came in the 80's, the balseros came in the 90's, and now there's a steady stream coming every year on visas. There is a good number of Cubans in the US who have lived under Castro.

[RagingInMiami]

39. Yes, Cubans are constantly arriving in Miami

[Virginia Dare]

42. That is interesting...

I guess in the back of my mind I knew that we had a very open door policy for Cubans and the opposite for Mexicans.

[Malikshah]

48. Or Haitians....

If Raul takes over for good...could blow up

If we change embargo to allow oil companies in...could blow up

I am more than a bit disgusted at the prioritizing of one people over another down here in SoFl. And I'm not alone in that sentiment.

[greatauntoftriplets]

36. Polish-Americans tend to vote Republican also...

The Ray-goon regime was handing out green cards right and left during the 1980s. And they are devoted to their formerly Communist homeland, but stay here to make money. Do you want to deport them en masse next?

How about everyone who votes Republican???

:eyes:

[nini]

43. Being devoted to one's homeland and living off the sweat of the poor

when you were in that homeland are two different things.

Perhaps you missed how it was in Cuba before Castro took over with the very rich and the very poor. :shrug:


btw: I'm hardly a Castro fan, but I realize how crappy it was before he took over too.

[Zomby Woof]

44. That would be a good start

;-) Maybe starting in Chicago.

Your analogy is weak. This isn't about "making money" with an honest living. You either lack knowledge of Cuban-American politics in Miami, or are just taking a cheap rhetorical shot at my expense disguised as a discussion point.

Really, when it comes to your personal loathing of me, you can always opt for the ignore feature. Because you are very transparent, indeed. :-)

[proud patriot]

37. Those people dancing in miami about castro

look real ugly on the inside to me .

[Spinoza]

41. So King Fidel

has handed over power to his brother, the Prince? Well,if His Majesty, (May God Preserve Him) after 47 years of blessed rule, were to depart this realm at least the Cuban people can be sure that the Monarchy will continue. LONG LIVE THE KING!

[Codeine]

49. Am I the only person on DU

who think that the anti-Castro Cubans in Miami and Fidel Castro's regime back in Cuba both suck?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

50. That's Too Subtle For Some Here

eom

[Zomby Woof]

51. I certainly see both sides

But my OP was about the RW Cubans and their chilling glee. That has always rubbed me the wrong way.

[nini]

56. no

not at all

[RebelOne]

68. Nope, I'm with you.

[calico1]

53. I agree.....

A ghoulish, disgusting display.

[Wonk]

60. kick nt

[Name removed]

62. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[T Town Jake]

72. There is something sublimely ridiculous about this absurd post...

...a life long totalitarian dictator and subverter of human rights whom has not submitted to a free election in his political life is held up as some kind of saint by this OP.

"So dance on, fuckers."

Those who disdain this dictator and his murderous rule are "fuckers."

"You will get yours someday too. I will refrain from dancing however, when you do... I wish to retain my humanity, thank you"

Horseshit. Anyone who wished to "retain" their "humanity" would not pimp for a communist dictator who has overseen the crushing of anything even remotely resembling dissent, the persecution of homosexuals, and a profligate use of the death penalty as a means of ensuring "order." There's not much even remotely "progressive" or "liberal" about that reality of life under the tender mercies of Fidel Castro and his scummy reign.

What's especially laughable is that anyone expressing such sentiments would DARE to hold themselves up as some kind of "progressive" or "liberal": Res ipsa loquitur, and all that.

Simply contemptible.

[qanda]

73. They just announced on CNN that there will be zones set up

To celebrate the demise of Castro.

[w4rma]

74. Idiots. They aren't going to get any land or money back if something

happened to the current government of Cuba. They are being played by the right-wing.

[eomer]

76. How do you know that getting land or money back is what they are

dancing about?

That is not the case for the Cubans I know. They have no claims to make even if there were going to be some possibility of making claims, which I doubt.

Their dancing is about the possibility that despotism will cease. At least the ones I know.