Fidel - Does the Cuban Model Still Work ?

[PaddyJoe]

In the Atlantic magazine this week an interview by American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg with Fidel Castro.
Castro seems to be making way for an opening up of the economy and discusses Iran, Israel and the role of the US.

A couple of weeks ago, while I was on vacation, my cell phone rang; it was Jorge Bolanos, the head of the Cuban Interest Section (we of course don't have diplomatic relations with Cuba) in Washington. "I have a message for you from Fidel," he said. This made me sit up straight. "He has read your Atlantic article about Iran and Israel. He invites you to Havana on Sunday to discuss the article." I am always eager, of course, to interact with readers of The Atlantic, so I called a friend at the Council on Foreign Relations, Julia Sweig, who is a preeminent expert on Cuba and Latin America: "Road trip," I said.

MORE ON Fidel Castro:
Jeffrey Goldberg: Castro: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."
I quickly departed the People's Republic of Martha's Vineyard for Fidel's more tropical socialist island paradise. Despite the self-defeating American ban on travel to Cuba, both Julia and I, as journalists and researchers, qualified for a State Department exemption. The charter flight from Miami was bursting with Cuban-Americans carrying flat-screen televisions and computers for their technologically-bereft families. Fifty minutes after take-off, we arrived at the mostly-empty Jose Marti International Airport. Fidel's people met us on the tarmac (despite giving up his formal role as commandante en jefe after falling ill several years ago, Fidel still has many people). We were soon deposited at a "protocol house" in a government compound whose architecture reminded me of the gated communities of Boca Raton. The only other guest in this vast enclosure was the president of Guinea-Bissau.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel-cuban-model-doesnt-even-work-for-us-anymore/62602/

[TotalMayhem]

Fidel says that the Cuban model doesn't work anymore

Oh boy, did it ever?

Took the esteemed Máximo Líder quite while to to reach the path of enlightenment.

Can't wait for the next installment, dolphin watching with the 'reinvented elder statesman'.

[Sam Lord]

I wonder what Latin American model that works they will adopt? :)

[TotalMayhem]

I wonder what Latin American model that works they will adopt? :)

The Irish model maybe? We have some dolphins for him to watch too. ;)

[Sam Lord]

United Nations Human Development Index

This is a list of all countries by Human Development Index as included in a United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report released on 5 October 2009, compiled on the basis of data from 2007. It covers 180 UN member states (out of 192), along with Hong Kong (SAR of China) and the Palestinian territories. Twelve UN member states are not included due to lack of data. The average HDI of regions of the World and groups of countries are also included for comparison.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an under-developed country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life.

World Ranking

044. Chile .878
049. Argentina .866
050. Uruguay .865
051. Cuba .863
053. Mexico .854
054. Costa Rica .854
058. Venezuela .844
060. Panama .840
075. Brazil .813
077. Colombia .807
078. Peru .806
080. Ecuador .806
090. Dominican Republic .777
093. Belize .772
101. Paraguay .761
106. El Salvador .747
112. Honduras .732
113. Bolivia .729
122. Guatemala .704
124. Nicaragua .699

Lots of models that work much better for the masses to choose from here.:)

[angela's ashes]

In the Atlantic magazine this week an interview by American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg with Fidel Castro.
Castro seems to be making way for an opening up of the economy and discusses Iran, Israel and the role of the US.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel-to-ahmadinejad-stop-slandering-the-jews/62566/

The link is the wrong article.

[PaddyJoe]

It looks like Fidel was misquoted or misinterpreted or just plain said the opposite of what he meant to say:)

Fidel Castro said today that his comment to a US journalist about Cuba's system not working had been misinterpreted.

The former president told a meeting at the University of Havana that the remark, which caused a sensation when reported earlier this week, did not reflect his view. He meant "the exact opposite", he said.

Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for the Atlantic magazine, reported that at the end of a long lunch last month he asked the 84-year-old communist revolutionary if Cuba's economic system was still worth exporting to other countries. He said Castro replied: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."

Castro did not elaborate but the implication, according to Julia Sweig, a Cuba expert from the Council on Foreign Relations who also attended the lunch, was that the state had too big a role in the economy.

