To judge Cuba fairly, compare it to neighbours
Fleeing Cubans proves Cuba is bad? The first to flee Castro were Cubans who enriched themselves during the Batista dictatorship and also those in cahoots with the American Mafia. Later, Cubans fled when “invited” to the US by the altruistic (?) American government.
And who wouldn’t flee from a poor Third World country to a rich country if they got the opportunity? But while Cuban “Balseros” (rafters) were welcomed, people from even poorer countries like Haiti and Dominican Republic were kicked out.
Well-fed Westerners criticise Castro and Cuba for lacking Western “freedoms” but stay silent on the lack of those freedoms for poor people elsewhere and back home. The best way to fairly judge Cuba is by comparing it with neighbouring Haiti and Dominican Republic and seeing who’s people are better off.
The University of Oxford’s Oxford Journals notes that, “In virtually every critical area of public health and medicine facing poor countries Cuba has achieved undeniable success.” And how is it possible that poor Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate than the US?
Cuba has a healthy and literate population that can now make progress. We can only ponder why the country is not democratic: Was it perhaps because its only way to democracy was by submitting and surrendering to the US?
A Johnsen
