Sorry,
but to say that
>Cuba is clearly ahead. Cubans have open elections for their National Assembly (as well as their provincial and local assemblies); this assembly then elects the ministers, including a president of the Council of Ministers.

is a total crap.

I have lived in a communist country for many years and I know what a b-s are elections there.
I am not an enthusiast of Bush's government actions, and indeed his actions are prostituting democracy.

But you would need more systemic approach to compare, than just pick several aspects that make Cuba look good.

It would not be difficult to do the same for the USSR; many intlectuals fell into this trap.

Paul

Good article. Last I heard, Cuba has one of the best public health care services in the world, as opposed to the US, which is just appauling. The best you can do there, if you don't have much money, is try really hard to not get sick.

It's not exactly great here either - I haven't been to the dentist since primary school. Can't afford it. Apparently the mouth part of your body doesn't count - that stuff you gotta pay for. What nonsense.

I've always maintained that a functioning democracy cannot exist without entirely free public education and healthcare. Anything less is not a level playing field.

Brave article Tim. The US may be a democracy but as with many democracies there are provisos.

Paul of Melbourne, you might recognise that arguments either way are written by intellectuals. Debating the merits of any system of government is academic. No-one claims Singapore isn't a democracy but I wouldn't live there either. In any case Cuba sure gets the rough end of the pineappple in the MSM.

The way I see it, the main difference between Cuba & the US is that Cuba isn't hypocritical about itself, nor does it assume the rest of the planet is as dumb as its own citizens are. While Bush prances about south America wondering out loud why people don't love him as much as they do Chavez, for example, Chavez has contributed more to the well-being of Cuba and its own citizens than the US ever has.

Hmmmm? To Paul of Melb - Saying something is crap is not an argument - and living in a communist country does qualify any one to comment on life in Cuba - at least the author went to the trouble to analyse a few things

Tim Anderson has made a fool of himself. As an antidote to his disgraceful defence of a wicked regime, may I offer my own recent article, "Mass-murderer Fidel Castro to die unpunished" <www.newsweekly.com.au/articles/2007feb03_c.html>

Castro's dictatorship is notorious for having ruled by terror and for having tortured, maimed and killed political opponents.

Communist Cuba also exported violent revolution around the world and aided and abetted terror and genocide in Africa.

Historian Hugh Thomas has described Castro's dictatorship as "more than anything the first Fascist Left regime -- by which I mean it is a regime with totalitarian left-wing goals established and sustained by methods of fascism".

If you want to know the real story about Castro's supposedly enviable health system, look up <www.therealcuba.com>.

Tim Anderson's nonsensical ramblings on Cuba are reminiscent of the rubbish written by Western admirers of 20th-century butcher-laureates, Stalin and Mao, and copiously documented in Paul Hollander's classic study, Political Pilgrims: Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China and Cuba (Oxford University Press, 1981)

This is absolute garbage from a foreigner who has never lived in Cuba as an ordinary Cuban; who had never been beaten and jailed for expressing his opinion; who has never had a brother, son or father executed for opposing that brutal regime.
If you want to know if Cuba is a democracy or not, I suggest that you visit www.therealcuba.com
These photos contradict everything that this guy is saying,
And make sure that you visit the page about Cuba's famous health services.Robert W.

Tim Anderson is just so right and all the evidence supports his proposition.

He certainly has explained why Cuba is flooded annually with western refugees trying to escape, in leaky boats, dictatorial USA and why there is such a huge population of former Americans in Cuba.

I don't much care for the septics myself, but to say that the US is not a democracy while Cuba is is risible. Just because some people are elected doesn't make a democracy - consider Zimbabwe, for example. This blindness to reality is unhelpful, and only serves to diminish the standing of reasonable critics of the US.

The US constitution gives the President, as head of the executive government, certain powers - including the power to wage war. They are the rules by which that nation works. The fact that the President is elected by an electoral college does not mean it is undemocratic. After all our Prime Minister becomes head of executive government by a similar process; in the Australian case the parlimentary caucus is in effect the electoral college.

PS. For those unfamiliar with the term - septic tank = yank. Not only is it rhyming slang but also .....

For those dismissing this article, I would like to hear some actual refutations of the points and comparisons presented in the article, rather than just 'this is garbage' and so on.

For example:

'Cuban citizens have the constitutional right to employment, food, free education, free health care, housing (including family inheritance), political participation, freedom of expression, personal property and freedom of religion.'

Is any of this untrue? If so, please explain how.

'In Cuba, the media (television, radio, magazines, newspapers) are all run by public bodies or community organisations. No private individual or investment group can capture or dominate public debate in Cuba. Nor is there mind numbing, commercial advertising.'

What about that one?

...and so on. Please feel free to choose your own points from within the article to dispute. But at least dispute something.

Oh, and does anyone else suspect Robert2007 and John from Melbourne of being the same person, or am I just paranoid?

Interesting to read the extreme viewpoints - I tend to think Castro is one of the most enigmatic historical figures there's ever been. I suspect he's neither the utmost villain he is portrayed as, nor the shining light supporters of socialism would have us believe.

He's the perfect focal point for the age old "does the end justify the means?" debate.

Castro did many bad things in the name of his ideals - his ideal was for an egalitarian society, where the division of rich and poor was not as pronounced as it is in the wider world.
This is a noble goal, however the real world made him get his hands dirty - how dirty is really the debate here. On the one hand we have the US who are making him out to be a fiend, and on the other, the socialists.

He wasn't a friend to free speech. He cracked down on the media, and he used various unsavoury methods to maintain his hold on power.
The thing is, the world's superpower was doing it's utmost to topple him, and prevent him from achieving his vision - while I wouldn't be so naive as to believe all his problems could be chalked up to the US, the politically motivated sanctions and blockades did as much to harm the Cubans as Castro did. They certainly didn't have any effect on Castro, if that was the goal of them, and I'd argue they weren't warranted.

"Some ideas are so ridiculous that only an intellectual could believe them."

(attributed to Orwell)

When asked what he thought of democracy, Ghandi said it was a good idea. Still is. Anyone care to point to a 'real' one? The US style of government is a great ideal but only 40% of the population votes. Despite their self-adoration there is much wrong with the way the US is run.

Same goes for dictatorships. Pervez Musharraf gets re-elected - with the blessing of the US - while Chavez gets 60% of the popular vote, despite being portrayed as a dictator. Castro gets bad coverage for whatever he does, despite the points raised by this article. There are few absolutes.

All in all I'd prefer my government to be honest. The Chinese for instance make no apologies, despite their horrific record. At least you know the animal you're dealing with.

