June 08, 2004

Response Email from Counterpuncher

Here's the email from Scott Morris, in response to my email regarding his recent OpEd piece at Counterpunch:

Val, thank you for taking time to share your comments and views on Cuba.

In a short piece, originally written as an Op/Ed for a small newspaper, in
response to what many consider the Bush Admin's new "enslave cuba" policy, it is difficult to project the complexities of Cuba, or anything else. I was,
as much as anything, attempting to provide something other than the "Cuba is
a totalitarian monstrosity" view that we get almost exclusively in the US.
Given the brutal and murderous US record in Latin America (including attacks on
Cuba, as you know), it seems a responsible move to alert people to possible
unsavory US goals in Cuba. I wasn't attempting to suggest that Cuba is paradise, no place is. Nevertheless, there are elements of the Cuban experiment that should not simply be dismissed because they are operating under an alternative to capitalism model. We may be able to learn from some of the Cuban experiments. It is not that we should blindly adopt anything, or everything, Cuban.
But an open view, with the option to fruitfully criticize, is a position that, arguably, we should adopt. Many people fear that if Cuba returns to the
US fold, it will not be long before the conditions for most Cubans are like
the conditions for most Haitians, or Salvadorans, and that, I suspect, few who
are concerned about human rights would hope for?

Thank you again for taking time to share you views.

peace,

scott

Here is my counter-response:

Scott,

I thank you for your response to my email regarding your article. There's just a couple of thoughts I'd like to add.

First, you state the Bush Administration "enslaves Cuba." This statement is utterly false and completely unrealistic. Cuba is enslaved by the ideology of one man and one man alone, Fidel Castro. It is not Bush who imprisons journalists on the island. It is not Bush who prevents Cubans from freely traveling the world. It is not Bush who prohibits Cubans from entering tourist areas in Cuba. It certainly isn't Bush who peddles Cubans as slave laborers or indentured servants to foreign companies for profit. Castro's prime goal when he usurped control of the island was to remove any and all US interests form Cuba. Well, he now has that. Yet even while denigrating the US government on one hand, he manuevers and begs for US dollars to keep his economy afloat. Seems Mr. Castro hypocritically and freely practices capitalism while denying his people that same right.

I also take exception to your comment about the "exclusive view" of "Cuba being a totalitarian monstrosity" that you say we get here in the US. The fact of the matter is that Cuba is a totalitarian monstrosity. Why call an apple an orange when it is undoubtedly an apple? There are no elections in Cuba, no dissenting views allowed, no freedom of speech, no freedom of religion, no freedom of the press... basically no freedoms whatsoever. Cubans are not allowed to progress unless that progress is to the benefit of the regime itself. It is the undeniable failing of the socialist system: to make all people equal by bringing everyone down to a common denominator as opposed to up.

You talk about the brutal and murderous record of the US in Latin America. Well, imagine if the US had not intervened in some cases. The brutality may have very well increased tenfold. You want to really see a brutal and murderous record? Visit this page http://www.netforcuba.org/cubanassassinated.htm where you will see a complete list of all those people murdered by Castro and his regime. You will need quite a bit of time to peruse it. Of course, this page does not list all those Cubans who died at sea or elsewhere searching for freedom. It also does not count the thousands who have disappeared on the island.

You state that Cuba is not a paradise and that no place is. You may be correct, yet Cuba isnt referred to as the Pearl of the Caribbean for no reason. Cuba's standard of living was once above and beyond all Latin American and Caribbean countries. You also equate the Cuban people to the Salvadorans and Haitians and so on, and with all due respect for these peoples, they are not the same. The Cuban people are a rarity. They are incredibly hard working, ingenius, determined, entrepenurial and common sensical. The only reason the island has survived Castro's disastrous policies has been because of her people and their resolve. No other country in the world has survived a regime the likes of Castro's for so long a period of time. And that is not because of the genius of Castro, but because of the spirit of the Cuban people.

Val Prieto
Cuban-American
www.babalublog.com

Posted by Val Prieto at June 8, 2004 09:36 AM



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» Relentless from Fine? Why Fine?
Isnt' there a rule about not saying things like this to a Miami Cuban? Nevertheless, there are elements of the Cuban experiment that should not simply be dismissed because they are operating under an alternative to capitalism model. We may [Read More]

Tracked on June 8, 2004 05:48 PM

Comments

Boo-yaaaaaa!