The island's dire economic state was hardly news but for the man who spent over half a century building it to breezily admit failure astonished observers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/10/fidel-castro-cuba-remarks?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[C. Flower]

It's hard to know if he said it at all. A fair proportion of the news is fabrication. Goldberg, as a "State Department approved journalist and researcher" may have had his interview written before he left for Cuba.

[PaddyJoe]

I will have to check back on the original piece as to whether the interview was conducted in Spanish or English and if an interpreter was involved. It has been known for interpreters to get the blame for mangling the intended message;)

[PaddyJoe]

The link is the wrong article.

Thanks, I have fixed the link:)

[PaddyJoe]

But I digress. Toward the end of this long, relaxed lunch, Fidel proved to us that he was truly semi-retired. The next day was Monday, when maximum leaders are expected to be busy single-handedly managing their economies, throwing dissidents into prison, and the like. But Fidel's calendar was open. He asked us, "Would you like to go the aquarium with me to see the dolphin show?"

I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. (This happened a number of times during my visit). "The dolphin show?"
Hmmm...

[C. Flower]

He could be right. Half a million public jobs to go in Cuba and the private sector to be opened up.

link (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/13/cuba.economy/index.html?eref=ft)

[RosaLuxembourg]

Translation via google:

Fidel Castro on Cuban model clarified: what does not work is capitalism.

The Cuban government, some interpretations published today disqualified from interview with American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic magazine.

During the presentation of his latest book "The strategic counteroffensive" in the Aula Magna of the University of Havana, Fidel Castro said Goldberg asked if he believed the Cuban model was something still worth exporting.

"It is clear that this question implied the theory that Cuba was exporting the revolution. I reply" The Cuban model no longer works even for us. "He expressed no bitterness or concern," said Fidel Castro, according to Television Cubana.

But actually said, "is that my answer meant the exact opposite of what the analyst Goldberg and Julia Sweig, who accompanied him, performed on the Cuban model.

"My idea, as everyone knows, is that the capitalist system and not even good for America or the world, leading from crisis to crisis, which are becoming increasingly serious, comprehensive and repeated, of which no can escape. How could provide such a system to a socialist country like Cuba, "said Fidel Castro.

Turning to the issue of the Cuban Missile Crisis the first secretary of Communist Party of Cuba said "it is true, I addressed the issue and I asked the question.

Literally, as he puts it in the first part of his story, his words were: "I asked: At one point it seemed logical that you would recommend to the Soviets to bomb the United States. Did you recommended still seems logical now? Fidel said: Having seen what I seen, and not worth it at all. "

I had explained well, and to writing, the contents of the message "... if the United States invaded Cuba, a country with Russian nuclear weapons in such circumstances should not be left to the first blow as that inflicted on the USSR when the June 22, 1941, the German army and all European forces attacked the USSR. "

It can be seen, "he explains Fidel Castro, that this brief allusion to the subject, in the second part of the delivery to the public of the news, the reader may not realize that" if the U.S. invaded Cuba, a country with Russian nuclear weapons " In this case I recommended to prevent the enemy struck the first blow, nor the profound irony of my response "... Had I known what I know now ..." in obvious reference to the betrayal by a president of Russia, saturated alcohol substance, gave the most important U.S. military secrets in that country.

I keep thinking, "said the leader of the Cuban Revolution, which Goldberg is a great journalist, able to explain to amenity and master their views, which require debate. No inventa frases, las transfiere y las interpreta. No invents phrases, transferred and interpreted.

Fidel Castro full message in the presentation of his book "strategic counteroffensive"

We are in a rare moment of human history.

These days you meet the deadlines given by the Security Council United Nations for Iran to comply with the requirements dictated by the United States, related nuclear research and enrichment of uranium for medical and electrical energy production.

That's all you can try.

The fear of seeking nuclear weapons production, is only a guess.

Around the sensitive issue, the U.S. and its Western allies, including two of the five nuclear powers with veto power, France and the United Kingdom, supported by the capitalist powers richest and most developed of the world, have prompted a growing number sanctions against Iran, an oil rich country and Muslims. Today approved measures include inspection of their trade, and harsh economic sanctions that lead to strangulation of the economy.