For those of us who remember Cuba under Batista and the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the success of Castro since then has been spectacular. Castro was feted world wide as the saviour of Cuba. The only losers at that time were the big corporations, criminal organisations and the gamblers of Havana. Castro started out to look after the downtrodden little people of Cuba and has continued to do just that ever since. He has not set himself up in luxury at the expense of his people like so many others in other developing countries have done. If he is a despot it is because his people love him. Unfortunately he has brought hardship on his people by resisting US oppression but the shame for this lies with the US not with Castro. Is the aim of democracy to help the people or to help big corporations?

if you read books like "Terminate With Extreme Prejudice" by Richard Belfield which describes how the CIA overthrew the fledgling democracy in Guatemala in 1948 you can understand why Fidel Castro was a far better deal for Cubans than the Mafia. Belfield claims that most assassinations in the last 50 years have been committed by the CIA against trade union leaders although he devotes a chapter each to the detail of the big name political killings.

A sober companion piece is
"Why do people hate America?" by Ziaddin Sardar and Merryl Davies which lists a few of the United States interventions in other countries affairs.

I would also recommend watching the TV program "30 Days" dealing with "Living on Minimum Wage" in Detroit, Michigan and remember that the working poor are the largest growing class in the USA and their conditions are coming soon to Australians as WorkChoices.

I also remember Batista and the corruption and crime that flourished under his regime.
I also remember the lies surrounding US invasion of Granada and the phoney attempts to involve Cuba.

Cuba is certainly not perfect but the idea that Cuba can spare a disproportionately high number of trained Doctors and medical personnel to be involved in humanitarian ventures around the world shows the effectiveness of their social and educational policies.

When you consider they have been working under a severe economic embargo for the last forty-odd years, they have done remarkably well.

The smartest thing Castro did (for Cuba) was to empty his prisons and asylums and send the inmates to the USA as refugees, thus returning the remnants of organised crime back to it's source.

As Usual reporting lies and trash.. leave it to the american media to promote propaganda for the cuban government. the Media is in the business of alternating castor’s poor image, Promoting false information, spewing lies after lies. While every other country in the Western Hemisphere moved towards democracy, Cuba has remained a one-party state under Dictator Fidel Castro, who held power without free elections from 1959 until health problems forced him to step aside in 2006. Castro's communist regime has executed hundreds of political opponents and driven tens of thousands more into exile; hundreds of dissidents today languish in Cuban prisons. This is the reality about Cuba not the sugar coated crap those leftist network moguls are trying to brainwash you with. Yet liberals in the U.S. media have gravely failed to condemn this abusive monster. They don’t really cover the things that they need to be covered. They don’t do an analysis of the Cuban situation. They play into the Cuban government’s game.If you believe cuba have the best health system I sell you the Brooklyn brigde.. Don't be an ignorant ass. Your article is a lie and you are misinform

http://cubaspeaks.blogspot.com/

Another worthy contribution on Cuba Tim, Thanks for a well constructed contribution to intelligent debate.
I am afraid though that the same rightwing ideologues are repeating themselves as they did in your earlier piece on Cuba : see the URL
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=3243
I fail to see the value in my repeating what I have already said when anyone who is interested can cut and paste the URL into their browser.
What I can add is that the 200 Cuban doctors working throughout East Timor are deeply appreciated by the Maubere people who have never known such a health program. Of course the US Administration are absolutely paranoid that Cuba should get such accolades when they have been trying for almost 50 years to overthrow Castro's Government and continue to assert that he is a Dictator and only America is a 'democracy' Tim poses the right questions and answers to that furphy.

Jajaja that's funny cuban doctors are slave of the cuban government obviously you clearly don't know nothing about cuba or your little friend tim...Ignorance is Bliss

Cuba is a wonderful democracy, with full human rights, free and fair elections, no commercial advertising, superb healthcare and equality for all...hmmm, sounds like that other workers paradise North Korea doesn't it? Except isn't it funny how nobody is rushing to get into these places? Maybe Anderson can tell us why...

Cuba is a wonderful democracy, with full human rights, free and fair elections, no mind-addling commercial advertising, superb healthcare and equality for all...hmmm, sounds like that other workers paradise North Korea doesn't it? Except isn't it funny how nobody is rushing to get into these places? Maybe Anderson can tell us why...

"..As the Canadian scientist William Osler said, “the greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism”..."

Yes, Mr Anderson, it works both ways, and you, being a another lefto bleeding heart, is so diseased by both you'll fully believe the Cuban propaganda of how Cuba is heaven on earth, never mind the numbers of writers and critics of Castro who languish in Cuban jails for the heinous crime of pointing out how the ordinary people live in poverty while party cadres live in what would be termed gated communities in those horrid capitalist hotbeds of evil.
An example of how diseased you are with this "let's rob Pete to pay Paul so we'll always have Paul's support" rhetoric lies in your pointing out that-

"In the US, millions of people are excluded from voting, either because they have some criminal conviction or they belong to one or other group of second class citizens (for example, Puerto Ricans, who pay tax but have no representative in Congress)"

Yes , Einstein, illegal immigrants can't vote in elections for the same reason I, as a non citizen, can't vote in the Polish, French or Wherever elections. I wonder if you can see the absurdity of it?.This alone shows your inherent lack of logic.
For the rest of your nonsensical socialist propaganda, it's more of the same- a lack of understanding or any real knowledge about the things you claim as 'truth'- they lack any substance whatsoever and relies solely on what the Cuban government has to say about itself, and, Mr Anderson, this can be taken as a truth with your agreement with the Cuban communist party line that pro-democracy supporters are 'terrorists' and nothing more. Another poster has already pointed out the fallacy of the 'world class health system' that exists (not) in Cuba and I have always wondered why socialist idiots, like yourself with your failed political aspirations, have not moved to Cuba already to take advantage of the 'true democracy' that exists there.

I find it sad that Opinion Online accepts such trivial drivel as 'articles'

To enter into a discussion with Tim about Cuba would be like debating with my 2 year-old son about nuclear energy, but I'll waste some time answering some of what he says:
Employment-Foreign companies cannot place want ads and hire whomever they want. They have to go trough the fascist regime who will provide the workers. The fascist regime gets paid in hard currency and they'll pay the Cuban slaves in Cuban pesoso who are only worth as substitute for toilet paper and pocket the difference. The only employer in Cuba is the Cuban regime. If they fire you because you disagree with Castro's policies you'll never get a job again.
Free Health Care- There is excellent health care for foreigners who pay Castro with hard currency but regular Cubans have to bring their own bed sheets, pillow, towels, etc when admitted. The Cuban hospitals are filthy and the medical care is terrible because Castro has shipped the slave doctors all over the world in exchange for oil or hard currencies.

