Ok, yes, it it terrible that Castro continues in power because he is able to funnel all remittance cash spent in cuba - even that used in the black market - into state coffers.

However, and I discussed this with Val before in a stimulating email exchange, should I let MY WIFE in Cuba starve or go without vitamins and medicine, or sleep in a mosquito-infested hovel in Cojimar, or not have tampons, or not have shampoo, etc, to support the nebulous "fight" against Castro?

You have to be kidding. $100/month in Cuba does not even cover groceries, people, let alone the price of a black market phone line in your house so that you can stay in touch with your relative who is waiting for her visa interview, or the price to recharge the cellphone that we use when the land line is inevitably down, or the rent on the house that you're living in because there is no state housing available, the cost of said tampons, shampoo, etc.

It is very easy to support a reduction in the amount of money allowed in a family remittance when you don't have any family living in Cuba anymore. But where do you derive the moral authority to suggest that I should cause physical, mental and emotional harm to my wife - beyond that which is inflicted upon her by her own government - by restricting the amount of money I send her to $100/month? Seriously.

Explain this to me, please. But explain it specifically as it relates to the choice between helping your spouse in Cuba to SURVIVE - not live a middle class lifestyle - vs. undermining the Castro regime so that 24mos later (after your spouse maybe has suffered decalcification of her bones becaues she couldn't buy milk) there is a government change for the better in Havana?

When we want to know the reason beside all the amoral people of this planet that prop him up to why the Tiranosauro is still in power after all this years is to look for a mirror.

joe_p, that is a very personal choice to make. And nobody should be the moral judge on that choice.

I do have an opinion on those who go to Cuba on "family visits", when the major purpose is to enjoy Varadero hotels and fooling around with Cuban chicas.

You joe_p, instead, do nothing to be ashamed of. To protect and care for your own family can never be immoral even if the Beast benefits from that.

The Beast would probably be in power even if no money at all were sent to Cuba.

Look at North Korea.

Joe,

First, dude, you know I love you, man. As I have mentioned here numerous times, this is the sad and unfortnately reality. I am no one to tell you or anyone else not to help support your loved ones in Cuba and I am well aware of the many many shortages and necessities in the island. In the end, it is a personal and moral decision for each individual.

This is, of course, notwithstanding the thousands of horror stories out there about exiles and others returning to Cuba with wads of cash at the ready to exploit the cuban people. I know you are aware of them.

So now here we are at a moral standoff. What is the right thing to do? Support your family and in the process support the regime and become a de facto culprit in that regime's sustenance, or not support your family and become a de facto culprit in their daily misery?

It is the proverbial catch 22.

People want to send money to relatives and loved ones in Cuba? Fine. Im all for it. But urge them to DO something to improve their own lives and stop living off the hand of others. Join a dissident group, take to the streets, complain in public. Dont go to rallies. SOMETHING. ANYTHING. In a country of 11 million there are but a few thousand - if that - dissidents with enough courage and balls to risk what little they have for their own. Eleven million people allowing one man to force them to live like parasites.

I can sit here and type till my fingers bleed, but no change will occur in Cuba without Cubans themselves working for that change.

I think Val nailed it on the head. The people in Cuba need to be the ones to rise up and be heard. I know that's easy to say from a comfortable perch here in Miami, but it's the reality.

Joe...I respect your decision to help your family. I don't see anything immoral or wrong with it.

Change sometimes can happen very fast. I learned a lot from the East Germans. They started out with 20 demonstrators... then they filled a church, and suddenly they filled a big square and then 1 million demonstrated...
When people lost fear, it was all over in weeks for the oppressors
In 1994 Cubans marched through Centro Habana without fear.. it could have happened then already
I sense the courage is growing again

Can somebody please explain to me why Fidel is still alive?

I don't understand what deal it is that keeps him from getting whacked. Hell, the CIA hunted Che down and boxed his butt.

Why do we let Fidel live?

It's not like the Russians are going to go to WWIII with us for killing the SOB.

I do not understand.

Why doesn't Bush take him out?

I was going to say Bush whack, but I figured I'd get boo'ed for the bad joke.

It's not like he's in a popularity contest in Europe or Hollywood. He'd piss in the Wheaties of almost every lefty in on the planet. Bush isn't getting re-elected so a dead Castro would be good for the whole planet and it couldn't hurt him.

As for assassination Bush is already going to be dodging kamakze towel-heads for the rest of his life so what's a few enraged commies going to add to the mix.

