Protests in Cuba: sanctions, COVID, and liberty
From the Malecón, Havana’s famous seawall near the old city, to small towns in Artemisa province and Palma Soriano, the second-largest city in Santiago de Cuba province, videos live-streamed on Facebook showed thousands of people walking and riding bikes and motorcycles along streets while chanting “Freedom!” “Down with Communism!” and “Patria y Vida” — Homeland and Life — which has become a battle cry among activists after a viral music video turned the revolutionary slogan “Homeland or Death” on its head.
“We are not afraid!” chanted Samantha Regalado while she recorded hundreds of people walking along a narrow street in Palma Soriano…
Images circulating on social media of angry crowds overturning police cars are unseen in a country where the communist government has kept a tight grip on the population for more than six decades.
Last time Cubans took to the streets to protest against the communist government was in 1994 and Fidel Castro was alive. But the uprising, known as the Maleconazo, only took place in Havana and didn’t last long, as the former Cuban leader quickly turned the demonstrations into a massive exodus after he opened Cuba’s maritime borders. Thousands of Cubans left the island in makeshift boats and rickety rafts, in what became known as the balsero crisis…
In an impromptu televised address later in the afternoon, Díaz-Canel blamed the protests on U.S. efforts to tighten the embargo, with the alleged intention to “provoke a social uprising” that would justify a military intervention.
Visibly upset and raising his voice, the Cuban leader warned that protesters would face a strong response and called “all revolutionaries” to confront them on the streets “with firmness and courage.”…
Cuba is in the throes of its worst economic contraction in over three decades, as chronic inefficiencies and paralyzing bureaucracy have gradually eroded the country’s production capacity, including the essential food and agriculture sectors. Trump-era sanctions have reduced access to vital economic lifelines like remittances, and foreign investment has plunged. Painful currency reforms this year have sent inflation soaring, and long lines for food have again become commonplace.
I don’t pretend to have any inside information on this, but here are my guesses: these protestors are generations removed from the initial Cuban revolution. The Castros are no longer in power – at least, in terms of holding the reins officially. The new leaders, even though under the sway of the same old Castroite forces, may be lacking that same combination of zeal, hardness, and charisma. Younger generations see the internet and know that they’re not doing well in Cuba, and some of them blame the many-decades-long regime much more than they blame any sanctions. Plus, among at least some people, there really is a hunger for liberty. What happens next to the protestors really depends on how hardline the regime is willing to get with them, and how much energy and coordination the protestors have.
Also, note the reference to “Trump-era sanctions.” The Biden administration initially reacted to the protests very tepidly, by issuing COVID-focused statements such as this one:
Peaceful protests are growing in #Cuba as the Cuban people exercise their right to peaceful assembly to express concern about rising COVID cases/deaths & medicine shortages. We commend the numerous efforts of the Cuban people mobilizing donations to help neighbors in need.
— Julie Chung (@WHAAsstSecty) July 11, 2021
Biden himself finally spoke up with this:
“We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime,” Biden said in a statement.
“The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights. Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected,” Biden said.
“The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.”
So Biden – or his speechwriters – have mentioned the regime and the call to freedom, putting COVID front and center again. I do predict that, if somehow the Cuban Communist regime were to collapse while Biden is president (something I do not think will happen), Biden and the Democrats would immediately take full credit for it. And yet the sanctions set up by Trump appear to have played a significant part in this so far, sanctions that many Democrats want removed (the link is from an article that appeared in March of 2021):
Eighty U.S. House of Representatives Democrats urged President Joe Biden on Tuesday to repeal Donald Trump’s “cruel” sanctions on Cuba and renew engagement, an early sign of support in Congress for easing the clamp-down on the Communist-run country…
Biden, a Democrat, vowed during his campaign to reverse policy shifts by the Republican Trump that “have inflicted harm on the Cuban people and done nothing to advance democracy and human rights.”
Trump’s tightening of the decades-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba has inflicted further pain on its ailing state-run economy, contributing to worsening shortages of food and medicine.
But Biden has not yet indicated whether he will fully revert to the historic detente initiated by Democratic former President Barack Obama when Biden was vice president.
So, Biden’s history is of supporting the lifting of sanctions, and this was part of his campaign. But nothing has yet happened on that score.
So does Julie Chung still have her job?…If so, then the Biden admin is not serious about supporting the protestors.
A free Cuba would be great — assuming that the decades of dictatorship haven’t made self-government a very tall order. We can hope.
Best to these brave Cubans!
Andy Garcia is one of my favorite actors:
____________________________________
García has expressed, on a number of occasions, his distaste for the communist regime that has ruled Cuba since the revolution that occurred there from 1953 to 1959.[ Following Fidel Castro’s death in November 2016, García criticized his legacy, stating: “It is necessary for me to express the deep sorrow that I feel for all the Cuban people…that have suffered the atrocities and repression caused by Fidel Castro and his totalitarian regime.”
