DWB

I do admit that! Communism does play a huge role here because it is the reason the USA has the trade embargo in the first place. No communism, no embargo. They didn't place the embargo into place for shits and giggles. They do not want a communist country 98 miles from US soil and they do not want Fidel Castro in power.

If you want to debate that if Cuba was NOT a communist country and there were NO trade embargo, would Cuba still be a mess? I can't answer that. None of us can. Though I can say with absolute certainty that the government would steal huge sums of money and still let many of the people live in poverty. I also can say with absolute certainty that they would also still have free healthcare, free and good education to the doctorate level and a very high literacy rate. But could the people come and go and work as they please? No. That is not how communism works. But would Cuba be a better or worse place than it is today? Probably much better. Still a bit of a mess I'm sure, but much better off than what they have now. That can not be argued.

Over the years I have spent total of about 2 years of my life in Cuba, not at the resorts. I've literally been in almost every city on the island and have heard all sides of the story from all kinds of different Cubans. It's a divided country. You have half or more of the people who support Castro and still believe in what he is doing. The other side, mostly younger Cubas who only want to talk about American brands and how to make money, want him to die. Of course, thanks to him they have free healthcare, free education to the doctorate level and Cuba has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, which pre-Castro was among the lowest.

While I'm not going to say that Fidel is doing the right thing, I will say that he has done a lot of good for the country.

One of my best friends in Cuban, from Havana. He worked as a tour guide there all his life and ended up getting married to a woman who came there from Spain. It took him forever to get his papers to leave, but he got them and now is living in Spain, wanting to return to Cuba. He loves his country, he loves Fidel, he wants to go back.

For every Cuban that gets in a raft and tries to float to the USA or a neighboring island, there are 1000 Cubans who would never leave and love their country. I've met plenty of these people, and while their life may be a difficult one, it is the only one they know. Who are we to say that their way is the wrong way?

The majority of the Cubans I have met, shared a room with, traveled with, hitch-hiked with and partied with are happier than any American or European I have ever met. Sure, they want total freedom, they want big macs and nike shoes, they want to earn real money and get fancy cars, but in the end is that really better? Are we really that much better off than them?

When Cuba opens up and is a free country, it's going to take a dive WAY worse than where it is now. The Havana malecon will be bought up, in fact I read McDonalds and Starbucks already have their locations worked out privately, and most of Havana will turn into a tourist destination, but the Cubans are going to sink deeper into poverty. After the Americans rush in and strip them of all their antiques, all their old cars and furniture that is worth a small fortune, Cuba is going to be just another shit hole Caribbean island that has little to offer, no healthcare system at all, shitty education if at all... nada. THEN lets have the discussion about how bad things were for the Cubas in 2007.

Let me also add that the World Health Org is expecting Cuba to have an HIV/AIDS problem to rival Africa in the coming years. Right now Cuba can deal with their HIV/AIDS problem and they have the medicine to treat them. Who is going to pay for this once their current system has collapsed and there is no more free health care? Is the USA or European countries? Nope. Cuba won't even be able to treat their own or make medicine for them and will be just another Hatie or Africa. And those are not my words, those come from the World Health Org.

I'm not pro-communism. Im not pro-Castro. But I am saying that things are a lot better now than what is coming for them, and the trade embargo plays a very large hand and their current situation. I just can't believe nobody else can see that.

Flat out, Cuba is a clusterfuck. There is not easy solution and unfortunately the Cuban people are going to suffer no matter how it ends. It's easy for all of us to sit back and say what is right and wrong for them, and we have our opinions, none right, none wrong, but we can't possibly fathom what it is like to be trapped there or what it is like to believe in a movement so much that you are willing to live in poverty for it your entire life. We can't relate. There is no proper solution. Removing Castro today is not going to fix things. Cuba is a glorious mess and sadly, it's only going to get worse for them no matter what changes are made.