Bennie laments that Communist "Cuba sure gets the rough end of the pineapple in the MSM." I guess that's just another of those quaint Australian expressions based on Australia's quaint history. Before boatloads of prostitutes were sent to relieve their distress and to become the mothers of the Australian nation, its convict-pioneers must have found some kind of release in pineapples. Exactly which is the "rough end" of a pineapple is a matter open to debate. It appears to have only "rough ends." Of course, I am not as sensitive or finessed in these things as you Australians are. No doubt you have found a soft spot in the pineapple. My advice to foreigners, though, is never to eat a pineapple if you visit Australia. And be wary of those little "shrimps on the barbie," too.

Please don't take offense, my dear Australian friends. This is all meant in good fun, just as Tim Anderson's article was. Right?

The old adage, If it sounds too good to be true it usually is; springs to my mind when I read this glowing report about Cuba.

I was just going to say what Robert said in the previous post,that the free health service probably is terribly rundown and inadequate. Whereas in the West with the state of the art technology and extremely expensive and in some cases rare drugs it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep just one person alive. You can see why medicine in the West could bankrupt the coffers and has to have some control put on it.
Although I do favour the medicare system for children and pensioners.
This article reminds me of the glowing reports we received from left wing Westerners who made special visits to Russia during the cold war. They were only taken on tours of the areas the communists wanted them to see. The reality was very different from the propaganda.

Western writers of articles like this are always very quick to point out Western propaganda but they never seem to notice that same corruption and propaganda in countries that are enemies of the West. Why is that?

Cubano

Boatloads of prostitutes were sent to relieve their stress. Those women were prostitutes because women werent allowed to have jobs in those days except as maids or governesses and if they couldnt get a job like that and their husbands or families fell on hard times they often ended up in the streets. Much the same as in Afghanistan with the Taliban in control. Women whose husbands died werent allowed to work and had to beg on the streets. Prostitution wasnt and option because the religious police would have killed them.

Anyway what's your country's history Cubano? With all the conquerors throuhout history and revolutionaries how do you know your mother's ancestors werent concubines or (sex slaves)?

The early convicts who were given life in prison for stealing a loaf of bread when starving in those days carved the early towns and cities out of the bush with their primitive tools and bare hands. Without their slave labour this country wouldnt have got started. I like most Australians are proud of them and what they achieved under the boot of the British military and upper classes.

Obviously you arent an Australian as you have no understanding that Australians are proud of their history.

sharkfin:

As I said, please don't take offense. I merely present this version of Australian history as a counterpoint to Tim Anderson's no less offensive portrayal of Cuba. We all have slaves and kings in our ancestry. And, surely, Australians have created the greatest nation on earth ever peopled by convicts and prostitutes and proved all the eugenicists wrong. God bless Australia!

Tim Anderson is a lecturer at the School of Political Economy, Sydney University and is a member of the Committee of Management of AID/WATCH

Wow, this guy is a lecturer?
Cuba is free?

As someone who works with many Cuban's in South Florida, many of whom only recently arrived, this article is way off from what I have been told by people who live there.

Walter Durranty had the luck to die of old age before the crap he wrote could be waived in his face when the truth was known.

When Cuba is free, (it is not now, FYI) I hope they send this man the USEFULL IDIOT AWARD.

This person must have a tremendous ammount of education, that is the only way he could be so very very stupid.

Tim's article presents a strong case for the reassessment of Cuba as the villain of Latin America. He has produced a lot of statistics that back up his case. Instead of the old cold war rhetoric (lies, rubbish, propaganda etc) his critics would do well to question his facts not his motivation. We could all learn from someone who could contradict some of his information. It is useful to criticise him but only if you have someting other than unsubstantiated opinion.It only degrades the conversation to fill this space with invective and abuse. If you have researched the subject or given it much thought then give us the benefit of your efforts - for Tim or against.

The Cuba described in this article is not the one I visited several years ago. I think it only exists in this writers mind. Having traveled extensively in Mexico, often to rural locations far from paved roads and electricity I have to say that Mexico is far ahead of Cuba in any public health, social welfare sector that one chooses. clean pure safe drinking water is much more available to anyone in Mexico. Cuban household water treatment consists of 2 buckets and a block of fine sandstone with a basin carved in the top. the typical rural home in Cuba has a small cabinet where water is poured into the basin and it filters into the bucket below. this is not a 100 micron mesh filter, it is a rock. one small town we visited in Pinar Del Rio has a sewage collection system, but the treatment plant has not been operating " since the Russian left" so the collected , untreated sewage goes right into the local river. Which is where all of the people downstream get the water to filter thru the rock in their home. cuba is free to trade with Mexico ( and the rest of the world) My friends in Mexico say that Cuba does not produce anything they want or need so that is why there is no trade Next time you are in Cuba, try to buy some oranges. See if anyone will tell you what happened to the citrus groves in 1962 Oranges in Mexico are usually about five cents each from any one of numerous street vendors

I'm not going to comment on Mr. Anderson's lack of research for his Cuba arguments; others are already doing that.

But if Mr. Anderson was a serious journalist he would've never stated that "(for example, Puerto Ricans, who pay tax but have no representative in Congress)".

Very simple research would've taught Mr. Anderson that Puerto Ricans DO NOT pay federal taxes because they are NOT a state. Puerto Ricans only pay LOCAL TAXES to the government of Puerto Rico - NOT to the United States. And for many years before Clinton abolished it, the 936 Law allowed US companies to set up shop in Puerto Rico and be exempt of Federal Taxes as well.

Secondly they do have representation, one Resident Commissioner, who can make himself heard but has no vote.

Thirdly, when Puerto Ricans move to the US they can vote for the President, Senators and Representatives all they want, because they are now part of the Federal System, and pay Federal Taxes.

For the above reasons and the fact that Puerto Ricans ARE NOT a state, since they DO HAVE international representation for example in all sports competitions (Olympics, Panamerican, Baseball and Basketball Tournaments, etc.) and beauty pageants (Miss Universe, Miss World, but they do not participate in Miss USA), hence they don't have the same set up as any state because they are NOT.

The fact that Mr. Anderson was not even able to research such a simple fact (asking a Puerto Rican like me would do), casts a huge cloud of doubt as to the validity of anything else the article says. In my view, these is just his opinion, but this wasn't objectively researched.