García is Catholic, and a naturalized citizen of the United States.
–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_García
___________________________________
Garcia still works, but I do believe his career has suffered since he has spoken out as a Cuban and Catholic.
Cuba is in the throes of its worst economic contraction in over three decades, as chronic inefficiencies and paralyzing bureaucracy have gradually eroded the country’s production capacity, including the essential food and agriculture sectors.
Perhaps the most egregious example of Cuban agricultural disasters is milk production. . If one gives Cuban production the best possible interpretation and average 2016-2019 production, 2016-19 production is 54% above 1961 production. Latin America has quintupled milk production from 1961 to 2019, from roughly 18 million MT to ~ 93 million metric tons.
A lot- most? – of the land once used for sugar production is now fallow. After the end of the 3 decades of Soviet “help” it would have made sense to transfer the unused land once used for sugar into producing corn for cattle, or to pasture for cattle. (Cuba imported corn from the Soviet Union for cattle feed). Instead, a lot of the land formerly used for producing sugar laid fallow, and got invaded by the Marabu(accent on u_ bush. Ironically, Sociologist C Wright Mills in Listen Yankee (1960) wrote how the Cubans had the Marabu bush under control, and knew how to deal with it. Marabu invades fallow land. Should have put former sugar cane land to producing something else ASAP. But what do Marxists know about agriculture? Chile, Nicaragua, Venezuela….
Year (Metric Tons), Cow milk production: Cuba
1961 350,000
2016 612,800
2017 536,400
2018 576,900
2019 438,442
http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QL
Imagine coming to the end of one long communist nightmare of deprivations and awakening into a shiny new pozzed globohomo nightmare of CRT, Tranny Rights, far more pervasive surveillance, open borders, and total and utter carpet bagging and strip mining of what little remains of your patrimony.
If and when, it’ll be a fun ride. Just not for the Cubans.
But can’t hurt to see all the Miami Cubans Go Back.
China-owned and operated container port in Havana in 3/2/1… Guess what has been miniaturized, solid-fuel-ized, and containerised since last time around in early 60s? 🙂
Note to Certain Trolling Monomaniacs: Not China-boosting. Simply predicting with 99% certainty your retarded corrupt political establishment putting its *other* foot in the cowshit for the 99th time. Not hard to grasp.
Which is why Spanish Dons of Old I guess apocryphally greeted each other with the expression “Let No New Thing Arise!”
After all we’ve seen these last 30 years, only a benighted fool would feel any optimism or jubilation at the prospect of the evil regime in Havana collapsing. Whatever happens next will blight a generation at least.
The sensible man sighs and says “Here we go again.”
The power of democracy – the elites in charge are beginning to fear losing BIG to elite-haters. So they’re going to be slowly, or rapidly, becoming more populist.
Supporting the Cuban commies who have long been repressing and oppressing most of the Cuban people is not popular.
When sanctions are reduced, it will be sold as helping the Cuban people – not the Cuban commie govt. So they can’t be reduced much while thousands are marching for “Freedom” and are against other gov’t policies.
Strange Leonard Cohen song from Athens in Nov 2020 seems not so far from a possible feeling in Cuba. Despite Greece being among the poorest of the EU countries, it’s probably looking a lot better than most of Havana, now. “It Seemed the Better Way”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSOXRVTDk8o
Apparently Cuban agriculture didn’t do that bad during the years of Soviet assistance, but collapsed after the loss of Soviet assistance. (the former sugar land taken over by Marabu looms large. Note that sugar land was state-owned. Didn’t see Marabu so much on private plots.)
Per capita production for 1961-1989-2019 for Cuba
1961 Crops 0.92
1989 Crops 1
2019 Crops 0.53
1961 Food 0.87
1989 Food 1
2019 Food 0.578
1961 Livestock 0.78
1989 Livestock 1
2019 Livestock 0.73
1961 Milk, Total 0.45
1989 Milk, Total 1
2019 Milk, Total 0.36
http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QI
For those who say the embargo being lifted would help the Cuban economy very much, consider the fact that the Cuban government takes a 92% cut from the salaries of Cuban employees of foreign firms. That is, the foreign firms in Cuba are helping the Cuban government a lot more than they are helping their own Cuban employees. It wouldn’t be any different if an American company owned the hotel, as opposed to the Euro or Canadian current hotel owners in Cuba.
Kate
A free Cuba would be great — assuming that the decades of dictatorship haven’t made self-government a very tall order. We can hope.
That’s what Fidel said 60 years ago. Cuban governments before him had been very corrupt. So, anything would be better, a lot of people thought. Fidel proved THAT supposition wrong. Like Zaphod says , here we go again.
