THIS LONG BLOG WILL BE REVISED FURTHER THIS WEEK
Revised, Sun. 8/01/05 6:11 P.M.
(I) SQUASHING COCKROACHES
Unless plans are in place well in advance of the day fidelito, the Great Cockroach, dies, the chance to change the current oppressive form of government in Cuba will be lost. His death, in my opinion, will not create a vacuum. The press in the U.S. and Europe will have page after page reciting his imaginary accomplishments, and little of it will be negative, so he'll die a world renowned and respected hero; the government in charge in Havana will be prepared to take full advantage of it. There will be a funeral parade with dignitaries from all over the world in attendance. It will give some semblance of legitimacy to his illegal and illegitimate successor. The media can do that, you know. Fidelito, for 46 years a feared authoritarian figure had no mandate, morally or legally, and neither will Raul, his expected successor. That's the way communists always operate, followed by a string of executions of those who oppose them.
It will take more than words to bring back a democratic form of Government to Cuba, more than wishful thinking, more than Blogs, comments, emails and letters. It will take some type of immediate, direct and forceful action. Without it, Cubans are doomed to continue to suffer from the utopian visions of a Munchausian wind-bag, until his long-awaited demise. It can hardly benefit them at this point, because he took power by force, had held onto it through force of arms, and it seems obvious that the only way that democracy will ever be restored in Cuba is through the use of force.
(II)REACTION MUST BE SWIFT AND DEADLY
If there is there a ranking officer with a loyal following who will asassinate or execute Raul and declare Cuba free of Socialism, that is one possible way. If so, at this point in time he is unknown outside of Havana. If there is such a person, he would face a firing squad early the following day if anyone in Havana had the slightest suspicion about where his loyalties lie. Dictatorships do not give up nor do they fall easily. It is certain that some people close to fidelito will be marked for a quick demise if and when Raul Castro (another cucaracha) succeeds his brother, unless they manage to hit the airport on the run and a plane is waiting there, ready to take off. That is the nature of the beast when the mantle of power is passed on in this type of corrupt Dictatorship.
I've often wondered at the injustice of it all, that extremely violent men seem to exit this life peacefully, while so many peaceful and law-abiding men and women have died such violent and horrendous deaths at the hands of these tyrants? The eulogies in the press mention little about their atrocities and they pass on into history, almost as if they were Saints and Martyrs. Mierda. Mierda.
Most likely there will be only a brief opportunity to make a change, to throw the current regime out, and if it is missed it will take a substantive effort at any other point in time. The uprising has to be so quick and spontaneous that Havana cannot react fast enough, but they are most likely ready and well prepared for such an eventuality. The main question is: Will the regime order the Army shoot at the people and bring on a bloodbath? If so, hundreds, if not thousands, will die. If, on the other hand, the Army joins the people, the world's most complete socialist failure will finally fall and something else will replace it, but what? At the very least, any cracks showing between branches of the Cuban government must be exploited instantly or the tyranny will continue.
An internal uprising of the Cuban people, were it to happen, would have the best chance of success if it took place and concentrated its' efforts in the Tourist Zone, because there it would be more difficult for the Cuban Armed Forces to use bullets and brutality in front of witnesses, armed with hundreds of cameras, from the international community. However, the documentation of atrocities, while important, seldom keeps the attention of the world's press for too long.
A DARLING OF THE MEDIA, KEPT IN POWER BY THE MEDIA
Castro's name was constantly in the world's press long before he took the reins of power, and the world accepted him because he was always pictured as the hero, supposedly there to rescue his people from the evil rule of the dictator, Batista. Little did they realize then, nor will they admit now, that what came after was more evil and tyrannical than Batista had ever been. Now there is not a single name that stands out in Cuba, because the Castro has seen to that. There is no leader in the wings to oppose the government in Havana once he is gone. Can a Joan of Arc suddenly appear and mobilize the masses? It would not surprise me if, upon the death of fidelito, summary executions of prisoners who might be considered threats to Raul and his cohorts were carried out in the prisons. There is no Cuban Government in Exile either to which Cubans can look for headership and help, or to seek an international outcry. (They certainly cannot turn to the United Nations for succor, in any case). That presents a major problem for an uprising, because any group that makes such attempt while based in Cuba might be captured and quickly executed. At that point the uprising would be over. The fact that Raul controls the armed forces and weaponry presents a rebelling citizenry with another conundrum: Without weapons...what can they expect to accomplish?