You seem to be presenting a not existing Cuban reality. I can say so because I lived there for 16 years and still have family there.
My parents as so many others escaped. Why:

- You have the right of expression. There is no such thing in Cuba. I as a kid had to be careful with the jokes about the government, party, lack of food, etc. Just a joke could be treated as a sign of "anti-revolutionarism". Result= Public reprimands, threat of not finishing school, "spontaneous" verbal harassment or physical attacks from "revolutionary citizens" = secret service;

- My father has a MD in geology and was doing his PhD when was requested to sign an statement against a person he knew. He did not agree with the statement so he did not sign it. That cost him his PhD,his job in the Geology Ministry and got a new job checking electricity meters.

- During my last education year I was 5 days at school and home for the weekend. Due to lack of food and oil the school planned to start a week in school a week at home system. My parents got really sad. It was not because I was a bad kid but because they would have to struggle more to obtain food for my longer stays at home.

- What about the compulsory military system? In the US military voluntarily sign their contracts. They know they would go to Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. In Cuba they have no option and thousands of Cubans went to fight others against their will. I have read in some of your articles that Cuba have never invaded any country. But you forget to mention the "military assistance" of 50k troops in Angola, 24k in Ethiopia, 1.5k in Nicaragua, etc.

I wish Cuba looked like in your articles. Because then thousands of cubans would not have died trying to find freedom - think about the drafters ("Balseros").

Please open your eyes or at least stop telling obvious lies. And if Cuba is so incredibly nice and “citizen friendly” then move there!

Spendocat,

I believe you proposed a very good, and civil question for the debate. As usual, the debate with Cuba has extremist opiones, or stories that don't address the actual article. I will refute specific points from this article, as requested.

Cuban constitutional rights:
-Freedom of expression: No. There are "rapid response brigades" that squelch peaceful demostrations or expressions of dissent. People are careful of what they say in public, and will not discuss politics on camera.
-Right to property: No. The government controls everything, even cars. If a person with a car dies, the car is not inherited, but at the choice of the government with what to do with it. Housing, even transferring from one home to another, is permitted but only at the decision of the government.
-Education: while you can achieve a degree for free, the university as a free entity for debate and information does not exist.

Important question - the media. It is all controlled by the state. There are no opposing viewpoints in Granma. I challenge anyone to post specific, independent and regular criticm of Fidel from any Cuban media source from the island. Or opposition for that matter. How about just one article of Fidel's opposition in the last elections, ie. his name, platform, political affiliation etc. Articles like this do not exist.

Statistics used are hollow and misleading:
-Voting. Yes, 90 participate so as not to face goverment harrassment.

*You have to ask yourself what they are participating in. Free elections means 1 person, 1 vote. Diverse opinions and diverse candidates. Can Mr. Anderson post the election result statistics? No, because they don't exist. I challenge someone to name me
Fidel's opposition, and what percent of the vote they got. Very simple question, nothing that you can't answer with a quick Googling of the majority of the worlds countries. More important, post Cuban media representation of the opposition.

I can elaborate more, but I only have 350 words. I'll save my second post in 24 hours to respond to answers.

People vote best with their feet. Tell me Tim, please, how many US citizens are moving to Cuba each year and how many the other way, including illegals?

People hold views for different reasons, the dislike of America in this thread is an example.
I think few of us would want to live in Cuba, and I would never even consider life in America.
Yet if every one in the world who shared my view stood shoulder to shoulder we would have as many reasons for those views as people.
No dream world for me Cuba has paid a price for its freedom ,lack of freedom.
America under Bush has slipped into a country no better than its enemy's ,fighting for freedoms it is not giving its own people.
History will be harsh on GWB and his followers ,yet time still gives America the chance to again be the land of the free.
Al Gore the world needs you one more time.

Yanomas,
Cuban doctors are slaves of their government?

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/impoverished-cuba-sends-doctors-around-the-globe-to-help-the-poor/2006/10/27/1161749315614.html

I can't imagine what Cuba gets out of these ventures.

Gitmo says: I find it sad that Opinion Online accepts such trivial drivel as 'articles'.

Well Gitmo, I publish plenty of articles that I don't agree with and plenty that I do. But to me the most important thing is that we get to read different opinions and have a chance to debate them. It would be pretty boring if we only published articles that you agreed with, wouldn't it?

I think Tim's article has certainly given readers that opportunity. And I think that is what On Line Opinion is all about.

Susan Prior - ed

Thank you Cubano/Polaco for posting. The Fairy Tale that communists like Tim Anderson paint are not even remotely accurate and it is good to see someone with first hand experience of the actual situation being able to show his articles for the pathetic communist propaganda it is.

As other posters have also said, the truth of the bad situation in Cuba is evidenced by the thousands of people who risk their lives every year to escape to America.

It is also important to realise there is no freedom of information in Cuba. What the government says or decides to show it's visitors is all they get to 'know' about Cuba. I doubt that is Tim's concern though, as he seems merely hell bent on trying to cast a totalitarian communist dictatorship as a better democracy than the US. An absurd notion to anyone who knows anything about communism.

Stop lying Tim.

For a look at the 'great' universal health care that cubans receive...
http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm

The Real Cuba Libre

Ingredients:
1 chunk Ice, preferably crushed
Juice of 1 Lime
8 cl Rum (Havana club)
1 shot Coca-Cola

Mixing instructions:

sit outside on balcony, fill glass with crushed ice, sqeeze lime, hold glass up to the sky (best effect during sunset), pour rum up to horizon , add some coke to cover the sky (no overflow), stir smoothly, lean back & ENJOY! Maximum effect with bass heavy dub reggae in the backgroun

The Cuban Socialist Constitution of 1976 provides the framework of Anderson's article. He quotes from it extensively to prove that Cubans enjoy even greater rights than are accorded Americans under the U.S. Constitution. This fantasy is sustainable only by ignoring Article 62 of Castro's constitution. This Article in effect takes way all the rights granted in the other articles:

ARTICLE 62. None of the freedoms granted to citizens may be exercised against the provisions of the Constitution and the laws, nor against the existence and objectives of the socialist State, nor against the Cuban people's decision to construct socialism and communism. Violation of this principle is punishable.

In this respect the Cuban Socialist Constitution of 1976 is identical to the Stalinist Constitution of 1936, which also negated the very rights it granted when exercised against the interests of the one-party state.

Just to correct an historical error.

Those boat loads of women were in fact bought to Australia. However they were not prostitutes. They were young women and widows bought here from England by Caroline Chisholm. They were initially housed in protected and secure buildings in Sydney and later taken by wagon and literally deposited at the gates of single men working farms in NSW and Victoria.

Chisholm and Macquarrie organised the scheme in response to the debauchery in Sydney at the time.

It partly worked. It resulted in an exdous of men from Sydney.
Australia's development and time are its greatest proof. (Although I suspect Sydney's reputation hasn't changed ...much.:-))

I believe Chisholm was the mother of modern Australia and she was once honoured on our currency.