We'd get a double bonus - Chavez would shut up so fast you'd hear his lips crash together all the way up in New York.

Why didn't Bush take out Saddam (before the war)?
Because it ain't easy, my friend.
The Beard, unfortunately, is a survivor, and if there is something that works in Cuba, it's his intelligence.
Now that is something you forgot Val... another successful Cuban export

Eleggua you lost me on the last comment....Joe_P, I don't think anyone can say what you are doing is inmoral, however I do agree with Eleggua in that unfortunately many people do take those "family trips" that are not meant to support or help survive anyone.....as far as assassinating Castro, shit, that was my dream as a kid, a commando mission that takes him out....but that would make him a martyr. It has to be the Cubans in Cuba who rise up and topple him like it happen in Checoslovakia (I believe it was there people took to the plaza and killed - or attempted to - the then "president")....as far as Che Guevara, I thought it was Castro who had him killed in Bolivia so he could become an icon.....

I don't understand why the exiles don't buy a couple of accurized and scoped reminton 700 pss'es and start training a small group to pick off high ranking officals here and there. There are hundreds of battle hardened vets of the Iraq war willing to lend their servaces as 'contractors' to companies like blackwater for the right price and the thousands of exiles in miami have millions of dollars in assets between them. What's stopping everyone? The easy access to weapons is there [you can buy as many firearms as you want in a month in Florida or just buy kits and assemble them yourself without background checks], the expertise is there; you can either choose from Cuban ex-military or former special forces 'contractors', it's possible after all Castro got rid of baptista and he landed on Cuba with a small contingent of men.

All that's left is for people to stop bitching and step up to take action. But that's the problem. All of the exiles I have met are all talk and no action, they expect american troops to risk their lives for Cuba's freedom when the Cuban people won't do the same to help themselves. They'd rather just complain, piss on the right of freedom of travel guaranteed to American citizens by the constitution and try to have the american government do all of their dirty work then take care of the problem themselves. A constitution I may add that people such as myself risked our lives in combat to protect.

Typical, exiles are the first people to speak out against doing business with Castro but are the largest group of amercians funneling him money. Cuban exiles are the ones yelling and screaming that we should send american troops into harms way in order to bring freedom to their families but are unwilling to do the same thing themselves. Cuban exiles are the main group in opposition of eleminating the travel ban but are the largest group traveling to Cuba to stay in upscale hotels like the Tropicana and debase Cuban prostitutes.

I say whatever is happening in Cuba is for the Cuban people to sort out. Why should american citizens be forced shoulder their load anymore then we should be forced sacifice for the people of Iran, Sudan, Morocco, China, or Saudi Arabia. Our country needs to start looking out for the interests of it's own citizens instead of trying to appease a group of largely illegal immigrants that politicians believe to have large amount of political power.

Mike,

Seriously, you arent anything if you arent a complete putz. Im hoping your heart is in the right place because something inside you needs to know what the hell's going on.

Mike
YOU are a complete MORON!!

Mike is typical of all who break the embargo and prop up fidel's regime and are the first to criticize the exiles in Miami for "not doing anything" -- without taking any responsibility for your own actions. Your suggestion is typical of the sickening hypocrisy of your ilk.

You have the balls to ask us to violate a Federal law that has landed many, many Cuban patriots in Federal prison. After four decades of this bullshit, losing everything, burying mothers, fathers, grandparents en el exilio, you tell us that we are just talk? You obviously like to hide behind the same tiresome argument I've heard over and over again. Val was kind when he called you a complete putz.

Listen, I can guarantee one thing: if the law were repealed tomorrow that prohibited us from taking arms against fidel, you would have THOUSANDS of volunteers ready and willing to fight and die for la causa, myself included.

WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING? Hypocrite.

Val, you are too easy on Mike. Mike, lets school you here. "Mostly illegal immigrants?" We as exiles (and American CITIZENS) our share has fought in EVERY war since we've been here, from Vietnam to Iraq. Your buddy Kennedy negotiated away our right to invade Cuba with Khruschev.
It is NOT your right to travel to a country that has sponsored terrorism, such as Cuba. We may not be perfect, but we are probably more patriotic for America than yourself. We are not allowed by law to materialize an invasion from here. In addition, even the American revolution could NOT have succeeded without France's help. Remember France's navy at Yorktown? You also probably don't know that groups of Cuban women funded the American soldiers so they could get paid during the American revolution. Get your facts straight. Val was right about one thing, your a putz.

