Word: fidel
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Fidel Castro can to little about it without employing coercive methods; he would be hard pressed today to organize the same type of "voluntary" mass demonstrations against of Cuban drafters that he did during the Mariel boatlift. In 1980, thousands turned out for fear of losing their jobs or being labeled counterrevolutionaries. Today, selling trinkets to tourists pays in dollars and state jobs pay in pesos; getting fired has become an asset, and some estimates put worker absenteeism as high...
...along with getting an escape valve for 50,000 dissatisfied citizens, Fidel is closer than he has ever been to seeing at least a partial end to the U.S. embargo and a formal recognition of what has been the most brutal dictatorship in the history of a country remarkable for its brutal and corrupt dictators. The New York Times has recently reported that a "blueprint" for talks between Cuba and the U.S. are imminent...
Former president Carter, fresh off a dubious victory in Haiti that will apparently allow Raoul Cedras to remain in the country if not in power, announced that he had had a "very pleasant" conversation with Fidel Castro and hoped to pressure the Administration into making concessions. Bill Clinton, meanwhile, has Guantanamo Naval Base filled to capacity with tens of thousands of dissatisfied Cubans, a concentration camp that will cost millions in its first months alone...
...even though Cuba finds itself at a critical point in its Revolution, some things have not changed: Fidel Castro is still in control and it is still Fidel, despite appearances to the contrary, who cleverly manipulates U.S. reaction to his regime. Although many editorial pages around the nation are hailing the President for his cool-headed and quick end to the rafters' crisis, those same newspapers are urging him to make overtures to the Cuban regime, which, after all, was nice enough to cooperate...
Meanwhile, the Cuban rightwing of Miami, individuals who have lost their homes, their Homeland and, in many cases, their families, is accused of hijacking U.S. foreign policy. Their extremism is justified; few people even realize the stunt that Fidel has pulled...