A sure way to test whether country A is more democratic than country B is to see the number of people emigraing to that country. There are more people leaving Cuba for the US than the other way round. So I reckon that Cuba is less democratic than the US.

Castro has been in power since ..... time immemorial, like Mao when he was alive. Is China a democracy? If the article were written in April 1st, I'd say its an April fool joke, since its not I am still looking for a word to describe it.

Philip Tang,

One of the fascinating features of Western democracy is the number of people who are drawn, against all the evidence, to prefer and praise dictatorships. There is a massive blind spot that has been evident for most of the twentieth century.

I went to La Trobe University in the 1970s, when it was a hotbed of left-wing militancy. We had more realistic (and quite funny, though unintentionally so) Maoists than Julie Bishop thinks run education in Australia (though not as real as the ones in China). We had a Communist Club, which published a sheet called “Red Moat” and which was full of the praises of Chairman Mao, the Great Helmsman and swimmer extraordinaire, and denunciations of the running dogs of US imperialism and the reactionary, fascist NCC-DLP-ALP-Liberal Party-union-business-CIA-ASIO-Melbourne Club conspiracy that ran the world. None of this stopped the students electing DLP supporters and their allies in sufficient numbers to run the SRC, but there were certainly many students who believed the tripe that described Maoist China.

In the 1930s there were Western intellectuals who went to the Soviet Union and came back full of praise for its wonders.

The people of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have cast off their communist overlords. Indeed, most of the overlords just gave up. They knew the whole system was a fraud and basically said to each other, “Okay, the game's up - we had better go quietly”, though they lifted a bit of the silver on the way out. China remains an authoritarian state, but it is communist in name only. That leaves Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam as the only communist countries left, so it is no surprise that Castro gets picked as the next phoney hero.

In time, Cuba will become a real democracy, as Taiwan and South Korea have. We cannot make it happen any faster, but the human spirit will prevail eventually in every nation on Earth.

ChrisC:

Your alma mater La Trobe University is still a hotbed of Castroism. This banner is held aloft by Professor Barry Carr, Director of the Latin American Studies Institute there. He is a veritable propaganda mill in defense of the Cuban Revolution and allied causes. Australian academia is infested as no other with apologists for the Castro regime. I guess the farther one is geographically from the world's longest-lasting tyranny the easier it is to defend it.

I don't usually comment on my own articles because, when you're published you've had your say .. but I have to say many of the comments on this one have given me a good laugh! - as *sneekeepete* said, firmly held conclusions are not arguments - but there were *a few* arguments in there, so (1) *Paul_of_Melb*, having lived in a 'communist country' doesn't really add much to anyone's opinion, any more than one gains expertise in capitalism by living in a capitalist country - you have to do a bit better than that (2) *John from Melbourne*, calling Fidel Castro a 'mass murderer' puts you well ahead of the US State Department, which admits there are no killings or disappearances in Cuba - supporting "terror and genocide in Africa" indicates that you are upset he helped Africans confront the apartheid regime (3) *Keith* and *Philip Tang*, your brilliant new theory that democracy = inwards migration will confound all those mainstream analysts who imagined that migration gravitated towards wealthy countries (from now on democracy=rich country and dictatorship=poor country - simple!), it will also confound the best researcher on Cuban migration (Mexican based Ernesto Rodriguez Chavez) whose surveys showed it is overwhelingly economic migration, not migration of refugees (4) *texcaver* saying "Mexico is far ahead of Cuba in any public health, social welfare sector that one chooses" is really a comment off the top of the head (did you go to Mexico to dive in the Cenotes, like me?) - although Mexico has almost double the average per capita income of Cuba, its infectious disease indicators (HIV, TB, diarrhea, measles, malaria) are double that of Cuba, or worse - see my article on this comparison (http://journal.paho.org/?a_ID=524), (5) finally *La Ventanita*, I am glad you feel Puerto Rico is a democracy because you have a non-voting Commissioner, can vote for [an electoral college to elect] a President if you leave Puerto Rico and go to the mainland, and you can put your candidates in Miss Universe - but, hey, this system has certainly lowered your expectations! - best wishes all - Tim

No, Tim, it's you who have given us all a good laugh. If "firmly held convictions are not arguments," then your conceit that Cubans enjoy greater freedoms under tyranny than Americans do under a democratic government is the ne plus ultra of cynicism. Can you really be that deluded? No, I don't think so. But you are certainly that cynical.

So "having lived in a communist doesn't really add much to anyone's opinion." Well, it's obvious you've never lived under a communist regime nor would you, because you do know better. If Castroland is the Eden you claim, then why do you languish in Australia, whose democracy you must surely consider as deficient as America's?

As for Castro being "a mass murderer," it's a fact which isn't disputed by the U.S. government or any human rights organization. During 48 years of unelected rule, Castro has imprisoned 2 million of his countrymen, exiled another 2 million and is responsible for the deaths of 102,000 Cubans. This in a population which numbered 6.6 million in 1959 and 11 million today.

In 1934, there were 54,232 cases of malaria in Cuba. By 1958, the number had dropped to 61 cases. Typhoid fever cases numbered 187; diphtheria cases 85; and there were just 6 cases of polio in a population of 6,630,921. Cuba, in fact, was the healthiest nation in Latin America before Castro's revolution. Its health care statistics were comparable to Europe's, not Mexico's. And, of course, pre-Castro Cubans had a higher income per capita than did Mexicans.

From 1902-1958, 1.2 million foreigners immigrated to Cuba. Relative to its population no other nation in the Americas (including the U.S.) received more immigrants than did pre-revolutionary Cuba in the first half of the 20th century. (One of those immigrants was Fidel Castro's own father). In 1958, more Americans lived in Cuba than Cubans did in the U.S.

Fidel Castro did sell 75,000 Cubans as cannon fodder to the USSR and these were used to promote the Soviet hagemon's interests in Africa. The United States, by contrast, never demanded even one Cuban life as bloodgeld.

Mr. Anderson,

Perhaps you missed my post while looking at the “humorous” ones. I posed some serious questions that challenge your opinion of democracy in Cuba.

Can you answer these questions?

-Elections. What were the results of the last election? Who was the opposition and what percentage of the vote did they receive?

-Democracy means diverse opinions. You defended Cuban media on the grounds that its not subject to corporate interest. Well, the Communist party runs all the media. Let’s test the openness of this media:
Can you post Granma articles about the opposition in the last election? Can you post neutral articles or videos from the news that neutrally describe the opposition, interview them, and describe platforms and different ideas in national politics? Can you post any op-eds or harsh criticisms of Fidel, or stinging satire, from any of the Cuban media sources? I don’t mean one or two in the last 15 years, I mean a number of them.

