On May 26, 9:42*am, Peter wrote:
On 5/26/2010 12:10 PM, harry wrote:

On May 26, 10:51 am, "Ed *wrote:
*wrote

How do you know it's not true as your gov. won't let you go and see
for yourself? Cuban health care is free to everyone. Even you if you
could get there.
You are another of the brainwashed.

At any given time, there are hundreds of US citizens in Cuba. Have a good
reason t go, fill out the forms, and you get permission. There is a also a
difference between free and good.

So, you need permission? *On what grounds might that permission be
rejected? *Why should you need permission anyway?

It's true. *It is illegal for the average U.S. private citizen to travel to Cuba
(e.g. for tourism) without explicit permission from the Department of State.
It's a legacy from the American foreign policy towards Cuba (part of the
blockade mentality) that was implemented in the early 1960s, after the failed
Bay of Pigs invasion. *Isn't it great how often we in this country (U.S..A.)
complain officially (at the U.N. and Dept. of State) and unofficially about
other country's foreign policies being stuck in the past? *Time for us to look
in the mirror and realize that we can be hypocritical too.

My understanding is that one can travel to Cuba but one cannot spend
money
there.

One travels via Toronto or a Mexican city. Buy one ticket to that
destination and
a new ticket to Cuba.

Had a wonderful trip, met the kindest, nicest people, everyone spoke
freely
(I speak passable Spanish), saw the austere standard of living; the
stores
where rations are distributed by coupons, the ancient autos, etc. But
such wonderful people!

You also have to respect Cuban medicine for taking care of ALL the
population, not just those who can afford insurance, despite the
strictures
places on doctors and supplies and technology by U.S. boycotts.

I read a LOT after returning, including the memoirs of Cuban resisters
who got out, and wrote understandably bitter accounts.

All these years of enforcing poverty on the Cuban PEOPLE as opposed to
the "Communist" government, would have been unnecessary had the
U.S. govt. not been so eager to kiss the *** of the Miami exiles who
never
got over having their property confiscated and their families
brutalized.

TRADE is always the best medicine! However, the Republican mad-dogs
who have taken over the Republican party were intent on keeping their
Congressional majority, and for that they needed the disaffected Cuban
exiles, and so the circle went round & round.

If the U.S. instead had allowed investment and travel in Cuba, trust
me,
the whole structure would have collapsed long ago. One would like
to think it wouldn't have reverted to Batista-style sexual and
politial
corruption, but rather a happy blend of capitalism and socialism.

Now we'll never know. But it's not too late to get realistic!

BTW: For movie fans, I highly recommend "Antes que anochezca"
(I hope the spelling is right) in English "Before Night Falls",
a wonderful dramatization of the life of a real Cuban poet who
was persecuted for being homosexual (one of Fidel's pet hates),
Fidel studied the Chinese method, which involved inviting gays to
a park meeting and drowning them.

It stars Javier Bardem, one of THE most fantastic actors on
the screen today.

Ho, hum - was there ever a dictator who didn't overstay his
welcome... Fidel, Stalin, Mao, on and on.

Lord Acton: Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts
absolutely.