Trump’s tightening of the decades-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba has inflicted further pain on its ailing state-run economy, contributing to worsening shortages of food and medicine.
Anyone who looks at Cuban agricultural stats readily sees that food shortages in Cuba are self-inflicted.
Wasn’t Cuba supposed to have a First-World medical system? So why need US meds?
Question for a Fidel fan: Cuba’s Life Expectancy is 3.5 years greater than Latin America’s Life Expectancy. Does that indicate that Fidel and Friends have been good stewards for the Cuban people?
Fidel fan: Yes indeed.
Question: Cuba’s Life Expectancy in the 1950s was 8 years greater than Latin America’s Life Expectancy (~54 vs. 62). Does that indicate that Batista was a good steward for the Cuban people?
Fidel fan: Er…ummm..
Two points: 1.Castro inherited a country that was, by Third World standards, rather well off. 2. Cuba wasn’t the only country that has improved health care in the last 60 years. (Ditto for literacy.)
Re Cuban Sugar Industry:
There is a vast and corrupt crony-government nexus subsidizing the production of cane sugar and HFCS in the USA.
So my prediction is that your borrowed 10x over ‘tax dollars’ circulated through the best people’s grubby fingers gets spent on turning Cuban agricultural land over to ‘Green Energy’ production.
Milk? There’ll be plenty of milking alright. Cows? Only Cow might conceivably do well out of this is comfy cackling in her stall in Chappauqua.
Can Do!
Note from a “Certain Trolling Monomaniacs” when you actually know any Cuban refugees or have any Cuban refugees as family (all US citizens) you may have some credibility. If not ST*U. Cuba and the USA aren’t your countries either.
But you won’t ST*U about things and people you don’t know squat about. Sad to be you.
How’s your social credit score and your rice bowl, Chappie?
@Gringo:
As you point out with data, Castro’s regime was/is shocking.
But they really did land in a small boat and knocked over a House of Cards.
And then of course #@$%ed it up more. But Cubans gonna Cuban. And at best they’ll always be a Casino/Whorehouse/Tax Haven/Bolt Hole off the Coast of a Retirement Home.
So the trick is to manage that reality sensibly and realistically. Which I believe is beyond ability of Cubans or Americans or the even more toxic combination of Cubans + Americans Most Likely to be Found in Cuba Restored.
Too bad can’t find an unemployed Habsburg and give him absolute power for 30 years. One with a presentable physiognomy of course. Physiognomy is Real.
PS: Not all Cubans gonna Cuban. Mark Cuban isn’t a Cuban. Take Three Guesses 😛
Cuba has had 400 years of Spanish Empire rule; 60 years of governance oscillating between competent governance, egregious corruption and coups; and 60 years of totalitarianism.
That doesn’t make one optimistic.
Recall that Venezuela had 150 years of military dictators and 40 years of democrat government before Hugo Chavez.
Amazing insight from Can Do! now Cuban’s join the ever expanding list of non-Han and non-Can Do! that are genetically predisposed as sub par and defective.
What a tool.
Zaphod
But they really did land in a small boat and knocked over a House of Cards.
I recently came across a quote from a Spanish governor of Cuba that said that something like this: Cuba could be governed by “un gallo y violin;” a rooster and a violin.Which may help explain why it was so easy for Castro to take over, and also for him and his cronies to rule for 60+ years. Say what you will about Fidel, he was very adept about acquiring power and maintaining himself in power: a master politician.
(Source, IIRC, Norman Gall article from Commentary on Fidel’s Failures. from Gall’s website, quoting Thomas’s book on Cuba.)
So my prediction is that your borrowed 10x over ‘tax dollars’ circulated through the best people’s grubby fingers gets spent on turning Cuban agricultural land over to ‘Green Energy’ production.
It’s already happening in a limited capacity with the Marabu (accent on U) that invaded the fallow sugar lands. There is some production of charcoal from Marabu. Also, IIRC, some limited turning of Marabu into electrical energy.
Speaking of Green and Cuba, I am reminded of an online discussion I had with a Fidel Fan. I pointed out the collapse of Cuban agricultural production, as above. Fidel Fan’s reply was that Cuba had a VERY SUSTAINABLE agriculture, according to some study. Fidel Fan cut off discussion, so I couldn’t point out to him that a country that imports 50%? 60%? of its food (FAO), like Cuba does, can’t have a very good SUSTAINABILITY score.
How about we swap our “mostly peaceful” protesters for Cuba’s?
“videos live-streamed on Facebook showed thousands of people walking and riding bikes and motorcycles along streets while chanting “Freedom!” “Down with Communism!”
“The current population of Cuba is 11,319,613 as of Wednesday, July 7, 2021, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data…”
Rhetorical question: are the Cuban people armed?