(III) WHAT IF THEY GAVE A PEACE PARADE AND EVERYONE CAME?
What if a huge flotilla of boats manned by Cubans, thousands of them, were ready to head across the straits to Cuba as soon as news of fidelito's death became public, a huge Peace Parade by sea, to show soldarity with the Cuban populace that want to throw off the heavy yoke of tyranny? What if?
Is there any International law or anything in the United Nations' charter forbidding Cuban citizens from returning to their own country to exercise their rights to speak out? Wouldn't the United Nations would be forced to support them and fight for their rights? The government in Havana has no legal mandate to govern, no elections, never any candidates!
The U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard would warn them to turn back, but they too would have to be prepared for such an eventuality and it could be too overwhelming to halt. It would take a fleet of ships to patrol the Straits to stop such a CRUSADE, were it to happen. On the other hand, how would the Cuban Coast Guard respond? Would they welcome the visitors or would they follow the orders of Raul Castro, if he gave them, and resist the interlopers? Well, if they ventured inside the Cuban 12 Mile Limit it would be anyone's guess and all in the hands of fate.
It is time for the worms (los Gusanos) to (re)turn. The day of the rule of La Cucaracha Grande is over, but changes do not just happen; they must be made to happen. Someone has to lead, to set the pace, and others have to be willing to follow that leader. Talk is just that, talk. Talk without action is useless. Waiting for someone to die is useless; the preparations have already been made for the next leader, Raul. Raul is not just going to quietly fold up his tent and fly away! All worthy or perceived opposition was eliminated long ago by the crafty fidelito, so who is there to effect a change now? The populace is too weak physically from long years of food deprivation and lacking the freedom to assemble' has never been able to muster the strength to present a formidable opposition internally. Without help from the outside, it would most likely be futile to hope for a change.
Nature and life are unpredictable. The sudden death of Raul (naturally or otherwise) could throw a monkey-wrench into the perceived plans of succession, and that would be an opportunity for freeing Cubans from their oppressive government.
Imagine, in all this time, not a single newspaper has taken the initiative to expose the lies, deceit, corruption, mistakes, mismanagement, ignorance, incompetence, outright thefts and fraud that has been perpetuated in Cuba and on the world for 46 years! Here is what makes it so obvious, but the liberal attitude of much of the Media, many of the reporters so biased in favor of Castro for reasons that are unfathomable, have not paid THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF ATTENTION TO IT:
(IV) GET A HORSE! OR A CAMEL.
1) The public transportation system is below standard even for many Third World countries. It is a total mess. Horse and wagon transportation is now common in many rural areas, and behind that of several Central or South American countries and far below what it was even under the rule of Juan Batista. Trucks, with people standing up and holding on in the cargo area, are used as transpoortion (a pun) between many cities. They're dangerously unsafe in all respects. People are seen clinging to the sides of buses in the larger cities. One type of bus is the huge oddly shaped "Camel", used to transport Cubans in discomfort and heat in Havana. It is an endless nightmare for Cubans to travel, even after they get the necessary Government permission to do so.
2) The classic old buildings and homes have fallen into disrepair or total collapse from neglect, most of them now unsalvageable. Living conditions are horrendous with Cubans living in buildings that are on the verge of collapse, while the government that expropriated them from the legal owners shows no interest in maintaining them even at minimal levels required for minimal standards for the tenants. Many areas resemble German towns after the war, entire blocks devastated as if struck by aerial bombs. It has to be terribly depressing for the residents, but they can neither do anything to rectify their own situation nor about government indifference to their plight.
