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Increased repression in Cuba.

Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by church mouse guy, Aug 27, 2015.

  1. church mouse guy

    church mouse guy Well-Known Member
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    The statistics are appalling but the Castros have increased arrests and beatings dramatically the last six months or so. It is clear that the communist style terror will continue.

    [​IMG]

    One of the members of the famous Ladies in White, Catholic women related to political prisoners--women who don white clothing on Sunday and carrying gladiolas walk as a group around central plazas after mass--explains the dire situation in this video of a minute and a half:

    https://youtu.be/NsL1zAgLmd4
     
  2. FriendofSpurgeon

    FriendofSpurgeon Well-Known Member
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    Sadly, I don't expect much improvement for the Cuban people - either politically or financially - due to the recent agreement --- especially in the short term. However, this deal will enrich the Cuban government and the Castro family.
     
  3. wpe3bql

    wpe3bql Member

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    There has always been some form of repression by westerners in Cuba since at least as far back as the early 1500's when the RCC-sponsored Spanish established a foothold on that island nation.

    The extent and degree of repression may have varied from time to time, but it was still repression.

    The US began to be interested in acquiring Cuba at least as far back as the middle 1800's when the expansionist faction within American society and politics began to view Cuba as a place to extend the growing area of sugar cane and tobacco.

    The island's native workforce could easily supply enough manpower to process the sugar cane and tobacco as a relatively more inexpensive alternative than the African-Americans that were used as either slaves or indentured servants. The indigenous Cuban natives already had their own homes as well as an already operating business economy to supply the natives with non-agricultural goods and products.

    During the post-reconstruction era, "yellow journalists" such as W. R. Hearst, et. al., increasingly demanded that the US intervene in Cuba--which was still a Spanish colony.

    By that time, Spain's military and political power had declined considerably compared to what it had been back in the 1600's. OTOH, the US's military and political power began to increase rather rapidly compared to what it had been in the early 1800's.

    Theodore Roosevelt's insistence in increasing America's naval power only added more emphasis to this desire to expand the reach of the concept of "Manifest Destiny" [i.e., the "Destiny" of the US was "Manifested" {by whom it was "manifested" varied depending upon whom its advocates claimed it was--some even insisted it was God Himself Who "revealed" that the "Destiny" of the US included expanding beyond its borders that were basically established in the 1850's}].

    While Spain made some superficial reforms in colonial Cuba, these were not enough to satisfy the more radical expansionists in the US at that time.

    At this time, Theodore Roosevelt was the Secretary of the Navy. He ordered the USS Maine to dock in Havana's harbor to "insure" that Spain would uphold its reform programs to the almost unrealistic demands of the US expansionist factor that practically controlled US foreign policy in the western hemisphere at that time.

    Mysteriously the USS Maine suffered an explosion, the cause of which is still somewhat unknown. This encouraged the POTUS to declare that a state of war had already existed between the US and Spain.

    The relatively short-lived Spanish-American war was pretty much a lopsided US victory. One of its results was to have the US occupy Cuba. Although we were somewhat better occupants than Spain was, the indigenous Cubans still sought complete independence for their island.

    By 1952, Fulgencio Batista established an increasingly harsh and corrupt dictatorship that was eventually overthrown by Fidel Castro in early 1959, upon which he established his own dictatorship--which was probably even more oppressive than Batista's was.

    US-Cuban relationships hit a very low status when the Russian Soviets were allowed to establish a presence on the island, partly as a response to the ill-fated "Bay of Pigs" invasion that was covertly backed by elements within the JFK administration.

    While President Obama campaigned on a promise to decrease the US's presence at Gitmo, it still remains in US hands.

    Whether or not the ruling party in Cuba--now in the hands of Fidel Castro's brother Raul--will reduce the still present repression that exists among the poorest elements of Cuban society is yet to be seen.
     
  4. church mouse guy

    church mouse guy Well-Known Member
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    Actually, since the December announcement of the extension of diplomatic relations with Cuba, repression has actually increased. Those statistics are making it out of the communist prison island and it is supported by the video of one of the Ladies in White.

    Fidel and Raul are literal lady-killers.

    Many people fled Cuba under Batista and Eisenhower broke off diplomatic relations with Batista. However, Batista was just a typical Latino dictator whereas the Castros and Che were KGB-trained communist thugs who instituted a Stalinist regime and murdered thousands. Cuba went from being the richest Latin country to the second-poorest country in the world.

    Americans don't understand that it is illegal for Cubans to have anymore than they have under the Castros. If the Castros beat up on women in public on Sundays after mass, and they do, then you can see how desperate the Castros are to resort to such terror.

    The Castros are broke and the return of Gitmo would mean little when what the Castros really want is a gift of cash or a loan that they will never repay.
     
  5. wpe3bql

    wpe3bql Member

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    And yet Obama and his yes man Kerry want to convince us that in a few short months they will produce a Cuba that is not only practically free of any trace of repression, but also that the Castro regime will no longer seek to expand their bloody, tyrannical form of Communism anywhere in the world.

    Yeah....Right. :smilewinkgrin:
     
  6. church mouse guy

    church mouse guy Well-Known Member
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    Kerry/Obama/Democrats do not care much about human rights.
     