The answer’s obvious of course, as communist regimes do not allow the public to retain arms. In which case, as long as those in the army support tyranny, the only thing that is going to change is the removal of the ‘troublemakers’.
When totalitarian regimes hold sway,
the protests in Venezuela, Iran’s ‘Green Revolution’ and Tiananmen Square stand witness to the futility of peaceful protests.
When those in power are willing to kill to retain their power, then only a willingness to kill them can eject them from power.
If unwilling to kill the tyrant and their suporters and unable to flee, then submission or suicide are the remaining choices.
When we have our One World Government* then there will be nowhere to flee.
* first step: 139 of the world’s 169 recognized nations have agreed to sign on to a “world tax”.
Count on it, the remaining 30 will be ‘encouraged’ to… get with the program. It’s the first step because the ‘right’ to tax is the right to govern.
And yes, the US Military is supporting the democrat’s political coup. While Ashli Babbit’s murder with a democrat controlled federal government’s refusal to allow an investigation… demonstrates the democrat’s willingness to kill to retain its power.
OlderandWheezier
How about we swap our “mostly peaceful” protesters for Cuba’s?
Great suggestion. I suspect that some of those “mostly peaceful” protesters- think Antifa- are Fidel Fans. Regarding their response to the suggestion they go to Socialist Cuba- after all so many of them LOVE Socialism- I am reminded of Graham Greene’s remark circa 1967. Graham Greene said that given the choice between living in the US or living in the Soviet Union, he’d choose to live to live in the Soviet Union. Graham Greene was living on the French Riviera when he made that remark!
Most of those who love Fidel have the good sense to stay away from Cuba, to make sure their dreams do not collide with reality.
Anyway it’s the glory days of youth again for Boomer Conservatards:
https://gab.com/TheZBlog/posts/106568422026114210
Peggy Noonan must be busy writing a speech for Animatronic Ron.
“Most of those who love Fidel have the good sense to stay away from Cuba, to make sure their dreams do not collide with reality.”
There was a famous early C20 Classical Sinologist who made a point of never visiting China. He flat out stated that he didn’t want to be disillusioned about the Love of his Life.
Best part of a Free Cuba will be that their Blacks will be freed. The Castro regime whilst bloviating about equality has been careful to keep them on a very tight rein.
What’s not to like? 🙂
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch, Americans fester in Prison held without trial for Jan 6. Be nice if the Conservatard Commentariat was as interested in freeing them as it is in Freeing Cubans to be Fleeced:
https://gab.com/TheZBlog/posts/106567708422266676
Smoke blows hard from Hong Kong. Brave, Brave, Sir Robin.
@om:
Quit while you’re A Head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs
You’re “A Head” alright. Or was that alt-right?
Not your country, remember?
@Gringo:
Graham Greene: the best advertisement for Catholic Apostasy since the Borgias. Fellow could write, but he makes Peter Hitchens or Theodore Dalrymple seem like the life of the party.
In particular, Sen. Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz are all betraying their oath in not speaking out against the conditions in which the Jan. 6th protesters are being held. Their conditions are horrific and in not publicly objecting, all in Congress who are silent are complicit in these crimes.
Well good to know that it is settled.
“In particular, Sen. Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz are all betraying their oath ….. all in Congress who are silent are complicit in these crimes.”
Cue “If I were king of the forest.”
Predictions.
Cuban Liberation will result in:
1) More Cubans in America. Not Fewer. The Open Borders Gang will be all over this like White on Rice. Never let an opportunity go to waste.™
2) More Looting of the US Treasury by all the usual well-connected suspects to support ‘Reconstruction’.
3) The exporting of American jobs to Cuba.
4) Further as yet unimagined degradation and despoliation of the lot of Legacy American White Proles.
5) Big Trouble for Fredo.
Did I miss anything?
Oh.. I’m sure some Cubans will be better off. Where in the Declaration of Independence or the Holy and Most Sacred Constitution does it mention the Life, Liberty and Happiness of Some Cubans?
Spin Can Do!, Spin.
Where are the wise, except for Can Do! and Winnie the Poo?
I’d like to think the Cubans couldn’t do worse than what they’ve got. However, as Bill Cosby said in his stand-up days:
_____________________________________
You should never challenge “worse.” Don’t ever say, “Things couldn’t get
worse.
_____________________________________
Back in the heady post-WW2 years many countries (sadly not those which fell behind the Iron Curtain) did get better. Even West Germany and Japan, the Bad Guys, ended up with OK countries albeit requiring substantial American presence and resources.
I was a boomer kid and quite excited by such improvements, not to mention the tech advances which seemed to go hand-in-hand. It looked like we were heading, two-steps-forward-one-step-back, towards a grand happy ending, like that Fukuyama fellow said in “The End of History” in 1992.
Thirty years later it’s much less clear. Even in the US we are fighting off a weird new American tyranny the Democrats, media, academia and tech have cooked up.