I have followed closely the serious dangers of this situation, since the occurrence of an outbreak of war at that point, the war quickly would become nuclear, with lethal consequences for the rest of the planet.

Not seeking publicity or sensationalism in reporting such hazards. Simply to alert world opinion in the hope that warned of this grave danger, helping to prevent it.

At least, it has attracted attention to a problem that was not even mentioned in the mainstream of world opinion.

This forces me to use some time for the launch of this book, whose publication work hard. I did not want to coincide with days 7 and 9. The first meeting 90 days mandated by the Security Council to determine whether or not Iran complied with the requirement to allow inspection of its merchants. The first meeting 90 days mandated by the Security Council to determine whether or not Iran complied with the requirement to allow inspection of its merchants.

So far, we only have the unusual statement by the Director General of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), Japan's Yukiya Amano, a man of the Yankees. This threw all the wood on the fire and, like Pontius Pilate, washed his hands.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran said his statement with deserved contempt. A news release from the agency EFE, said that his statement that "'Our friends should not worry because we do not believe that our region is in condition for new military adventures", and "Iran is fully prepared to respond to any invasion military 'was an obvious reference to Cuban leader Fidel Castro, "who warned of the possibility of an Israeli nuclear attack on Iran with U.S. support'."

The news on the topic follows another, and mingle with others of significant impact.

The journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic magazine, already known for our public, publishes parts of the long interview held with me, some interesting point of which has been programmed before the future and long article.

"There were many strange things during my recent stay in Havana," he tells [...] "But one of the most unusual was the level of self-examination of Fidel Castro. [...] But the fact that Castro was willing to admit he had made a mistake at a crucial time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in Cuba seemed truly amazing [...] he regretted that he had asked Khrushchev nuclear rockets launched against the United States. "True, I addressed the issue and I asked the question. Literally, as he puts it in the first part of his story, his words were: "I asked: At one point it seemed logical that you would recommend to the Soviets to bomb the United States. Did you recommended still seems logical now? Fidel said: Having seen what I seen and have known what I know now, not worth it at all. "

I had explained well, and to writing, the contents of the message "... if the United States invaded Cuba, a country with Russian nuclear weapons in such circumstances should not be left to the first blow as that inflicted on the USSR when the June 22, 1941, the German army and all European forces attacked the USSR. "

Can be seen that this brief allusion to the subject, in the second part of the delivery to the public of the news, the reader might realize that "if the U.S. invaded Cuba, a country with Russian nuclear weapons" in this case I recommended prevent the enemy struck the first blow, nor the profound irony of my response "... Had I known what I know now ..." in obvious reference to the betrayal by a president of Russia, substance saturated with alcohol, gave United States military's most important secrets of that country.

At another point in the conversation Goldberg says: "I asked him if he believed the Cuban model was something that was worth even export." Clearly, this question was implicit theory that Cuba was exporting the revolution. I reply "The Cuban model no longer works even for us." He expressed no bitterness or worry. I have fun now to see how he interpreted to the letter and see for what it says Julia Sweig, an analyst at CFR that accompanied it, and developed the theory presented. But the reality is that my answer meant the exact opposite of what the two American journalists interpreted on the Cuban model.

My idea, as everyone knows, is that the capitalist system and not even good for America or the world, leading from crisis to crisis, which are becoming increasingly serious, comprehensive and repeated, of which there can escape. How such a system could serve for a socialist country like Cuba.

Many Arab friends, to hear that I spoke with Goldberg, became worried and sent a message pointing to him as "the greatest supporter of Zionism."

From all this we can deduce the confusion that exists in the world. I hope therefore that what I tell my thinking is useful.

The ideas expressed by me are contained in 333 Reflections, to see that happen, and of these, the last 26 are referred exclusively to environmental problems and the imminent danger of a nuclear conflagration.

Now I add in a very brief summary.

I have always condemned the Holocaust. In reflections on "Obama's speech in Cairo," "The blow on the prowl" and "expert opinion", I stated clearly.

