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