-Human rights. Comparing Cuba to the US is a poor way to make an argument. How about comparing Cuba to Canada, where I live? All HR organizations criticize Cuba, no matter how “mild” you consider the violations. You mentioned suppressing of entrepreneurship. This is a major issue in Cuba, not a laughing matter. The UN charter of rights states a person has a right to earn a living. Cuba restricts the informal market more than any other country in Latin America. You’ve been to Cuba, have you not noticed how much of the population wants to make a buck off you? All of which is illegal. Where is the voice of democracy for those that want to open private video banks? Give salsa lessons to tourists? Provide services from the home, such as washing clothes for people? All restricted and subject to government approval.

Here is a summary of violations (scroll down the 5 summarized): http://dave-esquinacaliente.blogspot.com/2006/11/cuba-attempts-to-shame-canada.html

And here is another criticism of a similar discourse to yours: http://dave-esquinacaliente.blogspot.com/2006/10/criticism-of-vancouver-communities-in.html

I would like to hear your defenses of the questions proposed, since these questions aren’t usually asked.

Here is Amnesty International's recent press release on human rights concerns in Cuba.

http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGAMR250032007

Restrictions on access to the Internet are a good indicator that Cuba is a police state. Once the broadband connection to Venezuela is installed, limited bandwidth can no longer be used as an excuse.

ElMondoHummus,

Fidel, alongside the US and USSR, supported my countries bid for independence. They were opposed by Australia, UK and New Zealand who did not want to let our natural resources come under our own control.

Fidel, alongside the People's Republic of China, supplied our nation with doctors whilst Australia made pariahs of us by pressuring us into a deal which would have us collaborate in the disenfranchisement of thousands of refugees.

All indications are that the tyranny in the developing world is not coming from Cuba; but from those who oppose her.

Sorry,

Xavier

P.S. For those who like to quote UNHCR, check which government on the Cuban island is most heavily criticised for its human rights violations, namely in relation to the illegal depravation of liberty and denial of equal access to the law.

Xavier,

You are deflecting the argument. What happens in Guantanamo has nothing to do with the lack of democracy in Cuba. Cuba is a strong state with full control of its internal affairs. It could allow freedom of speech, defend human rights for EVERY citizen, and allow free elections if it chose to do so. It does not.

Take a look at the simple questions I posed in my previous post. I've posted them in a few places. No defenders of Fidel can answer them. Instead they give statements of moral relativity, such as you just did. As far as those HR organizations go, their criticisms still exist for Cuba. They aren't nullified because worse violators can be pointed out. In that Case, Guantanamo can be excused because China exists, right?

FM.

What a load of selective crap. The US may be a perfect example of an imperfect democracy but to allege cuba is a democratic country and then use selective evidence to back up the claim is ludicrous. Anyone with even a passing association with intelligence wouldn't use that article for toilet paper.

American People educate yourselves about the reality of Cuba...Don't believe everything you see on CNN or CBS is all leftis Crap. The American Media is the Mecca of propaganda for the Cuban Regime.

http://cubaspeaks.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately the trend continues. Every time I pose these simple questions I get no reasonable response. I know the questions can't really be answered, but it would be nice if journalists tried. Sad state of journalism when the author chooses off-topic comments to defend his article, but not the relevant ones. Can't say I didn't take the debate serious, though.

I just wonder how Australia would look after an attempted invasion by a superpower then 50 years of crippling sanctions. If you think of the basic freedoms our present Government have eroded through the hyping of internal and external threats just imagine what we would be left with having such a threat literally over the horizon.

We use to be a nation who admired the underdog, that might make Tim a true Aussie of old. I think I'm happy to join him.

csteele:

Castro an "underdog?" A man with his own personal plantation almost twice the size of Tasmania and 12 million slaves whose only purpose in life is to obey his edicts and serve his interests? An "underdog" whose personal fortune Forbes Magazine puts at US$950 million? He ranks along with Queen Elizabeth as one of the world's richest rulers, and we know he didn't inherit his money.

It may interest you to know that the U.S. is now Cuba's #1 trading partner. The trade embargo has been gutted and in effect no longer exists except in name. Has it benefited the Cuban people? Of course not. It is Cuban exiles who send US$6 billon annually to the island in family remittances ("taxed" at the late of 20% by the dictator) who have saved the Cuban people from the famines which a failed economic system and a venal ruler condemned them

Somebody just said "The US may be a perfect example of an imperfect democracy...."
Whow! The US and democracy in one sentence? When you spend Billions of dollars to ""elect"" a president and others of the government, you call this a democracy? We used to call this CORRUPTION, or as the saying in the US goes: "we have the best President money can buy."
The US is a corrupt system of government, basta.
Any other system compares well with this one, definitely Cuba's!
Btw. we go to Cuba at least twice a year and are extremely fortunate to do so. We would not dream of stepping a foot into the US, not now, not ever.
And before you get guessing, we are white western Europeans living in Canada.
Viva Cuba!

Cubans certainly do vote – often with their feet or makeshift boats. And they tend to vote for the United States.

I'll believe this sort of male bovine excrement when I see hundreds of Americans fleeing to Cuba.

This is, as my five year old is wont to say, "too too funny."

LOL

Fielding Mellish

You've made a brave effort here but you're attempting the impossible. Trying to reason with Castro groupies is like trying to have a sensible discussion with Flat Earthers, creationists, Holocaust deniers and believers in astrology. It can't be done.

They will believe what they want to believe.

So Castro twice as rich as the Queen?($900 million vs $400 Million).

Malcolm Forbes, who began Forbes magazine, is also the honorary president of “The Commission for the Economic Reconstruction of Cuba,” a commission created by Ronald Reagan.

This is how Forbes magazine estimates Castro’s supposed fortune. The editors put together all the companies controlled by the Cuban state, (such as the building where the Cuban congress meets plus the stores and a company run by the Cuban state called Medicuba, which makes vaccines and medicines for commercial sale). The Forbes people then somehow determined the value of all these enterprises – which no individual actually owns – and assumed that Castro must have taken a cut. After all, they probably would have! The editors explain their calculation saying, “we suppose.”

Add to this the recent scandal where the Bush government (U.S. Office of Cuba Broadcasting )was caught bribing journalists in Miami to provide ongoing anti-Castro commentary plus the multi-million dollar government budgets of Radio Marti and TV Marti to broadcast constant anti-Castro propaganda into Cuba and you begin to wonder where the truth ends and the lies begin.

My guess is it’s somewhere in the middle.

The bottom line is that what happens in Cuba, like all foreign dictatorships, just doesn’t matter to us. Until Fidel appears on Dancing with the Stars, nobody here will give a toss.