Even though Mike is a putz, there is an element of us that help keep the tyrant in power. This is NOT in reference to Joe Ds case in point. He is obviously right in supporting his family. But the people in Cuba must rise out of their stupor. They need to realize they can stop their enslavement.

We have lost the fight since 1962 because we have no allies to help us fight Castro. The Kennedy-Khrushchev understanding of 1962 is still in effect. Bush has abided by it and his administration has jailed Santiago Alvarez on an entrapment by a mentally unbalanced informant. More than 100 anti-Castro activists have been political prisoners in the U.S. for taking the fight to Castro since 1962.

Yea that was a pretty rude post so allow me to apologize for being rude [not for my beliefs]. I was just kind of pissed off about what my exile Spanish teacher did in class today. As part of the class she wanted our class to write on a ‘controversial’ topic of a Hispanic country. One of the groups picked Cuba, and not knowing anything about the island or the state controlled media they happened to stumble upon some ‘official’ news outlets in Havana and used them to put together their project. Well our teacher went into full scale meltdown mode including yelling and crying. She made some pretty wild comparisons and contradicted herself more then a few times, when she asked for comments and some people pointed out some of her contradictions it just got worse. Keep in mind that these were just two kids trying to do a project that didn’t know anything about Cuba and what our teacher did was extremely unprofessional. When I saw posts on here talking about Cubans defying the travel ban, sending money to people in Cuba, and asking why Americans haven’t assassinated Castro my anger boiled over.

The largest group of people undermining the embargo is the people who support it most but yet the average American that just wants to live his life and isn’t concerned with being the worlds police ends up shouldering the burden economically and though the restriction of his freedoms. As I said before I’m sorry for being rude but I don’t apologize for my beliefs. Some people brought up some counter points so allow me to address them.

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“Mike is typical of all who break the embargo and prop up fidel's regime and are the first to criticize the exiles in Miami for "not doing anything" -- without taking any responsibility for your own actions. Your suggestion is typical of the sickening hypocrisy of your ilk.”
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When did I say I defied the embargo? Fidel has never gotten a cent of my money. Can you say the same? Even if I had traveled to Cuba it would be irrelevant. Why should someone who isn’t Cuban care more about the oppressive conditions in Cuba country then the oppressive conditions in China, The Middle East, Africa, or much of South America and the rest of the Caribbean. Did you fill up your car today? Well guess what? You just supported Middle Eastern Terrorist states like Iran, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Sudan [which is in the middle of a ongoing government supported genocide],Yemen, and Oman along with supporting communist Venezuela which in turn supports Cuba. Have you ever bought a product from Wal-Mart or circuit city? Well then guess what? You just supported communist China and far right Colombian terrorist guerrillas. Did you see a ‘made in the USA’ sticker on the last baseball you bought? If not you probably supported the dictator of Haiti. The list goes on and on, I don’t see the U.S. government banning us from doing business with any of these other countries. Not even the country committing genocide. Why? Because in a free market economy it’s not the governments place to regulate commerce according to the leaderships individual morality. For what it’s worth I do agree with you that Fidel is a brutal leader and I’d like to see him go as soon as possible, but not at the cost of giving up personal freedoms that judges have consistently ruled are protected by the constitution.

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“You have the balls to ask us to violate a Federal law that has landed many, many Cuban patriots in Federal prison… Listen, I can guarantee one thing: if the law were repealed tomorrow that prohibited us from taking arms against fidel, you would have THOUSANDS of volunteers ready and willing to fight and die for la causa, myself included.”
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I’m going to say that it’s a reasonable assumption that you’ve never participated in direct combat. If you had you’d know that the threat of being locked up for a few years in a U.S. federal prison is nothing compared to the very real risk of horrible death, dismemberment, or torture at the hands of the enemy. If you were truly ready to put your life on the line you wouldn’t let a Federal law stop you. Especially one that has routinely been ignored by a president that has taken the hard line against Fidel.

In fact the only time that a Cuban has ever been prosecuted after attacking the communist government in Cuba was after he failed to follow the rules of war, and directly targeted civilian hotels or civilian airliners making him a terrorist. If you are part of a military organization in which: you are being commanded by someone responsible for his subordinates, have a distinctive fixed sign recognizable from a distance [in order to lower civilian casualties] this can be as simple as an arm band by the way, carrying arms openly, and are conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war [this includes going out of your way to minimize non-combatant causalities] then you are a soldier. If you target civilians and do not comply with these rules then you are a terrorist and should be prosecuted.

