So farewell Fidel… February 19, 2008
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Cuba.trackback
He’s out of there… and who can blame him? Same job, more or less, for the best part of four and a half decades. Sure, a rewarding post, idyllic weather, fine companions and friends. A remarkable social endeavour, but… as with many illness has forced a resignation. This is hardly unexpected. And one presumes the younger member of the franchise will take over. Still, it is the end of that era. Some great achievements, some not so great achievements.
And perhaps as a coda, what’s this? Why it’s George Galloway on Channel 4 News whipping himself (in a bar no less, to judge from the background) into a sort of pro forma stand up defence where none was needed. Now perhaps it’s me, but really, I can think of many more suitable people to say a few words on the subject, people both sympathetic and measured. And I’ve heard Galloway in that mode too. But… this evening we’re treated instead to accusations of C4 News being ‘as bad as Fox News’, an interesting explication of the state of British political activity during the war and the unlikely idea that somehow the Cuban state would be more ‘democratic’ in the absence of a US threat. Well, I like to pay attention to such things, and it seems to me that the political structures in place there are not a function of US interventionism one way or another but rather the expression of a very defined political ideology. Anyhow, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to be able to link in. Worth a look.
And going back to Castro, hard not to have a considerable degree of respect while still being certain that it might have been better to hand over earlier (amongst other things). Without that personality, that personification of the Revolution, it is hard not to see it changing. Not soon, but changing nonetheless.
The thing is – the Cubans could bring in a multiparty democracy and privatise everything (and to be honest, a fair few Cubans would probably see both as good things) and it probably wouldn’t make any difference to Washington unless and until the exiles in Miami got all their property back. Partly because those people would insist on it and it’d be politically hard to ignore them, but partly because it’s probably vital that Cuba be seen to grovel. There can’t be any recognition that there are any good things about Cuba or that there was any reason to kick out the old régime or that Washington’s embargo was imposed for anything of the purest of reasons.
I think they might get it, too.
I think what GG was trying to say, in a very incoherent way, was that the threat of invasion can necessitate the sacrifice of certain aspects of freedom in the interest of public safety. Especially when there is a massively aggressively and more powerful country or combination of countries trying to overthrow the constitution. True for the French Revolution, and true ever since I’m inclined to think.
Of course he should have pointed out the presenter’s mistakes (e.g. universal suffrage has not been removed and the total absence of any reference to Cuban solidarity work abroad as well as a sufficient description of the pre-59 regime and regimes in similar countries in the region in the last 50 years) but unfortunately ego sometimes gets in the way of his good points.
Indeed and you’re right ejh.
It would be interesting to see who actually “owns” the said properties. In Miami there used to be a booming trade in Havana property deeds. Seems McDonalds and Pizza Hut were among the most enthusiastic buyers. Not sure if it’s still going on.
I heard a ways back that the Cuban government were working on a legal framework to protect the said properties in a way that would allow the country open up politically and economically. Anyone know if they’ve progressed that idea to a point that would avoid families being evicted by McDonalds?
You can watch Galloway’s appearance here:
http://couchtripper.com/forum2/page.php?page=6
***And going back to Castro, hard not to have a considerable degree of respect while still being certain that it might have been better to hand over earlier (amongst other things).***
Leaving aside all the considerable negatives, you have to hand it to a man who survived various CIA attempts to put something in his soup and thumbed his nose at, what is it, ten blustering U.S. presidents?
Cheers faceless. The thought struck me last night that I really wish it hadn’t been on Bush’s watch. I know there is no connection and that the timing is purely coincidental but…
All this talk about McDonald’s and families being evicted is a lot of conspiracy nonsense. First of all, how would this benefit McDonald’s if they’re looking to exploit a new market? Such a move would be so counterproductive that it’s just not credible to believe that McDonald’s (or any retail operator – American or otherwise) would behave in such a manner. This is not how a successful business builds goodwill.
And that explains why businesses never treat people badly. I had always wondered.
Do we think Raul Castro going to open up the Cuban economy a little bit? He is supposed to look kindly upon recent developments in China.
I think he might Graham. Or consider ejh’s point at the start of this thread.
I suspect there will be Starbucks, Burger King, Mickey Ds and probably Hooters on the Malecon before long. Mind you its half a Canadian colony already and they’ll all want to go somewhere else if American tourists begin arrving in big numbers.
ejh,
The claims of those Cubans who owned property that they lost 45 years ago will probably require some compensation, but I think that for the most part those people will have to face up to the fact that they lost out. Besides, their property is pretty worthless nowadays anyway.
Their claims are analogous to the Palestinians’ claims – only their claims are older and staler at this stage – not rooted in reality. I suspect that those Cubans in Florida and New Jersey who want to return will find that their dollars will buy a decent piece of property in Cuba for not a whole lot. They can behave like those Germans who’ve been buying property in Silesia from where they were driven at the end of WWII.