(V) Genius Castro Dismembers Cattle and Sugarcane Industries
3) Cattle exports, and the meat and hide business, a successful and homegrown industry since the arrival of Columbus, one that needed no outside support in the past, has gone downhill since Castro arrived. Those ranchers who weren't executed, fled. The industry is in a shambles, devastated by Havana's false ideology. Cubans were self-sufficient in meat (beef) before 1958. Meat consumption per capita was 56 lbs. Today it is minimal, at best. *Milk consumption averaged 156 liters per person, and they were self-sufficient in cheese as well, but today only children under two and the very elderly can obtain milk.
In the mid-1980s Cuban had approximatley 2.5 million head of cattle, about the same number they had 150 years earlier, in 1827. Today it's around one million head. Contrast these figures with the 6.5 million head of cattle* on private ranches in 1958, the year that La Grande Cucaracha took control of the economy and it is evident that he and he alone is responsible for the dismal condition of the cattle industry now.
4) During the 1980s, the sugarcane harvest yielded more than 8 million metric tons, but in 2003, it had falled to 2.1 metric tons.The sugarcane industry is down severely due to the gross mismanagement and ineptitude in Havana. It cannot recover under this type of control from a central planning (what plans?) and lack of managerial skills.
Macheteros, the men who cut the sugar cane, work 12 to 13 hours a day, 7 days a week, a back-breaking form of labor and are paid 300 (worthless) pesos a month. It is probably Cuba's most open form of labor intensive slavery**, and the profits end up in Havana, in fidelito's pockets. Before he arrived on the scene, Macheteros were paid $3.15 per 8 hour working day. Today's 300 peso pay has a purchasing power that is less than $10, compared to more than $90 pre-Castro. POroduction in 1958 was close to 6 million tons.
{*Anthony J. Riera, Cattle, the Forgotten Industry)
(**The Internet Travel Guide, 8/ 1/2005)
(VI) PHONY MONEY, PHONY BALONEY
5) The Cuban peso is not exchangeable, ONE OF THE FEW currencies around the world without an equivalent value in foreign countries.
Note: Cuba's International Debt; amounts to more than $13 billion, and they are delinquent in payments to every trading partner. There is no way that any economist can see that it will be paid off. Castro has lived on credit for 46 years, on the largess of other nations either intentionally (USSR) or unintentionally (Australia, etc.), and there are no prospects of earning enough to pay off those debts. The plight of Cuba falls on the shoulders of a single mental incompetent, fidelito, la Cucaracha Grande.
6) Water delivery is unavailable in many areas, and sewerage system has fallen into serious disrepair from continuous neglect, as well as the failure of supervisory personnel. Water is often delivered by truck to homes that have been without running water for a long period of time.
7) The delivery of electricity is at an all-time low and there is no way those who supervise it can bring it back up to par, because the equipment is outdated. Again, mismanagement and lack of proper planning has allowed the more than adequate system they inherited from prior governments to fail. Biomass from sugar is a form of energy useful to the generation of electricity, but improperly used.
8) The infra-structure of the country has completely deteriorated, and estimates are that it will cost $80 billion to rebuild it. Again, total mismanagement is obvious.
9) Private farms are long gone, but with a little incentive those farmers could have grown enough fruit and vegetables to supplement the diet of ordinary Cubans, vegetarian perhaps, but certainly better than what they have now.
10) The fishing industry has been practically destroyed, because any fisherman with common sense who puts to sea will head for the coast of Florida. Fish caught are reserved for the tourist industry and Fidel and his cronies, but not for the ordinary Cuban citizens. They are not even allowed to eat fish; surrouned by an ocean full of fish, the fish are reserved for the tourists, mostly Canadians.
