The US has been on a mission to destroy Fidel Castro almost since his arrival in Granma in 1956. The amount of anti-Castro propaganda that has been circulating in the US has completely brainwashed 99% of Americans into believing that Fidel is some kind of threat to the US. As if a bunch of sugarcane growers could mount a successful military campaign against the largest military in mankind's history. The amount of lies, untruths, and complete propaganda spewed by every administration since Eisenhower has blinded nearly every American into thinking that Castro is pure evil and has some kind of hypnotic trance on his people that keep them from speaking "the truth," at least the "truth" that American propagandists wish to spew. The rest of the world is, thankfully, much better informed than Americans. They can see the unnecessary suffering of this small island who has defied American enslavement and servitude to follow their own path of social justice and progress. The illegal US economic embargo on Cuba which is 48 years old, has been resoundly condemned every year in the UN. The entire world is asking the US to stop such atrocities, such absurdities and such torture. This illegal embargo is the direct cause for thousands of unnecessary and premature deaths in Cuba every year. Yet, even with all the anguish and torture that results from the illegal embargo by the US, Cuba STILL sits at 39th best in the world for medical attention to their people. The US, with its countless hundreds of billions of dollars supposedly pouring into the medical world to find and disperse the very best medical attention found anywhere in the world, is virtually tied with Cuba at 37th best in the world. This is something that is so incredible that it needs repeating. The United States of America spends nearly $1,000,000,000,000 every year in the medical world to bring "'the very best, modern and greatest" medicine and treatment to Americans. Currently, their $1 trillion dollars spent annually only gets them to 37th place in the world. There are 36 other nations that spend a whole lot less than the US, but have much better medical treatment for their people. In the US $1 trillion = 37th place. Cuba is economically embargoed by the US. Any company that does business with Cuba runs the risk of US intervention with their company and their customers to bring that company down. The US is actively pursuing this torture today and has been doing this since 1960. As a result, Cuba has very little revenue and must spend its scant resources on EVERY ASPECT OF CUBAN SOCIETY including medicine. They barely have $10 million to spend on medicine for their people every year. YET, Cuba is in 39th place, just down two from the US. In Cuba, $10 million = 39th place. It is indeed sad that 99% of Americans are completely blind to the truth in Cuba. It is sad that the propaganda war that the US has waged against Cuba has meant needless suffering for millions of Cubans who merely want to live in their country under their conditions, and not under the bootstrap of American imperialism and its yoke of slavery. The fact that Castro has survived hundreds of illegal assassination attempts by the US government, has survived the 48-year old illegal economic embargo by the US, and has actually IMPROVED social conditions dramatically in Cuba at the same time is something that has endeared him to every Latino who sees the yoke of US hegemonic imperialism for what it is. It is extremely sad for this American to continue to listen to age old lies about Castro being regurgitated by nice, clean robots of the current propaganda whose only knowledge of Cuba comes from the propagandists own hands. Goebbels would definitely be proud of the US propaganda machine put in place by each seceding administration. No one in the US wishes to address the poverty of Cuba in the 1950s, the money laundering and criminal dealings from the mafia and other illegal cartels that were daily occurrences in Cuba under Batista, nor the suffering of 95% of Cubans who couldn't own land, had to pay illegal rent to American land owners who didn't even live on the island, and ate one meal a day if they were lucky. There are very few Americans who realize that Cubans are now 100% literate (not 35% under Batista), that rent is free, the use of land is free, medicine is free, doctors do HOUSE CALLS 3 TIMES A YEAR TO EVERY HOUSE (try getting that done in the US), education is free, and on and on. Americans sound like wind up dolls with their 1960s propaganda bumper sticker analogy of Cuba. This documentary tells the truth, and judging by the vile hatred the US propaganda machine has spewed about this film, it must be pretty accurate.

by John Little (43 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 182 comments [18 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Oct 5, 2008 at 5:52:41 PM

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Thanks, for a british aspect you may want to read this, Our man in Havana: Britain, the United States and the Cuban Revolution at

http:/www.mdx.ac.uk/research/centres/lang/brazil/docs/havana.pdf

which was published in 2007

by sliphoch (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 110 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 12:54:28 PM

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Trying to understand Britain's position on any critical national or international issue is for me, VERY complicated.  Just yesterday I saw that an organization in England has publicized its "Britain's 100 most Influential Blacks" - and the most influential gentleman is an ex-socialist billionaire who's accomplished wonders with his money in saving lives in Africa.  Then I tried to imagine how such a thing could be in America. 

I appreciate very much your recommendation of the pdf document with perspectives on the Cuban Revolution from America and Britain.  I will go there; I have pdf reader; and I'll likely print the piece out.   I expect I may have time to read it.  But I notice that you have yet to publish an article at OEN, and I most sincerely suggest that you either put up the piece, in toto, as an article at OEN, or use the piece as jumping-off point for your own analysis of aspects of the very different American and British approaches to the Cuban Revolution.  

In my opinion, 2007 was not a good year for the Cuban Revolution, 2008 has already been much better, and hopefully 2009 will see the end of the Embargo.

by GLloyd Rowsey (104 articles, 65 quicklinks, 60 diaries, 828 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 1:44:31 PM

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Not only for the timely comment, but for your personal support and encouragement

by GLloyd Rowsey (104 articles, 65 quicklinks, 60 diaries, 828 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008 at 8:35:20 AM

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