Word: cuba
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...When it comes to the Cuban Revolution, which has just turned 50, very few people can actually return to those distant days of 1959. Save perhaps the Castro brothers and a meagre number of his septuagenarian ruling elite, we have all been told or have read about Cuba and its revolutionary experience. Regardless of whether we love or loathe them, we must conceive of those memories critically, for they speak as much about Cuba as they do about...
...something is certain about the revolutionaries that overthrew the pharaonic regime of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba 50 years ago, it is that they managed to change the world—and that they have lasted. Armed more with romantic idealists than ammunition, including men of the calibre of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, the guerrilla movement led by Fidel Castro slowly but steadily challenged Batista’s rule in the late 1950s, promising an end to the dismal inequality and extreme poverty in Cuba. Following their victory, the revolutionaries became symbols of an enduring resistance against...
...what marches on in Cuba and who marches on with Cuba...
...Revolutionary propaganda notwithstanding, the failure of the revolution in Cuba is, at this point, obvious. A dictatorship subservient to the U.S. was replaced by one momentarily subservient to the Soviet Union, and consistently subservient to itself. In a move reminiscent of monarchical succession, Fidel Castro gave up power to none other than his brother Raúl two years ago. Despite the deleterious effects of the economic blockade on the island in place since John F. Kennedy’s administration, the regime’s economic decisions have not created tangible benefits beyond healthcare and literacy. Poverty remains widespread, education...
...Moreover, those leaders in Latin America who cite Cuba as their inspiration seem only to be moved by a similar sense of hypocrisy. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is a case in point. In honor of the 50th anniversary some days ago, he pledged to fly the Cuban flag forever, next to the mausoleum of Simón Bolívar, a key independence fighter of the 1810s. He said: “Cuba is part of this nation, of this union.” But in truth, Chávez’s regime is rooted...