But putting all that aside let’s actually look at what you’d have to do in order to get prosecuted. First of all you would have to acquire the weapons, there are a number of totally legal and ways to do this without drawing any attention. Second you’d have to have some one train your insurgents. This is also totally legal and will not draw suspicion if done on a remote area. The best way would probably be to contract out special forces and infantry people coming home from Iraq. Due to our current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan there are more then enough experienced battle hardened vets getting out at the end of their contract eager to make a little money. You’d have to find a ship also totally legal and take the arms outside of the country. Exporting firearms from the U.S. is not a problem, importing them is. After you set sail you’d have to make sure the U.S. doesn’t find out that you staged the whole thing from Florida, I wouldn’t say this is much of a problem after all who’s going to find out where you last sailed from and it’s not like Fidel is going to tell uncle sam on you. But if you wanted to make it 100% legit you could make a stop in Mexico to get everyone organized so you didn’t “stage” the whole thing from the United States. So what’s holding you up? Start raising the money, you should have gotten this party started years ago. Oh and by the way I know your just talk otherwise you’d be in Cuba shooting off something other then your mouth.

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“WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING? Hypocrite.”
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I did do something I joined the military and gave four years to my country. And when it was believed that Iraq posed a threat to my country I risked my life in direct combat. What have you done for the people of Cuba other then complain? It’s easy to talk tough about risking for your life for your country while sitting conformably in your house in Miami. If only there wasn’t that one pesky law, that our government doesn’t enforce, unless you commit terrorist acts. But the reality of the situation is that many people are all talk and no action. It looks like you’re the hypocrite to me.

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“We as exiles (and American CITIZENS) our share has fought in EVERY war since we've been here, from Vietnam to Iraq.”
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I know, I served with some of them and I commend them for their service to this nation. But the funny thing is that they don’t talk about how much they hate Fidel every five minutes. They don’t preach that the American military should go to Cuba and overthrow the government because they know what it means when you go to war. The Cubans that I have met support American citizens right to travel. Why do they so staunchly support individual freedoms? I don’t know, maybe they know what it’s like to put their life on the line in peace and during war in order to safeguard those freedoms. Or maybe they agree that it’s ludicrous to expect American servicemen to put their lives at risk in order to fight for a cause that Cuban citizens themselves refuse to fight for. In any case I have yet to meet a hard-line Cuban exile serving in the military that advocates the U.S. military overthrowing the Cuban government. It seems that all the hard-liners have nothing to lose by taking hard-line approach.

“Your buddy Kennedy negotiated away our right to invade Cuba with Khruschev.”

First of all he’s not my buddy, I wasn’t around when he was president but from what I’ve read he sounds like a real jackass. Second of all the only cases I’ve ever heard about involving the U.S. government going after Cubans taking up arms against their government involve terrorism.

“It is NOT your right to travel to a country that has sponsored terrorism, such as Cuba.”

Freedom of travel has consistently been recognized as a right guaranteed under the constitution by federal judges, so yes it is my right. The only reason the embargo hasn’t been lifted because of a judicial decision is because the Supreme Court has refused to hear cases on this issue due to the possible political backlash. This isn’t the only issue the Supreme Court is afraid to touch, they won’t hear cases that involve U.S. citizens being held as non-enemy combatants, and they won’t hear cases involving the 2nd amendment.

“We may not be perfect, but we are probably more patriotic for America than yourself.”

No group of people is perfect and I’m sure many Cuban Americans are very patriotic. I don’t think Cuban Americans are a bad group of people, on the contrary many of the Cuban Americans I have met are very nice people. It’s just that I don’t agree with hard-liner Cuban politics, or any politics that seek to achieve a goal at the expense of personal freedoms. This goes for the left and the right, I’m surprised you don’t feel the same way. After all you came from a country that denied you personal rights and risked your life to live in a country in which you could be free. I would think that would make you treasure the freedoms guaranteed to you under the United States constitution even more.

“We are not allowed by law to materialize an invasion from here.”

You’re also not allowed by law to cross the straits of Florida on an raft to get to Miami but that doesn’t seem to be stopping anyone. Not to mention that law hasn’t been enforced with the exception of incidences of terrorism. And even if it was you could do it clandestinely and it would be almost impossible to prove that the insurgents were organized in Florida instead of Mexico or Haiti or Jamaica or.. well you get my point.

