Well what were you hoping for it to achieve?
Improve the country, establish a modern democratic government with constitutional rights, not piss off the United States and lead to a massive embargo, preventing any economic prosperity.
HAHA my favorite word returns. Don't call His Excellency a fascist or I shall be forced to call you a communalist. Fun fact, President Castro was trained and aided by anti-fascist refugees from the Spanish civil war.
Let's just go ahead and define fascism real quick:
A political regime based on strong centralized government, suppressing through violence any criticism or opposition of the regime, and exalting nation, state, or religion above the individual.Oh, what do you know, that defines Cuba perfectly. Castro can try and pretend to be whatever he wants, but in reality, he's a fascist. Political figures do this all the time; they say they are communists/socialists and they want to help the workers and etc., but then they go and turn the country into a police-state. Even Hitler did it; the National Socialist German Workers Party wasn't exactly as socialist as the name implied.
For example...?
Just ask Wikipedia:
The Cuban government has been accused of numerous human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extra-judicial executions.[81] Dissidents complain of harassment and torture.[82] While the Cuban government placed a moratorium on capital punishment in 2001, it made an exception for perpetrators of an armed hijacking 2 years later. Groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued reports on Cuban prisoners of conscience.[83] Opponents claim the Cuban government represses free expression by limiting access to the Internet.[84]
Human Rights Watch claims that the true number of political prisoners may well be vastly understated.[85] According to Human Rights Watch, political prisoners, along with the rest of Cuba's prison population, are confined to jails with substandard and unhealthy conditions.[85]
In the last weeks of March 2003, the Cuban government sentenced 75 members of the opposition to prison terms of up to 28 years. The activists were charged with “disrespect” toward the Revolution, “treason,” and “giving information to the enemy,” in the harshest backlash against peaceful dissent that the island had seen in years.[86][87] Since 2003, human rights supporters have sent thousands of appeals to the Cuban authorities calling for the release of the prisoners. The numbers of recognized political prisoners varies over time, increasing and decreasing with circumstances. However all former political prisoners are subject to arbitrary re-arrest.[88] Political arrests continue.[89]
On the fourth anniversary of a major crackdown on human rights activists in Cuba that saw dozens sentenced to long prison terms for peaceful promotion of basic rights and freedoms, human rights organizations called for the release of the 59 prisoners who remain in jail, several of whom are seriously ill.[90] Organizations like Human Rights First called on the Cuban government and, in particular, to interim leader Raul Castro, to immediately and unconditionally release the 59 individuals who remain in prison since their arrest in the spring of 2003.
The Ladies in White are the wives and relatives of those imprisoned in a series of controversial 2003 arrests. They have persistently and peacefully advocated their release since then.[91]
Marta Beatriz Roque has been twice detained for her opposition to the government. In July 1997, she and three other dissidents were detained for publishing a paper titled "The Homeland Belongs to All,"[92] which discussed Cuba's human rights situation and called for political and economic reforms. The paper, which was labeled seditious by the government, led to her being imprisoned for a little over three years. On April 3, 2003, Roque was brought to trial and convicted. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison for engaging in “activities aimed at subverting the internal order of the Cuban State, provoking its destabilization and the loss of its independence,” and receiving “substantial monetary funds from the U.S. Government.” On July 22, 2004, Roque was unexpectedly released from prison due to her declining health. Medical parole, however, is given only for the duration of the illness. As such, she is subject to rearrest and detainment in the event that there is any improvement in her health. According to Amnesty International, Roque has been harassed repeatedly by Cuban government supporters and state security agents, including receiving death threats and being physically assaulted since her early release from prison.[93][94]
Normando Hernández González is an independent journalist sentenced to 25 years in prison in the spring of 2003 for his commentaries on Cuban society, including pieces on the Cuban health, educational and judicial systems, and for his promotion of free expression. Mr. Hernández was apparently held in a cell for more than a year with a prisoner known to have tuberculosis, despite repeated concerns expressed by him and his family. He was recently confirmed to have contracted tuberculosis and is suffering from high fevers, fatigue and fainting. The doctors at Prison Kilo 7 in Camagüey, where he is being held, are reportedly refusing him medical assistance. There have also been reports that he has been physically assaulted by prison guards.[95]
José Luis García Paneque was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2003 for his work as an independent journalist, as well as for his involvement in a civic initiative to promote democratic reforms, known as the Varela Project. García Paneque’s health has dramatically worsened since his imprisonment; he suffers from intestinal problems that have caused him to lose almost 90 pounds and at one point left him emaciated at a weight of around 110 pounds. He also suffers from rectal bleeding, and has dangerously low blood pressure. Despite these symptoms, his wife reports that he is not receiving adequate medical care and her request for his release on medical parole in November 2005 has not been answered.[96][97]
Luis Enrique Ferrer García received a 28-year sentence for his work with the Varela Project, a civic initiative calling for democratic reforms in Cuba. To protest his unjust imprisonment, particularly harsh prison conditions and mistreatment by prison authorities, Ferrer García has engaged in numerous hunger strikes throughout his detention, often leaving him very ill and weak. In addition, he has been the victim of numerous physical assaults by security guards and violent prisoners, most of whom are encouraged by prison authorities to harass and intimidate him.[98]
Oscar Elías Biscet is a physician and president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, which peacefully promotes human rights and the rule of law. In reprisal for his human rights activities, the 41-year-old doctor was sentenced to 25 years in prison and has been held in some of the harshest conditions, including in punishment cells and solitary confinement. For long periods of time he is denied family visits, the right to leave his cell, and essential packages of medicine and food. Biscet suffers from chronic gastritis, hypertension and recurring infections, and is reportedly losing his eyesight; his poor health has been severely aggravated by unhygienic prison conditions and harsh treatment. At one point, Dr. Biscet was reported have lost more than 60 pounds.[99]
Although still clinging to official Cuban government view that racial progress was poor before Castro reached power (despite the obvious ethnicity of the leader and many senior members of the Batista regime) has eroded in the last few years.[100]
The media is state run so I dont think they really censor their own media. As for no due process, I don't think you know what due process means.
If you think state run media is uncensored you are officially the dumbest person ever. Also, due process of law is the right to a fair trial by a jury of your peers. Cuba doesn't practice due process of law. They instead opt to use the Joseph Stalin approach; simply jailing/killing everyone they think is a traitor.
Isnt the economy of ANY developing nation in the shtiter when compared to the US? Could it be that this is not a fair scale to determine the proximity to the shitter of an economy?
Yes, the economy of all developing nations are in the shitter. What I'm saying is, if this revolution was so successful and Che and Castro are such great people, why is Cuba one of those developing nations? Also, I don't think it's unfair to compare them to the US. The US economy isn't exactly the strongest economy in the world, but at least we have cars that weren't made in 1952.
This post has been edited by z e w b: 16 April 2008 - 12:43 AM