A Response to a reader with my commentary

Links to News about Bolivia and its Rebellion Against American Imperialism

The following is a letter that I received from a reader who was offended that I provided in my last article,
     a link to the Cuban news service Granma.  With absolute respect for the reader, I now publish his letter
     with my commentary included between the <>  Now begins the letter that I received:

I have been an active participant in the democratic process, as a voter anyway, since I first voted Clinton into office back in 1992.
My views, centrist as they are, compelled me to register as an independant, as I am only swayed by issues not Party allegiance.

<You are an independent thinker and therefore less likely swayed by propaganda…it's a good start>

Lately, however, I've surprised myself with my voracious interests in the course this country has taken since 2000.
I devour books, essays and columns that have illuminated me as to the brazen, heavy-handed, menace that this country is becoming in the eyes of the
world and my investigations have led me to the doorstep of liberal sites such as the-hamster and bartcop (which is where I found this link, incidentally.)
The fact these sites may be "left-leaning" does'nt bother me in the least.

 <Why should it bother you? The American left fought for, and won things like: Social Security, the forty hour work week, Civil Rights,
the right to vote for women, etc. I think that your voracious interest in history is due to the fact that you have had an epiphany and are
searching for an alternative to the propaganda that you have been subjected to for most of your life >

 The message being broadcast is considerably less rhetorical and one-sided than their conservative counter-parts, to be sure and, what's more, a good liberal,
by definition, can concede to a rival point of view and allow flexibility in debate as is often the case with guys like Paul Begala and James Carville.
I must, however, patently oppose any views which apologize for the tyranny wrought upon the people of Cuba by Fidel Castro.

<It is your right to oppose any views that you disagree with, altough you do not have the right to censor those views.
 Also, because you are articulate and intelligent, aren't you also curious to listen to a view that is not often heard in this country.>

One thing is to favor the lifting of draconian trade restrictions or a more open, dialogue driven approach with the Cuban government (anathema to
the unyeilding views of the hard-right Cuban exile population here in Miami) and it is quite another to support, or even acknowledge, a politcal
revolution that has brought a country that was the envy of the Latin world to its knees.

< In my opinion, before the Cuban Revolution, Cuba was the envy of the Mafia (beneficiaries of dictator Batista's corruption, and American tourists
who enjoyed having a playground 90 miles from the contiguous United States. Also, it is myopic to ignore a Revolution that has lifted a country from
it's knees, and not as you say, "brought it to it's knees". The results of this revolution have been mixed, but the experience of this Revolution is
important to know, because the rest of our Latin American neighbors have the same national desires as the Cuban people who in 1959 declared
themselves the first free territory in the Americas. I do agree with you, that the evil embargo should be lifted.>

Ok, so they have a literacy rate of roughly 97% and everyone gets free medical care. They get this at a staggering cost. What good is reading
Proust if you have no running water, sporadic electricity, the fear of your neighbors ratting you out to the government and the eternal question
of "How am I going to eat today?" burning on your brain.

<No one in Cuba has starved to death, because the government guarantees basic nourishment. It is the U.S. that has tried to starve the
Cuban people with its' evil embargo. Unlike you, I admire a nation that will not bend to U.S. hegemony (so does Noam Chomsky…read this: http://www.counterpunch.org/dwyer11032003.html  The fact that the Revolution has survived in the face of such a potent enemy should
inspire admiration from those of us who want to create a better world.>

The economic paralysis cannot be put squarely on the shoulders of US government as The Monster has alleged, ad nauseum, in his 3 hour long
tirades that cause Cuban ears to bleed. What scapegoat would he have if we were to lift travel and trade restrictions??

