Report Card for NZ Herald's piece on Cuban Revolution's 50th Anniversary

Here's the fifth in a series of report cards on coverage of the Cuban revolution's 50th anniversary. I am using this grading system which is written from castro, inc's point of view.

The piece is from the New Zealand's Herald.

+10 BONUS for mentioning the U.S. base at Guantanamo as a legitimate negotiating point

+20 for favorable mention of Cuba's health and education systems

+10 BONUS for favorable mention of Cuba's life expectancy

+10 for alluding to mafia influence in pre-castro Cuba

+10 for implying that the embargo is a source of Cuba's economic woes

-10 for use of the word "communist"

-10 for mentioning an opponent of the regime by name (Gorki Aguila)

-10 for mentioning the censorship that exists in Cuba

-10 BONUS for using the word APARTHEID in connection with the regime's policies

-10 BONUS for pointing out the miserable salary an average Cuban earns

-10 BONUS for calling raul castro a "dour Stalinist technocrat"

-10 BONUS for implying that raul's "reforms" are a sham

-10 for mentioning a Cuban critic of the regime by name (Yoani Sanchez)

-10 for use of the word "repression"

-10 for describing Cuba's crumbling infrastructure

-10 for quoting Yoani about the regime having killed Cuban citizens historically

-10 BONUS for linking to Generacion Y

-10 for referring to lack of freedom to travel abroad in Cuba

-10 BONUS for quoting a Cuban (Yoani) as to the possibility that the regime might collapse

-10 for quoting yet another dissident who characterized the regime as a "mafia"

Verdict: -90, the regime will not be happy at all with this piece. Far too much truth in it, even if the author does repeat some of the old standbys.

Posted by Henry Louis Gomez at January 1, 2009 07:01 PM