  7. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    They don't have to pretend any longer!
     
  8. church mouse guy

    church mouse guy Well-Known Member
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    No, Obama is the weakest president that I can recall. He shows no leadership on any issue and makes all of his decisions on the color of a person's skin unless their ideology contradicts his own as in the case of Cubans.

    The Democrat Party seems afraid of Obama and they goose step right behind him. If possible, Hillary is an even bigger liar than Obama and even more corrupt than Obama, who is behind many crooked deals to help the left such as the recent war on coal so that Soros could buy up a part of the coal business on the cheap. I thought Clinton was boring and could not wait until he left office but Obama is far worse. There will be a lot more suffering until the minute when Obama leaves office.
     
  9. poncho

    poncho Well-Known Member

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    I would think you'd be happy Obama is opening up Cuba to NED, USAID and George Soros' Open Society Foundations, CMG.

    Let them in give them a few years and they'll produce another "color revolution" in Cuba ready to depose the Castros as they have done in other countries including Ukraine.

    Creating "grass roots" uprisings (color revolutions) and mobilizing regime change proxy forces is what they do best. Give it some time to work. :)

    Don't complain when Cuba ends up in a bloody civil war that kills thousands and creates another Cuban refugee crisis we'll have to deal with.
     
    #9 poncho, Sep 1, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 1, 2015
  10. church mouse guy

    church mouse guy Well-Known Member
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    Comrade Poncho, Cuba is Kremlin, Castro is Kremlin.
     
  11. JohnDeereFan

    JohnDeereFan Well-Known Member
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    Obama strikes again.

    I just got back from two weeks in West Palm Beach. The Cubans in South Florida, many of whom actually lived under Castro and the Communists, are furious about this. Of course, they'll keep voting for the Democrats responsible, but if you ask them, they'll say they're outraged.
     
  12. FriendofSpurgeon

    FriendofSpurgeon Well-Known Member
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    Ummm. Sorry but Cuban-Americans are overwhelmingly Republican not Democrat. From Florida, there are three Cuban-Americans in the House and one in the Senate (Rubio). All are Republican.

    But yes, most Cuban-Americans are not happy with the normalization of relationships. They understand that this will do very little (if any) to help the people living under Castro's rule, and that political oppression goes on as if nothing happened.
     
  13. JohnDeereFan

    JohnDeereFan Well-Known Member
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    I disagree, but OK. The bottom line is that they don't like the normalization of relations with Cuba.
     
  14. poncho

    poncho Well-Known Member

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    1) It Prevents Dialogue.

    “To be effective, propaganda cannot be concerned with detail... Propaganda ceases where simple dialogue begins… it does not tolerate discussion; by its very nature, it excludes contradiction and discussion.”

    Let me know when your level of debate gets beyond step 1.
     
    #14 poncho, Sep 4, 2015
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  15. church mouse guy

    church mouse guy Well-Known Member
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    I think that Obama wants to stop Cubans from entering the USA because of their leaning towards the GOP because of their betrayal by JFK. Maybe we can trace the erosion of Democrat concern for human rights to JFK.

    As you know, the Ladies in White have had some 20 weeks in a row of increased arrests and beatings. Recenty, the Catholic Cardinal of Cuba said that Cuban protestants were scum. Also, the Catholic Church has said that relatives of political prisoners were not welcome in the Catholic Church so you can see that the Catholic Church has sided with Castro, out of fear, and even the Pope is pro-communist it seems.
     
    #15 church mouse guy, Sep 4, 2015
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  16. poncho

    poncho Well-Known Member

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    Evidently the embargo didn't work, eh?

    Give NED, USAID and George Soros Open Society Foundations a chance. Color revolutions don't happen over night ya know.

    It took them years of hard work and five billion US tax dollars on the front end to overthrow the Ukrainian government. Even then it hasn't been cheap or easy, the untermenchen just don't seem to want to leave.

    All I'm saying is give the State Dept and Soros a chance. They didn't let ya down in Ukraine did they? Of course that's if Washington doesn't start a hot war with Russia and China before hand. It's getting pretty ticklish with all the threats going back and forth and the big military drills taking place so close together, wouldn't take much of a spark to set it off.

    After that there might not be an after that to worry about.
     
    #16 poncho, Sep 4, 2015
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  17. church mouse guy

    church mouse guy Well-Known Member
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    Poncho, why are you posting to me? After ten years of debate with me, why not move on with your personal life?
     
  18. FriendofSpurgeon

    FriendofSpurgeon Well-Known Member
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    No big deal, but just wondering why you disagree. Most Cuban Americans that I know, that work with, that are in my neighborhood, that are in my church -- and in my family are conservative - both politically and socially. Here in South Florida, you rarely see liberal Cubans. Somewhat of an oxymoron.
     
  19. poncho

    poncho Well-Known Member

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    Debate? I wouldn't classify our encounters as debate.

    A debate is a discussion on a particular topic in which opposing arguments are put forward.

    Mostly our encounters consisted of me putting an argument forward and you accusing me of being in league with "the enemy" and putting the nation in danger.

    Don't tell me you're finally running out of ways to recycle the "guilt by association" fallacy. :eek:
     
    #19 poncho, Sep 5, 2015
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