I've never been an enemy of the Jewish people, which I admire their ability to resist for two thousand years of dispersion and persecution. Many of the brightest talents, Karl Marx and Albert Einstein were Jewish, because it is a nation that survived the most intelligent, under a law of nature. In our country, and the world, were persecuted and slandered. But this is only a fraction of the ideas I advocate.

They were not the only persecuted and slandered for their beliefs. Muslims, for well over 12 centuries, they were attacked and persecuted by European Christians, because of their beliefs, as had been the early Christians in ancient Rome before becoming the official religion of the empire. The story should be accepted and remembered as it is, with its tragic realities and fierce wars. That I have spoken and, therefore, rightly explained the dangers that runs humanity when these have become the greatest risk of suicide for our fragile species.

If we add a war with Iran, even if conventional in nature, it would be better that the United States turned off the light and fired. How could it resist a war against 1 500 million Muslims?

Defending peace is not to a true revolutionary, renouncing the principles of justice, without which human life and society would be meaningless.

I still think that Goldberg is a great journalist, able to explain to amenity and master their views, which require debate. No invents phrases, transferred and interpreted.

Do not mention the content of many other aspects of our conversations. Respect the confidentiality of the issues we address, while I look forward to his lengthy article.

Current news coming on stream from all sides, forcing me to fill your presentation with these words, whose seeds are contained in the book of "strategic counteroffensive" I have just presented.

I believe that all peoples have the right to peace and enjoyment of property and natural resources of the planet. It's a shame what is happening to the population in many African countries, where they are millions of children, women and men among its inhabitants skeletal because of lack of food, water and medicines. Graphics is news coming from the Middle East, where Palestinians are deprived of their lands, their houses are demolished by monstrous equipment and men, women and children, bombarded with white phosphorous and other means of destruction, and horrific scenes of families wiped out by bombs dropped on Afghan and Pakistani villages for unmanned aircraft, and the Iraqis who die after years of war, and more than a million lives sacrificed in this war imposed by a U.S. president.

The last thing I could expect was the news of the expulsion of the French gypsies, victims of the cruelty of the French extreme right, which already amounted to seven thousand of them, the victims of another kind of racial holocaust. It's elementary strong protest of the French, which, simultaneously, the millionaires limit the right to retirement, while reducing employment opportunities.

U.S. hear of a minister of the state of Florida, which proposes to burn in his own church, the Holy Book of Quran. Even the Yankee military chiefs and European war punitive missions quaked at the news that they considered risky for soldiers.

Walter Martinez, the renowned journalist Dossier program Venezolana de Televisión, was amazed at such madness.

Yesterday, Thursday, 9 in the evening, news came that the pastor had given up. Would need to know what they told the FBI agents who visited him "to persuade." It was a huge media show, chaos, things typical of an empire that is sinking.

I thank you all for your attention.

September 10, 2010

[RosaLuxembourg]

http://islamiacu.blogspot.com/2010/09/fidel-castro-aclara-sobre-modelo-cubano.html

And there is the link.

Be VERY careful of Imperialist propaganda.

[C. Flower]

http://islamiacu.blogspot.com/2010/09/fidel-castro-aclara-sobre-modelo-cubano.html

And there is the link.

Be VERY careful of Imperialist propaganda.

Thanks for that Rosa - nice one.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Be VERY careful of Imperialist propaganda.

Here's more of it -

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0913/cuba.html

Right Rosa ?

[PaddyJoe]

Some stats from a report in today's El País(Madrid)
Population of Cuba: 11 million
In employment: 4,950,000
Public sector: 4,100,000
Private sector: 600,000
(Of these private sector workers, 141,000 have permits which allow them to be self-employed and 250,000 are co-op members)
Raúl Castro has said that the public sector is over manned to the tune of 1,300,000(that is one in 4 of the workforce) and that over the next 3 years these people will be cut from the public service.
Legislation will be introduced in October to permit higher levels of self employment, private wage contracts and new rules on renting and leasing property.
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Cuba/abrira/iniciativa/privada/hacer/frente/crisis/elpepuint/20100913elpepuint_8/Tes

[C. Flower]

