[lbo-talk] Cuban HDI

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

At 7:45 AM -0700 4/24/03, Brad DeLong wrote:
>Castro's regime is claimed to be progressive, and popular, and one 
>of the few gems of light in a dark world. Castro's regime is also so 
>fragile that Castro has no choice but to send dissidents to jail for 
>decades and rig every election--for otherwise Radio Marti will 
>hypnotize the people and lead them to vote it out of office.

I don't think that the Cuban Communists had no choice but to do what 
they did, as far as the execution of the armed hijackers and the 
harsh sentences for "dissidents" on the US payroll are concerned.

At 7:45 AM -0700 4/24/03, Brad DeLong wrote:
>freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to organize, and 
>multi-party elections

The Cuban Communists would most likely be able to remain in power, 
even if Cuba enjoyed all of the above to the degree that Venezuelans 
do, but the nation's political and economic security and stability 
would likely deteriorate a great deal.  That's the tradeoff.  I'll 
leave it up to Cubans, Venezuelans, and others to strike their own 
balances.
-- 
Yoshie

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