Cuba

[tartanwiz]

Courageous little country deserving our support, or one-party dictatorship deserving our contempt?

[Tweed]

If I had to choose, it would be the former.

[bobtheduck]

any country that dosent lick amercias behind gets my vote

[FP]

I don't support any dictatorships.  However, I do understand Bobtheduck's feelings.

[bernardo]

It won't be a one-party dictatorship for much longer.  Its people are ripe for a counter-revolution (East European style).

[bobtheduck]

i have nothing against amercians just the bully boy attitude of the people in charge

[ianess]

Personally I don`t see anything wrong with having a `benevolent` dictatorship or even communism without corruption.....but then again maybe I`m living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

I`m not in any way a Bible-thumper but what happened to the 10 Commandments?

[tartanwiz]

ianess - the Ten Commandments? Sorry, I don't get it.

[ianess]

Very good tartanwiz........you maybe remember all that old-fashioned stuff...like for example trying to get on with your neighbours, not falling out with them because they`ve got more oil than you......and not killing them just because your gun is bigger than theirs,..... and especially the one about not feeding the masses with bul*sh*t because they`re gullible enough to believe anything?

Is Castro any better or worse than B.liar?  I think not.

We`re all doomed, .....as a well-known Scot was fond of saying.

[tartanwiz]

I am all for socialist policy and I admire the way Cuba stands up to America. However, I would not want to live in a one-party state. A dictatorship is a dictatorship. It can never be truly benevolent, because by definition it will suppress opposition and arrest dissidents. At least Tony Blair doesn't have people who disagree with him locked up in jail.

[ianess]

No....not yet maybe, but who really knows?

In GB we`ve been governed as if we`re a one party state for generations.

As long as any party has an overall majority in Parliament then democracy disappears and we have a dictatorship.  It doesn`t matter if their name is Castro, Blair, or Thatcher........it`s what they say that counts,and without claiming to know very much about Cuba at least their leader has some guts. What scares the hell out of the States is that they fear the `aircraft carrier` danger posed by Cuba. and no other reason.

Suppress opposition and lock up dissidents?  What about the Gibraltar incident where 3 people were executed in the street by our `benevolent` side without the bother of a trial?  Invade a foreign country based on lies and inuendos?  Sacrifice our enlisted men because the mighty USA says so?

That`s why we follow Bush like his pet collie dog.  At least Castro has the guts to tell the Yanks where to get off.

Who`s next for the chop?

[el duerino]

I dont think thats what happened in Gibraltar . . .

[chaff]

"What about the Gibraltar incident where 3 people were executed in the street by our `benevolent` side without the bother of a trial? " what about them? were they innocent tourists or IRA "volunteers" planning to slaughter as many soldiers as possible?Didn't see the provos arresting too many over their 30 odd years of fascist sectarian murder campaign.

[ianess]

What happened to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty?   You answered your own question, chaff.

One man`s terrorist is another man`s freedom fighter.....remember Nelson Mandela [President of South Africa] and Yasser Arafat [President of Palestine]?

Or is it the usual story....the one with the biggest gun has to be right?  And to hell with anything as trivial as a legal system.

What wonderful times we live in.

[chaff]

You obviously havent had anyone killed by these animals like I have. They were well known IRA operatives on a mission,and were stopped.Those who step outside the law for political ends should not expect to have it all their own way.After all,they were fighting "a war" in their own words-but the rules were that only they were allowed to kill people.

[BUNNY]

I am ashamed of my political ignorance but when I went to Cuba I saw alot of people who had very little in the way of material goods,but were so happy,polite and carefree it was humbling.Also,their medical system and their care of the eldery is second to none.A few people in our own goverment could do with taking a look at how they have been so successful in these areas!

[LordyGeordie]

Cuba also has the highest levels of literacy in the world. I quite admire Castro for, despite America's attempts, he has outlived four (I think) American presidents. Apparently back in the 60s the CIA not only sent him exploding cigars, but also cigars laced with LSD to make him appear mad. And, more worringly, cigars laced with a drug which would make his beard fall out. Apparently they thought Castro without a beard would appear less macho and therefore the Cuban people would rise up against him. It does make you wonder how exactly the Yanks manged to become the most powerful country in the world.

[ianess]

chaff......you are right when you say that I have no knowledge of what it`s like to suffer what you have suffered but I only try to make the point that under our legal system guilt has to be proved. Until then , the accused must be treated as innocent. As soon as we forget that fact by setting ouselves above the law we become no better than the criminal and society would degenerate into total anarchy.

Surely things are bad enough as they stand?

 I could easily be persuaded to emigrate to Cuba ....just getting back to the question.