Democracy is the institutionalized recognition by the state of an opposition party, of it's right to exist and of it's legitimate right to potentially become government through elections. Cuba doesn't have this legal figure; or if it does, the opposition is 100% with Castro (which means that the allegedly opposition is the government itself). In any of both cases the conclusion is the same: Cuba is not a democracy.
The rest is pure cheap propaganda, a make-up-for-free to the face of the leftist totalitarism, sponsored by Mr. Anderson, but in a very well intended fashion, no doubt about it.

wobbles:

Malcom Forbes has been dead for 20 years. He was never a conservative and would have welcomed the resumption of diplomatic and trade relations with Communist Cuba (as most U.S. capitalists would).

Forbes Magazine bases its calculations of Castro's wealth on the same criteria which it uses to determine the wealth of other plutocrats. It is not an exact science and he may well be worth US$2 billion instead of US$1 billion. Of course, all companies in Cuba are state-owned and Castro is the state. Their profits are Castro's disposable income. His assets continue to grow and he recently purchased a 32-floor hotel in China. Castro has 600 mansions in Cuba at his personal disposal and owns palatial estates throughout the world in case he should have to relocate for political reasons (such as the advent of freedom and democracy to his country).

When American tv debuts a series entitled "Dancing with the Corpses," you can expect to see Fidel Castro there. I think he could probably manage a little Hitlerian jig.

This debate, if you can call it that, is useless and it is not going anywhere. People call others names, groupies etc. My guess is most of you have never been to Cuba or talked to the people IN Cuba. Most of these forum experts live thousands of miles away and have all their information second hand. And we should know how information or disinformation is created and targeted at the public, the public mostly to uneducated (or outright dumb) to realize what they are being dished out.
We keep going to Cuba and help them as long as we can to resist the evil empire next door.

Just a small correction - "rate of imprisonment in the US, which has more than two million prisoners, is far higher than in Cuba (or indeed any other country)." - I believe the claim in brackets is incorrect. Russia tops the list, followed by USA (from aneki.com)

When Fidel Castro assumed power in 1959, Cuba had a population of 6,600,000 inhabitants. Its population is now 11 million. Since 1959, more than 2 million Cubans have been jailed by Castro. No other nation of comparable size has had a greater percentage of its population incarcerated than has Communist Cuba. Add to that number the 2 million Cubans who are exiles of the regime and the dimensions of Castro's historic crime come into greater focus. Add, finally, the 102,000 Cubans whom Castro has killed over 48 years of unelected rule (and the number is still increasing by the hour) and what you have is the most ruthless tyranny in the history of the Western Hemisphere.

Personal politics and wishful thinking aside, keeping Cuba and the USA as they are; now reverse the population numbers, size, and natural resources available. Now how benign is Kooba. Oh, look the United STATE (singular)is such a quiet lovely resort stradling the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. There goes Cuba again. Dictating to the world. Would any free thinking person be surprised? Not.
Why is the USA a democracy and Cuba is not?

aqvarivs:

Reverse everything, you say? So the United State [so-called] would be a tyrannical state like Cuba, and Cuba would be a democracy like the United States? That would certainly solve Cuba's problems, but it would hardly decrease the hagemonic potential of a country that would still stretch from ocean to ocean.

By the way, Cuba is not a small country as islands go. At 121,514 km, you could fit several U.S. states in its territory.

Cubano, since we have never communicated before I will give you the benefit of the doubt and only suggest that you reread my last post. You got it wrong first time around.

Cuba occupies 42,800 sq. miles and has a population of just over 11 million with a GDP of $3,900 per capita.

The USA occupies 3,718,695 sq. miles and has a pop. of just over 300 million and a GDP of $44,000 per capita.

Now if for arguments sake, all else being equal, if Cuba held the US stats would it be the nation the USA is?
Would the USA change politically to become an exporter of the communist manifesto?

You could fit a couple of US States into Cuba but, would have to be very selective since only 13 States cover less area than 42,000 sq. miles. 37 States occupy areas that exceed 42,000 sq. miles.
31 of these States exceed 50,000 sq. miles and makes the claim that several States could fit inside Cuba slightly disingenuous. A rather back handed fact considering a preponderance of individual State area data exceeds Cuba's. I'm a generous guy and will let it slide but, I thought you should know.

aqvarivs:

I don't know about you being a "generous guy" but you sure are a funny one. First you want us to set the world upside down (no pun intended, my Australian friend) and then you have quiddities with such an arrangement.

For the record, Cuba is an archipelago consisting of thousands of smaller islands, isles and islets. The main island is 41,634 sq miles; but when you include the Isle of Pines (1180 sq mi) and the other isles, the territory of the Republic of Cuba is 46,736 sq m. And, of course, you can fit several of the U.S. states into that land mass.

Since you obviously take pleasure in these things, why don't you tell us how many states you can actually fit into the territory of Cuba?

Cubano, Still avoiding my original question and want to focus on and
play at reverse, reverse questions. That is a tactic only the worst
trolls who visit OLO rely on to dissimulate.
Ok. I'll play.
How many times does Alaska fit into Cuba?
And for the record. I didn't ask you to set the world upside down.
I asked as an extension of the original premise if the roles were
reversed would Cuba be as some view the USA? A poor example of
Democracy and by similar reasoning, would they then assume that the
USA would have been Communist and a better democracy?
It matters not the total area of any given country. That is not what
determines it's existence as a Democracy or a Communist dictatorship.
Canada is larger in area than the USA and is a social democracy, and
China is larger again in area and is a communist dictatorship. And
Australia is smaller than all three and is also a social democracy.
Greece occupies 51,000 sq. miles and is a democracy.

Aqvarivs:

You are a bundle of contradictions, aren't you? I thought that you were funny, but now I see that you have no sense of humor and it is impossible to be funny without one. (BTW, as for the "worst trolls" remark, there you are being unconsciously funny). I was surprised, however, to discover on another post that you are a brilliant writer and thinker, but require a subject worthy of you; Christ is obviously such a subject but Cuba is not.

For the record, since you were the first to bring this up, Cuba is larger in territory than 19 of the 50 U.S. states and you could fit 8 of those states in it (Rhode Island; Delaware; Connecticut; Hawaii; New Jersey; Massachusetts; New Hampshire and Vermont) and still have 10,000 sq. m left. You are quite right that this proves nothing except that Cuba is not the pinpoint in the ocean that most people believe her to be.

And, yes, there are smaller countries than Cuba that are democracies and bigger countries that are not. This also proves nothing.

To compare Alaska to Cuba, however, is to compare a civilization to a frozen tundra and I, as a Cuban, do resent that comparison.