<Yes you are right, Cuba's economy has not only suffered because of the monstrous embargo, it also has suffered because as a former colony
of  Spain, and the U.S., Cuba's economy was underdeveloped. European and American imperialism has taken a terrible toll on many nations and
hundreds of millions of people. Castro's "sin" is that he wanted to free his nation from colonialism. I don't agree with your description of Castro's
speeches as tirades, I 'm sure that you haven't ever read one.>

When I saw these links on Bartcop citing Noam Chomsky in reference to Cuba, the web-site's legitamacy took a severe hit in my eyes; a guy
with progressive views, for the most part. What's even more disconcerting is a link to the Cuban state-run paper, La Granma, as a source that
cites White House lies, or something of the sort.

<Is there anything in that article that you can prove to be factually inaccurate? Is it my fault that only the Cuban press covered Chomky's visit to Cuba.
Granma is the official press organ of the Cuban Communist Party, and they state that on their masthead. Therefore any intelligent person will know
that the information that thy read in Granma reflects the opinion of the CCP. So what? The only thing that matters is whether the information is true! >

I'll grant you, the lies coming out of the White House ARE staggering and down-right alarming even by the standards of your garden-variety politician
(a liar by trade.), but to ask someone to reference a dogmatic, state-controlled rag of a long-standing, Marxist-Leninist demagoguery for proof is at
best baffling and at worst, ignorant.

<As opposed to a privately owned rag? What is the difference? Should we believe that Rupert Murdoch and Sun Yong Moon and their dozens of
rags provide reliable information? I did not think so. Instead of launching an ad hominem attack against a small and proud country, you should pay
more attention to what the Cuban Revolution stands for. >

I've never, for the life of me, ever understood the sanctimonious stance on Cuba that lefties (he's not even a true liberal) like Chomsky take.
Is there nothing besides Fidel's underdog status and fierce defiance of the most powerful nation in the world that can justify such an allegiance?
This megalomaniac is perceived, by Chomsky and his ilk, as if he was some righteous, rock-star, no doubt because the government revels in
North American, ex-patriot intellectuals and receives them like kings and queens whenever they visit that raped island.

<Rhetorical hyperbole such as this makes it difficult to have an intelligent discussion. Is it possible that Chomsky, who is brilliant, understands
something that you might not? In fact, i saw a series a photos of Chomsky's trip, which were published on :

http://www.lajiribilla.cubaweb.cu/2003/n129_10/129_53.html  and he spent most of his time visiting the people of Cuba.>

I always thought that liberals were tireless champions of social issues,-human rights taking front and center, yet some of them shower this regime
with adulation despite its notorious and ruthless human rights record. Castro is currently filling his prisons with high ranking members of dissident
groups on the island and slapping them with 20+ year sentences for doing little more than (gasp!) speaking their minds.

<Actually , those people were arrested for being on the payroll of the U.S. government, and if you believe Chomsky who in the interview that
I linked to declares that Cuba is the nation that has suffered more from terrorism, than any other in the last 40 years, you might be reticent to
describe these people as dissidents.>

 One of the best books ever written about the regime's oppression was written about 20 years ago by a guy named Armando Valladares
called "Against All Hope." The accounts of his 20 years in gaol are so ghastly, so utterly inhumane that it renders Henri Charriere's "Papillon"
a child's fairytale. Want to know what he did to deserve such a fate? At the outset of the Revolution, Valladares was an employee of the
government. Some Castro lackeys were busy propagandizing and put a plaquard on his desk that read: "El cliente siempre tiene razon,
mientras que no attaque la Revolucion." (trans: The client is always right so long as they don't attack the Revolution.) Valladares was averse
to such sloganeering and his stance cost him his youth in the most horrendous prison this side of the 12th century. Upon his release he moved
to Spain and became heavily involved with human rights issues in the UN.

< The book by Valladares is a fraud as he is a fraud. He claimed to be paralyzed, and he was not as he demonstrated when after his release,
he walked off the plane when it arrived in Paris. As an Ambassador he was a disaster and was subsequently replaced due to his vulgarity.
In fact, Valladares was a Batista cop who after the revolution was arrested for being involved in a bombing plot. If you believe Valladares,
then you also believe Bush, because they are both pathological liars.>

How can a sane mind support the government of an evil, pathological dictator who's so keen on his own brilliance that every economic measure
he's authored, from his agrarian reforms on up the ladder, have been met with such abject failure that it has decimated a country he purportedly
loves. He's left Cuba with the cosmology of an old whore.