Some stats from a report in today's El País(Madrid)
Population of Cuba: 11 million
In employment: 4,950,000
Public sector: 4,100,000
Private sector: 600,000
(Of these private sector workers, 141,000 have permits which allow them to be self-employed and 250,000 are co-op members)
Raúl Castro has said that the public sector is over manned to the tune of 1,300,000(that is one in 4 of the workforce) and that over the next 3 years these people will be cut from the public service.
Legislation will be introduced in October to permit higher levels of self employment, private wage contracts and new rules on renting and leasing property.
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Cuba/abrira/iniciativa/privada/hacer/frente/crisis/elpepuint/20100913elpepuint_8/Tes

I suppose its amazing that they held on so long after the end of the USSR.
But its a loss. I hope they fight for it.

They are going in the wrong direction. Haiti is not a great model.

[PaddyJoe]

This looks like Chicago School on steroids. 20% of the entire employed sector to be sacked over three years? It has to lead to massive dislocation.
What the betting that there are behind the scenes discussions on bringing in foreign investment?

[C. Flower]

There was a discussion on this on France 24 - rightly saying they will go through agonies. They don't have resources like Russia, and even Russia went through hell moving out of a planned economy.

Cuba wasn't fully communist/socialist and suffered from isolation and very limited resources, but demonstrated some very powerful advantages of socialist economic and social organisation.

It's the end of an epoch and a set back for the working class.

[Griska]

Guardian give it some coverage today:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/14/cuba-government-job-cuts-private-sector

They were up against the impossible for so long. Something had to give.

[C. Flower]

This will be the first Communist Party Congress headed by his brother Raul.

Maybe not too much activity in terms of internal democracy. Only 8 conferences in the last 40 years -


After a 49 year rule, Castro was succeeded as Cuban president by his brother Raul Castro in 2008. Raul Castro is reportedly expected to be named party president at the current party Congress, meeting for the first time in 14 years

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theenvoy/20110419/ts_yblog_theenvoy/fidel-castro-makes-surprise-showing;_ylt=AkuxKPGPssRku6fI985594elysp_;_ylu=X3o DMTFldXA3YTBpBHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl9wcm9tb3NfYmxvZ19od G1sBHNsawNmcmFpbGZpZGVsY2E-

[Binn Beal]

I was shocked that Obama is planning to bomb Japan and invade South Georgia.

As it is possibly the kind of thing I imagine he might be thinking of, I will assume it is true.

[unspecific]

The Party also had to choose the official new no.2. Western capitalist media had been theorizing that they would take the opportunity to bring someone from the younger generations into the leadership.

I won't pretend to know their system, but I read the new no.2 is an 80 year old man.

A friend theorized that the layoffs were expected to reform their own private companies in the form of co-operatives and would mean actual workers control over party control.

Personally, I believe the Castros are taking the opportunity of Obama being in the White House, to impress him suitably to lift the embargo and therefore safeguard the Cuban state/economy into the future.

[Apjp]

I wonder what Latin American model that works they will adopt? :)

Ecuador is the world's fastest growing socialist economy. I'll get the figures later.

[Apjp]

United Nations Human Development Index

This is a list of all countries by Human Development Index as included in a United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report released on 5 October 2009, compiled on the basis of data from 2007. It covers 180 UN member states (out of 192), along with Hong Kong (SAR of China) and the Palestinian territories. Twelve UN member states are not included due to lack of data. The average HDI of regions of the World and groups of countries are also included for comparison.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an under-developed country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life.

World Ranking

044. Chile .878
049. Argentina .866
050. Uruguay .865
051. Cuba .863
053. Mexico .854
054. Costa Rica .854
058. Venezuela .844
060. Panama .840
075. Brazil .813
077. Colombia .807
078. Peru .806
080. Ecuador .806
090. Dominican Republic .777
093. Belize .772
101. Paraguay .761
106. El Salvador .747
112. Honduras .732
113. Bolivia .729
122. Guatemala .704
124. Nicaragua .699

Lots of models that work much better for the masses to choose from here.:)

51's not bad!!! considering the embargo and low exports since the soviet collapse its a ******* miracle!