So should the Cubans throw off their current regime, which is not a sure thing, it’s a coin toss, maybe worse, that things improve.
Of course, I’d like to believe.
om,
“Cue “If I were king of the forest.”
The truest test of character is when doing the right thing will cost you. The greater the cost, the greater the depth of character required.
“All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke
I singled out those individuals for two reasons; the representative office they hold, second only to the President and that they hold themselves up as true conservatives.
The greater the influence we have, the greater the moral obligation to speak out in the face of injustice.
On a personal note, lately you seem to have little to say beyond chastisement and ridicule of those whom you dislike. Do you have anything of value to contribute to these issues beyond that?
Cuba, the vast manufacturing hub of the Caribbean, so close to Florida but with such untapped, unknown potential! We (the USA, not Hong Kong) will be sending all our knowledge economy work to Cuba now. Trust me, I heard it from Can Do!
I thought the threat in the Caribbean was from Hati? Oh, that was last (Can Do!) week.
Zaphod:
Since you are not an American and actually seem to know little about this country, perhaps you’re not aware that Cuban refugees to this country tend to vote Republican. Encouraging Cubans to come here is not something Democrats are into.
Geoffrey:
You have much to say that is “profound” and IMO you try to be “magisterial,” but that may just be misreading of your style.
Personally, you may be a fine fellow and a joy to be around. I don’t know.
Regarding your judgement on those senators, well, we disagree about the severity of their errors. But you tend to fall into the “treason” (and string ’em up?) mode up on a regular basis. Funny but the founders made “treason” a hard crime to prove in court IIRC.
Geoffrey:
Glad to know we have a judge of what constitutes “true conservatives” and how “true conservatives” must act. Well as I said, glad that is solved. Now I know who to ask. Will flashes of lightning and peals of thunder sound to clue me in that an answer is coming from Bend, OR? 🙂
Yes Can Do! is so original. Usually we can count on the left to use the Constitution and Declaration of Independence as kindling for a flag burning or as toilet paper, but Can Do! joins in as well. Some find his viewpoint refreshing. Takes all kinds to fill a honey bucket.
Geoffrey:
Almost all who write here are more eloquent, inciteful, and interesting than I. Few post views that are IMO evil, brutal, and ignorant of historical consequences while claiming to be clear headed and pragmatic. Not to be coy, I refer to Zaphod, of Hong Kong.
You write what you will, it is an open forum, with rules and guardrails.
I read once, I don’t remember where, that any regime can remain in power only so long as its army continues to have the stomach for killing their fellow citizens.
To this end, the Cubans created special forces used to terrorize, punish, and murder people. These paramilitary groups are composed only of people completely lacking in empathy. Most are former criminals, but the important thing is that they are sociopaths and they just don’t lose the stomach for killing.
The same model has been exported to Venezuela. Read:
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/venezuela-violence-police-faes/
Unfortunately, I suspect that the Cuban regime will beat this uprising… brutally. We will never know how many they kill in the process.
However, I am not there. Maybe the Cuban people are fed up enough to absorb thousands of deaths and keep fighting. We can hope. And be assured that if Cuba falls, Venezuela and Nicaragua will be right behind.
Meanwhile, my heart is heavy for what the Cuban people face. May their desperation be converted to courage.
@Neo:
Best not be assuming random stuff like my not knowing how the Miami Miasma votes.
Take away emigre Cuban Americans’ ur-reason to vote Republican and import more of their more downmarket Fellaheen and see how how quickly they turn on a dime.
Past Performance is no Guarantee, etc.
I can think of folks for example who are the Rightiest of Bomb them all to Hell Maniacs when a narrowly-defined interest is at stake and the Leftiest of Trannies are what the Republican Party Truly Stands For when their narrowly-defined interest is not concerned. Take away the Communist Regime in Cuba and your Cuban Americans might shape-shift into just about anything new under the Electoral Sun given a decade.
Can Do! shows his ignorance again. There was a mass immigration from Cuba encouraged by the totalitarians (Castros) in 1980 (Mariel Boatlift). Castro seeded that group with lots of criminals. From 1980 to 2020 those Cubans who became citizens must be really slow leaners about the joys of the Democrat left. But that would fit the Can Do! model; they are slow learners because, …. Can Do!
And a bonus, Can Do! knows more than neo. Who knew?
Zaphod:
I assumed nothing.
You had written something that indicated you didn’t realize that Cuban emigres voted Republican. Here it is:
“More Cubans” is not an opportunity for the left; it’s one for the right. Now, of course, some GOP members are for open borders, but fewer than there used to be and a lot fewer than there are among Democrats.