“In addition, even the American revolution could NOT have succeeded without France's help. Remember France's navy at Yorktown? You also probably don't know that groups of Cuban women funded the American soldiers so they could get paid during the American revolution.”
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That’s debatable after all we already had them on the run. Not to mention that French didn’t help when the British came back in 1812 or during the French and Indian wars. In any case I’ll be sure to tell my great, great, great, great, grandfather to thank your great, great, great, great grandmother. Your whole point is moot, I wasn’t discussing what Cubans and Americans did in the 1800’s. I’m trying to make a point about current political climate in Cuba and how it effects American citizens, who want’s a government that looks out for their interests instead of worrying about the interests of people in Cuba. How can you possible expect American citizens to make sacrifices for Cuba that Cuban exiles won’t make themselves? That’s crazy. And why does everyone keep insisting the U.S. support is necessary? After all Algeria and Morocco threw out colonial France without any help. Somali warriors kicked out a modern Italian army during WWI with only spears and bows. India and oppressed South African blacks got rid of their government without any outside military intervention or even resorting to violence. Citizens in the USSR and Berlin got rid of their communist government though non-violent means. Cuba can be free, but only if Cuban citizens stop waiting for someone else to do it for them and step up to make it a reality.

I hope I didn’t offend anyone too much I’m sure your good people but I have to say what I feel. I do apologize for being such an asshole in my first post though.

Mike,

I dont have the time nor the inclination right now to debunk yur statements one by one. But I will say a few things.

First, thank you for your service in the protection of my freedoms. Regardless of how you may feel about me as a hard line anti castro exile, your service to our country is appreciated.

Second, before you make statements insinuating that exiles have done nothing to topple fidel castro but complain, I suggest you spend a few days in a library doing a little research. You may learn that thousands of exiles have attempted to form paramilitary groups which are considered illegal here in the states and have been arrested, detained and disbanded by the US government.

Also, where in the constitution does it specifically say that you have the right to travel anywhere you want? What ammendment is that? And to travel to a country that is an enemy of the state?

Your arguments might seem credible from such a naive and simplistic point of view but we arent all as wet behind the ears.

Id like to add that the reason you see people here criticizing fidel castro and Cuban political issues is because this blog is set up SPECIFICALLY for that. And as such it will continue.

I challenge you to read every single post in this blog and find ONE instance, just ONE, where someone has called for the United States Military to invade Cuba. Do you know why? Because we arent stupid enough to contemplate that. After all, there's no oil in Cuba. There's nothing of any economic value to the US and thus there's nothing to be gained. So, even with the fact that the US has meddled in the affairs of that island 90 miles south throughtout this century and has basically turned tail and run for over 40 years, we surely dont expect a single drop of American blood to be shed for the freedom of 11 million people.

So youll forgive us if we at least try to feed them.

One more thing...

Ill hav e you know that there are quite a few honorable and courageous military men and women that are friends of this blog and who WOULD put themselves in harms way for the freedom of the Cuban people.

Those are the real US Military.

Delacova's post nails a lot of things. In fact exiles and Cubans in Cuba have tried very hard to physically remove the beast and his cohorts, shedding a lot of blood and losing a lot of good people in the process. For 7 years there were guerrilla groups fighting WITHIN CUBA to overthrow kaSStro, and they worried him enough that he created the infamous LCB ("Lucha Contra Bandidos") units, which were nothing more than the Kuban equivalent of SS "security" units - and behaved in similar fashion. And what did the Administration in charge at the time do to help these extraordinarily corageous people during those 7 years? NOTHING. This at a time when the USA's enemies did not hesitate to lend logistical and moral support to the North Vietnamese to help them take over all of Vietnam.

I do not believe kaSStro's opponents, within and without Cuba, wanted the USA to wade in and do the fighting for them. All they wanted was for the US to, in Churchillian terms, "give us the tools, and we will do the job."

It all boils down to this: an evil, master manipulator has been in charge in Cuba since 1959 and has successfully managed to stay in charge by the old, tried and true method of divide and conquer. Who or what shall rid us of his troublesome presence?

Mike,

I too, thank you for your service to OUR
country.
I also apologize for calling Kennedy your "buddy" but the law is the law, and we are forbidden from launching an invasion from these shores. Those that have attempted have been harrrased and imprisoned.
I really think you are misinformed as to the history of the exile struggle over Cuba. There were many military insurrections in Cuba and they had support from so called exile groups.

