We as a group are getting so good at getting the right sources, and "scooping" the MSM that we should seriously consider publishing a newspaper. Great comment Val.

Pope John Paul II and Ronald Reagan showed that WORDS MATTER! This is why Fidel is so afraid of his people reading them.

At the risk of politicizing the debate, President Bush has shown that words aimed at ENCOURAGING DEMOCRACY matter. My friends serving in Iraq tell me the Iraqi people read President Bush's statements more receptively than our media in the US. They are motivated and encouraged by them, and by knowing it's THEIR country now, and we are there with them. He, like Reagan, Thatcher, JP2, idealistically believes in and encourages democracy. And yes, it is inherently de-stabilizing to the status quo, most of whom are despots at best and Stalinist dictators at worst. I do not believe the US can plop into Cuba "Deux ex machina"-like, as much as my prior occupation would love to do so to punish the military and police who have brutalized the country for so long. I have friends who have scars from Grenada and they consider the fight with the Cuban army unfinished!

But I do not see that happening. So we must encourage democracy, nurture it, set the tools as close as we can to the people of Cuba, but allow this to be the people's decision. Cuba is for the Cubans.

Matthew Glesne was furious about predictions that the ticker would be blocked. He intimated that Castro wouldn't do such a thing. The naivete of the Sandalistas reached new heights. Either they are that stupid, or they are simply working for the communists distributing knowingly false information. Either way, with this instance and the false information by the columbian witness in the Danilo Anderson case, Glesne refuses to admit he was wrong and spins away. These people are delusional.

It wouldn't be an article from the MSM without a reference to (f)idel (c)astro as Cuba's "president" or a pot-shot at the "hard-line exile community." It makes me sick.

Val:
Here's a question relevant to the dicussion of censoring news:
Do you think that the arcitectural jewels can be saved when the castro regime falls? As you explain the neglect causes derrumbes and I bet a lot of people die or are left homeless. So what happens when everyone is pratically homeless?
xavier

I am sure that the worker slaves are getting an adequate amount of rest in this 5 days 24 hours per day effort to block the electronic sign. That all safety precautions and preventive measures are being followed. Cuba's greatest capital are its people, and to fidel they are expendable if it serves his maniacal purposes.

xavier,

I suppose structural studies would have to be done to all buildings in disrepair and then a determination made on the viability of its restoration. If the structural elements of the building are relatively sound, obviously, the building can be saved.

However, this brings up a major issue. First, where is the money going to come from? Buildings in Cuba only have one owner, fidel castro, and very few people with the economic means and construction expertise will be willing to donate the materials and labor for building restoration without some kind of return. not to mention the current tennants of the spaces. Where would they go?

It is one of a whole myriad of issues that a post-castro Cuba will face.

Val, you would know better than me but it seems that most deco restoration involves saving elements of the facade and any interior work that comes from the period. Entire buildings have been gutted in the U.S. behind the facade and then rebuilt form scratch. There will be plenty to save but I'm afraid much more than anyone can ever imagine has already been lost forever. The building you show in the photo looks like it could be saved. I've been meaning to do a post about this...

It is heartbreaking to see these beautiful buildings becoming rubble; shades of Berlin at the end of WWII. Very sad, I remember these buildings when I was a little girl, and they are unreconizable.

On another note, did anyone hear the moonbat on Hannity's show yesterday ranting about the greatness/superiority of Cuba? Somebody needs to give Hannity some good ammunition -- along with these photographs.

The historic restoration people can do wonders--all they would neen would be access and funding. The latter would be pretty easy to arrange along the lines of the American programs for Versailles and Venice. It's the former that's going to take a little work.

What a sad photo. Cuba's beautiful cities destroyed by two of the worst sins: neglect and apathy.

Gigi, was this on Hannity's radio show? If so, who called in and what precipitated the "greatness of Cuba" discussion?

I hope that in 2006 we see castro hanging from one of those new flagpoles!

This is OT. I have been lurking around your blog for the past six months. I love the work you guys are doing. However, I have a dumb question that, I'm sure, has been discussed ad nauseum. Before I ask it, I'd like to point out that I do understand both sides of the embargo argument. But, since the demise of the Beast (it's (un)natural death) is sure to come sooner rather than later, wouldn't ending the embargo and creating a stronger US presence now aid a more peaceful, democratic transition after it's gone?

Why not put the ticker tapes around the whole building. fc would look even more stupid than he does now. fc would have to surround the building. The symbolism of a surrounded building would be priceless.

Those buildings are crumbling because Castro wants them to crumble. To allow them to stand, or to maintain them would force acknowledgement that Cuba was the second richest nation in the western hemisphere at the time of the revolution. To allow them to stand would force acknowlegement that wealth and power wasn't just concentrated in a few peoples hands.
Castro wants 1959 to be year 0. To allow these beauties to stand would acknowlege the beautiful Cuba that existed without Castro.

Val:
Thanks. Too bad the UN is totally useless because UNESCO would be the ideal institution to rehbilitate the buildings. In any case, I can certianly see the legal nightmare in the post castro period: who exactly will be held civilly reponsible for the dangeous living conditions, the deperciation of value, etc etc.
Rehabilitating Cuba's building part is going to be one huge effort- but a great business opportunity too.

xavier