I swear, if I hear one more person say that it is the United States' fault that Cuba is so economically deprived, I will throw something at them.
Has anyone ever stopped to think how completely illogical that statement sounds? How can one country be completely and soley (as Castro claims the U.S. is) responsible for another's failure to succeed economically?
In this case, the idea can't possibly fly. The reality is that the rest of the free world trades with Cuba. Japan does. Canada does. Mexico does. Brazil does. Spain does. Italy does. When it comes to relations with Cuba, the U.S. is actually the odd man out. And yet Cuba is an economic failure. The country is billions of dollars in debt and the people seriously lack the basic necessities, from meat to milk to soap to toilet paper.
The irony here is that all over Cuba there are dollar stores, where only the mighty dollar is accepted (yet note, Cubans are paid their salaries in pesos). Go into any one of these stores and you will find there every necessity and luxury you could dream of: canned goods, microwave ovens, clothing, toiletries, everything. So where exactly is this embargo on Cuba? The goods are there. It is just that the people don't have access to them. And who's fault is that? Certainly not the United States'.
Here's a radical idea: how about blaming Fidel Castro? Why is it that that never seems like a viable option? The truth is that the only embargo in Cuba is the one Castro has instituted. In Cuba exists a form of apartheid, where the tourists revel in all the comforts of the modern world and the citizens spend countless hours in lines waiting for even the most basic staples. And this has nothing to do with the United States or any other country.
I am not advocating the lifting of the embargo; nor do I advocate keeping it. For me, the embargo is a white elephant. And the truth is that I see logic in both sides and therefore I pick neither. As it is, Castro blames the economy's failure on the embargo (faulty logic that many of you out there buy into). So I have to ask, what would happen if it was lifted, who would he blame? I am positive he'd find some other failure of his on us, but it would prove that the problem was never the embargo, but him and his anti-U.S. hysteria. But I also feel that lifting the embargo would do nothing for the Cubans. Let's face it, have the billions of dollars that Canada, Japan, Spain and others have pumped into Cuba done them any good? The truth is that Castro controls all the money that enters the country, and many American businessmen and others are extremely arrogant (and ignorant!) to think they would fare any better than, say, Spain has (especially when you stop and think of exactly how much Castro hates this country and all it stands for). It doesn't matter if it's us or some other country who's trading and establishing businesses, the Cuban people will never see any of that money. And neither would the U.S. Like I said before, Castro is billions of dollars in debt to other countries, monies owed now for decades; so why do American businessmen think that they will see any returns?
The simple truth is that there is no negotiating with Fidel Castro. I can't understand why so many people can't see this. All you have to do is listen to his speeches, listen to the things he says about this country, about capitalism: he doesn't hide his hatred, his desire to destroy it all. You could read reports from the United Nations and Amnesty International, see all the documented accounts of human rights violations; the constant, oppressive control of every aspect of life; the censoring of art, literature; the sistematic way they hunt and torture those who think differently. And in regards to business matters, you can see, too, how he is billions in debt to numerous countries, how he has taken over the properities they've built and claimed them his own (i.e, Sol Meliá). The proof is there, but I have to assume that people are either blind or ignorant or in denial about what the reality is.
So I say let them try. Billions of dollars later, they will be broke, and 11 million Cubans will still be standing in line.