I want you to read about the rebellion in the Escambray mountains that lasted for years in spite of massive Soviet aid to Castro and no aid from any outside source with the exception of the "exiles". Much blood has been spilled that contradicts your implications that Cubans have not been willing to spill their blood for their land in the form of executions and battle.

You stated that during the revolution, the Americans had the British "on the run". If it had not been for the French Navy and the French's overall support during the revolution, the British would likely have been able to escape. This was crucial.

Fidel has supported all of your enemies. He was quoted in Iran as stating that "together we can bring America to its Knees...".

Read the facts and please don't make unsubstantiated suppositions.

Alberto you nailed it. Mike, have you heard of the Escambray Rebellion? probably not, no lefty commie professor will ever mention this. This rebellion went on for 6 years (1960-1966)which anti-castro guerrillas and rebels killed 6,000 government troops.Kennedy basically screwed the "freedom fighters" at the Bay of Pigs and again screwed the Cuban people by taking away the right to invade and defend themselves. let me tell you about being patriotic, on 4th of July, Memorial day my parents and deceased Grandparents were always the only ones flying the beautiful American Flag. Never heard a complaint against this country in fact nothing but praise, unlike many immigrants today. Many Cubans after fighting the communist in Cuba went on to fight communist in Viet Nam. do not judge us with a broad brush, I suggest you talk to someone who has been imprisoned or brutally tortured by communist to get a true perspective!

Read this excellent article in today's New York Sun: Desperation Rises in Castro's Cuba
http://www.nysun.com/article/23693

And PLEASE send a Letter to the Editors at editor@nysun.com thanking them for this article. It is one of the best that I've seen. We need to support those who support our cause.

People in Cuba won't be free until they decide to be- I know it's easier said and done, and easy for me to say from the freedom of the US, but it's the truth.

I think we all feel a little shame when it comes to allowing what's happening in Cuba. ¿Cuando nos vamos a acomplejar y sacar al tirano y sus secuases de NUESTRA tierra?

hi y'all,my english is not too good,but im going to try it,i beleive we had lost our freedoms for 47 years because first of all,we,at least 50% or 60%of the population supported,one way or the other when castro took power in '59,other 20%was indifferent,or just adopted the position of waiting and seing what was going to happen,and most of the population got some hope that things were going to be at least,little bit better than before '59,and people beleived it,and during the first 10 or 15 years,thousands of cubans poured their hearts,work,money,and hopes into the "new" revolution,yes,they were loosing freedoms on the way,loosing lives,properties,etc,but still,we beleived it,but when years passed by,a lot of us started realizing that all of this was a mistake,a non sense,but by that time it was too late,castro got the power of a king,a lot of people were brainwashed,and the same people indoctrinated their children with the same brainwashed views,well,at the end,most of cubans felt swalowped by their own mistakes,the sense of being gilty of what they have "accomplished",and they started to become part of the sistem,and generation after generation grew up with less freedom,less food,less idea of what freedom,selfrespect means for us,and now,we have a corrupt goverment,a corrupt people,with primitive ideas of what freedom really means,or what private property really means,that's why this kind of "disgoverments" are going to change from the top,never from the bottom,or in other words,never the people are going to rebel against it,example are abundant in the world,the "old USSR",now called Russia,the changes came from the top,never from the bottom,China,changes came from the top,never from the bottom,North Korea,it hasn't change,but it will,from the top,and all those were one way or the other revolutions or wars supported by most or at least big part of the population of those countries,and if someone is thinking about the easterneuropean countries,those countries never got a revolution,and they were "liberated" by the russian army after the second world war,and some of them got manipulated elections in which the communist party "won",and the others,well,the communist took power with the help of the russian army,so the population of those countries,never really supported none of those goverments,or communist sistems,so they felt less guilty,and they could change the whole communist crap out of them when the time was right,some of them tried it before like checoslovaquia,or hungary in the '70's or '60's,but the time was not on their side.
i'm 43 years old so i was born with the "revolution",and untill i was 13 or 14 i was totally indifferent of what was going on in the island,later on i started thinking and well,i became another disappointed,hater,and disgusted cuban living in the tropical gulag,yes,i didn't got brainwashed,thanks god and my father and yes,my mother too,although they were castrist,but that is another story,and like me,there are thousands in cuba,with less luck than me,anyway,i just wanted to share some ideas about this topic,any comments to this are welcome,god bless this blog,and all cubans.
tony.