50 years ago

cuba was a client state for big business and the mob. the rich of the u.s went there to party, while cuba's poor lived lives of quiet despair. in 1959, that all changed, and the american political establishment has never forgiven those who altered that state of affairs. to them, and as a result, to many of our ignorant and misinformed citizens, it means nothing that cuba has a tremendous health care system. it means nothing that they offer free, quality education. it means nothing that their literacy rate is one of the highest in the americas. it means nothing that thousands of cuban doctors selflessly devote their time to serve in other countries in africa and latin america, as documented in the wonderful movie "salud!" it means nothing that cuba, through their military assistance, helped to end apartheid in africa. it means nothing that the revolution greatly reduced prostitution, homelessness, and economic inequality on the island. it means nothing that the revolution has inspired people the world over to resist domination. it means nothing that the first thing the cuban revolution did was to end legal racial discrimination. in fact, our political and economic elites don't think kindly of such a resume, for it means less for them. to this day, the descendents of cuba's rich can not forgive fidel and the revolution for redistributing their wealth. to them, fidel and the revolution he embodies will always be the devil come to earth. as for our power structure, they continue to try to destroy cuba because they resent the existence of an alternative political and economic arrangement. they like only those nations who will do their bidding, who will allow their corporations to dominate their economies, who crush their labor unions, and who suppress the needs of their people in order to further the needs of global capital. it is not dictatorship they oppose, or violence. why, it we who have supported the most violent regimes in latin america, from argentina and chile to guatemala and el salvador. let it be known that there was never one death squad in cuba, that people were never kidnapped and made to disappear, that there were no houses of torture. yes, some people were persecuted, and this is no laughing matter, but were people shot in their sleep, as fred hampton was, or murdered on college campuses, as those in kent and jackson state were, or killed by racist police officers, as many of our black and latino youth have been? is it not the peak of hypocrisy to arrogantly point out cuba's flaws, as we persist in committing far greater crimes? and if cuba was authoritarian at times, might it have been because they felt the need to defend their revolution from u.s subversion? cuba has done many great things over the last 50 years, but imagine how much greater a society it could have been if we had aided and supported it, instead of trying to destroy it. imagine if there was never a cuban embargo, but rather, financial support. instead, we have attacked them without pause. as it is, cuba has done much for themselves, and for the world.

on an island just 90 miles from the northern beast, rebellion against american domination marches on. we should all be thankful for that. happy 50th.