The life in Fidel, and Cuba

[davemarc]

> From: Mike Weaver <pic at gn.apc.org>
[snip]
>         Castro is not, as communist Cuba's enemies would have it, a
dictator
> and solely responsible for the island's recent history good and bad,  but
he
> does remain, for a majority of the population, a representation of their
> independence from the American empire and I find it sad that p-listers
are
> not immune to Their propaganda.

Please.  Castro is a dictator.  Since taking charge of Cuba he's been its
#1 Murderer, Persecutor, Censor, etc., by virtue of the fact that he's at
the top of the chain of command.  That's not to say there haven't been
significant improvements in Cuba during his years in charge, and pressures
and threats against him and Cuba from other Cold Warriors, too.  But why
anyone who isn't under Castro's thumb would make excuses for
him--particularly in this day and age, when Castro could realistically
improve things for Cuba through reforms, possibly ensuring its stability
after his physical death--is beyond me.  

I realize that Colombia's Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who's received the
Pynchon Stamp of Approval for his fiction, wouldn't necessarily agree with
this, but I imagine that exiled Cuban funnyman Guillermo Cabrera Infante
would.  

davemarc