And you have said tons of other things here that show a lack of understanding of the US. I’ve called you out on many of them.
om,
I thought it prudent to look up “magisterial”, to confirm my interpretation of your use of that characterization of me. I assure you that I’m not trying to act as an authoritarian on anything, just being straightforward on the issues and personalities as I currently see them. It hasn’t, at 72 escaped me that the more I learn, the more clearly I realize how little I know. Yet if we don’t believe in some things, we’ll fall for anything. In an increasingly less free society, speaking out is a moral and ethical duty.
If it helps, I entirely agree with Ben Franklin’s acknowledgement of; “For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.” Benjamin Franklin
As for the severity of those Senator’s ‘errors’, they haven’t simply made a mistake. I think it safe to presume that it’s a certainty that they know of the conditions in which the Jan. 6th protesters are enduring. As it’s certainly been written about enough in the conservative media. Given their full throated support for Constitutional principles in other areas, their silence on this issue only makes sense as a craven political consideration.
If profound violations of due process and the rule of law, if in America, gulag like conditions for American political prisoners isn’t a moral and constitutional duty for US Senators to speak out against, then what pray tell qualifies for being labeled a betrayal of their sworn duty?
Those Senators have sworn an oath upon a Bible to defend the Constitution. The democrat’s actions are a direct and profound assault upon the Constitution itself. In their silence they are assisting and, in effect supporting that assault. If that doesn’t equate to treason, then nothing short of armed and deadly resistance qualifies. In which case, that limitation transforms the Constitution into a suicide pact.
“Biden’s history is of supporting the lifting of sanctions, and this was part of his campaign. But nothing has yet happened on that score.” – Neo
IF Biden lifts sanctions, the Castroites gain the upper hand because the protests might fizzle out.
If the protests fizzle, US-Cubans will not be happy, since, as Neo observed, at the moment they vote mostly Republican.
If the US-Cubans get unhappy enough, they might start peacefully protesting the DC Imperium.
I hope the Cubans get a better deal from Biden than they did from JFK.
Free the Capitol Five Hundred.
“Free the Capitol Five Hundred.”
Yes.
Good luck to the Cubans and all. But ultimately their fate rests with themselves and their own willingness to shed blood both coming and going.
For the rest, my point in this thread has been that from the US-Centric Perspective (and any American who does not operate from that perspective can be considered a Traitor) Change is problematic. Wouldn’t always necessarily be a problem if you weren’t governed by a Kakistocracy/Kleptocracy which could bankrupt a lemonade stand on the hottest day of the year and turn any opportunity into a cess pit of failure. Fix that. Free your own political prisoners (Right Ones, only. Don’t be a stupid $%^&ing autistic Universalist). Then go slap your local Cuban on the back.
Steven Hayward has some good observations & historical notes.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/07/keep-a-close-eye-on-cuba.php
Check the Babylon Bee for the latest news!
Geoffrey jumps the treason shark, seriously. Chaquita republic time.
“Thunder and lightning, kill the wabbit.” (senator).
After the New Revolution succeeds, Cubans should start with listening to this judge. Just a few excerpts; recommend RTWT.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/07/the-importance-of-a-fairly-selected-judiciary.php
Now that’s a Sensible Judge.
Funny how the best of American Blacks often come from the Caribbean.
Before any of you Nurture not Nature Fanatics jump on my case, you still have to explain the odious Colin Powell.
“That wabbit was tweasonous” channeling Elmer Fudd the constitutional
scholar,
‘Tut, tut, young(er, but not much) man. I’m not hoping for civil war, but those three treasonous senators have to be taught a lesson. ….’
Now the voters of Arkansas, Texas, Utah, might not quite see eye to eye with the Prophet of Bend, but he has spoken. Hubris rears it’s head again.
Can Do! can’t seem to grasp that individuals exist among those things that don’t look like him. Colin Powel is not an individual, nope, he is from the Caribbean, that must explain his actions. Sad.
J. E. Dyer – starts with lots of Tweets supporting the Cuban people.
And then there are the Lying Fake Media Allies.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2021/07/12/a-day-in-the-garden-of-good-and-evil-cuba-shouts-libertad-america-dances-with-death/
As a second item, she expounds on a Tweet from yesterday that made the rounds.
On yet another compelling current issue:
And yet another – it’s all connected.
There was a great woman in Denver who saw something and said something, and short-circuited a potential disaster. But she wasn’t spying on anyone, let alone her own family and friends.
If more people had been willing to do this (by their own admissions), we wouldn’t have had 9/11 and some other horrendous events.
https://nypost.com/2021/07/11/hotel-maid-prevents-potential-shooting-at-mlb-all-star-game-report/
And yet another central issue for the country to address:
Escalation in Cuba.
https://nypost.com/2021/07/12/stunning-video-shows-cuban-authorities-firing-on-protestors/
And in the USA.
