>My point is Charles that had the US not put up a wall around Cuba. Had they continued to trade openly the economic pressure of being next to one of the worlds richest economies would have won the day and ended Castros reign.

You are probably right about that. But Cuba did not lurch dramatically to the left entirely as a result of American antipathy.

Other heroes of the revolution (Huber Matos for example) were disturbed by the increasingly authoritarian cult of personality that Castro was creating. To prove them wrong, Castro threw them into prison or shot them ( shades of 1917 )

American policy toward Cuba was a botch from day one ( day one being back at the end of the Spanish American War ) But Castro had a window of opportunity in 1959 to go in a different direction and chose not to.

I have always had kind of a mirror image of marxism view of the whole thing. Had we backed Ho Chi Minh in 1954 we would have been bottling Coca Cola in Hanoi by 1960. And I think you are right about Cuba. I think a lot of our schizophrenic policies re Cuba in the earyl sixties were a product of a very powerful organized crime lobby and the very complex history and connections of the Kennedy brothers.




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>And Soviet subsidies kept him there. When did those end. About 17 years ago.
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>>While I agree that Castro played the 'standing up the the Yanqui imperialist' card skillfully and a lot of his popularity came from overthrowing Batista - who was a Mafia backed thug, make no mistake that his hanging on to power was the result of Soviet subsidy and his secret police.
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>>I find it ironic that so many of those who were rightly offended by Abu Ghrab and suspicious of Gitmo seem oblivious to The Isle of Pines and other examples of the murderers and torturers Castro has used for 50 years to impose his brand of benevolent socialism.
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>>Any regime that works so hard to keep its people from escaping can't be the paradise it claims.
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>>Free health care? Yeah, cool. Seems it isn't all that free.
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>>>>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7252109.stm
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>>>>I have a feeling Fidel will be retiring in a more profound way pretty soon. We'll see.
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>>>>I must admit a certain fondness for the old goat. Not for his politics or for what he has done for Cuba, or should I say not done. But you have to give him credit for what he did as a young man, having a belief in principles strong enough to lead a revolution and actually overthrow a government. And for the audacity to withstand a hostile superpower 90 miles from his shores for decades. Like him or loathe him, admire him or not, he has left footprints in the sand.
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>>>I think the sanctions and covert operations against Cuba by the US contributed a lot to keeping him in power. And what would Cuba be like now if he hadn't come along. Probably another tinpot latin dictatorship with low standards of living for everyone except a few corrupt businessmen and politicians. At ease under Castro they had universal health care and education.
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>>>Nick