I can see you want to talk about anything but my original posting asking what I thought was a interesting question. So long Cubano

Aqvaris:

You do well to retreat since I don't think you even know what your original question was; nor does anybody else. Go back to apologetics where your dogmatism shines. So long, poor sport.

Reading and rereading some of the latter posts (especially from a so called Cuban) makes you wonder, no, makes it actually pretty clear, that anti Cuban propaganda is at work here. Probably propaganda of the paid kind. And by simple deduction we know who the payer must be.
It is a shame that everything becomes politicized by interest groups with the sole purpose of defeating the other guy for their own gain, usually for money, influence, power.
Shame on the lot.

Interesting article. I am a US citizen and I want to point out some facts, and give you my opinion. First, let's not get democracy confused with republic. The USA is a republic. I wish it were a democracy.

One thing I can say about the US compared to Cuba is that I will never be jailed because I am a gay man. I will never be jailed because I have a boyfriend. Sure, I cannot marry this man, sure I can be beaten by private citizens, but I have the right to be gay. I have the right to say I'm gay. I have a right to dress as a woman if I really wanted to. This is not so in Cuba. Gays disappear. Gays are jailed. Gays are murdered both by private citizens but also by police.

Also, Bennie mentions in his comments asserts that the US citizens are all mindless drones but assert that isn't the case. Let me tell you something Bennie. Your opinion there is what is mindless and a STEREOTYPE. All the people I know follow politics closely, hate the fact that we have lost so much control of our government because of this HORRIBLE Bush administration. Have you seen the opinion poles showing that Bush is supported by on 25% of the total US population. Does that sound like a country of drones to you? Do you think we LIKE having to watch news from outside the country to see what is ACTUALLY going on in the world? Do you think that we LIKE having to roll our eyes at our own media because they won't report the truth? I can tell you we do not. Perhaps you put down you judgements and watch less of your own television and MEET a US citizen. All the citizens of the US that I know are hard working, are not happy with our current situation, volunteer. That doesn't sound like an ignorant to me.

Aqualiner:

What's wrong, aquamariner? Do I have a greater command of the English language than you do even though it is not my native tongue? I should think that says more about you than it does about me. You obviously have no problem with pro-Castro propaganda, spewing it as you do yourself. Why then should you be surprised that others should counter it? Castro has not jailed or executed all of us, much to your chagrin; and those of us who are free (outside of Cuba, which is the only way a Cuban can be free) are also free to rebut you and others like you who cannot conceive of disinterested patriotism because it is a feeling alien to you. Who pays you to dishonor yourself by defending a tyrant? Shame on you, aqualiner, for questioning my integrity when you have such scant claims to any.

It is clear now, this forum has been seeded with dis-informants and fanatics and the like. It is useless to carry on the debate, if it ever was one.
Gradientus, thanks for your post about the Republic and what the majority of people think. But, WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO? And when? I mean WHEN?
The exact same situation existed in Germany in the 40s, and look what happened then!

I just will give some facts of the Cuban "democracy":

Cubans are not allowed to leave the country without asking for permission to the goverment (medical professionals are not allowed to leave until 5 years after stop working in their proffessions).

Cubans could live abroad for an 11 month period without loose their "cuban residency" during that time they must pay approx. 40eur/moth to be allowed to return. If they stay more than 11 months they loose the residency in their OWN country.

Cubans that leave the country loose all their properties, houses, cars, etc. Their houses are "assigned" to goverment related people.

Cubans are not allowed to sell their houses, neither to buy houses.

Cubans are not allowed to sell their cars (only those owned before 1959), neither to buy cars.

Cubans could not rent a room in a Hotel, neither a Cuban coul be be a guest of any foreinger in a hotel (only allowed if they pressent a weding certificate).

Cubans could not rent a car, foreingers yes.

Cubans could not purchase DVD, VHS or any other video equipments, foreigners yes.

Cubans could not purchase neither own satellite equipment, nor even have an antena NOT-pointing to the official center of TV transmission of their city.

Cubans could not have access to the internet. Foreingers yes.

And all this is not a money issue, this is not allowed even if you have US dollars, Euros, etc.

From my point of view Cuba is today a regimen similar to south-affrica during the apartheid. But in this case instead of blacks-white is Cubans-Foreigners.

I could cite more examples if you are interested. So please get more information beffore say something like cuba is a democracy

The signatories to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (and the Republic of Cuba is one) agree that all people have the right to leave and enter their own country at will, without any restrictions being placed on them; they also have the inalienable right to travel and live within their country's territory without limitations of any kind. Of course, Castro denies both rights to his people, as CubanGuy points out. Whether or no you are actually in a prison in Cuba, you are, for all intents and purposes, under house arrest, since you cannot leave your home and settle elsewhere — whether in Cuba itself or abroad — without requesting the government's permission, and this permission is rarely granted and never pro forma.

Reading the comments, I find no distinction drawn between effective and theoretical Democracy.
The salient points are:-
(1) Specific Constitutional provisons, are meaningless when determining comparison of the "Democracy" of one or other Nation: how a Nation permits or controls their fulfillment in everyday life determines the experience of Government,_not_ the fine phrases.
-The preamble to the Vietnamese Constitution, for example, parallels the U.S. Constitution almost word-for-word.
(2)One party to an American debate (on whether or not the States should set-up a Parliamentary Republic)observed that a Parliament might as easily as any King, abrogate the individual's rights.Still relevant today !
(3)I have long held the view that Democracy _is_ (to paraphrase Winston Churchill) ".....the worst possible system of Government......save for all the others !"
(4)A Democracy may, (provided it's participants labour to ensure it remains so effectively as well as theoretically)posess one peerless quality for those who live under it's Governance: It is capable of betterment without resort to violence and Revolution, as it's Citizens pursue Education and improve their discernment and informedness.

(4) Neither the U.S. nor Cuba, have a claim to represent the Democratic ideal; nor are either exhibiting any sign of of seeking to progress in that direction: both appear satisfied (self-satisfied) with their interpretation. (I speak here of them as Nation States: not for the many individual Citizens of each who might wish for their improvement of their Governance). This said, the U.S. has delivered more in the way of opportunities for advancement of it's Citizens -individually and collectively- than has Cuba.

(5) In respect of this debate; the range of apparent conviction(s) displayed has an odd resonance.
Years ago -In Noumea- I overheard a reference to the late General Charles De Gaulle, in which the speaker alluded to him as "...that leftist syphillitic ...!" Obviously, her footing, politically, was somewhat to the right of that of the late General ! (A former 'Pied Noir', perhaps ?) The conviction was obviously strongly held. Does it stand-up in fact ? It is a little difficult to credit.