11) Child labor is rampant and is the norm in Cuba, but it is sponsored by the government itself. Liberals ignore this fact because in socialist systems everyone is supposed to work happily, even children. Everyone is working for the common good, for a utopia, so they all pitch in to do their part. Instead of reporting the shocking conditions in Cuba, Liberals go to Vietnam and Cambodio and check out/monitor firms producing products for American corporations, Nike, Adida, etc.
12) Mechanized farming is at an all time low, probably lower than at any point for the past 75 to 100 years. Thousands of tractors sit idle for lack of parts and fuel, equipment is ruined because of outright neglect or carless operation, lack of repair. Using animals for plowing is not uncommon today, replacing mechanization, a reversal of how it works in capitalist countries. Aging equipment has not been replaced due to gross mismanagement by the centralized government, similar to the extreme waste that took place in the USSR under socialized farming systems.
RATION BOOKS: PASSPORTS TO A TOTALITARIAN HELL
13) Rationing food is one way of exercising control over the citizenry of a country, followed by government distribution centers for that food. It is now 46 years into socialism and in Cuba and everyone still needs a RATION BOOK. The Ration Books are a sign of a failed economy, and except in wartime, a sign of a totalitarian form of government. Every citizen is known and under the eye of the government, because without a Ration Book they would starve; it gives the government complete control and knowledge of every transaction. It is the ultimate weapon of government domination over every single individual in Cuba. Still after 47 years, Havana cannot fill even the minimum quotas of meat, fruit and vegetables for Cuba's people in order to ensure them of a healthy diet. The results are that a large part of the populace is mal-nourished. Where does the blame fall? Again, upon Havana and fidel, la Cucaracha Grande, of course.
Meat was produced locally (in Cuba) and was in plentiful supply before 1959 and fidelito, was even plentiful under the corrupt dictatorship of Juan Batista, but it is now almost non-existant for the average Cuban citizen.
14) Even imprisonments of dissenters cannot keep them quiet, and discontent is nation-wide in Cuba. (Freedom of the Press? American's newspapers to raise such an issue? Heavens, they love fidelito castro, La Cucaracha Grande too much, I guess.) U.S. librarians, supposed champions of freedom of speech and the press are so dominated by socialist thugs that they don't speak out against the worst such abuses in this hemisphere and it's just 90 miles off-shore.
CASTRO'S FABLED HEALTH CARE IS FICTION
15) The success of the much-touted Cuban Heath Care industry has been nothing but a monstrous lie for years by the world's biggest wind-bag and blow-hard, and a study of the system would expose the overwhelming failures with very few successes. Infant deaths (mortality) are under-reported to conform to fidelito's lies and distortions of the truth. There are "Show Hospitals" for influencing foreign reporters and the Hollywood suckers, but they'reserved for those foreigners and commie functionaries, but in other sectopms in Cuba they're sub-standard by any comparison. Americans would refuse to submit to care in one of them. Note: Cuba's Health Care was so inadequate that they did not recommend Iodized Salt until 2002! That's inane.
THE FAILURE IS SO OBVIOUS THAT IT IS LUDICROUS, EVEN CRIMINAL FOR THE AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN MEDIA TO IGNORE...
16) Nothing works properly from the top on down except the motor-mouth of La Cucaracha Grande, and it has been moving at top speed since 1959, from the constant exercise he gives it. Can you imagine eight hour speeches on TV, when he usurps the time on all the channels in Cuba?
(IX) THE SUCCESSFUL CAPITALIST SYSTEM IN TOURIST ZONE SHOWS UP FAILURE OF SOCIALISM IN HAVANA !
17) The only successes in Cuba since 1959 have been the Capitalist investments in the tourist industry, and they've built it up most successfully. Nothing else produces enough revenue to keep the goverment functioning properly. Nothing. Without the aid of a capitalist society, Cuba would be reduced to even more dire circumstances, as they tumble deeper into poverty. Without the U.S. dollars sent to Cuba by those who fled to the U.S. and other countries, it would resemble a concentration camp, like Buchenwald, with walking living skeletons. Without tourists from capitalist countries, Cuba would be financially bankrupt and even fidelito, La Cucaracha Grande would be an aged wrinkled stumbling maniacal skeleton-like apparation in a ragged khaki uniform. Capitalism supports socialism, capitalism allows socialism to exist because socialism is parasitic in nature.
