Tim Worstall

Brian Wilson on Cuba

This boggles the mind:

American (and hence, sadly, British) foreign policy towards Cuba has
long been based on a single presumption: that on the death of Fidel
Castro the people will take to the streets, the current system of
government will collapse, and a regime more acceptable to American (and
hence British) interests will be ushered in.

I can’t speak for governments of course but my own hope is that the current system of government in Cuba will collapse and a regime more acceptable to the interests of the Cuban people take its place.

Castro’s ill health created the context in which power passed
seamlessly to a group of his most trusted and experienced colleagues.

From the Caudillo to the caudillettes. Most democratic, most freedom loving. You know there was another dictator who passed on power to the head of the armed forces.

For the Cuban masses who mourn Castro are not going to turn on his appointed successors.All
of these people, most of whom I know and respect, have been to the
forefront in Cuban domestic life for decades. Even if they do not
aspire to the charisma and stature of Fidel, they enjoy far more
popular recognition and support than the Americans admit.

Excellent, let them test it. We have a method you know, elections. If they do enjoy the support you claim then they’ll win (and yes, I’m aware that for most of the past 50 years Fidel would indeed have won a free election).

Believe me, these are high quality people who would be assets to any
government – and are now firmly in control of Cuba. Each of them is
ideologically committed to maintaining Cuba’s independence and
political system. But none of them is the unbending ideologue of
Washington caricature, far less an authoritarian denier of human
rights. They will display pragmatism and flexibility but will certainly
not roll over and allow the fundamental reforms of the Cuban revolution
to unravel.

Ah, I see. The turkeys won’t vote for Christmas then. Some surprise there I know. Those fundamental reforms are what got them to the top of the greasy pole so of course they won’t allow something as simple as a free election.

The Americans’ camp followers on Cuba have never been prepared to
acknowledge that a country which has lived under constant economic
siege for almost half a century, and which has been subject to more
foreign plots than any other, might be entitled to define "dissidents"
in terms that do not match those of their persecutors.

Ah, "dissidents". Those who argue for free speech, elections, a free economy, sure, because the Americans tried to kill Fidel it’s entirely correct that those simply trying to uphold the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights should be jailed.

Jeez, and to think that Wilson was a Minister in our own Government.

In

25 responses

  1. aristeides Avatar
    aristeides

    You just have to admire the sheer bloody brass neck of left wing fellow travellers and the way they just don’t give a crap about the normal person in whose supposed interest they peddle this lunacy.

    Reply
  2. dearieme Avatar
    dearieme

    “I’m aware that for most of the past 50 years Fidel would indeed have won a free election”: utterly unknowable.
    Pinochet thought he would. He didn’t.

    Reply
  3. paul ilc Avatar
    paul ilc

    Classic. I suppose it never crossed Brian Wilson’s mind that he will look pretty silly when (five years? 10?) the inevitable collapse of the Cuban tyranny occurs.

    Reply
  4. Chris Harper Avatar
    Chris Harper

    “Castro’s ill health created the context in which power passed seamlessly to a group of his most trusted and experienced colleagues.”
    Castro handed the country over to his brother.
    HIS BROTHER!!!!!!
    Under socialism whole countries become personal property to be inherited by next of kin.

    Reply
  5. john b Avatar
    john b

    Aristeides – it is a fact that “the normal person” in Cuba is better fed, better educated and healthier than “the normal person” elsewhere in Latin America, and substantially better than under previous Cuban governments.
    I’m not condoning the lack of political freedom, but the improved quality-of-life makes it clearly possible both to care about the people of Cuba and to back Castro’s regime above the plausible alternatives.
    Tim adds: “it is a fact that “the normal person” in Cuba is better fed, better educated and healthier than “the normal person” elsewhere in Latin America,”
    Really?
    https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uy.html

    Reply
  6. Neil Craig Avatar
    Neil Craig

    The problem is that a country at war cannot ever afford the same amount of freedom available to one at peace. This even, though to an arguable extent, applies when facing even such minor threats as al Quaeda.
    If it is unknowable whether Castro would have won a free election it is enormously moreso how Cuba would have developed had they not been faced with a 50 year campaign of terrorism by their overbearing neighbour. The west may say we fought communists only because they were dictators but, at least to some extent, they were dictators because, from the outset, the various western powers fought them.
    It is also worth pointing out that the fact that a large number of “dissidents” all over the world, from eastern Europe to Singapore have subsequently turned out to be funded by western governments or western government funded “N”GOs. No doubt many dissidents are wholly independent but the reponsibilty for the suspicion cannot be totally laid at Castro’s door.

