Castro Hands Over Presidency

I haven't blogged in a while for a few reasons. Firstly, I have been extremely busy and still am with coursework and other things and secondly, there hasn't been anything in the news recently that has inspired me to blog about it but I suppose that the news about Fidel Castro finally relinquishing his role as commander in chief of Cuba is a pretty major piece of news and especially for the left.

Cuba, I believe, is wrongly perceived as a beacon of hope for the left. Their anti-imperialist stance, anti-American stance and there top notch health service and good education is often seen by the left as the road towards true Communism and a Marxist stronghold. They seem to overlook however, the complete disregard for any form of democracy and the brutal repression of its people but that's not the point of my post.

Castro has held the position of Commander in Chief since the 1959 revolution and brought himself to the forefront of the world stage during the cold war as a Soviet ally so close to the U.S.A. He was instrumental in the Cuban missile crisis and has survived 5 assassination attempts by the U.S government and also, held back a U.S invasion of the Bay of Pigs. He has inspired many other left wing Latin American presidents such as Hugo Chavez and has done so much else. It can be said, that for the president of such a small country, he has done a lot.

Castro's resignation has the American government rubbing their hands together in glee. This is what they have waited for, for so long. Undoubtedly, the Americans are already putting plans into action of how best to get control of the island that's been such a thorn in their side for so long. George Bush has already said of his intentions in a news conference today in Kigali, Rwanda. The resignation should be.. "The beginning of a democratic transition for the people of Cuba,” Bush has also promised U.S. help. The international community should support,"free and fair elections, and I mean free and I mean fair, not these kinds of staged elections that the Castro brothers try to foist off." Perhaps Mr. Bush has already forgotten of his own election where Al Gore lost with a majority of the vote, perhaps Mr. Bush is completely ignorant to this anyways. What he means by a democratic transition is, America can finally have it's puppet in Cuba.

The real reason why America is so anti-Communism is not the threat it poses to American liberalism as fascist countries which could be seen to pose a simmilar threat have been supported by America, It's not because of the human rights abuses and it's not even because Americans just hate communism, it's becuase whereas other countries which act much in the same way as the likes of Cuba trade with America and allow their businesses in their countries, communist countries tend to go it alone. If Castro had only opened a McDonalds in Havana, the world would be a very different place.

The next few weeks looks to be a very interesting time in Cuba. Watch this space.