Castro

Democracy IS the best form of government as it is within the power of us, the voters to get successive governments out of power every few years.

The good of Castro years - education, health care , no one went hungry, what praise

The bad - firing squads , interment camps for homosexuals , these are just faults

Sunseeker. We visited Cuba about 16 years ago. How true, they only show you the 'nice' parts. If you happen to escape your 'minders' and go to a local bar to talk to the real people and want to talk about politics, they were terrified. They warned us not to ask too many questions.

We also put homosexuals in prison until relatively recently , either that or chemically castrated them like Alan Turing .

A friend , who went to her son's wedding in Cuba , took a collection of our old specs and some ladies monthly products as her DIL to be had told her of her relations shortages . How come they needed old specs if the health care was so good ?She also reported on the fear when you overstepped the questioning !

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Cuban medics came over here to find out about our system and adopted it. They did it better and still do. We are the ones adopting a failed US system now.

Homosexuality became legal 49 years ago. Alan Turing died 62 years ago, the treatment he endured was 64 years ago. Castro came to power 57 years ago.

So Northern Ireland and some American states are in the right still making abortion ilegal, it only ecame legal here in 1967

We shouldn't criticise FGM or arranged marriages really

I agree rosesarered, surprised the far left are so supportive of dictatorship

Homosexuality in Cuba became legal in 1979.

Yet HIV sufferers were still being incarcerated well into the nineties , I am surprise after reading the praise of health treatment there

Anniebach They love to praise these countries, as long as it's at a distance. Not one of them would go and live in these countries given half the chance that they admire so much.

Why can't people acknowledge any good has come out of Cuba? no one has said it is perfect no one has praised the treatment of gay people. It is a fact that Cuban Medical missions have brought relief and treatment to many places where others did not, and would not, go. People on the ground in Haiti recognised and praised the efforts of the teams that were sent and the fact that they did not just arrive, treat a few people in the main city, as many teams like the US did, and then depart. They went out into the countryside and provided treatment and on-going training for local people. The poverty and deprivation cannot be placed entirely at Castro's door, depriving a country of even the basic medical necessities as the US has consistently done does not help.
It might be of interest to look at why the US was so afraid they kept a blockade on Cuba for so long. As they presented no real military threat, it must have been the ideology they feared. Having another country so close with a better literacy rate, free health care and free education wouldn't please the people who make money out of these things.

With respect I cannot stomach praise of communism, explains why I cannot accept the return of communism to the British Labour Party,

Yes, trisher I agree, Haiti was and is in a terrible state despite all the money poured into it after the natural disasters.
The government is US backed and little has been done to help the people.
We visited (only the bit that tourists see) years ago but some young people we met then regularly tried to take essential supplies to the poorest areas and it is no better, probably worse, than it was then 20 years ago.

Democracy IS the best form of government as it is within the power of us, the voters to get successive governments out of power every few years

Despite its faults it is, of course, the best form of government.
The fact that we, on this forum, can discuss openly the government, the opposition parties, politicians and their faults is proof of that.

aggie Specs etc were probably needed because of the US embargo. One of the ways for getting goods into Cuba was to get someone entering the country to bring supplies with them.
Democracy is the best form of government of course.

The family my friends son was marrying in to were super educated , the road to their house was impassable in the rain , they cooked on a Kerosene stove in the shed out back , the Daughter was a fully educated and qualified person but she worked as a waitress , the Mum needed new glasses to be able to read her Bible , her Granddaughter had to read it to her , maybe being Christians wasn't conducive to Castro's regime .
Yes I am all for democracy and freedom of speech , we are lucky here , even In Northern Ireland

In 2004 we went to live in Bulgaria ( ex communist) For the first 2 weeks we were in a hotel. After the 2 weeks friends were coming to visit. You had to take visitors to the police station to register them. At the police station they asked when I had come into the country, and where had I been staying. I told them the hotel, they phoned and the hotel said no, I hadn't. We aren't married so the hotel just took my partners named passport.
I was put in a cell while police took my partner to the hotel ( with my passport) to confirm that I had stayed there. Terrifying.

We visited Cuba about 16 years ago. How true, they only show you the 'nice' parts. If you happen to escape your 'minders' and go to a local bar to talk to the real people and want to talk about politics

We went to Cuba in March of this year (2016). Not a minder in sight. People relaxed, friendly and willing to talk if they spoke English. Signs, in the three 'touristy' areas we went to, of thriving private enterprises.

And yes, evidence of poverty alongside the modern cars (chinese) and tourist buses.

They were looking forward to an influx of people (with their dollars) from the USA as relations were thawing. I wonder what Trump's attitude will be towards them?

aggie are you saying waitresses shouldn't be educated or that someone who is educated shouldn't be waitressing? With free further education Cuba probably has a problem finding work for all the graduates

When married couples could still have joint passports my mam had to return from Austria to the UK quickly due to a family emergency. The Austrians were wonderful. They contacted the UK, explained the situation and got mam on the first available plane. Unfortunately the UK didn't take the same attitude when she arrived even though they'd agreed when the Austrians had contacted them. They detained her even though she was a UK citizen and even spoke about sending her back to Austria. So it wasn't just countries like Bulgaria that made life difficult if you couldn't prove who you were. The UK was just as bad.

Of course I am not saying that Trisher , one of my DDs started her career in the NHS as a cleaner on the Gynae ward ! but at least she knew that her degree would be used at some point

RIP Fidel. Castro would never have come to power if the USA had not supported a corrupt dictator in Batista who himself replaced a repressive Spanish colonial rule. Castro would not have remained in power had the USA not imposed a blockade which impoverished the people. He wasn't perfect, show me a politician who is. Yes, he has blood on his hands but show me any state where that isn't the case - not many.

Anniebach! We shouldn't criticise FGM ? Are you mad?

Quite possibly misguided. I don't think she's technically insane.