    Reply
  7. pete Avatar
    pete

    Economic siege? The USA has refused to trade with it. That is not a siege. The only siege I can think of concerning Cuba is the one it has imposed on its own people.

    Reply
  8. Little Black Sambo Avatar
    Little Black Sambo

    “Power passed seamlessly to a group of his most trusted and experienced colleagues.”
    How unlike the home life of our own dear Prime Minister!

    Reply
  9. john b Avatar
    john b

    Tim – I’m not sure why you included the link to Uruguay above, but:
    Cuba
    Infant mortality rate: 6.22 deaths/1,000 live births
    Life expectancy at birth: 77.41 years
    Literacy: 97%
    Uruguay
    Infant mortality rate: 11.61 deaths/1,000 live births
    Life expectancy at birth: 76.33 years
    Literacy: 98%
    In other words – using your preferred comparator of Uruguay – the average Cuban is much less likely to die in infancy and will live a year longer. Although s/he is (very slightly) more likely to be illiterate.
    Tim adds: So the average Cuban does around and about as well as the average Uruguayan, just doesn’t have any political or economic freedoms?
    And has what, about one tenth the wealth ? This is a defense of Cuba?

    Reply
  10. David Gillies Avatar
    David Gillies

    “It is a fact that “the normal person” in Cuba is better fed, better educated and healthier than “the normal person” elsewhere in Latin America”
    TOTAL AND UTTER HORSESHIT. Even in impoverished Latin American countries such as Nicaragua and Bolivia, nothing obtains like the hand-to-mouth existence of Cuba’s immiserated masses. In the more affluent nations, e.g. Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica, nutrition, access to healthcare and education approach and even exceed those of North America and Western Europe.
    Case in point: Cuban hospital once praised by Castro as
    “one of the most modern and best ones in the country.”
    Costa Rica: CIMA, San José.

    Reply
  11. David Gillies Avatar
    David Gillies

    Actually, on second thoughts, there’s no need to quote statistics. Revealed preferences come to the rescue: there’s tens of thousands of expats voluntarily living and working in Costa Rica (I’m one of ’em). The day I see a retired car salesman from Fort Lauderdale trying to get to Panama from Puerto Viejo on a rubber raft I’ll concede the argument about Cuba being such a wonderful place.

    Reply
  12. Josh Avatar
    Josh

    How can an evil capitalist empire banning evil capitalist corporations from doing exploitative capitalist trade with Cuba be to its detriment?
    The Lefist scapegoat of the American embargo is self-contradicting. Surely without the GAP sweatshops, Cuba should have been propelled into affuence.

    Reply
  13. AntiCitizenOne Avatar
    AntiCitizenOne

    Remember Lefties HEART Dictators.
    see http://www.therealcuba.com

    Reply
  14. aristeides Avatar
    aristeides

    “Aristeides – it is a fact that “the normal person” in Cuba is better fed, better educated and healthier than “the normal person” elsewhere in Latin America,”
    I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

    Reply
  15. bird dog Avatar
    bird dog

    I can’t believe that anyone would rise to defend a toilet of a nation like Cuba, even if all of their residents were as fat as Henry Vlll. They have no freedom. Period. I know a lot of left-over Marxists still long for the dictatorship of the Them, but never forget what the goal of Marxism was supposed to be: “The withering of the state.” Not totalitarianism. So how long are the Cubans supposed to wait for that? Why not be free now?

    Reply
  16. Gus Abraham Avatar
    Gus Abraham

    Is this actually the far-right complaining about human rights and democracy in Cuba where Guantanamo Bay is (de)based.
    And complaining about Castro’s brother taking charge, er, didn’t George hand over to his boy? And didnt big bro have a hand in the Florida result?
    Tim adds: Forgotten Clinton there have you?

    Reply
  17. David Gillies Avatar
    David Gillies

    That’s so fucking stupid on all counts as to merit no further response.

    Reply
  18. Chris Harper Avatar
    Chris Harper

    “didn’t George hand over to his boy? And didnt big bro have a hand in the Florida result?”
    No.

    Reply
  19. Jon Avatar
    Jon

    David — the claim was that Cuba provides better healthcare, education and, um, nutrition than is provided by other Latin American countries. Unless those Cubans on rafts are all going to Mexico, I don’t see how the migration statistics refute that claim.

    Reply
  20. Andrew Ian Dodge Avatar
    Andrew Ian Dodge

    And has what, about one tenth the wealth ? This is a defense of Cuba?
    Yes but its a socialist paradise so who cares if they are dirt poor? That is all the evil Yanquis fault. Although every time they are able Cubans seem to want to get to the US in any way they can.
    Never mind the fact that Cuban was exporting arms and training marxists rebels to send them off all over Latin America. Cuba is also a nice haven for kiddie fiddlers and drug dealers.

