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Wow, I'm speechless. You really believe that? My wife is Cuban I've spent a lot of time talking with her grandparents, parents, friends etc.. on the subject. Ba

by kenrikm 13y ago

Wow, I'm speechless. You really believe that? My wife is Cuban I've spent a lot of time talking with her grandparents, parents, friends etc.. on the subject. Batista was no saint but things got 100X worse after the revolution. You won't hear the on the ground truth unless you speak with people who were there.

kaonashi 13y ago
Worse for whom? I'm not sure your second-hand anecdotal experiences are all that representative.
- kenrikm 13y ago
  Don't take my "anecdotal experiences" go, find the facts with an open mind. Many will not like what they find.
  - kaonashi 13y ago
    I have; it's not clear to me that the Castro regime was any more oppressive than Batista (though different people were oppressed, that's clear). It's also seems like a lot of what is blamed on Castro is actually just the fucked-up poisonous choices left to them due to the blockade (though, not all of it).
smutticus 13y ago
If Batista was so great, then how was Castro able to win? It's practically impossible to guerrilla movements to succeed without the support of the general populace. Even accounts of the revolution written by the CIA show that the majority of the population wanted the revolution to succeed. That wouldn't be the case if Batista was well loved.
- kenrikm 13y ago
  The vast majority of the population did not know that after the revolution they were getting Communism. As is a common result throughout history after a revolution the people who take power are worse then those before. Batista was a bad guy, he was oppressive, but what they ended up with was a guy who was even more oppressive, their economy was even worse etc. Things did not go up and to the right after the revolution.
  - smutticus 13y ago
    Isn't the stagnation of the Cuban economy atleast in part attributable to the US embargo? Castro himself didn't expect the US to snub him as much they did. He naively thought that the US would recognize his liberation of Cuba in the same light as the US Revolutionary War. Cuba had no choice but to turn to the Soviet Union for assistance. Again, I know Castro is not a saint, and modern Cuba is not a paradise. I merely want to point out that American interests in Cuba have rarely been aligned with the interests of the majority of Cubans.

by kenrikm 13y ago

kaonashi 13y ago

Worse for whom? I'm not sure your second-hand anecdotal experiences are all that representative.

kenrikm 13y ago
Don't take my "anecdotal experiences" go, find the facts with an open mind. Many will not like what they find.
- kaonashi 13y ago
  I have; it's not clear to me that the Castro regime was any more oppressive than Batista (though different people were oppressed, that's clear). It's also seems like a lot of what is blamed on Castro is actually just the fucked-up poisonous choices left to them due to the blockade (though, not all of it).

smutticus 13y ago

If Batista was so great, then how was Castro able to win? It's practically impossible to guerrilla movements to succeed without the support of the general populace. Even accounts of the revolution written by the CIA show that the majority of the population wanted the revolution to succeed. That wouldn't be the case if Batista was well loved.

kenrikm 13y ago
The vast majority of the population did not know that after the revolution they were getting Communism. As is a common result throughout history after a revolution the people who take power are worse then those before. Batista was a bad guy, he was oppressive, but what they ended up with was a guy who was even more oppressive, their economy was even worse etc. Things did not go up and to the right after the revolution.
- smutticus 13y ago
  Isn't the stagnation of the Cuban economy atleast in part attributable to the US embargo? Castro himself didn't expect the US to snub him as much they did. He naively thought that the US would recognize his liberation of Cuba in the same light as the US Revolutionary War. Cuba had no choice but to turn to the Soviet Union for assistance. Again, I know Castro is not a saint, and modern Cuba is not a paradise. I merely want to point out that American interests in Cuba have rarely been aligned with the interests of the majority of Cubans.