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2021/07/12/trump-statement-on-cuba-is-strikingly-different-from-that-of-biden-n409882?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=onsite&utm_campaign=719
Paper of Record
https://babylonbee.com/news/leftists-fear-communism-failing-all-the-time-is-making-communism-look-bad
https://babylonbee.com/news/bernie-sanders-heads-to-cuba-to-inform-protesters-they-have-the-best-healthcare-housing-programs-in-the-world
https://babylonbee.com/news/new-york-times-slams-cuban-protestors-for-adopting-symbol-of-hate
“We stand with the Cuban people”
That Biden* statement is jarring.
om,
A response that claims that I’ve “jumped the treason shark” is NOT a rebuttal of my question; “If profound violations of due process and the rule of law, if in America, gulag like conditions for American political prisoners isn’t a moral and constitutional duty for US Senators to speak out against, then what pray tell qualifies for being labeled a betrayal of their sworn duty?”
In not responding directly to an explanation of my reasoning and instead, simply claiming that I’ve gone off the deep end, you engage in exactly the type of rhetoric and contemptuous dismissal that the left typically uses. Time to look in the mirror buddy.
Accusations of treasonous behavior should be cautiously advanced, yet when the behavior fully qualifies, avoiding the use of the word is moral cowardice. When a rationale is offered for an accusation as serious as treason, principled disagreement, requires addressing the rationale.
To fail to do so and instead simply dismiss it as a bridge too far, reveals an inability to engage in reasoned discussion.
“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.” -Socrates
Well the senile Joe Bidet and his Obama-commie handlers will not shout too loud in supporting the Cuban demonstrators because Joe, et. al., support the goals of the Cuban regime.
The execrable POS AOC says nothing. She is all for that regime as long as she does not have to live there.
As usual, the even more execrable Brooklyn commie, Bernie Sanders, once again jumped thru his anus to defend that commie hellhole by noting that Castro increased the literacy rate; that not everything in Cuba is bad.
Of course, Bernie neglects to mention that Cuba, in 1959 already had a 71% literacy rate, which at that time was the 4th highest in Latin America.
When is comes to defending totalitarian commie regimes, Bernie somehow finds a way to do this, but he NEVER can find one F’n thing to defend about the USA.
If it was within my power, Bernie, AOC – and their entire families – and some others would be dropped off in Havana so they can enjoy the utopia they yearn for, never again allowed to set foot in the nation they most hate, the USA. . While there , Bernie, can explain to all those in food lines why “waiting in line is good.”
Cuba, like all repressive regimes, relies on having enough gun toting “citizens” who are willing to do the govt’s dirty work to retain power.
Attaining absolute power is also what is most appealing to the “demokrats” here in the USA which is why they bend over backwards to treat communist nations with kid gloves.
IMHO, the leaders of the demonstrations in Cuba will be arrested, they will disappear , and that will be the end of it. This is what the Cubans taught the Venezuelans and what the Chinese communists did in Hong Kong.
Slice off the head of the snake and the snake is dead.
As for all those who support the communist govt. in Cuba, ask yourself simple questions; ” if given the chance to leave Cuba without penalty, how many would choose to leave?”
“If living in Cuba is so great, why would anyone want to leave.”
“If the USA is a racist hell-hole , why would any Cuban – or anyone else – desire to come here.”
One thing about American commies; they are all for it as long as they are not forced to live in a communist nation.
Some Polish fighter – long ago – was asked what it was like killing humans. He answered; “I never killed a human, just communists. “
Hi Neo,
Re the voting habits of Cubans in the US: Do you think that the tendency will change once/if it becomes easy for Cubans to move to the US? I’d expect a difference between the ‘when it’s hard’ and the ‘when it’s easy(easier)’ groups.
Not trolling – serious question.
It’s a peculiar thing we do when we purport to quote Sokrates (that mystery guy), who famously never wrote a thing preserved to his contemporaries, hence certainly not to us: turns out what we’re actually doing is quoting some others else who have in turn quoted Sokrates to their own purpose. “Some others else” being namely Xenophon or Plato or Aristophanes, in the main, fine fellows all so far as I believe.
Anyhow, just an aside comment of no particular consequence — stickly though it may appear — on account of so few today truly give two shits about ol’ Sok, whoever he may have been.
Geoffrey, old buddy:
Accusation of treason is extreme, but not for some (you). Accusation of slander is also not unusual when I go down the path of Mt. Hyperbole that you’ve trod before. In your dottage consider that treason applied to political disagreements might have some unintended consequences. You missed that?
Regarding unanswered questions posed to you; am I allowed to ask, what do the voters of TX, UT, Arkansas, have to say about the Geoffrey rule?
Trigger warning, slander alert, are you channeling The Red Queen – “Off with their heads!”
Tome ended, have a good day irregardless.
