"I kill a communist for fun" ~Tony Montana, Scarface~
That was a classic quote from the movie, Scarface. Tony Montana's character was a criminal in Cuba, and he had no love for Fidel Castro or his government. He called himself a "political prisoner", but as we all remember from the movie, he was nothing more than a drug dealer and a murderer.
Unfortunately too many leaders in our history have had a similar simplistic view of the Fidel Castro government like the fictional character from the Scarface movie.
Personally, I tend to disagree with Tony's assessment of the Cuban leader, and I am glad for the president's historic trip to Cuba today. I have never understood the trade embargo and sanctions against Cuba for all these years when we were trading with the Chinese and Russians for crying out loud.
I remember as a kid in Jamaica, listening to one of Fidel Castro's speeches, I didn't know a word of Spanish, but even before the interpreter told us what he was saying, I remember cheering my ass off. He was that charismatic.
Maybe it's because the man who I consider one of the greatest leaders in history, Michael Manley, had to turn to Fidel at a time when the American government and the West turned their backs on the Jamaican people, as we tried to cope with the draconian benchmarks for the country's recovery set by the IMF.
It was Castro and the Cuban government that gave Jamaica micro- dams, adult literacy, trained physicians ,quality health care, and innovative teaching methods that merged education and sports.
And, if that wasn't enough, it was the Cuban government and Fidel Castro who helped to end Apartheid in South Africa . It was also Cuban soldiers who fought alongside the Angolan people in their fight for liberation.
Throw in the fact that the people who were in Cuba ---who didn't have a pot to piss in before the revolution--- look more like I do than Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and you can see where I am coming from. Afro Cubans didn't flee to Miami with their riches, because they had no riches.
Barack Obama and is family going to Havana sends a powerful message to those Cubans living on the island and to the world.
It is a message that is long overdue.
Now if you will excuse me I have a cigar to smoke.
*Pic from AP.
31 comments:
Hooray for President Obama....and the Pope! I hear that he helped with the negotiations.
Enjoy your cigar, Field.
Someday, I hope not too many years from now, the US will realize what a great president and great man Barack Obama was and is. And I hope the rethuglican party will feel shame for how they treated him, and how they are treating us, the American people.
I hope.
But i'm not gonna hold my breath.
Yisheng, you are one sad, miserable bitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-spxBZ-3fE
Cool!!!
Funny field doesn't mention teh gays.journalists and dissidents imprisoned the Cuban government. Field didn't even share a tear for those murdered by Castro. Or the cop killers and terrorists being protected by the Cuban government.
Enjoy your cigar. field.
Oh! I just loovvee these protocolic (sp?) meetings!!! The pomp and circumstance! YASSSS!
From the video where the family is touring Old Havana,It looks as though they,particularly the first daughters are thoroughly enjoying it! I'm glad it was cloudy and cool,more comfy for them!
YAAAYYY! for the islands! YAAAAY!!! xD
And I agree, Fidel is a thoroughly charismatic guy! And he did much,much for the poor in Cuba. It was his mission to uplift the poor class mainly made up of the Black people, and he did just that!!! God bless him! Today they walk proud as professionals in all the fields, particularly medicine.
............And, if that wasn't enough, it was the Cuban government and Fidel Castro who helped to end Apartheid in South Africa . It was also Cuban soldiers who fought alongside the Angolan people in their fight for liberation.
>>>>>
See, this is why folks need to ALWAYS maintain the ability to get the COMPLETE picture/truth for themselves!!
Of course, with a strong military familial background, I've always thought it prudent to have good relations with another country so close to your own.
Now on to Haiti. The misery my country allowed on their people because of the theory- my enemy is your enemy. After 100 years cooler heads should have prevailed.
And yes, the two Cubans tokens, used for diversity imagery by the GOP, should have been asked about their feelings for the Blacks that could not participate in the moneyed exodus. The whites of Cuba feels entitled. In all their debates true social issues were not addressed, One candidate was asked about the crisis in Flint, they hurriedly moved on -"nothing here to see".
Don't forget Cuba's contribution to music: Afro-Cuban is its own category... Fine stuff, too.
-Doug in Oakland
Blacks hate whites, Latinos, Asians, Jews, and gays.
"Personally, I tend to disagree with Tony's assessment of the Cuban leader, and I am glad for the president's historic trip to Cuba today. I have never understood the trade embargo and sanctions against Cuba for all these years when we were trading with the Chinese and Russians for crying out loud."
It's not that hard to figure out. There are two big reasons why the U.S. had such huge hostility for Cuba for such a long time.
Reason 1: Prior to the revolution, under Batista, Cuba was a de-facto U.S. colony. Technically, it was an independent nation, but practically speaking, wealthy Americans owned huge shares of everything worth owning on the island. In 1956, American legitimate business investors owned: 90% of electrical and telephone utilities, 50% of the railways, 40% of sugar production. 25% of the island's cash assets were in American-owned banks. Meanwhile, the entire hospitality and tourism industry (Cuba was basically the Vegas of the Caribbean) was owned by the American mafia.
A subset of the white Cuban citizens were also financially benefiting from this arrangement, but most white Cubans and all black Cubans were getting the crumbs. Wealth distribution was awful.
When the communists took over, they "expropriated" all those American assets, infuriating the former owners back in the States.
Reason 2: The rich Cubans forced to flee to Florida. These guys had their property confiscated as well, and they have a boiling, furious hatred for Fidel that will never end. A lot of the older generation have died off, but for years, they were an influential bloc in Florida politics. And, not for nothing, but it is pretty hard to win the U.S. presidency without winning Florida. As went Miami, so went the White House.
I think a realistic, non-rose-tinted assessment of Fidel's Cuba is that, like many Latin American socialist experiments, it has been a mixed bag.