<Cuba has problems, that is true, but no sane person can perceive Cuba as being whorish. Even Cuba's enemies recognize that the Revolution
has never sold out.>

Even if the US was to lift the embargo the malaise would continue as Fidel is so knee-deep in debt that he would have to pay for his country's goods in cash!

<That is not true…most of Cuba's debt is to Russia and while it was the Soviet Union the Ruble was not a convertible currency. Also Russia has
reneged on many treaties that it signed with Cuba, therefore that debt is very likely invalid. In fact, Cuba has been buying agricultural products
from U.S. companies while paying in cash!>

How can you support a government that forbids its own people to come and go as they please?

<That would be the U.S. government, which does not permit it's citizens the right to travel to Cuba. The Bush administration is also denying visas
to Cubans who desire to travel to the U.S>

How can you support a government who's own citizens are treated like outsiders in favor of the tourist dollar, so much so that they are forbidden
to even enter hotels and shops on their own?

<The hotels in Cuba are used to raise the money to support the free medical care, education, etc., that are the right of the Cuban people.
In fact, Cubans that have dollars can visit the dollars stores.>

How can you support a government that forbids an election process? Hell, even Venezuela had free elections.

<Cuba does have elections and when did the U.S. government ever respect the results of an election in a Latin American country?
They overthrew Arbenz in Guatemala, Allende in Chile, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, and they are working against Chavez in
Venezuela at this very moment.>

How can you support a government that even the Soviet Union, at the hight of the cold war, felt was bleeding them dry;
A welfare state for a failed Communist experiment.

< The Soviet Union supported Cuba because it was in their interest to support a third world Revolution that had impeccable credentials and
was and is respected throughout the world. In fact, it was Cuba that shamed the Soviet Union into supporting Vietnam and Angola, just to
name a few, during their wars of liberation. Chomsky himself cites in the interview the role of Cuba in the struggle for liberation in Africa.>

How can you support a government so repressive that it forces families to risk their lives while seeking elusive freedom in the shark infested
waters of the Florida Straits on route to Miami?

<Many more tens of thousands of Mexicans and Central Americans risk their lives in the desert, to immigrate to the U.S. than Cubans that
jump on a raft. Cubans are the only people on the earth that are giving automatic residency if they arrive in the U.S.  Haitians and Dominicans
also take to the high seas and if they are caught they have their assess kicked back to where they came from. How many Mexicans would
come to the U.S. if they received automatic residency? The question is, why do so many Cubans go back to Cuba after they visit the U.S.?>
 

Unless you know of what you speak and have actually met those who have been subjected to Fidel's terror and heard their tales, the best
policy is to SHUT THE FUCK UP!!

<I have been to Cuba 6 times not including the 1st 2 years of my life when I lived there. I am in touch with family and friends there,
including some Americans that live as expatriates there.>

Why don't you educate yourself and read Valladare's book and, if after you've read it, it does'nt compell you to at least rethink your stance,
then, sir, you are the one without hope.

<As I said before, Valladares is a fraud and a whore, and his book was not even written by him! In fact, it was written by Carlos Alberto
Montaner, in Spain, who is a recipient of CIA money, and he has no credibility, because he is an operative of U.S. Imperialism. Finally,
thank you for your thoughtful letter, and I would appreciate your response to my opinions.>
 

Things are percolating in Bolivia of all places! While Dumbya  focuses on Iraq, another Latin American nation rebels against "el imperialismo yanqui"
…Yankee Imperialism. Read the articles on this link.

http://www.zmag.org/lam/boliviawatch.htm

  back to  bartcop.com