18) Education: how can he call it free when students work for their education witout pay? When fornication in the cane fields is the only compensation that they receive for what is termed hard labor by any world standard in civilized nations?
19) Shortages: there are shortages in every conceivable segment of the economy, and not one single item can be singled out as being in adequate supply. Cuban stores cannot even compare to our Thrift Stores, to the worst stores in the nation. The sanitation measures are almost non-existant in markets.
20) The U.S. Coast Guard is rescuing hundreds of Balseros each months, a wave of humanity that risk their lives to flee horrendous conditions at home, and the media ignores it. It is news and it is important; they'll write about the plight of people in the Sudan, but not those closest to home...simply because the country professes to be socialist. Always, socialism is the keyword that earns them a free pass by the press.
21) The Cuban people are underfed, undernourished, underclothed, underpaid and constantly under duress. They suffer from privation in all sectors and in all manner of ways. It is an international crime, and the criminal in charge is: fidelito,LA CUCARACHA GRANDE, a monster in every way, but Hollywood's favorite tyrant.
22) Many Cubans have lived above the norm because of the generosity of relatives who live and work abroad. Without that help, a greater percentage of Cubans would live below the poverty level, often in squalor. Equality in socialist societies usually means equally poor, but that's for the common people, not for the socialist elite. Alway, always in all societies there is that Ruling Class and they take on the mantle of royalty, such as fidelito's fleet of powerful Mercedes' sedans in which he travels while everyone else goes third class..
23) Cubans are forbidden to use their own beaches, cannot visit restaurants in the Tourist Zone, cannot swim in the pools there, cannot enjoy any of the luxuries, shop in the Malls or stores there. It is a two tier society, the tourists and the impoverished compliant Cubans.
24) Think of this: most Cuban children have never tasted candy, never had a decent toy, never had a computer, never surfed, never had a skateboard, a decent Sony walkman, a nice TV, good playground equipment. A skateboard, for example, would cost the equivalent of a year's salary. Yet, fidelito is worth more than $550 million dollars personally.
It seems to me that if the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Boston Globe or Chicago Tribune had editors who used half an ounce of their brains (and that would be expecting a lot) to think about it, they'd have reporters covering Cuba at every level and they'd gain Pulitzer Prize material for exposing the problems both in Havana, and Island wide, but they are simply too liberal to expose the failings of any liberal or socialist system. Knee-jerk wonders at the helm, ball-less staff members below.
Amateur Bloggers are more than adequately doing their job for them, but they won't pay attention to them. Seemingly they lack the common sense to use this easily available material for a research base, and then from there move into more fertile fields of endeavor on the island itself. Or is that too dangerous for them, a visit to Cuba, ferreting out the true story, the horrors that go on, the torture cells, the spies in every block of homes, the lack of refridgeration in homes? The last series about a ten year old girl boxer in the L.A. Times showed just how far down the old rag has fallen. No wonder the editor resigned; I hope they cancelled his pension or at least cut it in half. I'd have resigned after that world-shaking bit too.
The Balseros desperately keep heading out to sea, but this nation's editors still won't go against the liberal mantra, believing that a murderous tyrannical fascist dictator can do no wrong, as long as it is done in the name and under the guise of socialism and for the benefit of the little people, the ones who are most suppressed and opressed by that very same tyrant!