    Reply
  21. john b Avatar
    john b

    The reason some Cubans go to the US on rubber rafts is because – unlike people from everywhere else in Latin America – if they make it then they are automatically granted legal residency. Nothing to do with Cuba being worse than the rest of Latin America.
    The kiddie fiddlers and drug dealers point is so far off base it’s funny – one of the things about not-especially-free regimes is that they’re quite good at locking said undesirables up for a Very Long Time. Comparing Cuba to pretty much everywhere else in the developing world, the absence of hookers and dealers is noticeable.
    Finally – what, so you reckon photos of one hospital outweigh the health statistics? I’m fairly sure someone with a camera, a lot of time on their hands and a big enough axe to grind (and those Miami rebels sure do have big axes) could find similar photos in the US, the UK, Canada or whatever your country-healthcare-system of choice might be…

    Reply
  22. Serf Avatar
    Serf

    Castro
    They may be oppressed but health care is good.
    Mussolini
    He might be a fascist but the trains run on time.
    Spot the difference.

    Reply
  23. john b Avatar
    john b

    Late trains seldom mean that you and your children die?

    Reply
  24. David Gillies Avatar
    David Gillies

    “David — the claim was that Cuba provides better healthcare, education and, um, nutrition than is provided by other Latin American countries.”
    Well it doesn’t. I LIVE in one of those other Latin American countries. For one thing, I trust the statistics coming out of Cuba about as much as I would Soviet tractor production under Stalin. Costa Rica has, for example, the highest life expectancy for octogenarians and nonagenarians in the world. According to Nationmaster, Chile, Uruguay and Peru have greater school attendance expectancy than Cuba. As for nutrition – don’t make me laugh. Last weekend I was taking photos of my neighbourhood. If you want, I can show you pictures of the brand new gleaming shopping mall with a supermarket packed full of shoppers and piled high with goods that Cubans would give their eye teeth for. Then follow me as we walk up the hill to the farmers’ market where dozens of stalls have fresh fruit and vegetables at astoundingly low prices (something that is strictly illegal in Cuba). These aren’t Potemkin structures intended to deceive gullible Guardianistas and Ché groupies.The average Cuban has to get by on about $25 a month. John B – take a look at a map for Chrissakes. How close is Cuba to Central America relative to Florida? If Cuba was as close to Costa Rica as it is to the US, you bet we’d be getting hordes of refugees (this is amply corroborated by the fact that roughly one quarter of the population of Costa Rica derives from Nicaragua during the Sandinista regime). The family of my best friend in Costa Rica fled the oppression after Castro came to power. Do any of you Castro-huggers actually KNOW any Cubans?
    Anyone that continues to assert that Cuba rivals the free nations of Latin America is talking nonsense. But as always it’s like Groucho Marx said: who are you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?

    Reply
  25. john b Avatar
    john b

    “If you want, I can show you pictures of the brand new gleaming shopping mall with a supermarket packed full of shoppers and piled high with goods that Cubans would give their eye teeth for.”
    I can show you the same in India (point being: free-ish democracy where I’ve spent a lot of time). I can also show you people in India who not only can’t afford said goods but are starving to death.
    “Then follow me as we walk up the hill to the farmers’ market where dozens of stalls have fresh fruit and vegetables at astoundingly low prices (something that is strictly illegal in Cuba).”
    That’s surprising, given that farmers’ markets are expressly legal in Cuba.
    “The average Cuban has to get by on about $25 a month.”
    The way that the currency works makes that statement entirely meaningless. Food is bought in national pesos, which are nominally 24-to-the-dollar but in which you can buy a decent meal at a local stall for 3 pesos.
    “John B – take a look at a map for Chrissakes. How close is Cuba to Central America relative to Florida?”
    Cuba is nearer to Mexico, Haiti and Jamaica than it is to Florida. Unsurprisingly, Cubans have no great desire to flee to any of the above.
    Look. I accept that Cuba is focused on providing food, healthcare and education to its people; it achieves that well; it achieves everything else staggeringly badly; that there are a huge number of places ranging from Spain to South Korea that have made far greater progress at lifting people out of poverty than Cuba; and that its economic failings aren’t primarily the fault of the US embargo.
    However, it has bettered quality-of-life compared with what came before, compared with the previous regime, and compared with its neighbours. I rate that as “not a bad effort”.

    Reply

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