[Apjp]

Hmmm...

thats what im thinking. the worlds best medical superpower and one of the most educated, literate nations is by no means a complete failure as far as embargoed developing countries go.

[Apjp]

In reading fidels book, first published 5 years ago, he doesnt even allude to what cuba is now doing. clearly the economic crash, unprecedented in history, has changed his mind. I mean this is the same man who in 2006 said of neoliberal globalization 'we will wait patiently for it to collapse'. The cuban people wont all be happy to see socialism go. Dont rule out socialism returning.

[Holly]

.... The cuban people wont all be happy to see socialism go. ....

If the dirt poor Cuban people were ever permitted by the Castro family to have free and open elections, we would soon discover what they really think of living under a communist dictatorship.

[Binn Beal]

Under 'free and open elections' or the richest-past-the-post system, they would probably go for hotel jobs, prostitution, the mafia and colonial status, like before.

[Holly]

Under 'free and open elections' or the richest-past-the-post system, they would probably go for hotel jobs, prostitution, the mafia and colonial status, like before.

You cannot teach the proletariat. Incorrigible!

[antiestablishmentarian]

What odds the US intervenes militarily in the event of elections? To ensure free and fair vote and all the rest :rolleyes:

[C. Flower]

Cuba is sliding towards a market economy, just at the moment when the market is imploding.

Ironically, Cuba may be one of the best places to start looking for examples of countries that have survived severe shocks - in their case, oil sanctions and the loss of USSR supports.

[Apjp]

Cuba is sliding towards a market economy, just at the moment when the market is imploding.

Ironically, Cuba may be one of the best places to start looking for examples of countries that have survived severe shocks - in their case, oil sanctions and the loss of USSR supports.

it has the look of something of a weimar republic about it. lets hope the soviet system resurfaces in part first..

[Holly]

....
Ironically, Cuba may be one of the best places to start looking for examples of countries that have survived severe shocks - in their case, oil sanctions and the loss of USSR supports.

You call the dirt poor conditions of the Cuban people survival?

[Sam Lord]

You call the dirt poor conditions of the Cuban people survival?

Well the Health care system seems to be better than the one in the USA anyway.

[Holly]

Well the Health care system seems to be better than the one in the USA anyway.

At least when you die in Cuba, Sam, it will not be of anything too serious then. :rolleyes:

[TotalMayhem]

survived severe shocks... the loss of USSR supports.

What may seem like a shocking development to you, dear Cactus, was considered a blessing by those who suffered from "USSR support" over decades. As for the Cubans, any dollar tourist or relative in Florida was of more value to them than the entire Soviet "missiles for sugarcane" program.

[Holly]

Cuba seems to be following the steps China took towards economic freedom. It has been opening up it's economy a lot since Raul Castro took over
People are now allowed to
set up their own business
This is called private enterprise; everything Fidel Castro was against.

buy and sell cars
You mean the crocks that are kept going on cannibalized parts from 1950s Chevies?

own many consumer products
Since when were there many consumer goods in Castro's Cuba?

buy and sell real estate ...
A fat lot of good that did the Irish.

[homer]

We can agree that Cuba works when people are caught trying to escape from Florida into Cuba

[Apjp]

Im very pro Castro-socialism. I find it hard to believe becoming a little pet for america is a good idea. There should be limited private enterprise in most economic structures in my view-along the old soviet model under Stalin of 20-30 employees per company. The rest should be cooperatives or sgtate companies. Jaysus when people like Cruimh harp on about 'economic freedom' such as that in China-well it'd make you happy to live in Dublin and not Hong Kong. You should talk to some Chinese people Cruimh-you might learn what they think of their 'freedom'.

[antiestablishmentarian]

FREE Alan Gross!!!! :mad:






http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16324331

Gross's position is not too dissimilar from that of the Cuban 5, who remain locked up in the US prison system for attempting to gather information on Cuban-American militia groups based in Florida. If the US are serious about wanting him released on humanitarian grounds, they should let the Cuba 5 walk free first.

[C. Flower]

A lot of rumours and denials of Fidel Castro having died.

CONFIRMACIÓN OFICIAL DESDE LA HABANA: #FIDELCASTRO NO HA MUERTO #CUBA