The 15,000 Cubans who have been executed, and the 80,000 who have met their deaths in the sea between Cuba and Florida mean nothing to them (our liberals in charge of the media), not a single tear shed, not a sigh of remorse, because La Cucaracha Grande es una socialista. The only growth that Cuba has shown is in the population...because that's all that there is left for local entertainment at night in Cuba, fornication. But, fidelito has fornicated a nation of 11 million already and he will continue to do so in death, unless drastic steps are taken NOW! He treats all dissidents like flies, tearing their wings off and watching their struggles, placing them in small cells under the most dire conditions. He shows his defiance, this same picture to the world and laughs at them all. In the meantime, he sends his American slaves, such as Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte, to Venezuela, running his errands, taking on his missions, and subverting another nation. Again, he is unopposed, again he is craftily undermining the opposition, a genius...at...EVIL.
I have closely followed Cuba and Castro for 48 years in all aspects. But, many Bloggers and others who have fled Cuba have contributed to my knowledge of the above, and there are too many to list, but each one of them refers you to another and it is most wise to visit and read them:
www.babalublog.com, www.cuba.net
www.therealcuba.com, Quid Nimis, killcastro.com
Thanks to: George Moreno, Rafael, Agustin Blasquez, Jaime Sutton, killcastro, Anonymous, Mario...
INTELLECTUALLY DISHONEST NEWS MAGAZINES: TIME, NEWSWEEK, World News, etc.
All these failures have been blamed on George W. Bush, who was hardly a child when fidelito came to power.
FIDELITO, LA CUCARACHA GRANDE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 1958-2005
Executed more than 15,000 Cuban citizens.
Reduced number of newspapers from 58 to 17.
Reduced number of TV stations from 23 to ???
Reduced cattle herds from 6 million to 1 million head.
Reduced sugarcane production from 6 million tons to 2 million.
Reduced milk production from plentiful to strictly rationed.
Reduced production of electricity drastically.
Reduced cheese production from export to minimum.
Reduced hours of electricity to 12 hours per day (or thereabouts).
Failed to replace aging electrical generating plants.
In 1996 there were 1.5 million TV sets, about 1 for every 9 inhabitants.
Cubans are forbidden by law from watching TV programs from U.S.
In 1996 there were 2.1 million radios, about l for every 5 inhabitants.
Cubans are forbidden by law from listening to radio programs from U.S.
Starred in longest running TV program: The Great Windbag: 1958-2005
Founded La Cucaracha Health Care System, barely functioning.
Maintained 1958 level for telephones - 3 per 100 inhabitants.
Cuba now ranks last among Latin American countries in growth of exports.
Calories per day consumed by Cubans fell by 20%, a large percentage of the population is malnourished.
Labor - Central de Trajabadores (Gov.)- 3 million workers - 300 pesos per mo.
Encouraged Univ. of Havana scientists to study: Migratory Habits of Cubans.
Infact mortality rate: in 1958 Cuba ranked 13th worldwide, but now drops to 24th (and not all infant deaths are reported).
Increased number of people studying celestial navigation by 1800%, weekly.
Increased number of flotation devices
I. CUBA: HARD CURRENCY DEBT* (Dec. 2004)
CREDITORS BY COUNTRY DEBT (in US$)
Japan (1) $2.331 billion
Argentina (2) $1.967 billion
Spain (3) $1.765 billion
France (4) $1.316 billion
Venezuela (5) $992 million
China (6) $682 million
Mexico (7) $480 million
Italy (8) $447 million
United Kingdom (9) $371 million
Germany (10) $317 million
Netherlands (11) $295 million
Russia [post-Soviet era debts] (12) $235 million
Czech Republic (13) $226 million
Belgium (14) $221 million
Panama (15) $200 million
Canada (16) $90 million
Austria (17) $79 million
Brazil (18) $40 million
Trinidad & Tobago (19) $30 million
Uruguay (20) $30 million
Sweden (21) $22 million
Undisclosed Foreign Financing (22) $258 million
Other Historic Debt (23) $893 million (est.)
*On the basis of Nov. 2004 exchange rates and rounded to the nearest million.
TOTAL $13.288 billion (est.)
