Is Fidel Castro Dead Again?
This time without continuing to breathe?
And, if so, predictions for Cuba?
Gregg has been there -- while researching Elmore Leonard's Cuba Libre -- and said the other day there are a whole lot of people living in a whole lot of other people's homes, and quoted a lady who said she'd fight to the death before she gave back the home she'd lived in all these years.
Gregg also saw the still-bullet-riddled wall where Che Guevara executed a lot of prisoners. I put a Che crack in my column this week -- about the idiots who wear Che shirts, clueless that the guy was actually a mass murderer. I can't wait to get the hate mail from the deniers...sigh.
For the truth about Che, Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him, by Humberto Fontova.
When he's finally dead and we know it's true, everybody's invited to my place for drinks and barbecue.
There's a Mike Farrell caliber of liberal whose admiration for Fidel expresses nothing so much as the hope that contrarian thinking can be a purely mechanical process, with reasoning that goes:
USA = Big and strong, therefore bad
--------------------------
Cuba = Small and defenseless, therefore good
Sadly, it's not that easy, and decent people are never allowed to turn off their judgment.
Welch lived there for awhile too, but has never said much about it. Maybe Castro's death would convince him to write a column.
People always talk about the majestic Cuban education and health care systems. Presumably when Castro's gone, Intel or AMD will put up a microprocessor fabrication plant there within a few days.
Cuba ought to be Orange County. Instead, it's like this.
Crid at August 25, 2007 10:29 AM
So far the only two places I've seen mention Castro's death are your site and Perez Hilton's.
I'm not sure what that says about where I like to go on the Internets.
Rebecca at August 25, 2007 11:26 AM
I should clarify: Castro's most recent death.
Rebecca at August 25, 2007 11:27 AM
It's actually all over the damn place: Googling at 11:30am PST, and clicking news gets...
Results 1 - 10 of about 279 for castro dead. (0.17 seconds)
Amy Alkon at August 25, 2007 11:31 AM
How does that saying go, "Tengo una remera del Che y no sé por qué"?
Paul Hrissikopoulos at August 25, 2007 1:34 PM
Crid, I'll bring the champagne.
As for the vaunted Cuban health care system...I still, STILL do not understand why the very people who express suspicions about every utterance of the U.S. government take Cuba's health-care stats as reported at face value. No, really - I just don't comprehend it, and never will. I know a few people who've visited the country (yes, legally) and let's just say that you could probably pay your way there just as well with bottles of Advil as well as you could with legal tender.
As for predictions...depends on if Castro's brother holds power after him. I'd love to see Cuba follow in the paths of various Eastern European countries and become vibrant and prosperous. I think all the elements are there, topped off with a well-funded exile community in the U.S., but the cancer at the top has to be excised first.
marion at August 25, 2007 1:52 PM
You're right--and I notice Fox News is at the top of my results, with the (still shady) news that "rumors are floating around Miami". I don't care what anyone says, I've read enough Carl Hiaasen to know that those Florida Cuban Republicans are complete screwballs.
A lot of the Googling gets you sites like this:
http://www.uncoveror.com/castro.htm
Apparently El Jefe died in 1981, and the CIA's been running the joint since. Which begs the question: did the CIA discover the Buena Vista Social Club?
Rebecca at August 25, 2007 6:18 PM
Rebecca, if Carl Hiaasen is to be believed, EVERYONE living in South Florida is a complete screwball.
And if the CIA's been running things since 1981, no wonder Cuba's so screwed up...
marion at August 26, 2007 8:15 AM
Marion, it's not even necessary to doubt the official figures of Cuba's health care system. It's quite sufficient to compare them with the UNO figures of pre-Castro Cuba.
Humberto Fontova has a lot of these juicy details in his columns on LewRockwell.com.
Theodor at August 26, 2007 9:13 AM
EVERYONE living in South Florida is a complete screwball.
Yeah? What's your point?
Rebecca at August 26, 2007 9:46 AM
"How does that saying go, "Tengo una remera del Che y no sé por qué"?
My Spanish is not great but I believe it should be..."Yo soy una ramera de Che y no lo se por que"
"I am a whore for Che, and I don't know why"
winston at August 29, 2007 10:10 AM
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