John Tyler
As usual, the even more execrable Brooklyn commie, Bernie Sanders, once again jumped thru his anus to defend that commie hellhole by noting that Castro increased the literacy rate; that not everything in Cuba is bad.
Of course, Bernie neglects to mention that Cuba, in 1959 already had a 71% [79%] literacy rate, which at that time was the 4th highest in Latin America. When is comes to defending totalitarian commie regimes, Bernie somehow finds a way to do this, but he NEVER can find one F’n thing to defend about the USA.
(Even in the decade of Cuba’s massively publicized literacy program,-in the 1960’s- IIRC, Cuba ranked about 9th out of 20 Latin American countries in increase in literacy. And yes, even back in the 1960s Bernie was crowing about Cuba’s increase in literacy. See Vermont Freeman.)
Through the decades, other Latin American countries closed the literacy gap between Cuba and Latin America. From 1960-~2010, Cuba ranked 16th out of the 20 countries of Latin America in increase in literacy- about 20%. There are 2 reasons for Cuba’s ranking so low in increase in literacy. First, as John Tyler points out, Cuba already had a relatively high rate of literacy, so it didn’t have so far to go. IIRC, Bolivia ranked first with 56% increase from 1960-2010. Which brings forth the second point: other countries also improved- not just Cuba. You don’t need totalitarianism to improve literacy or health care.
As far as I can tell, Bernie has not said a peep about other Latin American or Third World countries increasing literacy- only Commie countries. If Bernie were actually interested in Third World countries’ increasing literacy, he would discussed all such marked improvements- such as Bolvia’s. But Bernie talks only about Commie Cuba.
Similarly, Bernie made comments about Cuba and Sandinista Nicaragua reducing Infant Mortality.
Bernie made no mention of Pinochet’s Chile, which surpassed Cuba and Sandinista Nicaragua in reducing Infant Mortality. From 1960 to 1978, Cuba reduced its Infant Mortality rate from 47.1 to 20.3 deaths per 1,000 infant births- a reduction of 26.8 in 18 years. From 1976 to 1983, Pinochet’s Chile reduced its Infant Mortality rate from 47.5 to 20.7 deaths per 1,000 infant births- a reduction of 26.8 in 7 years. During its rule of 16 years, the Pinochet regime reduced Chile’s Infant Mortality rate from 63.4 to 17.2, an absolute reduction of 46.2 and a percentage reduction of 73% . From 1960 to 1976, the first 16 years of the Castro regime in World Bank data, Cuba’s Infant Mortality rate fell from 47.1 to 22.7, an absolute reduction of 24.4 and a percentage reduction of 52%.Not a peep from Bernie.
Which helps document that Bernie’s concern for improving literacy or Infant Mortality rates in Third World countries is limited to shilling for Commie countries. (World Bank data)
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.FE.IN?view=chart
Geoffrey:
One final whack at your latest Pinata:
““If profound violations of due process and the rule of law, if in America, gulag like conditions for American political prisoners isn’t a moral and constitutional duty for US Senators to speak out against, then what pray tell qualifies for being labeled a betrayal of their sworn duty?”
Excessive bail or denial of bail, solitary confinement, extreme disproportionate penalties for political protests are not yet a gulag. Have you read the Gulag Archipelago or has that faded from memory? Do you remember descriptions of the White Sea Canal, Kolyma, or other examples of that profound evil? Exaggerate much? Again.
The progressives and the left may want to take us there but you loose credibility much the same as AOC did when she claimed Trump had concentration camps on our border.
Circular firing squads are not a recipe for success.
I’m sure I’m not the only reader of this blog that is tiring of the petty squabbling going on. Instead of trying to one-up each other, how about limiting your comments to the subject of Neo’s post?
F:
Do you have any thoughts regarding Cuba based on your experience (IIRC) at the State Dept?
Google up Granma for some laughs, people.
F,
100% Agree.
Zaphod, i raise my hand.
In tarot, i am the fool and the magician. The beginning and the magus power.
I will burn down all thisbhuman evil and corruotion. Cuba. Schwab reset. Wuhan bio weapon. Gates pop reduction.
Even the usa. Nothing will be safe from this purifying fire.
Zaphod, gb are speaking my mind. They have this role. And the satan counter team has theirs.
The squabbling will only get worse, as the clowns in action and fbi satans watch the potential insurgency camps.
The solar energies will make all of you equallg insane as child raping eating kama jos before long. Look forward to it, humans.
There is something very insincere about how are BLM and CRT people are ignoring the disaster in Haiti. Here we have had this wonderful cleansing reconciliation movement about races, how races are so important and vital a part of our identities, and how white people owe so much historical reparation to bring equity to our victims of oppression. Yet, eight hundred miles away from Miami these newly beloved races are suffering terribly. And not a peep. How can this be? Has all this criticism of whites been a trick?