Irony

I was reading an interesting piece at FoxBusiness.com:

Cuba: An Island of Stifled Potential

I haven’t been to Cuba in over ten years. But I fell in love with the place … or more to the point, I fell in love with the people. I’m sure the tourist beaches are nice, but I didn’t go there. I wanted to see how Cubans lived, so I stayed in the cities.

Wandering around Cuba, you’re aware of two conflicting dynamics: the fear and suspicion of living in a Communist dictatorship and the incredible warmth and intelligence of the Cuban people. That’s what makes the country’s crippling poverty all the more pathetic. There’s no reason for it.

When I was in Cuba, I met dozens of people who were dying to try out an idea or an enterprise, and they had the spirit and intelligence to carry it out. In almost any other country, these people would be successful. But in Cuba, the moment you succeed at a small enterprise, the government moves in to shut you down.

Fidel Castro always blames the U.S. embargo for Cuba’s poverty. But Fidel Castro's entrepreneurial blockade is a far greater blockade to growth and modernization.

One of the folks I met in Cuba was a terrific young guy who brought me to his tiny apartment to meet his wife and daughter. They insisted on sharing a portion of their tiny supper rations, which included a little cheese and some beans. Here’s what he told me when I asked how he could live in such an environment:

"As bad as the deprivations are for my family and me, the worst thing is to know that my potential is not being used. That's what's killing all of us."

For all the crimes committed against Cubans by the Castro regime, this may be the worst. It’s certainly not as horrific as the summary executions or tortures by the regime. But to kill the potential of an entire nation for 50 years is a heinous crime for which Cuba’s leadership should forever be condemned.

The irony is that in a separate item the same author laments Jeff Flakes failure to get on the House Appropriations Committee. Flake is one of the few Republican enablers of fidel castro in Congress.

Posted by Henry Louis Gomez at February 23, 2008 09:56 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.babalublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/hut.cgi/7511

Comments

Post a comment