Under Cuba, wealth distribution improved, racism decreased (although it did not disappear, despite what Cuba likes to claim to the world), and they did a very good job with government-provided services like healthcare and education. On the other hand, democracy, civil liberties, general economic management ... fail.
I just pooped in my pants. Hey Yisheng, will you come lick it up? I've heard you're into that kind of stuff.
Surprised yo haven't done a post yet about Trevon Johnson, yet another "good boy" who "din doo nuffin", yet was gunned down during the commission of a home robbery by a well-prepared homeowner in Miami.
He sounds like just the kind of filthy criminal you and Shitstain and crew can really get behind.
The Miami Univision debate moderators were the worst moderators in any debate for the 2016 election so far. The lady in the middle was an asshole. She shouted down important points Sanders made and let Hillary ramble on about nothing. One example was when he responded to her charge that he was pro Castro. She showed an obscure antique video clip. Maybe his explanation that he was making the point that Castro wasn't bad enough to warrant attacking Cuba over got through despite her loud obnoxious interruptions. Univision is a top Clinton donor and they partner with the Clinton Foundation. Top people have family members working for her campaign. One of the most interesting parts of the debate to me was when they asked about Benghazi. Sanders used the question to say that he is against regime change intervention wars, like overthrowing Gaddafi. That is what Benghazi was really about. Sanders came closer to telling the truth than the Republicans did in their 11 hour interrogation of Clinton about Benghazi. The Republicans don't want to expose what Benghazi was about, because they were for it. Obama and Clinton armed and trained McCain's "moderate rebels" who then joined ISIS. The establishment Democrats and Republicans killed a lot of people, caused the refugee crisis, and destabilized the Middle East. The corporate media covers it up for them. Better third party candidates could very well come along, but at this point the best on peace (and economic) issues are Sanders who is an Independent and Trump who is a businessman. Traditional Democrats and Republicans have got to go.
"...helped end Apartheid in South Africa ..."
...to make SA safe for necklacing, infant rape, and white genocide.
And Angola - another "liberated" African paradise! Thanks, Fee-del!
Bitch, you didn't grow up in Jamaica. You're just another skinny mulatto kid that doesn't fit in with either whites or blacks. You probably grew up in the burbs, but you like to pretend you're this musclebound black revolutionary badass online.
Bitch, please. And tell Tay-Tay I said hi.
:D
When I did my Northern Soul thing back in the day, I had no idea I was tapping in to such an ancient tradition.
Glorious video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5whcNfiWhm0
Good post Field, very insightful, and the detractors have surprisingly little to say other than hurling vulgarities. You know you've won your argument when they start hurling vulgarities.
Ironic that America's enemies tend to be the third world's best friends. Somehow Cuban human rights violations are intolerable to the west, yet rights violations by their friends (Isreal and Saudi Arabia, South Africa for instance) can be explained away. Not to mention the violations happening right here on American soil.
Can't help but wonder how Cuba's economic and political outlook may have evolved over the past decades without the crippling sanctions and constant hostilities aimed at them by the most militaristic nation in the world, camped out in their back yard. Trying to overthrow foreign governments is apparently not a "rights" violation worthy of mention in the minds of most Americans.
My parents went to Cuba often in the 50s. There are tons of pictures in their photo albums of that beautiful country. My neighbors went there on vacation last year via an Australian travel company and loved it. However, they were not allowed to wander alone in the country without a tour guide present. I hope to go to Cuba someday, too.
As to Obama's visit, opening relations could be a good thing for democracy in Cuba. Allowing American corporations into Cuba just might encourage the young Cubans to be more American friendly. That in turn could drive more changes within the restrictive Castro government.
Field, why can't I link this post to my Facebook page? This is one of your most eye-opening posts, and I want my wingnut friends to read it. I guess I'll have to cut and paste... though "Field Negro" is gonna look pretty strange to my white friends...
Your wingnut friends might wonder why the field negro didn't mention the atrocities and human rights violations..
Great point Field,
I made my first trips to South Florida and Cuba (Guantanamo Bay) as a young Coast Guardsman in 1982.
I was taken by the fact that most of the Cuban exiles and their kids in Miami were white. And when our ship reached Gitmo, I was shocked as to how black and blackish the people of Cuba were.
From "Time to Get Out" by Steve Hackett:
"Find me ninety miles from Cuba
In a land that has no borders
If the bomb can do it for you
We refuse to take your orders
We remember what you taught us
Time to get out, while you can"
-Doug in Oakland
OMG! Ahahaha! That Obama, what a guy!!!
He broke protocol again!!! ahahaha! At the flower laying ceremony,against the urgings of the Cuban diplomats he decided to walk over to a group of photogs that beckoned to him! They kept telling him no, BUT! I think he then was directly in line of a huge painting of Che and another one of Fidel, so I'm not really sure, but I think it happened....eeek!
You mean Princess Zero went out of her way to get her photo taken?
Shocking! She usually conducts herself with such dignity ...
Good post. All the airlines are now jockying to get routes into Cuba. The mad dash to Americanize Cuba has begun.
Good grief. One of you brilliant Cuban Defenders name me a relevant POS Cuban who was even respected by the Castro Regime.
Sending the Obama Tribe down there is a fucking joke.
Excuse me...I meant "BLACK CUBAN"
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I had the privilege of going to Cuba just before the American embassy was re-opened. Go. See for yourself.
Well. Sending ugly-assed women such as yourself, will be a true Ambassadoril accomplishment for the USA.
Buy some of that fake Botox, next time you're there.
Lots.
Always have to wonder about people like Commander Loser, who disparages women like Doctor Y and Hattie.
I am guessing dude is as ugly on the outside as he clearly is on the inside. Just a guess.😏
(Field)
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