Castro made space for S Amer left: Straightgoods.com
 
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:38:07 -0600 (CST)


from: http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature8.cfm?REF=108
Cuba's accomplishments likely to be overlooked in media coverage

Castro created space for the democratic left to become dominant in Latin 
America.

Dateline: Tuesday, February 19, 2008

by Ish Theilheimer

With Fidel Castro's resignation, Cuba is poised to move onward and upward, 
building on what he began. Whether Canada and the United States will do so 
as well depends on the results of the next election in each country.

In days to come, we can expect to hear media reports casting Castro mostly 
as a strongman, dictator, revolutionary and nuisance to American 
presidents. He was all of that, but those were means to an end for Castro. 
The end was to build a miraculous, egalitarian society on a poor 
mountainous island with a history of colonialism and slavery, surrounded by 
enemies.

No, Castro's Cuba is not a democracy. Has the level of repression in 
Castro's Cuba been justified by the history of invasions, assassination 
attempts, sabotage by exiles and the CIA, and a 40-year economic embargo? 
Given the level of hostility and adversity this benighted little country 
has had to endure, the question of how much control Castro had to have 
remains wide open for debate. The labels "strongman" and "dictator," when 
used promiscuously about Castro, tend to squelch that important discussion.

Other important realities of Castro's Cuba usually go unreported in news 
coverage. Castro's accomplishments in a poor, post-colonial economy are 
extraordinary.
    * All Cubans have health care and free education up through 
post-secondary.
    * Literacy levels are so high that Cuba has been able to offer doctors 
to other nations including the US, after Hurricane Katrina.
    * No Cubans starve. There is no homelessness problem.
    * After the Soviet Union collapsed and Cuba lost its oil supply, it 
became a world leader in organic agriculture.

With all these accomplishments, Castro's Cuba has been a beacon of hope to 
other countries in Latin America (and around the world) trying to emerge 
from colonialism in both its classic and current forms. It is encouraging 
to see voters across Latin America Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, 
Argentina and Uruguay, Peru, Nicaragua electing left-wing governments 
democratically. Castro created the space for them to do so....

whole article at: http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature8.cfm?REF=108

Penney Kome, author and journalist
http://penneykome.ca
Editor, Straight Goods, http://straightgoods.com