Posted by: J.Scott Barnard at June 8, 2004 10:16 AM

"I wasn't attempting to suggest that Cuba is paradise."

"I wasn't attempting to suggest that Nazi Germany was paradise."

"I wasn't attempting to suggest that Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge was paradise."

When you treat this idiot with respect and take him seriously, you are demonstrating more patience than I possess.

Posted by: Steve H. at June 8, 2004 11:03 AM

To understand how a thing works is to understand that thing.....it is always interesting to observe how different people structure logic and in the process, deny reality.
Castro's form of capitalism is one in which he controls both the supply and the demand, (realisticlly, he creates the demand by only allowing only a few Cubans to leave the island and holding the remaining relatives hostage).
My father once told me that communism works quite well if the there is a free-market society to support it.

Posted by: Bill at June 8, 2004 11:16 AM

Well put, Val. Keep it up. Maybe you'll get this guy to retreat far enough that he becomes a U.S.-lovin' capitalistic Republican! ;-)

Posted by: bryan at June 8, 2004 12:03 PM

This is a perfect example of the asinine "logic" of the Left:

Castro subjugates the people of Cuba in a kind of feudal-socialist fiefdom in which he is the Lord of his Caribbean domain and Master of his subjects destinies. For the Cuban people there is no escape from Fidel's tyranny... but, this is "what many consider the Bush Admin's new 'enslave cuba" policy'"

If Jefferson Davis had implemented "universal health-care" in the Confederacy , he too might be a hero of the American Left today.

Posted by: Todd at June 8, 2004 12:54 PM

I find this guy's response to be completely void of all logic.

He has a belief in his head and he will not let facts get in his way. Like how he refers to Castro's takeover and inhuman regime as "The Cuban Experiment."

Perhaps there are parts of Hitler's experiment he would be loathe to throw away as well. Or Mussolini's, whose "experiment" is rumored (falsely) to have made the trains run on time.

I'm insulted that he uses the term "Cuba's experiment" as if a vote was taken, and a team of scientists designed a model.

His Cuban experiment has been killing people for a long, long time.

Posted by: paul at June 8, 2004 01:18 PM

Paul, of course Il Duce never made the trains run on time: have you ever BEEN on a train in Italy? Fascism was, fortunately, not capable of achieving the impossible. ;-)

Points well-made as usual, Val, but just one pedantic correction:

"No other country in the world has survived a regime the likes of Castro's for so long a period of time."

Well, Russia was under the iron boot of communism for 74 years, and North Korea has been for roughly a decade longer than Cuba. But in fairness, I don't think either's recovery will prove as quick or as complete as Cuba's does once it's finally free.

Posted by: Dave J at June 8, 2004 03:13 PM

Geez, this guy is unbelievable.

Great reply, Val, but I just don't have your patience.

You did great, but unfortunately it will probably be lost on the likes of him. Few of those types ever change their spots.

Isn't it amazing how "tolerant" these people are, but you never find them living in the places they are "tolerant" of...

What a bunch of losers...

Posted by: WB at June 8, 2004 07:10 PM

I was tempted to rebuke this irrational but when I read your response I changed my mind. I would argue that Castro doesn't practice capitalism at all, but rather a kind of petty Fascism/Nazism. His joint-ventures sound like something out of Hitler's or Mussolini's handbook. Under capitalism, only voluntary exchanges under objective laws are possible.

Posted by: Yoan Gustavo at June 8, 2004 07:30 PM

Your response was very apropos. One advantage to this person outting himself as treacherous to his own country.
Now you know where to look when on duty spotting the enemy.
Keep up the good work.

Posted by: quark2 ♥ at June 9, 2004 04:08 PM

USAPATRIOT,
First, please dont come to my blog pretending to know anything about me, my convictions or the situation in Cuba. And please, if you are going to criticize me or my opinions, dont do it with the standard off-the-shelf-one-size-fits-all leftist rhetoric.

And dont bring up Batista and Co. You know nothing of it, unless you lived there as my family did.

Also, have the courage to at least use a real email and a real name when making such disparaging remarks.

As for yur being disappointed in me? My heart bleeds. Prick.

Posted by: Val at June 10, 2004 04:35 PM